42 years into a career with more than a few bumps along the way and the current sidelining of vocalist Biff Byford due to health issues, from which we wish him a speedy and full recovery, there’s always time for a new album and what better than a live album? Well the name of this one might be familiar to fans – Saxon’s first Live album under the name ‘The Eagle Has Landed’ was launched way back in 1982 and ‘Part II’ followed in 1996, ‘Part III’ in 2006 now comes ‘The Eagle Has Landed 40 (Live)’ in 2019 – a 12th official live outing.
But where does the ’40’ come from? Well I guess you could argue that its 40 years since their first album was released back in 1979 and as (health permitting) there’s a 40th anniversary tour on the way but there’s also 40 tracks here drawn from various concerts from 2007 to 2018 tying in nicely chronologically with the previous ‘Eagle’ releases. Interestingly the current line-up of founder members Biff Byford and Paul Quinn, guitarist Doug Scarratt, bassist Nibbs Carter and drummer Nigel Glocker has been ever present over those years and so every track here features the same five protagonists.
Spread over three CD’s or five vinyl albums its also a hefty package – the vinyl including 5 different sleeves featuring a different band member, a playing mat and a thick 12″ book crammed with memorabilia and old press cuttings.
Always a great live band, Saxon mix it up nicely here; and whilst some albums and even some decades have been rather overlooked as far as song selection goes there are rarities along with the fan favourites; its great to see plenty of ‘new’ songs too from the last decade or so and tracks like the twelve year old opener ‘State Of Grace’ and it’s sister tracks ‘Red Star Falling’ and “Attila the Hun’ all from 2007’s ‘State of Grace’ album lead the charge. In truth though it is the ‘oldies’ that get the biggest roars like Disc one’s classic ‘Machine Gun’ and ‘Rock and Roll Gypsy’ that punctuate the newer tracks.
On a set with plenty of highlights there are some really special moments, whether it’s a rarely aired track of the moment when ‘Fast’ Eddie Clark comes out to play ‘Ace Of Spades’, saluting the legendary Lemmy. It’s enough to conjure a tear. You’ll love this, never has a live collection been more enjoyable.
Get better soon Biff and let’s hope there’s many more years on Saxon’s clock to come.
