''Win Hands Down'' is the seventh studio album by American
heavy metal band
Armored Saint. It was released on June 2, 2015.
The vocals were recorded at Bridge Recording in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, guitars and bass were recorded at Travis Dickerson Studios in
Chatsworth and drums were recorded at Clearlake Audio in
Burbank.
Two videos have been released for the album: the title track and the song "An Exercise in Debauchery". The band toured extensively in summer 2015 with
Saxon in support of the album.
Critical reception
''Metal.de'' rated the album 9 out of 10 points. Marek Protzak wrote, there was "no other band at the moment" who played "classical metal in such an inspired and versed manner".
[Armored Saint - Win Hands Down](_blank)
metal.de, in German German ''
Rock Hard
"Rock Hard" is a single by the Beastie Boys, released by Def Jam Records on 12" in 1984. The track contains samples from the AC/DC song "Back in Black", which was used without obtaining legal permission, causing the record to be withdraw ...
'' magazine editors voted ''Win Hands Down'' as "Album of the Month". Editor-in-chief Boris Kaiser called Armored Saint "one of the most underrated bands in US Metal" and compared the album to 1991's ''
Symbol of Salvation
''Symbol of Salvation'' is the fourth album by American heavy metal band Armored Saint, released in 1991 on Metal Blade Records. It was their first release with guitarist Jeff Duncan and their last album before going on an extended hiatus that w ...
''. He rated it 8.5 of 10.
Commercial performance
The album sold double the number of copies as the previous album ''
La Raza
The Spanish expression ('the people' or 'the community'; literal translation: 'the race') has historically been used to refer to the Hispanophone populations (primarily though not always exclusively in the Western Hemisphere), considered as ...
''.
[ARMORED SAINT – Win Hands Down Debuts On Billboard Chart](_blank)
bravewords.com, 10 June 2015
Track listing
Personnel
;Band Members
*
John Bush – lead vocals
* Phil Sandoval – guitar
*
Jeff Duncan – guitar
*
Joey Vera
Joey Vera (born April 24, 1963) is an American bassist who is known as a member of the heavy metal band Armored Saint and progressive metal band Fates Warning. During 2004 and early 2005, he toured with Anthrax as a fill-in for Frank Bello, who ...
– bass, backing vocals
* Gonzo Sandoval – drums
;Additional musician
*
Pearl Aday
Pearl Aday (born 1975) is an American singer. She is the adopted daughter of vocalist Michael Lee Aday, better known as Meat Loaf, and was a member of his touring band Neverland Express for nine years starting in the mid-1990s. She has appeared ...
– guest vocals on "With a Full Head of Steam"
;Production
*Joey Vera – production, engineering
*Jay Ruston – drum engineering, mixing
*Josh Newall – drum engineering
AllMusic
/ref>
Charts
References
{{Authority control
2015 albums
Armored Saint albums
Metal Blade Records albums