Rock the Nations

Saxon's Rock The Nations is like when you see aircraft doing an aerial show and in the middle of it, one of the jets just veers the fuck off course for no reason. It stumps everybody, much like how Saxon stumps me on this album. Looking at that cover, it's a letdown that barely half of this album lives up to such enormity. Instead, it's glammification (and then some) from a heavy metal band. The production isn't as perfected like the polished, loud job on Innocence Is No Excuse, so it sounds stripped and compacted in comparison.

Throw this in the ballpark of Mötley Crüe's Shout At The Devil, which still has more balls than this. However, Saxon isn't without their strong-arm song containing a colossal chorus, hefty bass support, and dominant riffs. The anthemic, Maiden-esque "Battle Cry" is the start-to-finish song encompassing these traits and much more. Byford's distant wailing, the rolling drum patterns, and the charging pace keeps this one intense and upbeat without toying with cheesy melodies and upbeat jingles. The one problem that plagues this song and the rest of the album is how weak the guitars sound. It's that typical '80s sound where the guitars begin sounding like synthesizers, having no bite at all. It sometimes works, but on an album like this it needs to sound like something more pronounced.

The rest of the album doesn't reach this peak. It hovers below it with one or so of the above positive traits, like the title track's memorable chorus, the vigor of "Running Hot", or the poppy leads of "Waiting For The Night". Hell, even "Northern Lady," Elton John's only useful contribution to the album, is ripe with addicting leads and a more melodious vocal performance. There are positives like these that keep the songs interesting, but don't contribute to the overall value to the album. Other songs go out of their way to butcher Saxon's reputation, like "You Ain't No Angel" trying to be Whitesnake with none of the zest or the worthless jazzy / piano-bar-type swing or whatever (it reminds me of Family Matters) of "Party 'Til You Puke". It creates for a hacky album with an already inconsistent flow.

You might as well skip this one and not even worry about it. "Battle Cry" is pretty cool, but it's nothing you can't miss from any of the bad Saxon albums that had songs like "Crusader" or "The Eagle Has Landed" on them. Rock The Nations feels like an underachievement, with the band not committing to one direction like on Innocence Is No Excuse. Even Destiny, while sucking hard, was able to be (mostly) consistent.