''Saxon'' is the debut 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
*
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peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
, released in 1979.
Reception
Eduardo Rivadavia of
AllMusic gave the album three stars out of five, and, in his mixed review, described it as "the quiet before the storm", in terms of the band's subsequent success, and the rising New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Rivadavia also criticized the band's then-lack of experience in the studio as well as their record label, Carrere, for not knowing "how to capture a heavy metal sound on tape", meaning that the album "only hints at Saxon's true personality, power, and songwriting potential". He also said that the
progressive rock sounding "Rainbow Theme"/"Frozen Rainbow" and
glam rock sounding "Big Teaser" and "Still Fit to Boogie", "suggested some lingering doubts as to musical direction", but that, overall, "the LP helped to put Saxon on the map".
[ Canadian journalist Martin Popoff judged the album "meekly recorded and timid in execution", harkening back to "too many '70s styles, ones that barely fit together" with merely hints of the "more uncompromising forms of metal" Saxon would produce in later years.]
Track listing
*Bonus tracks 14–18, Recorded 1980-01-23, Tommy Vance's Friday Rock Show
The ''Friday Rock Show'' was a radio show in the United Kingdom that was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 10pm to midnight on Friday nights, from 17 November 1978 until 2 April 1993. For most of its existence, it was hosted by Tommy Vance.
Vance ...
, transmitted 15 February 1980.
*Bonus tracks 20-22 recorded live at Donington, 1980.
Personnel
;Saxon
* 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
*Pete Gill
Peter Gill (born 9 June 1951) is an English former heavy metal drummer, formerly a member of The Glitter Band, Saxon and Motörhead.
Gill was one of the two drummers in The Glitter Band, then formed part of the original line-up of Saxon in ...
– drums
;Production
* John Verity – producer, engineer
* Robert Price – Tape Operator
* Livingstone Studios
Livingston Recording Studios is a recording studio in West London.
The studios were started by Ray Kinsey, a film director from North London, who branched out into recording talking books for the blind. The first Livingston Studio designed for ...
, UK – recording and mixing location
References
{{Authority control
Saxon (band) albums
1979 debut albums
Carrere Records albums