Destiny

This is Saxon with no power. Think commercial hard rock and you're way closer than any heavy metal. There is a ton of synth backing to draw up images of bands that had guitars but didn't have any real riffs (or power behind the riffs if they did exist). It's all atmosphere and vocal hooks with chirpy guitar leads to make and break songs. Saxon are not known for pulling off good albums using this kind of formula, let alone making any more than one good song for most heavy metal listeners. However, somewhere in this mess of a '80s romance-drama album is something that can be likeable.

The cover song at the beginning should sum this up perfectly: softly-distorted guitars, thumping drumming, and a drabby bass all trying to support the leading vocals. Byford's singing is high and expansive, but the music around him is some real sappy stuff. That production only helps to make everything more docile and inoffensive, although I shouldn't complain since it's a good, clear job. Still, this music is geared toward hard rock / AOR / glam realms than any heavy metal. Strangely, the song that's the furthest in this territory, the love-ballad "I Can't Wait Anymore," is my favorite off this mess of an album. It's so mushy, but I can't help but admire how well it sounds for what it wants to be. The loud punch of the drums and the jangly / clean guitars are adorable, and the atmosphere and gentle chorus are too easy on the ears to dismiss.

As much as the above is mostly out of my area, songs like "Red Alert" and "For Whom The Bell Tolls" hark back to some kind of riffing akin to Thin Lizzy. Sadly, it sounds grossly out of place. Saxon submerged themselves too far into a soft rock territory for mediocre, ineffectual songs like those to have any place or purpose. Saxon wanted to be poppy, fluffy, and without any depth, and damn it they did it here. They can't then attempt to write half-assed heavy metal and sprinkle it sparsely.

In all honesty, just skip this. There's nothing here to be missed, despite whatever positives I could possibly attribute to it. It might not be heavy metal, but it's not very good, either. There are better bands that play this type of music, and Saxon do little to add with their own style.