''Strong Arm of The Law'' is the third 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 ...

. It was released in 1980, seven months after ''

Wheels of Steel ''Wheels of Steel'' is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon. Released in 1980, it was their first album to enter the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number 5, and is their highest-charting album in the UK Albums Chart to date. ...

'', and debuted on the UK chart at #11. The last track, "Dallas 1 PM" concerns the

assassination of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...

. "We thought, 'Should we put one shot in there or should we put three?'" recalled singer

Biff Byford Peter Rodney "Biff" Byford (born 15 January 1951) is an English singer best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Saxon. Early life Byford was born in Skelmanthorpe, West Yorkshire, the youngest of four children to Ernest Cha ...

. "In the end we went down the

conspiracy theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

route and had three shots." According to guitarist Graham Oliver, the title track was inspired by an incident where the band was driving in Whitehall and was subsequently pulled over and searched by the security detail of then

British prime minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

Reception

Eduardo Rivadavia of

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 ...

rated the album four and a half out of five stars. He called it "equally timeless" to its predecessor, ''

'' and commented, "All the right ingredients pretty much fell into place for Saxon on this amazing record, and though it lacked as many clear-cut hits as its predecessor, ''Strong Arm of the Laws unmatched consistency from start to finish makes it the definitive Saxon album in the eyes of many fans and critics." After their peak with ''Wheels of Steel'', 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 ...

was a little disappointed, calling the album "comfortable and nostalgic if never remarkable", but "definitely betraying Saxon's lack of ideas"; despite their "stripped, basic and enthusiastic delivery of metal... creatively Saxon was getting left in the dust, both looking and sounding a bit like

Slade Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British Hit Singles ...

UK Track listing

US Track listing

Personnel

;Saxon *

– vocals *Graham Oliver – guitar *Paul Quinn – guitar *

Steve Dawson ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

– 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 *Pete Hinton – producer *Will Reid Dick – engineer *Saxon – arrangements *Blechner Poxon – management

Reception

UK Track listing

US Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Album

Singles

Certifications

References