Album: SAXON – Strong Arm of the Law
Written By: Wes Haskins
Original Release Date: September 1, 1980
Original Label: Carrere Records
The third album from British Metal legends and, for my money, their best album. Reaching #11 and a gold certification in the UK, the album continued the momentum started with the previous album, Wheels of Steel, but for me was just slightly better and more complete. Astonishingly, they were able to record two classic albums in the same year.
TRACK BY TRACK:
“Heavy Metal Thunder” is about as quintessential Saxon and early 80s metal as it gets. A constant in the setlist over the years, the song is a great way to open an album. Fast-paced and anthemic about all things metal and a tribute to the diehard fans at the shows.
“To Hell and Back Again” is another uptempo track driven by the drums of Pete Gill and guitarists Paul Quinn and Graham Oliver. About a prisoner on death row whose execution keeps getting delayed and about the feeling of waiting to be put to death.
“Strong Arm of the Law” has a great groove and is another live anthem. One of those Saxon classics through and through and is about the band being stopped by the police on London Bridge.
“Taking Your Chances” starts with a killer riff and then drums kick in and Biff joins with a snarling vocal. A solid straight-ahead metal song. It seems to be about taking chances in life against the odds.
“20,000 Feet” is another Saxon classic for me. Straight-ahead uptempo balls to the wall. Not many bands in the era did this kind of fast-paced metal as well as they did, outside of maybe Motörhead. Lyrically about the rush of flying.
“Hungry Years” has a slower groove and isn’t an all-out rocker, but still is a solid song. The song seems to be about the struggle of trying to make it in the music industry and the hard work of the Hungry Years or earlier years of life or a career. There are some odd lyrics mentioning “Jews and Whites,” so I might be misinterpreting it somewhat, but it could also just be about a minority trying to make it in business.
“Sixth Form Girls” is a fun rock ‘n’ roll song with a good driving beat. Just fun Saxon, nothing more or less and about teenage rebellion against parents or school and talking about the young girls going out to party and go to shows when they’re not supposed to be out.
Every Saxon album has that epic track and on this album “Dallas 1 PM” is that song. A slow groove that builds and builds throughout the song with some nice steady rhythm work from Gill and Dawson with a nice set of guitar solos in the middle with Biff telling the story of the JFK assassination. Another classic Saxon song.
Recap: another classic Saxon and early 80s Metal album and overall my favourite from the band, slightly edging out Wheels of Steel.
Favourite songs: “Heavy Metal Thunder“, “Strong Arm of the Law“, “20,000 Feet“, “To Hell and Back Again“, and “Dallas 1 PM“.
Read more of Wes Haskins‘ Saxon reviews here as he surges through the entire discography: Author – Wes Haskins
