A GREAT BRITISH BAND
by Alistair McConnachie

Just like the Night Mail itself, Heavy Metal band Saxon, from Barnsley, is also a British institution.

Celebrating 25 years of performing in 2004, the band started when lead singer Peter "Biff" Byford met guitarist Paul Quinn, in the late Seventies. Teaming up with bassist Steve Dawson and guitarist Graham Oliver it wasn't long before drummer Pete Gill joined and they produced their first album "Saxon" by Saxon, in 1979, with the distinctive and unique Saxon logo design, which they've kept ever since.

But it wasn't until their second album in 1980, the now-classic Wheels of Steel, that the band started to get noticed. With their album cover -- decorated by an iron eagle with wings spread, sitting on a motorcycle wheel -- the band had what all good bands need, an instantly recognisable name, logo and mascot, "the Eagle".

And the music? Driving heavy metal guitar rhythms so meaty you feel you could touch 'em and eat 'em, blistering solos, and lyrics catchy and easily remembered.

If you see me riding by,
Do not stop me, do not try.
'Cause I'm a motorcycle man,
I get my kicks just when I can.

Strong Arm of the Law was to be their third album, and the second to be released in one year, 1980! Then came Denim and Leather in 1981.

1982 saw their release of what is undoubtedly one of the greatest Heavy Metal Live albums of all time, The Eagle has Landed. Who can forget showman Biff's boast to the audience, "There's 40,000 watts here, ya know that, don'tcha!"

"Hey, you're not getting tired, are ya?"
..... Nooooooo!
"It's a good bleedin' job!"

One thing for which Saxon is renowned: An extremely broad range of intriguing subject matter -- from motorcycles and street fighting, to aeroplanes and trains, to... the Plymouth Brethren Sailing to America... to the demise of British industry Calm before the Storm ... to the Crimean battle of Balaclava, The Thin Red Line...... to the Conquistadors of Spain, Conquistador.

Couple this with Biff's huge imagination, unique song-writing ability -- every song tells a story -- and his outstanding voice, which in terms of both vocal range and clear enunciation is easily one of the top five in the genre in the English-speaking world, and you've got the ingredients for an endlessly enjoyable listening experience, with songs still retaining their freshness, appeal and vibrancy after 25 years.

This huge range of subject matter is evident on every album but was highly evident in their next album; the superb Power and the Glory, which followed in 1983. Every track a classic. From the opening song about a mercenary....

To the power and the glory,
Raise your glasses high.
To the power and the glory,
Be with me ... tonight!

To the possibility of extraterrestrial life forms in Watching the Sky....

50 billion planets,
There's got to be some life.
Don't tell me I'm the only one,
Standing in the night!

To the fantasy appeal of The Midas Touch about "the man in the bookshop with the withered hand"....

He looks so innocent,
As he shuffles down the street.
But he's the Holy Sentinel,
That guards the gates of Hades.

To a tribute to the moon landing, The Eagle has Landed....

You took a giant step for mankind,
On a distant lunar sea.
As you travel 'cross the universe,
Will you take a step,
take a step... for me.

To Biff, making sure everyone knows how well-travelled he is, in This Town Rocks....

I've heard the pipes of Scotland,
I've seen the Alpine snow.
I've crossed the Mississippi,
I've touched the Alamo.

To one of my top ten personal favourite HM tracks of all time, the super-powerful, super-fast, Warrior, which crashes relentlessly upon consciousness like a Viking invasion on the brain.

They land on your shore,
Kick down your door,
Invaders from over the sea.
They rape and they slaughter,
Your wife and your daughter,
Pillage the wealth from your land.

...... Whew!

The band continued to produce quality work consistently: Crusader (1984), Innocence is no Excuse (1985), Rock the Nations (1986), Destiny (1988), Solid Ball of Rock (1990) Forever Free (1992), Dogs of War (1995), Unleash the Beast (1997), Metalhead (1999) and Killing Ground (2002).

It's difficult to highlight a favourite album. How can you compare the raw power of the Denim and Leather album, for example, with the stand-out brilliance of the more studio-polished Destiny album. You can't! It's not possible.

All we can say is that the Heavy Metal genre -- and in a wider sense, the entire world of music -- owes this great British rock band a massive debt.

To Saxon, on your 25th anniversary, we just want to say.... Saxon, thank you for the music.

 
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