The Official Hard Rock / Classic Metal Music Discussion and Memorabilia Thread!

[wolfking]

Paul, wasn't Saxon pushed back two weeks?

That sucks.

I can't find anything on this.

[bl5150]

Paul, wasn't Saxon pushed back two weeks?

That sucks.

I can't find anything on this.

Nah..........still 16th Oct

[wolfking]

Not holding my breath hoping to get this or CIIC at JB tomorrow.    Stryper listed as the 23rd too now.  Gotta bit the bullet and go online I guess.

[TAC]

Paul, wasn't Saxon pushed back two weeks?

That sucks.

I can't find anything on this.

Nah..........still 16th Oct

https://bravewords.com/news/saxon-premier-queen-of-hearts-lyric-video-new-release-date-set-for-battering-ram-album

https://www.amazon.com/Battering-Ram-Saxon/dp/B012FH9XV2/ref=sr_1_1_twi_aud_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1444953609&sr=1-1&keywords=Saxon+battering+ram


Both of these say the 30th.

There is this though!
https://www.yahoo.com/music/get-a-taste-of-saxons-new-album-ahead-of-release-181000997.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

[wolfking]

That link says the 30th too, bugger.

[bl5150]

I checked the official Facebook page before I replied and it says "tomorrow" 

[TAC]

I checked the official Facebook page before I replied and it says "tomorrow" 

What's Facebook?

[bl5150]

I thought I was the only person on the planet without Facebook - when I want to check info though it's often a good direct source of info rather than media.

[King Postwhore]

You old bastards.

[bl5150]

Facebook sucks and blows , right Tim? 

[TAC]

I thought I was the only person on the planet without Facebook -

You definitely are not! As I've said many times before: DTF IS my Facebook.

You old bastards.

[King Postwhore]

[TAC]

[bl5150]

reminds me of my missus' driving strategy

[wolfking]

Ummm.....guys.....umm........I don't have facebook either. 

[TAC]

Ummm.....guys.....umm........I don't have facebook either. 

Liked!

[wolfking]

Ummm.....guys.....umm........I don't have facebook either. 

Liked!

Right back at you bro.  Should we try and start our own phenomenon? 

I don't even have an iphone or smart phone whatever they are called. 

[bl5150]

Well I don't always agree with everyone on Saxon - to me they are a band that often delivers exactly what I am expecting and that sorta caps how high I can rate them.  Solid metal will only get you so far and I generally feel that modern era Accept do the same job but manage to have a higher average quality plus a few standout tracks on each album that are at another level.   I have little memory of Sacrifice but I am pretty sure I loved the title track and was a big "Meh" about the rest as it came across as all too samey.

To me this album is more in line with recent Accept output.  It's consistent from beginning to end , it's heavy and melodic,  has a few more progressive/complex moments and 3 or 4 standout tracks.  It feels to me like an album that has a lot more thought in it than your average Saxon and it may well be my favourite Saxon album ever.  Initial rating 87% which is matching or bettering the WASP..........and I like WASP much more than Saxon as a rule.

It'll be interesting to see if you guys agree.

Fave tracks:  Queen of Hearts ,Hard and Fast, Top of the World, Kingdom of the Cross (a really nice atmospheric ballad about war dead..)

[TAC]

That's interesting Brent. I find lots of parallels between current Accept and Saxon, chiefly that they are very consistent. Some would call that samey, but these bands are what they are. And it's amazing that Saxon are making as good of music as they ever have currently. their last half dozen albums have been excellent. You're not going to get any surprises.
They were always 2nd tier anyway back in the day, but I've always enjoyed them immensely.

I'm listening to the 5 song sampler now. Devil's Footprint is awesome. Liking Destroyer. In fact they're all great except for Queen Of Hearts.

[wolfking]

That Queen of Hearts song was really great.  Awesome to read that Brent, hopefully I can get my hands on a copy tomorrow.

Go back to Sacrifice I'd say.  At first I was a bit 'meh' on it too, but went back later and really enjoyed it a lot more.

[TAC]

After hearing 6 of the ten songs ( I think it's 10), this could be better than Sacrifice. Call To Arms is freaking great too.
Amazing how quick they are turning out these albums it seems.

