| Inspirations | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 19 March 2021 | |||
| Recorded | 2020 | |||
| Studio | Brockfield Hall, The Big Silver Barn | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 40:12 | |||
| Label | Silver Lining Music | |||
| Producer | Biff Byford | |||
| Saxon chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Inspirations | ||||
| ||||
Inspirations is the first cover album by the English heavy metal band Saxon, released on 19 March 2021 by Silver Lining Music. Consisting entirely of covers, it was recorded at Brockfield Hall and The Big Silver Barn in York and produced by Biff Byford.
Inspirations consists of covers of songs of various artists from the 1960s and 1970s that influenced Saxon over the years. Byford said ″We wanted to do an album based on our influences, the songs and bands that inspired us to write what we did and still do, and it was also interesting to see what my voice could do as I haven't sung many of these songs before.″ [1] The songs are mostly from the hard rock, psychedelic rock, blues rock, and heavy metal genres. The band played close to the musical styles of the bands they covered, but also added some of their own heavier sound.[ citation needed ]
To record the album the band travelled to historic Brockfield Hall in York, where they played and recorded the songs live. [2] Byford recorded his vocals at The Big Silver Barn, also in York.[ citation needed ]
Three music videos were released from this album. The first video was released on 11 December 2020 for the song ″Paint It Black″. The video features a behind-the-scenes look Saxon performing the song at Brockfield Hall, where the album was recorded. [3] The second video was released on 15 January 2021 for the song ″Speed King″. The video features clips of rally cars speeding down various tracks. [1] The third video is a lyric video for the song ″Paperback Writer″. The video consists of a digital animation of a quill writing out the lyrics of the songs on paper as they are sung, cut with shots of the album art during instrumental portions. [4]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Blabbermouth | 7.5/10 [5] |
| The Rockpit | 8/10 [6] |
| Metal Injection | 7/10 [2] |
The album is generally well received. It managed to chart in several countries, reaching a peak of 10 on the German music charts. It was described as ″vibrant and brashly entertaining″ by Dom Lawson in his review for Blabbermouth. He also described being able to hear Biff Byford sing several of the tracks as "an absolute joy". [5]
| No. | Title | Music | Original artist (date) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Paint It Black" | Mick Jagger, Keith Richards | The Rolling Stones, 1966 | 3:18 |
| 2. | "Immigrant Song" | Jimmy Page, Robert Plant | Led Zeppelin, 1970 | 2:05 |
| 3. | "Paperback Writer" | Lennon–McCartney | The Beatles, 1966 | 2:19 |
| 4. | "Evil Woman" | Dave Wagner, Dick Wiegand, Larry Wiegand | Crow, 1969 | 3:29 |
| 5. | "Stone Free" | Jimi Hendrix | Jimi Hendrix, 1966 | 3:44 |
| 6. | "Bomber" | Eddie Clarke, Ian Kilmister, Phil Taylor | Motörhead, 1979 | 3:22 |
| 7. | "Speed King" | Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice | Deep Purple, 1970 | 3:31 |
| 8. | "The Rocker" | Phil Lynott, Brian Downey, Eric Bell | Thin Lizzy, 1973 | 3:46 |
| 9. | "Hold the Line" | David Paich | Toto, 1978 | 3:47 |
| 10. | "Problem Child" | Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Bon Scott | AC/DC, 1976 | 4:09 |
| 11. | "See My Friends" | Ray Davies | The Kinks, 1965 | 2:55 |
| 12. | "Shoot Shoot" | Michael Schenker, Phil Mogg, Pete Way, Andy Parker | UFO, 1975 | 3:47 |
Saxon
| Chart (2021) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [8] | 27 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [9] | 102 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [10] | 34 |
| French Albums (SNEP) [11] | 154 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [12] | 10 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) [13] | 6 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [14] | 12 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [15] | 56 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC) [16] | 2 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [17] | 1 |
Saxon are an English heavy metal band formed in Barnsley in 1975. As leaders of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM), they had eight UK Top 40 albums during the 1980s including four UK Top 10 albums and two Top 5 albums. They had numerous hit singles on the UK Singles Chart and experienced success all over Europe and Japan, as well as in the United States.
Peter Rodney "Biff" Byford is an English singer best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Saxon.
Lionheart is the sixteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon, released in 2004. It is the only studio album featuring drummer Jörg Michael. The title is inspired from Richard the Lionheart, a 12th-century King of England. "Beyond the Grave" was released as a single and a video. The album was re-released on 17 February 2006 in digipak format with a bonus DVD-Audio featuring previously unreleased material, videos, rough mixes and a new 5.1 / 96 K mix of the whole album, as well as a Saxon keyholder and a patch.
Wheels of Steel is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon. Released in 1980 by Carrere Records, it was their first album to enter the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number 5, and is their highest-charting album in the UK Albums Chart to date. The album eventually went on to achieve gold status in the UK.
Strong Arm of The Law is the third studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon. It was released in 1980, seven months after Wheels of Steel, and debuted on the UK chart at #11.
Denim and Leather is the fourth studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon released in 1981. The album was certified Gold status in the U.K. This was the last album with the classic line up of Saxon, as drummer Pete Gill would leave the band due to a hand injury, later joining Motörhead; this was also seen as the last of their trilogy of classic albums.
Power & the Glory is the fifth studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon, released in March 1983 by Carrere Records. This is the first Saxon studio album with new drummer Nigel Glockler and was recorded in Atlanta, Georgia in the fall of 1982.
Solid Ball of Rock is the tenth studio album by heavy metal band Saxon released in 1991 on Virgin Records. Five of its 11 tracks were written by new bassist Nibbs Carter, who co-wrote another three songs.
Rock the Nations is the eighth studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon, released in August 1986.
The Inner Sanctum is the seventeenth studio album by British heavy metal band Saxon, released on 5 March 2007. It is the first album by the band to feature drummer Nigel Glockler since 1997's Unleash the Beast. A limited edition with DVD is available too.
Into the Labyrinth, the eighteenth studio album by British heavy metal band Saxon, was released on 9 January 2009. It was made between tours in 2008 and written by the band in England and at Biff Byford's house in France. The first single, "Live to Rock", was released on 17 October 2008. The album sold about 1,000 copies in the US in the week after its release.
Call To Arms is the nineteenth studio album by British heavy metal band Saxon. Call to Arms was released 3 June in Europe; 6 June in Denmark, Finland, and the UK; 8 June in Greece and Poland; 10 June in France. Previously, it was due to be released on 23 May 2011. The album was released on 27 September in North America by EMI. Current Deep Purple keyboardist Don Airey made a guest appearance on the album.
Sacrifice is the twentieth studio album by British heavy metal band Saxon. It was released on 1 March 2013 in Europe, 4 March in the United Kingdom and 26 March in the United States.
Battering Ram is the twenty-first studio album by British heavy metal band Saxon, released on 16 October 2015.
Let Me Feel Your Power is the tenth live album by British heavy metal band Saxon. The title comes from the third track on their seventeenth studio album, The Inner Sanctum. Originally, it was to be released on 23 September 2016, but the release date was pushed back to 7 October. In the US, the release date was 28 October.
Thunderbolt is the twenty-second studio album by British heavy metal band Saxon, released on 2 February 2018.
Under Cöver is a covers compilation album by the band Motörhead, released on 1 September 2017.
Carpe Diem is the twenty-third studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon released in 2022.
The Great Heathen Army is the twelfth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth. It was released on 5 August 2022, through Metal Blade Records and Sony Music.
More Inspirations is the second cover album by the English heavy metal band Saxon, released on 24 March 2023.