Saxon – Strong Arm Of The Law

Man what a time to be a metal fan! I was pretty young when Saxon’s early LPs came out so I didn’t hear them until mid decade. As one might imagine, many NWOBHM bands were not very well known in the US outside of Maiden and Def Leppard but metal mags like Hit Parader and Circus did carry stories about Saxon and praised their classic records. ‘Strong Arm of the Law’ was a very quick follow up to ‘Wheels of Steel’, both released in 1980 and in my opinion was the better of the two albums (slightly). The title track is right up there for me as an all-time Saxon favorite as it really shows those AC/DC influences as does much of these first few Saxon albums. “20,000 Ft.”, “Dallas 1PM”, and “To Hell and Back Again” are some other key tracks as well. “Dallas” was interesting because it looks at the Kennedy assassination from a young British lad’s point of view (Biff’s). “Strong Arm” the song details the night when the band was traveling in America one late night after a gig when they were pulled over by the police who seemed perplexed that the long haired lands from Barnsley, Yorkshire didn’t have a stash of drugs with them. Saxon were like a combination of AC/DC and Motorhead in this era and the rawness of their sound was complimented by a strong sense of melody, especially on a track like “Sixth Form Girls”. “Heavy Metal Thunder” is a solid opener as well but I don’t love it as much as “Motorcycle Man”, “Princess of the Night” or “Power and the Glory” in terms of the other classics that have kicked off their albums. ‘Strong Arm of the Law’ also showed how hard the band was willing to work to keep up with their contemporaries and also crack the States as well. Living my fantasies indeed…

Extreme surface noise, sibilance on side one first track and extremely warped due to tight shrink wrapping as the gatefold spine presses on the disc. Returned it and see no reason why another copy would be different.

Hy there my copy has CAL 120 - A1 W-1 LYRE SYMBOL SIDE 1 and CAL 120 B1 W-1 KD LYRE SYMBOL SIDE 2. Label Side 2 is circularly embossed at about 3 cm from center hole and Label Side 1 not embossed. Label graphics are identical..

Great edition of a great recording. This album ist Saxon's masterpiece. You won't find a single weak song, even "Hungry years", the least-strong composition, would be regarded a groundbreaking highlight in any other context. And the rest of the record is simply unbelievable. A gift from the Gods of Heavy Metal!

I’ve had the Swedish press from 1980 since it was released. This one is more fun to listen too. More punch in the lower frequencies and the instruments are easier to hear and are better separated in the mix.

This is the real 1st pressing of the album. It was released 2 weeks earlier than UK and other pressings. "But for some reason it was available in Italy two weeks earlier than planned", said Biff in Kerrang #1. There is also talk about 85.000 copies sold by the time Kerrang #1 was issued.

this is a rather unique european reissue of this 1980 metal classic, this seems to be geared for the italian market in italy as this comes with a nice photo book w/ all text in italian, this comes with an inner sleeve with one side featuring vintage photos and memorabilia from 1980, the other side features the lyrics, i see other 40 + year old classic metal titles like this being released in italy.... the sleeve is a gatefold like the original uk sleeve from 42 years ago. the italy booklet also features vintage to current day photos...

this was a great japan only mini lp replicated sleeve of the original japan lp with cd only bonus tracks, anyway THE JAPAN ONLY SHM cd sounds killer for this 1980 classic!!!!! great release as only the japanese can do..........

from 1980, this is Saxon's 3rd and best album. Here is a 2018 reissue on white(red/black) splatter vinyl. Nice reproduction of outer sleeve graphics and gatefold with full color photo collage inside and lyrics printed on full color inner sleeve.

The songs are everything you want from Saxon, blue collar tough guy British metal with catchy guitar riffs. My favorites are the "Strong Arm of the Law", "Dallas 1pm", and "Heavy Metal Thunder".

This reissue has good definition and sounds very nice. It also seems to sound better the louder you crank it. Guitars are a little buzzy compared to Wheels and Denim.

Recommended.

I love wheels of steel and denim and leather. But this is my favorite album from Saxon. Excellent sounding vinyl here.