Waxon
Overall Album Score: 7.0 out of 10 Well ... the year is 1979 and here is hard-rock AOR band #29384354 to cut an album, and, along with the best of them, they are just itching to start rocking your socks off. Fortunately, though, Saxon at least deserves some of your attention ... they really aren't bad. If you compare them even to some of the more famous AOR band that emerged two years before them, Foreigner for instance, they are, like, *gods* or something. Really! Even though I declared in my Foreigner reviews that Mick Jones was a pretty good guitarist, he doesn't really hold a candle to these guys. Also, even though that Saxon's songwriting is either completely derivative or sounds like it was an outtake from "This is Spinal Tap," it does show some strength! It's much more promising than what Foreigner sounded like on their debut. All in all, I'd say that this album amuses me, but there's not really a single moment in here that I'd call memorable, or makes listening to this album actually worth it. Now, if you want a lot of *good* crapola, then check out their utterly splendid/rollicking follow-ups Wheels of Steel and Strong Arm of the Law. Now those'll put some real beef in that pot-belly of yours! Overall Album Score: 7.0 out of 10 (Waaaaaaaaahlahlahlah! Get this joke that I just made up: Saxon Saxoff, Saxon Saxoff, Saxon Saxoff. That is, except for Kenny G. He should leave his Saxoff for eternity.) Average Song Score: 7.5 (It's definitely not a bad collection of tunes ... there's not a major moment in here that you can take home with you, unfortunately. I gave nothing here more than a score of an 8.5 ... on the flip side of that, however, there's nothing here that blows, either.) Album Tilt: 7.0 (Hm... it doesn't seem like I just listened to anything worth listening to, really ... but I'm pretty much content about the listening experience! It's overall decent heavy-metal stuff.) Artist Rating: 6.5 (They are good with their instruments, but there is too much non-originality on here.) Track Reviews Rainbow Theme 8/10 This is a very normal beginning to this very normal AOR album ... but at least it shows some talent. (Talent, as in they created a song that doesn't suck. The lyrics are very silly ... whether it was intentional or not, it's part of the fun! (Where are we going to find a frozen rainbow, I pray?) Anyway, this was sort of a slow, dramatic album opener ... and it was pretty good at doing that. Frozen Rainbow 8/10 (They must have found the frozen rainbow!) The last track merges into this track and we get this pretty skillful electric guitar solo ... it's what every good silly heavy metal album should have! Big Teaser 6.5/10 Well, here is Saxon's attempt at making a stadium-rock song that we are all supposed to bang our heads with at concerts ... unfortunately the songwriting here is weak. Although, I've heard much worse (from Foreigner). The chorus, specifically, gets on my nerves. Oh well. The instrument playing isn't bad ... but it needs more electric guitar solos! (Heck! These guys are obviously skilled ... and why else would I want to listen to a cheese-heavy metal song if it doesn't have a spankin' electric guitar solo? Heckifiknow!) Judgement Day 7.5/10 Well, here's the good news: this sounds like a good Kiss song. Here's the bad news: Kiss sucks! When the hard-rocking song unexpectedly metamorphoses into a quieter, pseudo-dramatic ballad ... oh man! It sounds like the inspiration of This Is Spinal Tap! He! And it's all pretty fun, in spite of the general lack of wonderful songwriting. (The songwriting is decent, though.) Plus, to top it off, the track ends with a guitar solo ... er ... it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Although, this guitartist does sound very good. Stallion of the Highway 8.5/10 You know ... these guys are pretty good. This sounds a lot like Led Zeppelin ... and they do a pretty darn impressive job at immitating them! This is a pretty fun heavy-metal number. It's unoriginal, but I never complain about that too much ... it's pretty entertaining. Backs to the Wall 7/10 Man! Now that is a guitar solo! It seems aimless ... but such is the spirit of most good guitar solos, anyway! This is another Led Zeppelin-esque song ... and at times it sounds like a Styx song. Eh! Whatever. It's a bit of a mess, in my opinion, and it doesn't strike me quite as entertaining as the last one was. Still Fit to Boogie 6.5/10 Alright! Boogie! ... Er ... I bet I know what these guys want for Christmas! Original songwriting talent! While this is well-performed (and I mean these guys are much better performers than Foreigner, if you are familiar with them) ... but I've heard plenty of songs like this, and they are all better! The songwriting here is a little bit primitive. But the electric guitar solos are wicked! However, the coda of this track is about as generic as it gets. Militia Ground 8/10 Aw! Sweet, baybe! This is one mightily kickin' heavy metal song! It starts out with some military drums and a some quite nice strums of the electric guitar ... the actual song comes in (rather clumsily, actually), but the songwriting here is among the album's best and most interesting. However, it's still not perfect ... (and it does sound Spinal Tapian). But I do enjoy this one. Saxons and everyone else in England should e-mail comments here! People from other countries should e-mail me, too. |
All reviews are copyrighted by Michael Lawrence. He is high on life (i.e. cocaine).
