Nostra Dam

At the head of the NWOBHM...

Saxon is an English band formed in 1976 by Peter Byford, Paul Quinn, Graham Oliver, Steve Dawson and John Walker. Group which can boast of having placed 8 albums in the English Top40 albums including 4 in the Top10 and 2 in the Top5. And will have sold around 15 million albums worldwide.

Originally the band was called "Son of a bitch" !

The eponymous first album was released in 1979, an album of relative success. Followed a year later in 1980 by the album "Wheels of steel" which made him much better.

And produce their first two hits with a first single named after the album and a second called "747 (strangers in the night)". Their notoriety will suddenly skyrocket.

The same year released the album "Strong arm of the law" considered to this day as their best album. Album from which will be extracted a single by the name of the album and "Dallas 1PM".

A year later in 1981, another success with the release of the album "Denim and leather" which produced two major hits with "Princess of the night" and "The bands played on". The group is then considered to be the leader of the NWOBHM movement. Of which Iron Maiden and Def Leppard will be part.

Two years passed before the 1983 album “Power & the Glory” was released. Album that will remain as the best seller of all their discography. The tour that follows in the USA is a real triumph.

The sequel became more complicated with the release in 1984 of the album "Crusader", an album which confused fans and critics with a sound deemed too commercial. This will not prevent it from selling more than two million copies !

A break with the early fans, which intensified the following year with the release of the album "Innocence is no excuse". Album which once again opts for a sound commercially "adapted" to the American market.

A fracture to which serious tensions will be added within the group.

This did not prevent the release of the album "Rock the Nations" in 1986. Album which sees Elton John playing luxury pianists on 2 tracks ! And it’s a success.

The sequel will be more chaotic and it will take five years and the year 1991 for the group to return to success with the album "Solid ball of rock". Followed in 1992 by the album "Forever free" which will meet more or less the same fate.

Two major successes which will be the only ones for the 1990s and which point to an almost certain end of the adventure.

But it is very bad to know them because they will continue the adventure during the following decade and sign two of their biggest hits on the album side with "The inner sanctum" in 2007 and "Into the labyrinth" in 2009.

And that's without counting on the decade 2010 with an explosion of successful albums with no less than 4 albums which will reach scores in the Charts for the less bluffing : “Call to arms” in 2011, “Sacrifice” in 2013 , “Battering ram” in 2015 and “Thunderbolt” in 2018 !

A group with exceptional longevity to say the least since we find them again during the decade of 2020 with a new album "Inspirations" in 2021. Album which once again proves in a striking way that this group is really out of the ordinary.

An adventure that continues again and again and which may well have some nice surprises in store for us in the years to come ...

To discover or rediscover.

Discography (among others ...) :

Wheels of steel 1980
747 (strangers in the night) 1980
Big teaser 1980
Backs to the wall 1980
Strong arm of law 1980
And the bands played on 1981
Never surrender 1981
Princess of the night 1981
Power and the glory 1983
Nightmare 1983
Just let me rock 1984
Do it all for you 1984
Sailing to America 1984
Back on the streets 1985
Rock'n'roll gipsy 1986
Waiting for the night 1986
Rock the nations 1986
Northern lady 1986
Ride like the wind 1988
I can't wait anymore 1988
Solid ball of rock 1990
We will remember 1990
Overture in B-Minor 1990
Iron wheels 1992
Forever free 1992
Dogs of war 1995
Don't worry 1995
Hold on 1995
Terminal velocity 1997
Absent friends 1997
Ministry of fools 1997
Song for evil 1999
Prisoner 1999
Sea of life 1999
Court of the Crimson King 2001
Coming home 2001
Hell freezes over 2001
Lionheart 2004
Searching for Atlantis 2004
Flying on the edge 2004
Red star falling 2007
If I was you 2007
Going nowhere fast 2007
Live to rock 2009
Valley of the kings 2009
Voice 2009
Back in 79 2011
Mists of Avalon 2011
Call to arms 2011
Sacrifice 2013
Walking the steel 2013
Crusader 2013
Frozen rainbow 2013
Queen of hearts 2015
To the end 2015
Kingdom of the cross 2015
The secret of flight 2018
Nosferatu, the vampire's waltz 2018
Sons of Odin 2018
Paperback writer 2021
Hold the line 2021
See my friends 2021
Red brick city 2021
Turn to black 2021
Solution 2021
Three in the wind 2021
Carpe Diem (Seize the day) 2022
Remember the fallen 2022
Black is the night 2022
The pilgrimage 2022
Dambusters 2022

Clips :

1980 ... a first punchy and 1000 % rock track. The trend is immediately given : it will beat up !

