''Power & the Glory'' is the fifth studio album by English heavy metal band

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

, released in March 1983 by

Carrere Records Carrere Records (french: Disques Carrère, link=no, ) was a French record label which specialized in Euro disco and rock music. The record company was sold to Warner Music Group in the early 1990s. Early days Claude Carrere started working with ...

. This is the first Saxon studio album with new drummer Nigel Glockler and was recorded in Atlanta, Georgia in the fall of 1982.

Critical reception

The album peaked at #15 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. It reached No. 1 in the Metal charts in Sweden, Norway, France and Germany selling over 1.5 million copies worldwide. It was their first album to enter the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

in the US, peaking at #155. A retrospective

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

review by Eduardo Rivadavia gave the album three out of five stars. Rivadavia criticised the mixing, saying that the album "sounds as though it was recorded in a tin can, albeit a very, very large tin can" eliminating the "big, in-your-face, and gritty" sound heard on the band's past albums. He also criticised the material itself, saying that "despite a few sparks generated by "Redline," "Warrior," and the proto-thrashing "This Town Rocks," only the anthemic title track ultimately showed enough staying power (and glory) to earn a frequent slot in Saxon's live repertoire". Canadian journalist

Martin Popoff Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about the genre of heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has additionally ...

writes quite the opposite and considers ''Power & the Glory'' Saxon's best album, praising the production and the contribution of "new ass-kicking drummer Nigel Glockler" to "working a metal magic that is the embodiment of the NWOBHM's ideals now made real." In 2005, ''Power & the Glory'' was ranked number 376 in ''Rock Hard'' magazine's book ''The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time''.

Track listing

Song information

Power and the Glory

"Power and the Glory" was released as a single in April 1983. It reached number 32 on the UK Singles Chart. The song is an early

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

song with a fast tempo and lyrics relating to war and battles. A music video was made for the song with band members running through a castle with dead dolls.

Personnel

* Biff Byford – vocals *

Graham Oliver Graham Oliver (born 6 July 1952) is an English guitarist who was born in Mexborough, South Yorkshire. He was a founder member in the heavy metal band Saxon from 1976 to 1995. Career Oliver was a budding guitarist while working in a factory in ...

– guitar * Paul Quinn – guitar * Steve Dawson – bass guitar *

Nigel Glockler Nigel Glockler (born 24 January 1953) is an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer for the heavy metal band Saxon, which he first joined in 1981. Career Glockler began his musical career in 1980 as the drummer for the British band ...

– drums ; Production * Jeff Glixman – producer * Jeff Glixman – engineer * Cheryl Bordagary – engineer * Les Horn – engineer * Axis Sound Studio,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

– recording and mixing location * Nic Tompkin – cover design, photography * Chris Peyton – design (reissue) * Gavin Wright – design (reissue)

Charts

Album

Singles

Nightmare

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Power and the Glory 1983 albums Albums produced by Jeff Glixman Saxon (band) albums Carrere Records albums