When Saxon released their first LP on May 21, 1979, the term New Wave of British Heavy Metal had just been coined – in this case, in a concert review that appeared in the London magazine Sounds on May 8.
Heavy metal, in itself, was no longer a novelty. At this point, it ceased to be a branch of rock and was becoming its own genre. And it is precisely because of this that Saxon has an outdated sound when compared to the work of other heavy metal bands from the same era, such as Overkill (1979) and Bomber (1979) by Motörhead , Accept (1979) by Accept and Narita (1979) by Riot .
This factor can be directly attributed to the musical direction of the Carrere Records label, a French label specializing in disco music, which began venturing into rock in the late 1970s. The lack of familiarity with heavy music left the work lukewarm, musically speaking.
Overall, the album resonates well with 70s heavy rock, oscillating between the progressive inspirations of "Rainbow Theme" and "Frozen Rainbow," the furious drum intro of "Judgement Day," and the glam sound of "Big Teaser."
“Stallions of the Highway” and “Backs to the Wall” are the highlights, already foreshadowing the classic Saxon sound, with galloping bass, suspended chord riffs and arpeggios, and doubled vocals in the choruses.
In the remastered edition of the album (2009), it's possible to hear demos of some songs, recorded in 1978, when the band was still called Son of a Bitch – and, for obvious reasons, had to be renamed. The demos sound more raw, and closer to what Saxon would sound like on their next albums – the most acclaimed of their career.
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