Dogs of War

Saxon | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 21, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Steamhammer Us
• ASIN: B000063TE0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #106,742 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

"Dogs Of War was in our opinion, our first move back to a heavier style after Solid Ball Of Rock and Forever Free. The album did have its problems, mostly with Graham Oliver, so much so that Rainer Haensel replaced his guitar parts in the studio. The album was co produced and engineered by Kalle Trapp, Rainer and myself and I think Kalle got a fantastic sound and in retrospect we should have done Forever Free with Kalle. I think we had some great times with that partnership, the last concert Graham Oliver did was Bremen Aladin on the 31st of December 1994 New Years Eve. The Dogs Of War Tour was the first tour with Douglas Scarratt, who was the replacement for Graham Oliver. It was also a return to using Paul Gregory on the album artwork, you may notice one of the four horseman of the apocalypse is an Indian Warrior, we did this as a surprise for Rainer because he bred paint horses. Paul is the artist who did the Crusader cover and many more after this. I think the album was a milestone in our career because it was a fresher and heavier sounding album. I hope everybody likes the re-release and crank it up!" (Biff Byford 2005)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic metal amidst the grunge, September 5, 2006

By 

Scott Hedegard "Scott" (Fayetteville, AR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dogs of War (Audio CD)

If Iron Maiden and Def Leppard were the two most successful bands to come out of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal in the late '70's and early '80's, a great time for real metal fans, then Saxon probably is the most underrated, at least in the US.
Maiden has hung tough, thanks to a ferocious following, and Def Leppard ceased to be metal after their first two albums. Saxon has retained enough of a primarily European audience to remain active to this day. Metal is a strange beast - the music is the most confining in all of rock, but those who excel enjoy life spans that far exceed most any other genre.
Saxon's reissue of 1995's "Dogs Of War" defiantly retains the classic metal sound they helped forge, thanks in part to being influenced by Judas Priest and Thin Lizzy, to name a few seminal metal bands. Biff Byford's vocals and lyrics remain the cornerstone of the Saxon sound, but his voice has aged noticeably to more of a boozy Bon Scott style tone, especially on "Big Twin Rolling".
The guitars are sharp and thankfully have not copped out to the dropped "D" grunge tuning that took over damn near every heavy band in the '90's. The title track should be plenty heavy enough for anybody, and I must admit it takes balls to record a very '80's sounding pop-metal tune on "Hold On."
"Great White Buffalo" and "Walking Through Tokyo" show how bands weren't afraid to stretch their creative wings at one time, and bully for Saxon for doing it.
All in all, "Dogs Of War" is a fine latter day effort from a band that deserves much more credit than they've received over the years.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars At least they found their way again!!, November 11, 2002

By 

M. Fonseca "carmarthen" (Thunder) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dogs of War (Audio CD)

Band line-ip here:
Biff - vocals
Graham OLiver - guitar (his last album with Saxon)
Paul Quinn - guitar
Nibbs Carter - bass
Nigel Glockler - drums

After trying to change their sound a lot for the American market, and obtaining a nule result, SAXON at last decided to go back to form: straigh heavy metal, but THEIR kind of heavy metal> British, original, muscular, strong.

DOGS OF WAR is a pleasant surprise. It's well crafted, well produced (by Bii and Ransel Hainer). It only has one sadreminiscence of their utterly commercial period back in the middle eighties, the commercial pop metal song "Hold on". But, due to the sheer quality of the alum, this mistep is easily forgotten!

Long Live SAXON!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid mid-period Saxon album - reissued, April 29, 2011

By 

Justin Gaines (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dogs of War (Audio CD)

Originally released in 1995, Dogs of War was the twelfth studio album from British heavy metal pioneers Saxon. Once one of the forerunners of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) movement, Saxon struggled as the `80s gave way to the `90s. After a couple of less than impressive attempts at mainstream radio success, the band used this album to move back towards a more metal sound.

Dogs of War doesn't quite find the band recapturing the glory of their NWOBHM years, but it does rock a bit more than Destiny and Innocence Is No Excuse. Aside from the metal anthems "Dogs of War" and "Demolition Alley," this album seems like an odd cross between Thin Lizzy and the blues rock Samson did so well. The emphasis is definitely more on melody and soulful vocals rather than fist-pumping heavy metal. Sometimes this works well (see "The Great White Buffalo" and "Give It All Away") and other times it's just not pretty ("Don't Worry"), but overall there's a lot to like about Dogs of War.

It's not an essential album like Saxon's early albums (or their post-2000 albums), but Dogs of War is still an enjoyable hard rock album. Besides, even an average Saxon album is still well worth owning if you're into British metal.

Edition Notes: SPV reissued Dogs of War in 2006, adding expanded liner notes and a pair of bonus tracks, live versions of "The Great White Buffalo" and "Denim and Leather." It's not an essential reissue, so if you have the previous version there probably isn't much need to upgrade to this one. For those of us who missed it the first time around though, the Dogs of War reissue is ideal.