Unknown Soldier

Overview
After churning out an amazing triumvirate of albums in just a few short years Wheels of Steel, Strong Arm of the Law and Denim and Leather (see reviews) it was fitting that Saxon one of the tightest and most exciting bands of the NWOBHM would grace us with a live offering. 1982 was a pivotal year for the band, as Iron Maiden would become the hottest heavy metal band in the world with The Number of the Beast album and Def Leppard were preparing for their massive onslaught of the American market the following year with Pyromania. So with heavy metal reaching the far flung corners and senses of the listening masses, this period should’ve also belonged to Saxon as well and a live album seemed a fitting celebration in anticipation of that goal. The problem was though, was that critics felt differently about this and attacked the band for what they saw as a below-par live release (something I obviously disagree with, as do many others now in hindsight) as critics thought the album was no more than a quick attempt to cash-in by the band, with a kind of greatest hits album that just happened to be in a live-setting. Also criticized were some of the bands song choices and performances to boot as well. In fact much the same had taken place with UFO’s Strangers in the Night live album (see 1979 review) and thanks to critics this had been one of the numerous reasons for UFO’s rapid decline as a major player, and Saxon in many ways would now take the same and similar downward spiral from the upper echelons of the metal world. Overall though and in response to the critics, The Eagle Has Landed would be like any number of other worthy live albums from the period, in that it would be severely cut by the label, who as always would leave off some of the material that they shouldn’t have done and many years later would re-issue of the album to include these as bonus tracks, but the bonus tracks for this album wouldn’t come out until 2006! Also the band went through the departure of core drummer Peter Gill who would finish up with Motorhead and he was replaced by Nigel Glockler (ex-Toyah) who would go onto to become the mainstay drummer of the band. The album was recorded from the Denim and Leather UK and European tour throughout 1981-1982, and the album title is a play on the war film The Eagle Has Landed of the same name. The album also supposedly won the UK British Heavy Metal Live award (not that that means much anyway) Chartwise the album would do the business in the UK album charts where it reached an impressive no.5 slot and would be one the last major charting positions by the band.

Verdict
The 1970s may well have been the era of the live album and like double albums, were usually only given to worthy bands. But in the 1980s live albums by metal bands were very much an expected release to both satisfy both genre fans and the record labels. As a band Saxon were always one of the better live acts at the start of the decade and for this reason The Eagle Has Landed is in such a lofty position on this year’s list, despite certain songs being omitted from the album. The Eagle Has Landed is a live album by the Saxon metal beast that seamlessly shifs from song to song in all its glory and the album starts with the Wheels of Steel duo “Motorcycle Man” and “747 (Strangers in the Night)” the former one of the band’s now trademark speed metal offerings and the second a superb lesson in mid-paced melodic metal ambience. Then comes the popular opener from the Denim and Leather album “Princess of the Night” the band’s so-called love song about a train and this track is then followed by two tracks from the Strong Arm of the Law album, “Strong Arm of the Law” and “Heavy Metal Thunder” the former one of the band’s mid-tempo essentials and the latter one of the band’s heaviest tracks. Speaking of one of their heavier tracks, we then go onto one of their fastest tracks in “20,000 FT” which starts the second side of the album. Next is the third killer track from Wheels of Steel and that is the memorable and enticing title track “Wheels of Steel” which is greatly extended thanks to Biff Byfords interaction with the crowd. The next two cuts are from Denim and Leather “Never Surrender” which easily could’ve been left off in favour of a stronger track, but they’re right on cue again with “Fire in the Sky” one of the band’s fastest and this leads into “Machine Gun” which contains one of the band’s best ever riffs to close the album. Of the criticized omissions from the album, none come any greater than tracks like the band’s classic ode to metal “Denim and Leather” the equally superb “And the Bands Played On” and also “Midnight Rider” one of the band’s slickest tracks. These are three of the most obvious tracks that should’ve been included in the original pressings for the album. Overall The Eagle Has Landed contains most of the bands essential proto-speed and testosterone metal classics that have been garnered from the classic Wheels of Steel, Strong Arm of the Law and Denim & Leather albums (nothing from the disappointing debut luckily) Biff Byford as expected interacts Biff style with the audience, but it’s the twin-guitar team of Graham Oliver and Paul Quinn that probably end up as being the stars of the album though.

Biff Byford- Vocals
Graham Oliver- Guitar
Paul Quinn- Guitar
Steve Dawson- Bass
Nigel Glockler- Drums

Production- Saxon

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