Rock the Nations

After their fantastic offering the previous year, Innocence Is No Excuse, the band takes a sudden dip in the mud. I’ve no idea what the FUCK they were thinking when producing the majority of the tracks on here. Shit, were they trying to go pop or something?? Sometimes it sounds as if they were attempting to be a blues band as well here, as horrid as that may sound. Oh yeah, there is also one track that gives me the impression that they might have wanted to go in a big band/swing direction too, mixing it all with guitars. Sounds awful, eh? Well it is. Don’t worry though, there are still enough METAL tracks on here that live up to the standards of Saxon…err…two only, but still enough to have given hope to those back then, that Saxon was not completely dead. Saxon’s always been a band of wide variety, but they fail to deliver the variety well here on this album.

Rock The Nations - A tough and heavy attitude with a damn good chorus, so you know fuck well that this is indeed Saxon. Obviously, this is one of the better tunes on here, and one of the two tunes that live up to the Saxon standard. This is one of those “raise your fist in the air and pump like mad!” type of tunes. Oh yeah, the lead solo is fucking terrific.

Battle Cry - Despite how shitty the majority of this album is, what we have here is one of Saxon’s all time best songs. The bass lines and drumming are done amazingly well, giving off the impression of one fighting for his life in a battle field. The chorus is one that grabs you by the balls, “Let me hear! Let me hear! Let me hear your battle cry!”. Everything about this song fucking kills.

Waiting For The Night - Aside from the catchy beat and riffage, this song is just too damn poppy. Like a few other tracks on here, I can tell this song had good potential, but for some reason, the band chose not to do that and screwed it all up instead. Decent tune, but this IS NOT the way Saxon should sound. Any lighter, and it could be played on a soft rock station.

We Came Here To Rock - Now just look at that song title, you know this has to definatly rock! Attitude and catchiness fill the lyrics, supported with damn good riffs, but…it could have been a bit better if the band hadn’t been on a “We wanna go pop!” trip.

You Ain’t To Angel - Groovy all the way through, but way too dull in riffage. If it wasn’t for Biff’s killer vocal deliverance, I would have just written this tune off right away. The song is indeed catchy, but quite boring at times.

Running Hot - Last good song you’ll hear on the album. No pop and no experimental orientation, this song just plain out smokes! The vocals kill, and the driving rhythm is excellent. Oh, and not to mention the solo, which just fucking slays.

Party ‘Til You Puke - Here’s where the band attempts to go big band/swing, filled with jazzy drum beats and big band piano playing in the background. Believe it or not, I believe that this song could have been turned into some killer tune, keeping the same lyrics and song structure, though changing the AWFUL music here. Only highlight here is the ending solo, but that type of solo can be heard in many other Saxon tunes as well.

Empty Promises - ::yawn::…boring! Slow and slightly groovy, but amazingly tiring and lame, both riff and vocal wise. Nothing good at all to be heard here.

Northern Lady - Okay, here is where Elton John does the piano work. Needless to say, this is Saxon’s worse ballad ever. WHY must they do this shit to their fans. As if Party ‘Til You Puke and Empty Promises didn’t make the listeners frown enough, they just have to go further with this lame-ass ballad, probably causing the listener to hit the eject button or stop the turn table, just like it did with me.