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
is a pure heavy metal album -- the
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