Over the past 20 years or so there’s been a trend of legendary hard rock and arena acts doing cover albums of their influences. Everyone from Def Leppard to Poison. To Queensryche and Anthrax. Tesla and Aerosmith. So it would stand to reason that a band like Saxon would get on board. Releasing their first covers album ‘Inspirations’ in 2021. And now the follow up ‘More Inspirations’ has the band putting their straight forward metal take on some of their favorite artists yet again.
Covering everyone from The Animals to Z.Z. Top to KISS and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. Saxon cover a fairly wide cast over their influences. ‘We’ve Gotta Get Out of This Place’ is a great example. Adding their hard rock flair to a true classic. However, there are moments where Saxon steer the ship towards their contemporaries. Such as their cover of ‘Detroit Rock City.’ A timeless hard rock track with flair and passion. Basically the entire catalog of Saxon.
‘Chevrolet’ is another prime example of Saxon injecting their hard rock sound into a more blues based sound. And major props for covering Z.Z. Top without doing such an on the nose track. Speaking of that, way to go with nailing Nazereth’s ‘Razamanaz.’ Instead of going for ‘Hair of the Dog.’ Which has been done into the ground. Rainbow’s ‘Man on the Silver Mountain’ fits right in with what’s being accomplished on the album. And an obvious choice. I can’t think of many bands that could possibly be as influential. Saxon add a little beef to Cream’s ‘Tales of Brave Ulysses.’ While ‘From the Inside’ by Alice Cooper gets a nice update.
Overall ‘Inspirations’ is a very solid covers album. The songs are excellent choices. Some a little clearer than other. But all played to perfection. Cover albums can be hit or miss. But Saxon hits it out of the park. However, I think the real story is in how good the band sounds. Frontman Peter ‘Biff’ Byford sounds absolutely incredible for his 72 years of age. A very overlooked singer. In fact, the whole band is pretty underrated. Pumping out solid material for over four decades now. And ‘More Inspirations’ is yet another notch on a very solid, storied career.