1980 ... even if it beats hard, the melodic quality is obvious. Rather auspicious all that ...

1980 ... a re-recorded version of their very first track from 1979. And this time it works !

1980 ... a re-recorded version of their very first track from 1979. And this time it works ! It's funny, I feel like I've said it before ...

1980 .... a particularly dense year which ended in style with a 5th classified title. For the start of a career, it starts all the way !

1981 ... a particularly successful title which will remain as their biggest hit. 1980 was a BIG year. 1981 will be even stronger and will be literally exceptional for the group !

1981 ... a sequel that will do almost as strong. I said it would be an exceptional year !

1981 ... third success, admittedly less prestigious but success nonetheless. We will largely be satisfied ...

1983 ... after a white 1982, we find them in great shape in 1983. A comeback which rhymes with success once again. With them, we start to get used to ...

1983 ... the sound evolves, less Heavy metal, more rock. Of course, it still beats up but the group mutates, it's clear !

1984 ... an inexorable rise in power which allows the group to reach a quality level worthy of the greatest. It will not bring them more than that unfortunately ...

1984 ... even if it does not pay more than that in the Charts, the work carried out raises them each time a little higher. Isn't that the main thing ?

1984 ... the only title of the year to collect a minimum of recognition on the Charts side. It is always that taken and it comes especially to close a beautiful year 1984 which will have seen them grow even more ...

1985 ... after a year 1984 which will not see them produce any major hits, we find them in 1985 with an obvious return of their Heavy metal bases. Hunt the natural, it comes back at a gallop ...

1986 ... a structured sound, an effective melody, a hellish rhythm, yet another high class piece. Undeniably one of the best groups of this particular current !

1986 ... another BIG year with 2 big hits. 2 titles that allow them to continue their little man's journey slowly, but surely !

1986 ... it will even be a year with 4 titles with 2 additional titles of more than certain quality. Each title is now inspired and it shows, especially it can be heard !

1986 ... everything goes perfectly in this year 1986. The group perfectly masters its destiny and it is felt in each title produced that year. When it wants, it wants !

1988 ... the years go by but are not necessarily alike ... Another year 1987 'without'. On the other hand, 1988 sees them return to the front of the stage thanks to the luxury cover of one of the biggest titles of Christopher Cross namely 'Ride like the wind'. You had to dare this one !

1988 ... even if the group is clearly losing momentum, he in any case continues to believe in it. And the future will prove that they were damn right to believe it, at least the distant future ...

1990 ... the transition to the 90s will prove to be much more complicated to manage than expected. With the key to a more than serious loosening in the Charts for the next 10 years ...

1990 ... and yet what they continue to offer largely holds up. But the emergence of new rock currents during the 1990s will seriously make them out of date ...

1990 ... and the disaffection of the public will only worsen over the years. The group will therefore have to row against the current for a while, that's for sure. Hard law of the trade ...

1992 ... the crossing of the decade 90 will look more like a crossing of the desert than anything else. The group will have to reinvent himself, and quickly, failing to disappear altogether ...

1992 ... the only problem is that they'll take almost the whole decade to reinvent themselves. Not easy to change everything overnight ...

1995 ... no major development in sight for the moment. Saxon makes Saxon version of the 80s and it's going to last like that for a few more years ...

1995 ... a way of doing things and a sound which evolves very little title after title. But it is evolving all the same, it is already that ....

1995 ... we will therefore have to be a little more patient to see them come back to the race. Hope brings life as they say ...

1997 ... and it is not this new opus which will unfortunately make it possible to change the situation. Anyway, album production remains constant and that's pretty good news !

1997 ... on the other hand, on the ballad side, the little guys are still just as effective ! A know-how in the register 'with emotions' which will always surprise coming from this kind of group ...

1997 ... even if they have seriously dropped in the Charts for a few years, the qualitative level remains largely sufficient to keep them afloat. The essential is therefore preserved ...

1999 ... one could have feared the worst during this decade 90 with a possible pure and simple disappearance of the group. But they will never let go and here they are, ready to start a new decade on the hats of the wheel. A will to believe in it always and again which commands respect !

