Customer Reviews

Unleash the Beast

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

During the 1990's when heavy metal had lost some of it's popularity and was seen by many as a style of music that belonged to a decade past, Saxon stood tall as champions of the genre and continued to provide us metalheads with what we wanted to hear.

Saxon started the '90s with "Solid Ball Of Rock" which is exactly what that album was, followed by "Forever Free" in '93. 1995 saw the release of another of their better albums in "Dogs Of War", but it was "Unleash The Beast" in 1997 which was their best album since the early-mid '80's.

Doug Scarrat made his debut with the band on this album, replacing original member Graham Oliver on guitar, and whilst it is always sad when an original member goes, Scarrat fitted in perfectly and injected a freshness to the Saxon sound.

Saxon started to build a more aggressive, harder sound in the '90's after their more commercial sounding late '80's albums and with Dogs Of War this was most evident. Again they took another step in the harder direction with Unleash The Beast, and I think they hit it right on with this album.

The album has a great dark gothic picture on the cover, and mirrors the album perfectly, which starts off with the intro "Gothic Dreams". The album has a darker tone than previous Saxon albums, and the band experiments more with their sound whilst still maintaining that classic Saxon sound all us fans love. Following the intro is the great opener "Unleash The Beast" and this is exactly what Saxon have done. After a big intro of crashing drums and Byford's scream the guitars rip in and the pace picks up, with this being one of the faster tracks on the album. The next track "Terminal Velocity" keeps up the pace, with that classic Saxon guitar driven rock, and Byford getting a slightly more aggressive tone to his vocals. This song really pumps in the style of past songs such as Solid Ball Of Rock.

"Circle Of Light" again is dark and aggressive, a song about a person's life in the balance, when the next world beckons and the next few seconds will decide which path is taken.

The next song "The Thin Red Line" is my favorite song on the album, and one of my all time Saxon favorites. Perhaps only the great Iron Maiden can do battle/war songs as well as Saxon, but this is a great one to sing along to, with that classic Saxon melodic chorus. It also has a quieter moment in the middle of it when the guitars die down and Nibb's base just pumps along, before a great guitar solo breaks in. This conveys the calm before combat or during a lull in it, and builds again into the clash of warriors in battle.

"Ministry Of Fools" picks up the pace a bit again and also has a great chorus. It also gives a much-deserved slap to those supposed "respected" people who hold positions of authority in society and influence our lives.

"The Preacher" is another song with a dark undertone, but also a great intro that builds into that guitar driven rock sound.

"Bloodletter" is more frantic and aggressive, the fastest paced song on the album with great guitar work.

"Cut Out The Disease" again has a dark tone but also has a more experimental sound with timing changes, acoustic guitars and quieter moments, and great crashing heavy guitars. It is a different type of song to the classic Saxon of the past, but it is a great song that still has that unmistakable Saxon sound.

"Absent Friends" shows the band experimenting again, this time with a more mellow sounding acoustic song reflecting on the unexpected passing of friends. It has a good guitar solo in the middle, and it's mellow sound adds a good variance amongst the other heavier tracks.

"All Hell Breaking Loose" finishes off the album in the rapid fire, fast paced Saxon way. It's a good album closer.

To summarise, this is perhaps the most consistent album Saxon has ever recorded. There is not one bad song on it. It sounds dark but fresh, hard and aggressive with great guitar work, and Biff Byford's voice sounds just as good as ever (if not better).

This album is a must have for all Saxon fans, or if you just appreciate good classic sounding metal (real metal). Saxon has released many great albums and fantastic songs, but of them all "Unleash The Beast" is my favorite.

Glad to see that Saxon STILL exists to this day.I've debated with other fans that 'Unleash...' is just as good as their 1990 effort 'Solid Ball Of Rock'This disc has three original/classic members: vocalist Biff Byford,drummer Nigel Glocker and guitarist Paul Quinn.All cuts here are good,but the best include the brief intro "Gothic Dreams",the title track,"Terminal Velocity","Thin Red Line" and "The Preacher".The last three I listed DEFINITELY have the classic feel of old Saxon.You know what I'm talking about...it makes you feel like dumping beer over people's heads and causing a disturance in the AM hours.Like most Saxon albums,this one features a nifty ballad,"Absent Friends" which,of course showcases a mellower side of the band.Nice scary cover.

While making a raid on the music store, I purchased several Saxon albums, one of them was "Unleash the Beast". The moment the opener, Gothic Dreams, came on I was addicted. The entire album is an innovative blend of hard rock and heavy metal with gothic influence. Saxon has expanded their musical style since the 80's. They take on blistering revenge songs, rapid fire speed metal and even try their hand at ballads with "To Absent Friends". The universal favorite is "Cut Out the Disease", with it's poison lyrics and slammin' bass. The guitar work is (as usual for Saxon) amazing. The singer's voice has actually improved with age. Buy it if you are a true believer in the power of metal.

