Saxon - Heavy Metal Thunder - Bloodstock Edition (Reissue) (2015)ak

Tracklist:
Cd1:
01. Heavy Metal Thunder
02. Strong Arm Of The Law
03. Power & The Glory
04. And The Bands Played On
05. Crusader
06. Dallas 1pm
07. Princess Of The Night
08. Wheels Of Steel
09. 747 (Strangers In The Night)
10. Motorcycle Man
11. Never Surrender
Time: 52:59

CD2 Live at Bloodstock 2014:
12. Denim And Leather (Live At Bloodstock)
13. Backs To The Wall (Live At Bloodstock)
14. Sacrifice (Live At Bloodstock)
15. Power And The Glory (Live At Bloodstock)
16. Heavy Metal Thunder (Live At Bloodstock)
17. Battalions Of Steel (Live At Bloodstock)
18. Motorcycle Man (Live At Bloodstock)
19. And The Bands Played On (Live At Bloodstock)
20. To Hell And Back Again (Live At Bloodstock)
21. 747 (Strangers In The Night) (Live At Bloodstock)
22. Crusader (Live At Bloodstock)
23. Wheels Of Steel (Live At Bloodstock)
24. Princess Of The Night (Live At Bloodstock)
25. Denim And Leather (Live At Bloodstock)
Time: 62:48

On February 13, 2015, SAXON greatest hits release Heavy Metal Thunder will make its market re-entry together with a brand new bonus CD, Live At Bloodstock. First released in 2002, Heavy Metal Thunderfeatures 13 bona-fide SAXON classics from the halcyon days of the early 80’s, with eight of the cuts having been re-recorded again in 2001 to offer a fresh perspective.

On the Heavy Metal Thunder re-issue, Guitarist Doug Scarratt says: "When we decided to re-record these songs it was really a great thing for me. I had been playing them live but I didn't think there would ever be a chance to record them.

"We re-recorded all the songs while we were making the Metalhead album. It was great re-recording Heavy Metal Thunder. I had played it many times but it's nice having updated versions."





Quote:
Saxon was formed from the fusion of two bands, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, in 1977 by vocalist Peter "Biff" Byford, guitarists Graham Oliver, and Paul Quinn, bassist Steve Dawson, and drummer Pete Gill -- all of whom had been playing professionally or semi-professionally since as early as 1970.
Saxon's resulting, eponymous debut of 1979 was marred by a lightweight production job, but the seasoned band still managed to build a strong following by touring Britain inexorably, supporting everyone from Motörhead to Nazareth. The band would then capitalize on this exposure with its watershed sophomore effort, 1980's Wheels of Steel .The album was immediately heralded as a N.W.O.B.H.M. classic by fans and critics alike, and the band were apparently on their way. Saxon went on to release two more virtually flawless albums in 1980's Strong Arm of the Law and 1981's Denim and Leather, touring relentlessly across Britain and Europe, where Ozzy Osbourne's rising Blizzard of Ozz opened for them! Not even the group's lack of success in the all-important U.S. market seemed capable of slowing Saxon's forward momentum, and a live album, The Eagle Has Landed, was recorded in 1982 to celebrate their hot streak.

Then a strange thing happened: Saxon became cold as ice. A series of admittedly less inspired, at times repetitive albums followed in 1983's Power and the Glory and 1984's Crusader, and the band's already tenuous relationship with Carrere Records completely deteriorated over the label's inability to expand Saxon's popularity, even as fellow N.W.O.B.H.M. survivors Iron Maiden and Def Leppard convincingly conquered the States. Drastic action was required and so Saxon signed a new deal with all powerful EMI and stepped up their game for 1985's Innocence Is No Excuse, which arguably boasted the group's strongest, most versatile song set in years. The fallout of yet another commercial failure resulted in the departure of founding bassist and key songwriter Steve Dawson, and though Saxon quickly replaced him with unknown Paul Johnson, the following year's scrappy back-to-basics attempt, Rock the Nations, was a total snooze-fest. Saxon would limp their way through the rest of the decade, gradually corroding what was left of their British and European fan base and recording a pathetic pop metal album in 1988's Destiny in a desperate but futile attempt to connect with American fans. By the time they feigned a return to more aggressive heavy metal terrain in 1990, via their tenth studio album, Solid Ball of Rock, Saxon had become inconsequential at best, musical dinosaurs at worst.

The band's strongest and heaviest material in ages, beginning with 1992's revelatory Forever Free, growing stronger with 1995's excellent Dogs of War (after which guitarist Graham Oliver tendered his resignation), and then wavering only slightly in quality -- but not in heavy metal thunder -- over albums like 1997's Unleash the Beast (introducing new guitarist Doug Scarratt), and 1999's Metalhead, and 2001's Killing Ground (the last two recorded with German drummer Fritz Randow).

A steady flow of studio albums, including 2004's Lionheart (featuring Teutonic journeyman drummer Jorg Michael), 2007's The Inner Sanctum (which saw Glockler's return for a third go round), and 1999's Into the Labyrinth, only fed into this quiet career resurgence, but this period was not without its challenges and controversies. Meanwhile, the "official" version of Saxon led by Biff Byford, Paul Quinn, et al, decided to risk some of their recovered metal credibility by pairing with reality TV producer Harvey Goldsmith for a show named Get Your Act Together. Its goal was to reintroduce the veteran group to a wider mainstream audience by way of a made-to-order single entitled "If I Was You," but the experiment did not fulfill the TV show's purpose, perhaps for the better. The next few years saw Saxon wresting even greater control over their own operation, and 2011 saw the independent release, not only of the band's 19th studio album, Call to Arms, but also a self-produced, career-spanning documentary, Heavy Metal Thunder: The Movie. The band's muscular and driving 20th album, Sacrifice, arrived in 2013.

Saxon Official Website
Genre: Heavy
Subgenre: Heavy Metal / NWOBHM / Traditional Metal
Bitrate: 160 k
Size: 134.73 MB
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