1999 ... the transformation will have been long and the questionings numerous. But this time the group seems to have finally taken the measure of the changes necessary to achieve to return to the front of the stage ...

1999 ... an album which marks the breaking point between the Saxon of the 80s and the new version of Saxon. It took some time but it is now done !

2001 ... the decade of renewal. Even if some grassroots fans no longer believed it, the group did. And he was damn right !

2001 ... of course, the return to the front of the stage will not happen overnight, but let's give them time, that's all they ask !

2001 ... a decade that will allow them to show with obvious brio that in music, nothing is ever finished. You just have to believe in it over and over again !

2004 ... the group will be reborn from its ashes in a spectacular way with this new album. A rebirth prepared for a long time and which proves above all that this group really has a talent very above the average !

2004 ... the sound sticks much more to the latest trends, it is clear. They will have achieved the feat of fusing influences from the 80s and influences from the latest generation. A real feat !

2004 ... now that the upgrading is done, the group can now hope to return to the leading pack. Something that will not be long ...

2007 ... THE comeback. This time will be the good one and the group returns here to the front of the rock scene in a shattering way to say the least ...

2007 ... the rehabilitation album which sees the 'grandpas' of rock showing little young people that we will have to count on them. Good to hear, hi !

2007 ... the rise in power is confirmed title after title. Now that the group has leveled up, they certainly do not intend to stop there !

2009 ... an absolutely sumptuous end of the 2000s for the group with the release of a new album of very high caliber. In just 2 albums, the group will once again become one of the phenomena of the moment in its category. Mighty feat !

2009 ... the group has regained its natural place within the Great and intends to take advantage of this opportunity to make people talk about him. All good on this one little guys !

2009 ... however, we say to ourselves that this comeback may only be a last-ditch and that the group will not survive the following decade. It's bad to know them again ...

2011 ... because they are back 2 years later and in a form once again more than certain. It took a long time for the group to wake up, but now they won't let go !

2011 ... and it is set to last like this for the whole decade. But where do they get this strength and this irrepressible urge to move forward ? Good question...

2011 ... and always this ability to deliver an almost inaudible track followed in the wake of brilliantly inspired tracks. We will not remake them again as they say ...

2013 ... the adventure continues in earnest with a new album in the pipeline. A productivity of titles through the decades, to say the least, mind-blowing because we must all the same remember that they started their careers in 1979 !

2013 ... each new album that comes out is a real success and has been for almost 10 years non-stop. Knowing that they release a new opus every 2/3 years, the feat is all the more remarkable. What talent !

2013 ... while most of their 'colleagues' have been missing body and soul for a long time, they are still here. And in what form !

2013 ... a title which literally floats in the air and which once again reminds us that the group also knows how to excel in the 'emotional' register. But everyone has known that for a long time !

2015 ... day and night with the previous title. But this is also the key to their incredible success : being able to alternate styles and genres with a mastery to say the least bluffing ...

2015 ... the sound has become considerably 'heavier' for several albums. A 'heaviness' which pays in any case when we see the level of success achieved in the Charts ...

2015 ... already 35 years of career on the clock and a desire as intact as ever to continue the adventure no matter what. Well done gentlemen !

2018 ... an exceptional 2010 decade in every way with no less than 4 very successful albums. Who could have imagined during the 90s that the group would rise from its ashes in such a remarkable way ? Not many people, that's for sure ...

2018 .... here they are in full gothic-decadent delirium. But given the musical category that has always been theirs, no wonder they are venturing into this kind of field. With the key the best ranked album of the whole decade !

2018 ... inspired titles, a band at its best, in short, everything has come together to make this end of the decade a real firework display !

2021 ... who would have believed it, Saxon who covers a Beatles title dating from 1966 ! It was necessary to dare it especially when one knows the musical universe of each one. And yet, it works !

2021 ... this time they pay homage to the title of Toto dating from 1978. The original title was already particularly punchy, this one will be even more so. Yes Yes, it's possible !

2021 ... it's the Kinks and their 1965 title that are going to have their favors this time around. And a new one, the revisited version largely holds the road !

2021 ... when the father and the son decide to join their talents. Kind of rare association that can produce the worst as well as the best. In this case, it will be the best !

2021 ... a real success for this family association. Everything is inspired and works perfectly. There is really talent in the Byford family !

2021 ... it is clear that the succession is assured at the Byfords ! Biff can retire without any problem, the son is ready to take up the torch !