Unitron Like Blue Cheer in '68 and Black Sabbath in '70 before them, Saxon joins the chosen few bands who've not only released two great albums in the same year, but have the second one even better than the first. Strong Arm of the Law indeed takes the Saxon sound that was formed on Wheels of Steel, and kicks everything up to eleven more than it already was.

Heavy Metal Thunder couldn't be a more fitting opener, because that's just what this album is. Instead of striking with lightning, Saxon strikes with hooks and there's so much damn energy in their performance that you want to scream along to every song even before you know the lyrics.

It follows the same formula set with the previous album, just with even stronger songs. Both the swaggering title track and Hungry Years swagger even better than the last album's title track, and 20,000 Ft. is even more frantic than anything before. Taking Your Chances may be my all time favorite Saxon song, it's got such an infectious hook coupled with being one of the most classic sounding of classic heavy metal songs. It just gets me so pumped, feeling ready to take on the world, which is what I love classic metal for.

If someone were to ask me to define 80's heavy metal, this would be a close second choice after a Judas Priest album. All the attitude, energy, and personality of classic metal is here in a thirty-six minute ride.

Warthur Saxon's Strong Arm of the Law followed hot on the heels of Wheels of Steel and offers just as compelling material. Dallas 1pm offers what must be one of the earliest examples of the use of sampled audio on a metal track, as well as the most effective, but otherwise we're still on the solid, tried and true formula of the previous album. Still, you can't expect the band to have revolutionised their sound so rapidly after their previous album, and when the gang are on form to this extent and the songs are this good I'd say the formula is worth repeating.

RuneWalsh2112 Even though the great Saxon album streak didn't start until their second album "Wheels Of Steel", once the thunder struck it was almost certain to strike again. This is essentially what happened with the release of "Strong Arm Of The Law"!

Unlike its predecessor, "Strong Arm Of The Law" starts off with lesser known but equally essential heavy metal classics "Heavy Metal Thunder" and "To Hell And Back Again". I actually happen to prefer this album's intro more than any other one from Saxon. It's a bit unfortunate that the album begins to wind down towards its halfway point with the album's title track being a rather cozy but overall too mellow Saxon track. "Taking Your Chances" kicks things back into high gear once again and "20,000 ft." pushes the envelope even further, thus making this track one of my top 3 Saxon essentials.

The final three album tracks are unfortunately not as strong, with the low point being "Sixth Form Girls", but the record still holds together excellently. It's quite amazing to see Saxon release their three essential releases ("Wheels Of Steel" to "Denim and Leather") in a time span of less than 1,5 years but that's essentially what happened. "Strong Arm Of The Law" is highly recommended to fans of Heavy Metal!

***** star songs: Heavy Metal Thunder (4:21) To Hell And Back Again (4:45) Taking Your Chances (4:20) 20,000 ft. (3:17)

**** star songs: Strong Arm Of The Law (4:39) Hungry Years (5:18) Dallas 1 PM (6:29)

*** star songs: Sixth Form Girls (4:20)

mjayeh I was given this album to me from my high school journalism teacher in 1983 whom at the time was also a Music/Movie critic or our local newspaper. At first glance, I loved the album cover and had no idea the treat I was in for when I brought it home and placed it on the platter of my turntable. I had heard of these guys from a friend of mine that was really into the NWoBHM scene, but had not heard anything from them. From track one, Heavy Metal Thunder to the last Dallas 1 PM about the killing of JFK, I was hooked. I wore the album out and both cassette tapes that I had made from that album. I would suggest getting your hands on this little gem and enjoy it in an entire session over and over again.