Inspirations

Description

Saxon showcases its "inspirations". The legends of British Heavy Metal will deliver a complete set of covers with their latest album Inspirations. The album brings together some of the rock classics that influenced Biff Byford & the band. From the crunchy version of "Paint It Black" by the Rolling Stones to the wild version of "Stone Free" by Jimi Hendrix, not to mention the fiery melodies of "Paperback Writer" by the Beatles, Saxon shows their love through a series of faithful and raw tributes. Recorded old school at Brockfield Hall near York, UK, with Marshall amps and a real drum kit, Saxon tackles tracks like "Bomber" by Motörhead, "Problem Child" by AC/DC, "Evil Woman" by Black Sabbath, and "Speed King" by Deep Purple with refreshing, warm, unfiltered, and "vintage" sound. Byford takes on new vocal challenges, which he successfully meets in "The Rocker" by Thin Lizzy. "We wanted to make an album that showed our influences, the songs and the bands that inspired us to write exactly the Saxon songs we have written and are still writing. It was interesting to see what my voice could do differently because I had never sung some of these songs before," adds Biff. Byford has certainly taken on new vocal challenges. For example, how he properly nails The Rocker by Thin Lizzy. Another heavyweight is Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin, followed by Problem Child by AC/DC. Saxon does an incredibly good job here not only to entertain but also to keep the audience on the inspirations at the same time. "'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 impressionist artists - the Staithes Group. For Byford, recording all the inspirations in such a rich historical environment was a major ingredient of the project. "The warmth and feel of Inspirations has so much to do with being together in this beautiful place and doing it 'old school'," explains Byford. "It's the number of bands at the time - including some of those mentioned here - that made such great albums, so it was really nice to be able to do that somewhere like Brockfield Hall." The results speak for themselves.