Saxon - Destiny (1988)

When this opus emerged I felt the urge to avoid it - maybe it was the non-metal cover and the polished sound. It was as if Saxon were aiming for the US market with this almost pompous style of rock, littered with keyboards (or do they call it synth guitar!!) and Biff's almost strutting yet corny vocal style. Some big anthem's here blessed with those pouting choruses, the steamy 'Ride Like The Wind' not exactly the new 'Denim & Leather', 'Destiny' sounds like it was with late night American radio in mind. Strangely, I find the band more compelling than ever now but back then they soon became a laughing stock - not sure why - maybe it was tracks like 'Song For Emma' which put the metalheads off, and as thrash, death metal and alterno metal waited round the corner, this type of rock seemed to stiff big time. I guess Saxon couldn't have won whatever race they'd run, their almost old fashioned denim rock was dated, and their new brand seemed to hint at the commercial - but more than twenty years later 'Destiny', like all their other albums, somehow refuses to date in my opinion. It's straight down the line rock, just check out the driving 'Where The Lightning Strikes', although some may argue that all of this is somewhat laced with a softer edge, and they'd be right, but Saxon have stood the test of time, and many of these times were harsh, and they've emerged as a bit of a British metal institution, and god bless them for it.

7/10