Is there any better meat-and-potatoes heavy metal band out there than Saxon?

Not in my book there isn’t. This English metal powerhouse has been around since the start of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and reminds one of a good, steady, veteran athlete. The kind of player who knows his role, doesn’t make trouble, performs at a high level and is always on a winning team.

Saxon is a winning team, folks. Despite a couple of personnel hiccups and a few albums when the band listened to the wrong label executive and “tweaked” its sound in the 80’s, this band has been churning out quality metal since 1979. Vocalist Biff Byford and guitarist Paul Quinn have been around since the beginning, and guitarist Doug Scarrett, bassist Nibbs Carter and drummer Nigel Glockler make up the best version of Saxon since the group’s classic days back in the early 1980’s.

The band’s appeal (especially in Europe) can be attributed to two things: the band slots nicely between tradition metal (think Judas Priest) and straight ahead rock and roll (Aerosmith, KISS, etc…) and Byford’s leadership.

On this tour, the band’s first proper trek thru the states in 13 years, the band is supporting its new album Call to Arms but playing what is basically a greatest hits set. You might ask “which hits?”, but for those who know better, the band has as many classic songs as any other band from its era.

And it’s Byford who is front and center, just like he’s always been, since the band first plugged in its amps. He is a charming, humble Englishman, and the one thing I really like about him is that his voice has remained the same for the past 32 years. He will not lose his voice because he strains to hit notes that only dogs can hear. He might lose it for a variety of other reasons, but his mid-range rumble has remained remarkably steady for his entire career, and Saxon today still sounds like classic Saxon did.

The rest of the quintet is as steady as they come-it’s Biff’s show, and the rest of the boys pretty much stay out of his way, despite the remarkable riffs and steady rhythm section. The other stars of the show are the songs, and on this night “Hammer of the Gods,” “Never Surrender,” “Denim and Leather,” “Princess of the Night, “The Power and the Glory” and “Wheels of Steel” were the highlights of the lengthy set.

Many in our reading audience may be going “Saxon? Really?,” but true fans know the Saxon is one the best and most consistent metal acts of the past 30 years. The group still turns out great material (Call to Arms is one of its best records since the 80’s), and the band can absolutely burn up a concert stage. The crowd in Santa Clara was as crazed as any, with a moshpit breaking out in front and everyone in the crowd of 400-500 singing every word to the classic songs. That’s a decent size crowd in America, a country that largely ignores all of the great English and European metal bands still tredding the boards-in Europe and at home, Saxon is still doing big business and is a band very much in demand on the summer festival circuit.

Hopefully, after reading this, you will go out and see the band or seek out one its records (the first four are particularly good). You might just find out what you’ve been missing about Saxon, and also discover why the band is held in such high esteem among savvy metal fans.