Inspirations Saxon

• 1 Paint It Black 03:18
• 2 Immigrant Song 02:05
• 3 Paperback Writer 02:19
• 4 Evil Woman 03:29
• 5 Stone Free 03:44
• 6 Bomber 03:22
• 7 Speed King 03:31
• 8 The Rocker 03:46
• 9 Hold The Line 03:47
• 10 Problem Child 04:09
• 11 See My Friends 02:55
• Total Runtime 36:25

Info for Inspirations

British Heavy Metal legends Saxon will deliver a full-roar-fun-down set of covers with their latest album “Inspirations”, which drops a brand new 11 track release featuring some of the superb classic rock songs that influenced Biff Byford & the band.

“Inspirations” gets things rolling with the release of Saxon’s crunching take on The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black”. Biff Byford comments: “Loved this band since I first saw them and heard them. I liked the Beatles, but the Stones appealed to my rebel side; their iconic look… so many great songs, such a great attitude in the music!”...

The release of “Paint It Black” is also accompanied by a behind-the-scenes video, which was filmed during the band’s recording session earlier in the year. Watch the video below.

“Inspirations” was recorded at Brockfield Hall near York in the UK, which was built in 1804 and holds the largest collection of paintings by Yorkshire’s impressionist artists – the Staithes Group. For Byford, recording Inspirations all together within such a rich historical environment was a major ingredient of the project. “The warmth and feel of Inspirations had so much to do with being together in this magnificent place and doing it ‘old-school’ style”, Byford explains. “This is how many bands back in the day -including some of the ones covered here - made such great albums, so it just felt really good to be able to do this somewhere like Brockfield Hall”. The results speak for themselves.

From the super-charged melodic romp of The Beatles’ “Paperback Writer” to their freeway mad take on Jimi Hendrix’s “Stone Free”, Saxon show their love and appreciation with a series of faithful, raw and ready tributes. Maintaining a firm eye on the old school way using Marshall cabs, Marshall amps, real drums and produced by Biff Byford with Jacky Lehmann recording and mixing, Saxon approach the likes of Motörhead’s “Bomber” (with added whistle!), AC/DC’s “Problem Child”, Black Sabbath’s “Evil Woman” and a raucous Deep Purple’s “Speed King” with refreshingly warm, unfiltered, “vintage” sounding renditions.

“We wanted to do an album based on our influences, the songs and bands that inspired us to write what we did and still do”, continues Byford, “and it was also interesting to see what my voice could do as I haven’t sung many of these songs before”.

Byford does, indeed, take on some new vocal challenges, which he duly smashes on the likes of Thin Lizzy’s “The Rocker”. The net result is that whether cranking up a heavyweight take on Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” or throwing down AC/DC’s “Problem Child”, Saxon does a supreme job of entertaining both themselves and their audience throughout “Inspirations”.

“We didn’t want to change any of the songs too much, just play them more like Saxon”, concludes Byford, “and we also think it’s very important to have - and share with the fans - some fun in these dark times”.

You want even more proof of the validity behind that statement? Wrap your ears around their sparkling take on Toto’s “Hold the Line” and consider Saxon’s Inspirations a mission accomplished.

Saxon

Saxon
After more than 35 years and 13 million albums sold worldwide, Saxon are still relentless and passionate as they were back in the days of 'Wheels of Steel' and 'Denim and Leather'. The influential heavy metal outfit has been an inspiration for the likes of Metallica and Megadeth and a front-runner for the New Wave of British Heavy Metal sweeping the nation in the late 70s-early 80s.

Somewhere around South Yorkshire, UK there was a band that started life as SOB during 1976 with founder members Graham Oliver and Steve Dawson. This band joined forces with another local band, Coast, featuring Biff Byford on vocals and Paul Quinn on guitar. The two bands then finalised with a line-up comprising of the then 26 year old Graham 'Oly' Oliver, Steve 'Dobby' Dawson (27), Paul 'Blute' Quinn (26), Pete 'Frank' Gill (27) and Peter 'Biff' Byford (27). The name of the band was Son Of A Bitch. That name was dropped a few years later and the band re-christened themselves SAXON. They were at this time playing the usual rock clubs and concert gigs supporting The Ian Gillan Band and Heavy Metal Kids, amongst others, playing all their own material. Demo tapes were recorded at Tapestry Studios, with producer John Verity (Ex. Argent singer/guitarist). They hawked these round the usual record companies only to be ignored as the New-wave was at its height at this time. After a few months the band finally gained a favourable reaction from EMI man Peter Hinton. He had come up to Barnsley to see the band play at the town's Civic Hall. He was very impressed and recommended SAXON to Claude Carrere as candidates for his new label on the British scene, Carrere Records. Claude decided to offer them a contract, after hearing the band's demo tapes. List: www.saxon747.com

This album contains no booklet.