If you like 80's heavy metal - or just heavy metal in general - you HAVE to add this to your collection. IMHO, this Saxon release is the best metal album of 1997! Highlights: Circle Of Light, Terminal Velocity, The Thin Red Line...hell, the WHOLE CD is a highlight!!! These veterans of metal have not lost their touch. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

This was the first Saxon album I had purchased since the 1990 release of "Solid Ball of Rock" (which had me losing interest in Saxon, as that release sounded one dimensional and lacking any emotion). This album oozes energy, fire and captures the soul the boyz had back in the early 1980's. There is not a bad song on this album, and a highlight here that exemplifies the Saxon that hooked and solidified me as a fan with "Denim and Leather" and "Strong Arm of the Law" releases, is the song "Thin Red Line." The guitars are strong and forceful here, and foreward the rapid fire energy of the early days. Biff Byford has never sounded better, and the songwriting is very professional and entertaining, losing the corny subject matter representation of the last few albums. For fans new to Saxon, this is an excellent place to start, and then pick up the newer release, which is a more groove oriented hard rock opus, "Killing Ground." THEN go back and experiment with the roots stuff of "Wheels of Steel," "Denim and Leather" and "Strong Arm of the Law." There is such a tremendous history.....but don't purchase all of the stuff (unless you are a Saxon Metalhead like me), as the group really has not veered much from the formula that has made these five albums successful.

Put in on, turn it up, crank it loud, if you remember the NWOBH then why have you forgotten about SAXON, the most underated haevy metal band in the world. This cd is pure unadulterated heavy metal at its finest. Right from gothic dreams at the start through to the tear jerking absent friends near the end.

...there's always a BUT when playing critic! :)

first let me say that technically, saxon has never sounded better than on this release. the mastering/sound is top notch. when listening to this, like every other saxon release, it MUST be played on a good sound sytem. if you can't feel the power, the translation is lost.

let's go deeper. this is without a doubt the darkest Saxon release to date. knowing the history of this band and what they've went through to gain the American audience, i think i know why they went for this image. what image you ask? well, arguably the darkest image Saxon has ever portrayed in their entire 25+ year career. an image to the likes of Ozzy or Zombie. does it work? maybe for some. for me personally? no! nuff said on this...

let me tell you that this was the most draining Saxon listening experiences i've endured. does this mean it sux? heck no! what i mean is, many of the songs on this release are dark: darker than any Saxon album/CD i've listened to since their first in 1979. by the end of this disc, i couldn't believe that what i had heard was by one of my all time favorite bands.

with that said, i want to make clear to long time Saxon fans like myself that they should definitely own this CD in their catalogue. musically: i can't express enough the brilliance and professionalism Saxon "unleashes" here. lyrically? you be the judge... i'm just not a big fan of "dripping with evil" style of lyrics. BUT (there's always a BUT), you may think differently than i in this area.

looking at certain tracks, my highest praise goes to Terminal Velocity, Absent Friends and All Hell Breaks Loose (the latter about Tornadoes). you know, there aren't many bands left in the world that play to this calibre. i'd pay top dollar to see Saxon play live!

in summary, i wouldn't point to Unleash The Beast as a good starting point for new fans. for those just discovering Saxon, look to Killing Ground, Heavy Metal Thunder, Crusader, Wheels Of Steel or Solid Ball of Rock (to name a few of their many releases over the past 4 decades). this band has never been this dark in past efforts, and should not be remembered by future generations as "the band that made Unleash The Beast".

however, a solid 3 star rating for Saxon's 17th release by this long time fan. :)

This is a killer album & many Saxon fans feel it is their best in many years. I am particularly fond of "Terminal Velocity" & "The Preacher". Lots of tasty metal; see them live! By the way, if you're a metal fan & haven't heard these guys, do yourself a favor & BUY SOMETHING by them! They are one of the greatest metal bands ever & haven't gotten nearly the recognition they deserve!

this is the first album that i ever heard by the legendary saxon. i saw a program on the top 10 heavy metal english bands and saxon were no.8. they featured an excerpt from the song unleash the beast and from that moment i knew i had to have the album. Although Saxon arnt as popular as they used to be, they still have a hardcore following and can still play to 1000 people in englnad which isnt bad for a metal band. OK this album........ its great one of saxons best i actually prefer it to the early stuff coz the production here is better and the guitar playing is better as well. SOngs like Bloodletter and Unleash the Beast just make u think that true metal is still alive!! This album is a must for reeal metal fans and id say this much better than 90 priest or maiden.

Personally speaking I would buy this album just for the song "The Preacher".The title track is a bit weak, but the majority of the songs are good. I have mixed opinions on Biffs voice though. Sometimes I think it suits the song perfectly and in other songs I think it just sounds like a high pitched whine-I'm talking about ALL Saxon albums, not just this one.I never understood why this band never became more popular in the US, pehaps it was all down to a bad PR strategy. Saxon were just as popular as Maiden in early 80's Britain.If anyone hasn't heard Saxon yet, I can say they are a bit similar to 70's Rush, but with a twin guitar sound , and less " arty" than Rush-most of their early stuff is good down to earth rock and roll.Love the album cover!Best albums by this band are "Wheels of Steel", "Strong Arm of the Law", "Denim and Leather", "Dogs of War"-but they're all pretty good!