Album: SAXON – Innocence Is No Excuse
Written By: Wes Haskins
Original Release Date: June 24, 1985
Original Label: EMI Records
Innocence Is No Excuse is the seventh studio album by the British Metal legends, released in September 1985 in the USA. It was the band’s first album for EMI after a falling-out with their previous label, and their last with original bassist Steve Dawson. The album was a further departure from the classic Saxon sound and even more Americanized, but it was perfect for 1985 in this market; maybe not what most Saxon fans might have wanted, but I still think, for what it is, it’s very good. Very similar in that way to Judas Priest’s Turbo and Maiden’s Somewhere in Time from that era, with the band trying new things but sadly not nearly as successful commercially as those two albums. There were three singles, “Back on the Streets”, “Rockin Again”, and “Rock N Roll Gypsy” and the album reached #36 in the UK and #133 in the US. The production was much better than the thin sound on the previous album, Crusader and overall a better album in my opinion.
TRACK BY TRACK:
“Rockin Again” leads off the album and seemed to be telling fans that they were back to rock again and I’m not sure if that was an apology to fans on how some felt about Crusader or just a standard Saxon anthem about being on stage rocking and the bond the band had with their fans. Overall, it’s just a solid hard rock anthem type song, but it actually takes a while to get to rocking (which is kind of ironic) with a long intro with a keyboard riff and some studio stuff and doesn’t really kick in until the minute and twenty second mark and the drums and the rest of the band join in. Overall, it’s not a heavy song and is quite melodic and a good, catchy song but not quite the rocker the title promised.
“Call of the Wild” is melodic and catchy and definitely moving into the AOR style chorus. It’s a very good song. I can really just imagine what an old-school Saxon fan thought at the time, but honestly it was made to be a hit in 85/86. Nice guitar solo and Biff sounds great. Lyrically it seems to be about people that like to go out partying at night and living a lifestyle on the edge, which could be about the band itself.
“Back on the Streets” again follows the big melodic mid-80s-style chorus and is even more AOR than the last track. Another very good catchy song that sounds so far removed from the early albums but probably deserved to be on the radio at the time. It seems to be celebrating the band being back and the ability of perseverance and overcoming the hardships they had been through.
“Devil Rides Out” gets the album back to a heavier foot-to-the-floor, faster-paced song. There’s edge and atmosphere with the song, with melody at the verses and it gets heavier at the chorus. Not exactly the same ole old-school Saxon anthem but some new ground. Lyrically about a not-so-nice woman that is basically the “devil” to the narrator.
“Rock N Roll Gypsy” is another melodic rock track with another Americanized, radio-friendly chorus that was perfect for 1985. Again, I’m not sure what fans expected, but it’s such a good song. Lyrically about the band travelling town to town and about those that they spend the night with on the road.
“Broken Heroes” is one of my favs on the album and again is a big AOR-type chorus and just a catchy song. Not specifically about one war or conflict but definitely is an anti-war song in general as it mentions many battles throughout history. Great song.
“Gonna Shout” is more upbeat, has a good groove and rocks more. Big backing vocals. Screaming or shouting about the love of rock n roll and heavy metal.
“Everybody Up” is a fast uptempo rocking song and perfect for an opening for a show and maybe could have opened the album. Nothing deep here but very simple about getting a crowd going at a live show.
“Raise Some Hell” is heavier and more edgy and closer to metal instead of AOR. A really good album track that helps break up the melodic rock, radio-friendly songs. It seems to be about being on stage and getting the crowd going and “raising hell”, so a similar thing to the previous track.
“Give It Everything You Got” is another fast-paced uptempo tune. A good song to close with. About going for it in life and following your dreams and not settling.
B-SIDES:
“Live Fast Die Young” is a cool b-side that should have been on the album. A little heavier but still melodic, so a little light and shade but catchy and rocking. It’s crazy they buried this as a b-side. This would have been one of the better songs on the album for those that like the heavier side of the band.
“Krakatoa” was also a great b-side and again a heavier track that could have been on the album and could have made the album a little more ballsy, but I can only guess that the label wanted to stick more with the AOR direction.
RECAP:
The track order hurts this album with the focus on too many AOR melodic tracks front-loading the order and many of the faster and heavier tracks towards the back, but that might have been on purpose by the label and/or management. The two bonus tracks are too good to leave off the proper album, but I don’t think the label was sacrificing a potential radio single at that point for a heavier track. Overall, I actually really like this album and it’s one I’ve enjoyed more over the years. It does stick out somewhat compared to the previous album, but the production is much better than the Crusader album.
FAVOURITE SONGS:
“Devil Rides Out“, “Broken Heroes“, “Call of the Wild“, “Rock N Roll Gypsy“, “Raise Some Hell“, “Gonna Shout” and special mention to the B-side “Life Fast Die Young“.
Read more of Wes Haskins‘ Saxon reviews here as he surges through the entire discography: Author – Wes Haskins
