Say farewell to the Strong Arm of the Law, and go back to the main Saxon page! Strong Farm of the Law Overall Album Score: 8.0 out of 10 If you've got an above average early-80s heavy metal album, how could life *possibly* get any better than that? ... It'll not happen easily, I tell you! About the only thing that could possibly make life better than this is a cold, towering mug of lemonade. I probably wouldn't also complain if I had a grape fruit-roll-up instead of this album. ...Or at least an orange-flavored Tic Tac ... or a blue M&M, maybe ... Alright, there are a lot of things that would make life better than Strong Arm of the Law, but those are only things that you can *digest*. Although, I suppose that you could let this album pass through your digestive system if you really wanted it to. I'm not sure why you'd want to, though. I've tried compact disc, and I must admit that it isn't exactly a tasty treat ... even if you deep fat fry it ... Hmmm... I seem to have started on the wrong foot here ... Now let's talk about something more relevant to what we are supposed to be talking about: Saxon! That is: Saxawwwwwwwwwwwwn! Basically, if you are one who finds their ultimate pleasure *not* in women but in slightly-cheesy heavy metal with power-riffs, fairly nice melodies, and butt-whomping electric guitar solos, you can't go wrong with Strong Arm of the Law by Saxon at all. ...And among all early-80s heavy metal albums, this is in the ruling class! It's Saxon! It's better than being a bloody Anglo. Overall Album Score: 8.0 out of 10 (Most definitely, if you're one who is prone to enjoy the living willynippins out of an 80s metal-pop album, then this might be a sound investment. But, don't expect it to be of great artistic value ... just expect it to have lots of spankin' electric guitar solos!) Average Song Score: 7.9 (This is a consistent set of heavy metal tunes that are, generally, of a high quality.) Album Tilt: 8.5 (For the love of all the cabbages in the sky, I was hoping that this album would score somewhere in the lower-8 range. Therefore, I execute a 8.5-order so that this mightily spankin' heavy metal album would realize its fate.) Artist Rating: 7.5 (Unfortunately, I would go against everything I believe in if I give this album's artistic rating a higher score than the "average song score." This album might be many things, but "artistic" it is not!) Track Reviews Heavy Metal Thunder 9/10 I don't care if it's derivative or splerivative ... "Heavy Metal Thunder" is hella cool. The crunchy guitar playing that wonderful riff ... the wild Led Zeppelin-esque singing is very entertaining ... the sort of fade-away affect they added onto bits of the singing was a good touch ... and that electric guitar solo is one that'll put hair right on your chest. It might not be artistically valid, but it's entertainingly valid! That's all I care about! A very good heavy metal song ... especially for the 80s. To Hell and Back Again 8/10 And Saxon follows up "Heavy Metal Thunder" with another fine heavy metal song. The merits of the melody totally *make* this one. Of course, the song has the mandatory crunchy riff and the guitar solos. ... It's perfectly entertaining, but, all in all, it's not nearly as exciting as "Heavy Metal Thunder." I still think that this is an 8-deserving track. Dats pritty goooood. I did have to chop off a half-point, 'cause it's too long. Strong Arm of the Law 8/10 Ohhhh... Why do I always expect the title tracks to be great? I must admit that I'm a little bit disappointed now that we've gotten here. What this needs is more KICK! That said, it's still pretty much enjoyable with its crunchy guitars, butt-smackin' electric guitar solos, and everything that would completely make the day of Bill & Ted. Taking Your Chances 7/10 This one is juuuuuuust teetering on the edge of the border into The People's Republic of Heavy Metal Banal Stuff. The melody doesn't seem to work nearly as well ... and that rather simple riff (which are about as simple as every other riff on this entire album) doesn't really make up too well for the lack of melody. What *does* slightly make up for the lack-of-melody are those totally show-off guitar solos! ... Hey, whatever pleases that little shallow brain of mine ... 20,000 Feet 8.5/10 hmHMMMM! I give "20,000 Feet" the Don IgnacioŽ Brand Seal of Approval for Heavy Metal songs because it is loud, it is fast, and it still has completely butt-kicking guitar solos. Sure ... all you art freaks might utterly despise the stuffins' out of this, but it is completely inoffensive and utterly enjoyable. You can't jam the air guitar with Mozart, baby! Hungry Years 8/10 Ah dude! Where's the crunchy guitars and stuff? ... It's so caaalm. Oh wait ... there they are! T'ain't bad ... this song ain't bad ... It's a bit lengthy (at a grand total of 5:20 minutes) ... but if you have a slightly interesting melody and a neat riff *plus* some good guitar solos, then these minutes pass by like your great aunt passes gas. Sixth From the Girls 7.5/10 I'm trying to figure out how badly that this riff is ripped off ... oh hell! I don't care! Saxon makes decent-enough use of it. It's probably their best riff on here, but this song *really* fails to excite me. The melody isn't that good ... there's the problem. Even the guitar solos, while still righteous, aren't like they used to be. Dallas 1 PM 7.5/10 I don't know what the heck made me actually pay attention and *care* about the lyrics here ... probably because I realized that the title was an obvious reference to John F. Kennedy and his assassination. And I must say, without a shadow of a doubt, that this was a really dumb idea for a heavy metal song. Seriously. Nevertheless, if you start listening to the lyrics of a corny-brand heavy metal band, then you are probably half-going crazy. So, in some sort of effort to avoid going insane, I disregard thee stupid lyrics and concentrate on the actual song. It kicks well enough to enjoy ... however, the thing is too long, clocking in at just under six-and-a-half minutes. And, I don't think that it really deserved this length. Nevertheless, the song carries itself throughout its entire duration, so it's far from being a failed effort. Unless you are an assassinated ex-president, then you have no excuse to not e-mail me a comment here!

All reviews are copyrighted by Michael Lawrence. If he was an assassinated president, he would be Baberaham Lincolm.