Lionheart

Like the Energizer Bunny, veteran British metallists {|Saxon|} can take a licking and keep on ticking. While their countless lineup shakeups and ill-advised career choices would have killed off most bands many a moon ago, original members {|Biff Byford|} (vocals) and {|Paul Quinn|} (guitar) continue to headbang merrily along, as evidenced by their umpteenth studio effort, 2004's {|Lionheart|}. If you lost interest in the underdog band during the late '80s (when they took a very obvious stab at cracking the U.S. market with {|Def Leppard|}-like fluff), it's a pleasure to report that {|Lionheart|} is a pure heavy metal album -- the {|Saxon|} that old-timers know and love. Such standouts as the album-opening Witchfinder General and Man and Machine would not sound out of place on such earlier classics as {|Denim & Leather|} and {|Power & the Glory|}. Too bad the chaps didn't take this approach back in the mid-'80s, when many were predicting big things for them. ~ Greg Prato