Customer Reviews

Saint Collection 1984-1999

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Thsi is Saint's first 4 albums on 2 CD's! Remastered and repackaged! Has nice liner notes, lots of photos of the band and THE MUSIC! Saint is a Christian Metal band from the 80's. They sound a lot like Judas Priest but have a Christian message. "Warriors Of The Son", the debut is here. Originally released in 1984, it has a raw, unpolished sound (not a bad thing). They were not yet on a wel-known label. COntains the original 6 tracks.

Their second release, Time's End, from 1986 is a huge improvement over the debut. Released on "Pure Metal" records, kicks off with "In The Night". Lots of heavy hitters here, this one is more polished and more professional that the WOS release.

Dsic two starts with the last Pure Metal release, "Too Late For Living". This one is even more polished that "Time's End" and has some slick production. Kind of reminds me of "Turbo" from Priest, but this is better than "Turbo". Contains the title track and "Star Pilot". Dee Harrington makes his shredding debut on guitars.

The 4th album is the independant release "Perfect Life". Josh Kramer is replaced on vocals by Tim Lamberson. Tim is good but it just ins't the same. This was originally released in 1999, ten years after the last album. Another down-fall is the lack of a drummer. They use a machine.

Overall, a great release from this Christian metal band. These albums have been hard to find forquite some time and are now avaiable.

Fast forward to 2006 -- Josh Kramer is BACK and they have re-recorded "Warriors Of The Son" with bonus tracks, released a new album "In The Battle" and "Saint Live" came out in Dec, 2005. For more info, google Saint and visit their site.

I was a pretty big fan of Christian metal growing up (in our house it was Christian metal or no metal at all, sadly), but for some reason I never discovered Saint. The band never seemed to draw the same attention as Stryper or even Barren Cross, which is a shame because Saint's traditional heavy metal sound was just as impressive as their peers.

Saint is, more or less, the Christian metal equivalent of Judas Priest. It's immediately apparent that Priest's British Steel (Exp) was the template for Saint's Time's End and Too Late for Living albums. I suppose that means the band wasn't terribly original, but show me a metal band in the 80's that wasn't influenced by Judas Priest. At least they do it well. This is some very tight, very powerful heavy metal should just as easily appeal to non-believing metal fans as it would Christians. They moved away from that sound on their 90's material, and I have to say it just isn't as impressive.

Saint is obviously a Christian band, and that comes through in their lyrics, though not to the extent you might think. Sure, there's a degree of proselytizing, but the band tended to focus more on the epic apocalyptic imagery of the Book of Revelations and more metaphorical applications of the Bible. I think that was a good call on Saint's part, as it makes their music more accessible to everyday listeners, not just the faithful.

Armor Records' 2-disc Saint Collection 1984-1999 is a complete collection of the studio material the band recorded during from their original 80's run to their 1999 comeback. It includes the 1984 EP Warriors of the Son, 1987's Time's End, 1988's Too Late for Living, and the 1999 EP Perfect Life. The songs have been digitally remastered and expanded liner notes are included. This comprehensive collection is the perfect way for you to acquaint yourself with this overlooked Christian metal band.

Back in the late 80's when I was a newly converted headbanger, I was just starting to build my collection when I discovered Saint. e If you just want straight forward no frill traditional heavy metal along the line of Judas Priest, Saxon, and Manowar, this is the perfect band. Over the years I got these 4 albums as separate releases (the first 2 I got on vinyl), but I would recommend this to anybody just discovering Saint for the first time. It's a great way to get the 1st 4 albums in 1 swoop and play catch up. Warriors of the Son was their 1984 debut EP, followed by Time End in 1986 (originally on Pure Metal), and Too Late For Living in 1988. These guys came out about the same time as Stryper, but didn't have much attention outside of the Christian rock community. They were however pioneers in the days when Christian metal was still largely unexplored territory. As for just a straight up heavy metal band, I think these guy held their own compared to many of their better know contemporaries. By 1990 the band folded. Fast forward to 1999 they got their independent comeback release, but sound more like straight rock than heavy metal. Though I wouldn't write it off totally. A round the mid 2000's they've been making new albums and returned to their original traditional heavy metal sound. If you are of the "true heavy metal" crowd, I would strongly suggest this collection.

This band did it smart. Let's re-release all of our album as one to give the fans something a little more for their buck. Instead of paying for four seperate albums they only have to shell out for two cd's on one package. Thank you for saving me the time and the money to track them all down for my collection. Been waiting for these to come back around. I owned three of four on cassette, now I own them all on CD and their new stuff also. Check them out. Alot of Christian bands copied what was popular back in the 80's big hair, tight clothes. etc but never made it anywhere. This band being Saint had all the potential to make it somewhere but something happened that wasn't/isn't quite clear to the general public of what happened. Saint is just as metal in their sword logo today as they were 24 yrs ago when they started. They come across as the Christian version of Judas Priest, after 89 dropped off the face of the earth and then resurfaced with a CD for this compilation. Happy to have it and have them back releasing music.

This collection of Saint's previous albums is a must own for all fans of classic heavy metal. With most tracks instantly likeable, and very hard to turn off the CD's as you just want to keep listening. That is until the Perfect Life EP tracks. Which is the only bad part of this release. But there's so much more to listen to, that I consider those tracks a bonus to the killer main releases. The tracks have been remastered so are sounding better than ever. Buy it now before it goes out of print!

Don't get this CD from this seller "Billy Kain" cause he will rip you off! But I see he is the only seller who is selling this 4 albums in one collectors CD. That is why I only gave this only 1 star all because of the stuipid seller! I would of love it if I actually got the CD from another seller but this seller is by far the dumbest seller!