[wolfking]

IMO, everything since Lionheart has been quite stellar.

[TAC]

IMO, everything since Lionheart has been quite stellar.

Hell yeah. Lionheart pulled me back in after ignoring them through the 90's.

[jjrock88]

Ummm.....guys.....umm........I don't have facebook either. 

Liked!

Right back at you bro.  Should we try and start our own phenomenon? 

I don't even have an iphone or smart phone whatever they are called.

As long as you arent buying the new Saxon or CIIC on cassette lol

And I've seen different release dates all over the place, but I'm showing up tommorow at HMV and hopefully Saxon, CIIC and Stryper will be there.  Hopefully at least one of them will be, if not, it's amazon time.

Queen of Hearts is excellent.  Not sure why you arent digging it Tim.

[wolfking]

Yeah, I'm hopeful for one at least.  And yeah, no more cassettes for me mate. 

[bl5150]

This Circle II Circle is very different to expectations and my rating is going to be quite different to what I've been seeing around the traps too..........more later.

[BlobVanDam]

The last one, More Than One Way Home I think it's called was really quite good.  I think you might like that one more.

I just wanted to bring this back up to say this was a great recommendation. Been listening to this a ton the past few days and I'm really enjoying it. I'm excited for the new album now.

[bl5150]

This Circle II Circle is very different to expectations and my rating is going to be quite different to what I've been seeing around the traps too..........more later.

Okay..............I have listened to this album twice now.  Let me summarise:

- fucking heavy
- fucking melodic
- fucking awesome
- close enough to album of the fucking year.


Now I don't say that lightly as Zak often doesn't hit the spot for me.  He can be a bit of a monotone and his voice is a bit love/hate.  But if you like his style I think you'll love this.   It does seem to be getting mixed reviews (plenty of 6's and 7's around) but I dunno what they're smoking.

I would say that aside from the intro/closing track and some odd keyboard moments , much of the Savatage influence is fading.  And to some extent that's good because , aside from Edge of Thorns , I struggled with quite a bit of the Zak era.     And then a lot of the Circle II Circle has the same sort of plodding nature to it that I struggled with in Zak era Savatage.

This album is balls out metal for the most part and (from the stuff I have) Zak's heaviest - and possibly best - performance.   In my opinion it has a very different sound to most C2C and even the production.........I put on some of the other C2C albums afterwards and they sounded pissweak.

I am not 100% sure of my rating but it'll be low- mid 90's and pushing Edge of Thorns for my favourite Zak related album ever.  Also pushing (and most likely passing) Queensryche and one or two others for my favourite of the year so far.

Favourite tracks - basically everything except One More Day which is still a pretty decent track.

Saxon surprised me.............this one shocked me and my low-ish expectations.

[wolfking]

Never expected to read that Brent.  Can't fucking wait now.  Christ, I hope JB has this.  Jason is going to smile in his pants.

[wolfking]

Resurrection Kings EPK.  Or Rated X v2.0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RHEB0iFu7c

[wolfking]

Leaving this hear for pansies that don't like growls hahaha!!  SOLUTION .45!!  Fuck yes, been waiting for 5 years!  Listen to the whole damn thing, I dare you. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2KVqagPFeM

[jingle.boy]

Leaving this hear for pansies that don't like growls hahaha!!  SOLUTION .45!!  Fuck yes, been waiting for 5 years!  Listen to the whole damn thing, I dare you. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2KVqagPFeM

... right after I finish listening to Zierler/ESC.

[bl5150]

I will if JJ will 

[TAC]

Leaving this hear for pansies that don't like growls hahaha!!  SOLUTION .45!!  Fuck yes, been waiting for 5 years!  Listen to the whole damn thing, I dare you. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2KVqagPFeM

I can vouch that half of this song is awesome!

[jingle.boy]

Leaving this hear for pansies that don't like growls hahaha!!  SOLUTION .45!!  Fuck yes, been waiting for 5 years!  Listen to the whole damn thing, I dare you. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2KVqagPFeM

I can vouch that half of this song is awesome!

What he said.  This level and quantity of growls still ain't my thing.