{"id":56725,"date":"2018-02-07T21:39:42","date_gmt":"2018-02-08T02:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=56725"},"modified":"2018-02-07T21:39:42","modified_gmt":"2018-02-08T02:39:42","slug":"saxon-thunderbolt-music-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2018\/saxon-thunderbolt-music-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Saxon | Thunderbolt"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Erik Tweedy<\/span>
\n\u2014 Columnist \u2014<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Is it possible for a band that has put out more than 20 albums to have anything left to record that hasn\u2019t already been done? YES! On its 22nd album, Thunderbolt<\/em>, Saxon delivers a blistering dose of Metal that sounds as fresh today as it did nearly 40-years ago when the eagle first landed with their self-titled debut in 1979. <\/p>\n

If you have followed Saxon\u2019s decade\u2019s long career you are already familiar with the quality of their work. If you are new to the Denim and Leather brigade, shame on you. Where have you been all these years? They have produced some of the U.K.\u2019s finest recordings that stand right up there with their homeland heavyweights Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Def Leppard.<\/p>\n

\u201cOlympus Rising\u201d slowly opens the Thunderbolt vault to reveal images of dragons, vampires, wizards and Greek gods. The album feels like the soundtrack to a newer version of a Lon Chaney or Bela Lugosi movie. The title track, \u201cThunderbolt\u201d is a crushing example of how great of a band Saxon are and how they have evolved over the years into a Hard Rock powerhouse. Biff Byford\u2019s vocals are on full display and it is amazing how great he sounds throughout this release at the age of 67. Several tracks like \u201cThe Secret of Flight\u201d, \u201cSniper\u201d and \u201cA Wizard\u2019s Tale\u201d highlight the dual guitar playing of Paul Quinn and Doug Scarratt that is clean and crisp and contains some smoking hot riffs reminiscent of Iron Maiden. <\/p>\n

Tracks \u201cNosferatu \u2013 The Vampire\u2019s Waltz\u201d and \u201cSons of Odin\u201d are mid-tempo rockers that chug along nicely and are built more on lyrics than on power. They fit nicely in their change of pace and gives the listener a chance to slow down and breath. <\/p>\n

While not being a full-on concept album, a couple of tracks, \u201cThey Played Rock and Roll\u201d and \u201cRoadie\u2019s Song\u201d feel out of place with the overall theme of this release. \u201cThey Played Rock and Roll\u201d, arguably the best track on Thunderbolt, pays homage to Lemmy and Motorhead at a frenetic pace that is awesome. Killer guitar work that would make Phil Campbell proud and the pounding rhythm section of Nibbs Carter and Nigel Glockler would feel right at home on any Motorhead record. Lemmy has long been recognized as the godfather of Heavy Metal and this is a perfect way to pay respect to the Ace of Spades<\/em>. The other song mentioned here, \u201cRoadie\u2019s Song\u201d is a bit light when compared to the rest of the material on Thunderbolt<\/em> and would be more at home on Power and Glory or Crusader.<\/p>\n

Lyrically, Saxon have put together one of their strongest releases with Thunderbolt<\/em>. Every song is a story in its own right. Musically, Thunderbolt<\/em> delivers a hard-driving record that rivals that of any hand half their age. It is amazing this far into their career that Saxon can put out such a high-quality release with flawless production. Put the headphones on, crank it up and let Saxon take you on a journey. <\/p>\n

Genre\tHeavy Metal, NWOBHM<\/p>\n

Band:
\nVocals \u2013 Biff Byford
\nGuitar \u2013 Paul Quinn
\nGuitar \u2013 Doug Scarratt
\nBass \u2013 \tNibbs Carter
\nDrums \u2013 Nigel Glockler<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\nOlympus Rising
\nThunderbolt
\nThe Secret of Flight
\nNosferatu (The Vampire\u2019s Waltz)
\nThey Played Rock and Roll
\nPredator
\nSons of Odin
\nSniper
\nA Wizard\u2019s Tale
\nSpeed Merchants
\nRoadie\u2019s Song<\/p>\n

Label: Militia Guard<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.saxon747.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: [usr 8 size=20]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Erik Tweedy \u2014 Columnist \u2014 Is it possible for a band that has put out more than 20 albums to have anything left to record that hasn\u2019t already been done? YES! On its 22nd […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":56726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15129],"tags":[11301,2491,14186,12354,3897,2733,14185],"class_list":{"0":"post-56725","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2018","8":"tag-biff-byford","9":"tag-heavy-metal","10":"tag-militia-guard","11":"tag-music-review","12":"tag-nwobhm","13":"tag-saxon","14":"tag-thunderbolt"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}