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• 

  Scorpions

  Scorpions are a hard rock/heavy metal band from Hannover, Germany, best known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and their singles "Wind of Change", "No One Like You", "Still Loving You", and "Send Me an Angel". The band has sold over 70 million records worldwide. Formation and early history (1965-1973) Rudolf Schenker, the band's rhythm guitarist, set out to find a band in 1965. At first, the band was school-kind with beat influences and Schenker himself on vocals. Things began to come together in 1969 when Schenker's younger brother Michael and vocalist Klaus Meine joined the band. In 1972 the group recorded and released their debut album Lonesome Crow with Lothar Heimberg on bass and Wolfgang Dziony on drums. During the Lonesome Crow tour, Scorpions opened for upcoming British band UFO. At the end of the tour the members of UFO offered guitarist Michael Schenker the lead guitar job; an offer which he soon accepted. Uli Roth was then called in temporarily to finish off the tour. The departure of Michael Schenker led to the break up of the Scorpions. In 1973, guitarist Uli Roth, a friend of the Schenker brothers, was in a band called Dawn Road. He had been offered the role as lead guitarist in Scorpions after Michael Schenker's departure but turned the band down. Rudolf decided that he wanted to work with Roth but did not want to resurrect the last Scorpions lineup. Rudolf Schenker attended some of Dawn Road's rehearsals and ultimately decided to join the band, which consisted of Roth, Francis Buchholz (bass),Achim Kirschning (keyboards) and Jurgen Rosenthal (drums). Roth persuaded Rudolf Schenker to invite Klaus Meine to join, which he did soon after. While there were more members of Dawn Road than Scorpions in the band, they decided to use the Scorpions name because they had released an album and were known in the German hard rock scene. Rise to popularity (1974-1978) In 1974 the new line-up of Scorpions released Fly to the Rainbow. The album proved to be more successful than Lonesome Crow and songs such as "Speedy's Coming" and the title track began to establish the band's sound. Achim Kirschning decided to leave after the recordings but subsequently guested on keyboards for the next two albums. Soon after, Jürgen Rosenthal had to leave as he was being drafted into the army, and was replaced by a Belgian drummer, Rudy Lenners. He later joined German progressive rock band called Eloy in 1976 and recorded three albums with them. It wasn't until the following year that the band hit their stride with the release of In Trance. In Trance marked the beginning of Scorpions' long collaboration with German producer Dieter Dierks. The album was a huge step forward for Scorpions and firmly established their hard rock formula, while at the same time garnering a substantial fan base, both at home and abroad. In 1976, Scorpions released Virgin Killer. The album's cover, which featured a fully nude prepubescent girl, brought the band considerable criticism and was ultimately pulled or replaced in several countries. In spite of the controversy - lead singer Klaus Meine even expressed shock - the album garnered significant praise from critics and fans alike. The following year, Rudy Lenners resigned due to health reasons and was replaced by Herman Rarebell. The follow-up to Virgin Killer, Taken by Force, was the first Scorpions record to be aggressively promoted in the United States. The album's single, "Steamrock Fever", was added to some of RCA's radio promotional records. Roth was not happy with the label's efforts and the commercial direction the band was taking. Although he performed on the band's Japan tour, he departed to form his own band, Electric Sun prior to the release of the resultant double live album Tokyo Tapes. Tokyo Tapes was released in the US and Europe six months after its Japanese release. By that time in mid 1978, Scorpions recruited new guitarist Matthias Jabs. Commercial success (1979-1990) Following the addition of Jabs, Scorpions left RCA for Mercury Records to record their next album. Just weeks after being evicted from UFO for his alcohol abuse, Michael Schenker also returned to the group for a short period during the recordings of the album. The result was Lovedrive. Containing such fan favorites as "Loving You Sunday Morning", "Holiday" and the instrumental "Coast to Coast", the "Scorpions formula" of hard rock songs mixed in with melodic ballads was firmly cemented. Lovedrive peaked at #55 on the US charts proving that Scorpions were gathering an international following. After the completion and release of the album, the band decided to retain Michael in the band, thus forcing Matthias Jabs to leave. But after a few weeks of the tour, Michael, still coping with alcoholism, kept missing a few gigs and Matthias Jabs was brought back to fill in for him on those occasions when he couldn't perform. In April 1979, during their tour in France, Matthias Jabs was brought in permanently to replace Michael Schenker. In 1980, the band released Animal Magnetism, again with a provocative cover showing a girl kneeling in front of a man's crotch. While Animal Magnetism contained classics such as "The Zoo" and "Make