THUNDEROUS ENCORE
By Kelley Simms
to be interested in the '80s stuff. It was just a
fantastic period, and not just for Saxon but
for Maiden, Priest and all the bands who
were writing great songs. I think these songs
are just tied into people's rock 'n' roll DNA. I
just think people are mentally interested in it
and always will be. The older it gets, the
more people get interested.
Saxon 2015: Biff Byford (center)
T
here's no denying that Saxon is a heavy
metal institution. Along with Judas
Priest and Iron Maiden, Saxon is one of
the most influential bands to emerge from the
New Wave Of British Heavy Metal
(NWOBHM) scene that exploded in the UK
in the early eighties. Thirty-five years later,
Saxon is still creating quality material and
giving great live performances worldwide.
Although the band doesn't make it to the US
as often as they should, they have appeared
more frequently in recent years. Chicago area
fans will have a chance to see them live on
May 21st when they open (on selected tour
dates) with Judas Priest at the Rosemont
34 illinoisentertainer.com may 2015
IE: Some bands these days feel that they have
to "modernize" their classic songs for whatever reason. What played a factor in the band
re-recording the songs that appear on Heavy
Metal Thunder?
Biff Byford: We wanted to re-record them and
have a bit of fun. We wanted to look at them
as revisiting the songs with a better sound.
We had some time to spare and wanted to
send a message out there that we're still
around and these are our songs. They sound
a little better than the ones before. We didn't
want to re-record them because we didn't like
the originals, because we love the originals. It
was just nice to mess around with the older
stuff. I think the two live together quite nicely.
Theater. Although new material is in the
works, the band will also be playing selected
hits from their early '80s triumvirate albums
Wheels Of Steel, Strong Arm of The Law and
Denim and Leather on their own headlining
Warriors Of The Road Tour with Armored
Saint. Vocalist, band spokesman and allaround great guy Biff Byford filled IE in on
the latest news on Saxon.
IE: The NWOBHM explosion of the early '80s
was such a magical time.
Biff Byford: Yeah, it was interesting. It was a
great time. You had Whitesnake just starting
with Coverdale and his own band. You had
Priest doing British Steel; Maiden were doing
Number of the Beast; we were doing Wheels of
Steel and Denim and Leather. I think people
were just writing great stuff. I don't know
why, maybe it was something in the water!
IE: With the positive reaction from the rerelease of Heavy Metal Thunder, it proves
that Saxon fans just can't get enough of your
classic material.
Biff Byford: I think people are always going
IE: Along with the re-release of the Heavy
Metal Thunder CD, the Saxon Chronicles
DVD was also repackaged. It's a definitive
part of Saxon's history and you didn't really
leave anything out.
Biff Byford: It was good to get rid of some of
the demons and talk about early things. It's
interesting for the fans because a lot of them
don't really know the history of the band. So,
it's good for the fans to see people and listen
to their stories about the band. I don't think
these two particular products had a high profile in America, so