Artist: Saxon
Label: SPV Records
Release: 2006
Rating: 3/5
The legend of the eagle taking off and landing is clearly far from over! The veterans who survived the N.W.O.B.H.M. days seem to cook up a new chapter in the saga of their beloved little eagle every decade of their existence. So now we’ve got part three. And for the third time, the eagle has landed differently again. Quite differently from the first and second time.
This double “live” album packs in a whopping 32 tracks. Of course, Saxon never play that many at once at a single show. Their set lists in the new millennium usually run from 19 to 24 songs. So this is a document stitching together recordings from different stages over two years. Some tracks come from “open air” settings (e.g. Wacken festival), others from “indoor” venues. The first disc mostly features material that will please the old nostalgic fans, the stuff the band presented on the “Night Out With The Boys” tour in 2005. By then, returning drummer Nigel Glockler was back behind the kit. This material includes some gems that are a real rarity to hear live from Saxon. Obscure N.O.W.B.H.M. classics like This Town Rocks, Stand Up And Be Counted, Warrior, Frozen Rainbow, Suzie Hold On, Redline, Play It Loud and See The Lights Shining are a proper party for fans of classic Saxon. And of course it wouldn’t be complete without Wheels Of Steel, And The Bands Played On and Crusader. The band left out the likes of the notorious Denim & Leather, Princess Of The Night, 747 (Strangers In The night), Motorcycle Man and Dallas 1.p.m., which are regulars on their concert set lists. It’s just proof that Saxon constantly shuffle the material on their set lists during a tour, because if they’d released every single track played at shows across 2004 and 2005, which this new double live CD covers, they’d have needed at least one more disc.
The second disc is steeped in modern Saxon, the “German” ones. From the nineties to today. In other words, the ones aimed at the German market. Besides the old fans, this brought in a wide circle of the younger metal crowd, especially thanks to the broad repertoire that includes the songs from their Lionheart album, which the band was promoting on tour back then. This disc has the material played on the “Lionheart” tour in 2004, when Jorg Michael (Stratovarius) was on drums. The only “eighties” stray on disc no. 2 is the punchy, legendary power ballad Broken Heroes (“Innocence Is No Excuse”, 1985).
A few of the album’s weaker sides! The first is that this live album doesn’t have a truly unified concert atmosphere, that euphoric fever you only get from a consistent recording of a single show in one location. You can also get there by mixing live recordings from the same tour, from dates that aren’t too far apart. But here we have a long stretch of two years, two different drummers in the band, two different stage chemistries, indoor shows, outdoor shows… The second minus is the drum sound, which is at times diffuse and tinny, lacking proper bass fullness, especially noticeable on the recordings played outdoors, outside the halls. And the third minus is that in the heavier (highest) passages, Biff’s vocal already shows quite clearly that it’s lost some power after all these years. One more minor negative: the packaging looks like a really nice, hefty “sandwich” “from the outside” at first glance, but when you open it up to check out the booklet, you sadly find it’s full of photos of varying quality, some so carelessly chosen in terms of framing and sharpness that they don’t deserve to be printed in something like an artist’s official CD release. The band couldn’t even be bothered to list the lineup in the booklet, let alone include any interesting details about the tour and the shows Saxon played, which is otherwise a standard fixture of “live” CD booklets. Whatever. The music speaks for itself! And through the voice of Saxon it’s once again convincingly unique and roaring like a possessed beast, as befits the reputation of legends.
This is Saxon who are once again on the prowl the whole way through, aggressive, red-hot, incredibly intense and ready to bite, even in their third decade. And as always, it has that real energy that only Saxon can bring to a stage, and the album boils and crackles with it. Still, there’s some reservation, because of the missing sense of mass euphoria, before I could declare the new “live” Saxon CD a truly live CD! Another plus is the variety of songs already mentioned, which you couldn’t get on Saxon’s official live releases until now. And one more plus is that we’ve finally got live-documented material from the era of the band’s last four studio albums (1996 – 2004).
So this double live album is best taken as an excellent pick for any newcomer who wants to get to know Saxon, since this selection of recordings is a kind of compilation that’s definitely a much smarter buy than some low-budget “greatest hits” album of dubious origin, especially if you’re into heavier distorted sounds and maybe plan to eventually round out your Saxon collection with the band’s other official releases. “The Eagle Has Landed pt. III” doesn’t even need special accreditation: it’s an album that’s indispensable in any true fan’s collection. The legends remain untamed!
Lineup
Biff Byford – vocals
Paul Quinn – guitar
Doug Scarratt – guitar
Nibbs Carter – bass guitar
Jörg Michael – drums (2004 live recordings)
Nigel Glockler – drums (2005 live recordings)
Track List
CD 1.:
1. This Town Rocks
2. Backs To The Wall
3. Redline
4. Stand Up And Be Counted
5. Never Surrender
6. Frozen Rainbow
7. Suzie Hold On
8. Play It Loud
9. Warrior
10. See The Lights Shining
11. To Hell And Back Again
12. Stallions Of The Highway
13. Wheels Of Steel
14. And The Bands Played On
15. Crusader
CD 2.:
1. The Return
2. Lionheart
3. Man & Machine
4. Beyond The Grave
5. Searching For Atlantis
6. To ive By The Sword Pt. I
7. Unleash The Beast
8. To Live By The Sword Pt. II
9. Flying On The Edge
10. Jack Tars
11. English Man ‘O’ War
12. Court Of The Crimson King
13. Broken Heroes
14. Dragon’s Lair
15. Rock Is Our Life
16. Travellers In Time
17. Solid Ball Of Rock
Running time: 142:13
