Rock the Nations

Saxon is a very well-known NWOBHM band. They are well known for their hits such as Denim and Leather and Princess of the Night and their music is very influential for other metal bands such as Metallica, Artillery, and Testament. Saxon are influenced by many prog rock bands, blues rock, and heavy metal bands like Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix, Albert King, and Motorhead. Rock the Nations however could have been better, and the album is still heavy metal, but they have more glam metal influence on here. It's like if you mix Van Halen, Mötley Crüe, and NWOBHM we get Rock the Nations as a result.

The song Party Till You Puke has a mix of blues, rock' n roll, and swing, which does not sound good for a heavy metal band. It's like if you took Chuck Berry and Little Richard and mixed it with glam metal. This song would have been better if they made it metal instead of swing, blues, and rock and roll. Another notable song is "Waiting for the Night", which has an obvious Jump by Van Halen influence. It is not something you would expect from a band that has Denim and Leather as a metal anthem. Graham Oliver's guitar has more melody, the song has a pop hook to it, and the song is more like a song Van Halen or Guns n Roses would have written. This song isn't terrible, but the overall song would have sounded better if they didn't use the Jump influence on it.

I also would like to mention Northern Lady, which has Elton John playing piano, this song is a lame ballad that at the time glam metal bands also had on their albums. This was the worst song on the album, I would rather be listening to chalk scraping than this pile of garbage. Northern Lady lyrically is also pretty cheesy. "Lady face the morning sun The sunlight in your hair Northern Lady, you're the one..." This song ruined the overall album and made it lose the potential of being great. If the song was not on here, then it would have been a much better album.

The album's production is good and Biff Byford's vocals are still the same, but the album is more like a pop rock album, like how Def Leppard sounded on Hysteria and Pyromania. Nigel Glocker's drums are thunderous on Battle Cry and Graham Oliver's guitar solo is generic. Rock the Nations is catchy, Biff Byford's vocals are powerful, and the song is upbeat. Rock the Nations will be stuck, and it will be playing in your head over and over again like a broken record. Graham Oliver's guitar solos are also good. The album still has heavy metal, even though it's more like pop rock.

Overall, the album is Ok and their musical sound is less present than their legendary albums. The album is also an example of infamous bands like Saxon following the bandwagon of music trends at the time. There are good moments here, but you should listen to the classics instead of these, because they are much better music-wise, although Graham Oliver does have some good solos here.

5/10