It Real", it was a critical disappointment when compared with Lovedrive. The band then began working on their next album. Blackout was released in 1982 and quickly became the band's best selling to date, eventually going platinum. Blackout spawned three hit singles: "Dynamite," "Blackout" and "No One Like You". It was not until 1984 and the release of Love at First Sting that the band finally cemented their status as rock superstars. Propelled by the single "Rock You Like a Hurricane", Love at First Sting went up the charts and went double platinum a few months after its release. MTV gave the album's videos "Rock You Like a Hurricane", "Bad Boys Running Wild", "Big City Nights", and the power ballad "Still Loving You" significant airtime, greatly contributing to the album's success. The band toured extensively behind Love at First Sting and decided to record and release their second live album, World Wide Live. Recorded over a year long period and released at the height of their popularity, the album was another success for the band, peaking at #17 on the charts. After their extensive world tours, the band finally returned to the studio to record Savage Amusement. Released in 1988, four years after their previous studio album, Savage Amusement represented a more polished pop sound similar to the style Def Leppard had found success with. On the Savage Amusement tour in '88, Scorpions became only the second Western group to play in the Soviet Union (the first being Uriah Heep in December 1987), with a performance in Leningrad. The following year the band returned to perform at the Moscow Music Peace Festival. Wishing to distance themselves from the Savage Amusement style, the band separated from their long-time producer and "Sixth Scorpion," Dieter Dierks, ultimately replacing him with Keith Olsen when they returned to the studio in 1990. Crazy World was released that same year and displayed a less polished sound. The album was a hit, propelled in large part by the massive success of the ballad "Wind of Change". Later days (1991-present) After the release of Crazy World Francis Buchholz, the band's long-serving bassist, left the group. Replacing him was Ralph Rieckermann who handled bass duties until 2002. In 1993 Scorpions released Face the Heat. For the recording process, Scorpions brought in producer Bruce Fairbairn. The album's sound was more metallic than melodic. Face the Heat was a moderate success. In 1995, a new live album, Live Bites, was produced. The disc documented live performances from their Savage Amusement Tour in 1988, all the way through the Face the Heat Tour in 1994. While the album had a much cleaner sound in comparison to their best-selling live album, World Wide Live, it was not as successful. Prior to recording their 13th studio album, 1996's Pure Instinct, drummer Herman Rarebell left the band to set up a recording company. Curt Cress took charge of the drumsticks for the album before James Kottak took over permanently. 1999 saw the release of Eye II Eye and a significant change in the band's style, mixing in elements of pop and techno. While the album was slickly produced, fans were unsure what to make of the band, responding negatively to almost everything from pop-soul backup singers to the electronic drums present on several songs. The video to the album's first European single, "To Be No. 1", featured a Monica Lewinsky lookalike which did little to improve its popularity. The following year Scorpions had a fairly successful collaboration with the Berlin Philharmonic that resulted in a 10-song album named Moment of Glory. The album went a long way towards rebuilding the band's reputation after the harsh criticism of Eye II Eye. In 2001, Scorpions released Acoustica, a live unplugged album featuring acoustic reworkings of the band's biggest hits, plus new tracks. While appreciated by fans, the lack of a new studio album was frustrating to some, and Acoustica did little to return the band to the spotlight. In 2004, the band released Unbreakable, an album that was hailed by critics as a long awaited return to form. The album was the heaviest the band had released since Face the Heat, and fans responded well to tracks such as "New Generation", "Love 'em or Leave 'em" and "Deep and Dark". Whether a result of poor promotion by the band's label or the long time between studio releases, Unbreakable received little airplay and did not chart. Scorpions toured extensively behind the album, and played as special guests with Judas Priest during the 2005 British tour. In early 2006, Scorpions released the DVD 1 Night in Vienna that included 14 live tracks and a complete rockumentary. In May of 2007, Scorpions released Humanity - Hour 1 in Europe. Humanity - Hour 1 became available in the U.S. on August 28, 2007 on New Door Records, entering the Billboard charts at number #63.

• 

  Alice Cooper

  In 1975, Alice Cooper joined forces with longtime collaborator and producer Bob Ezrin to record his first solo album Welcome to My Nightmare, a theatrical concept album about the nightmares of a young boy named Steven. Now, he’s followed Steven into adulthood and presents Welcome 2 My Nightmare, a new but familiar concept album about the fear, anxiety and disgust that haunt Alice Cooper’s dreams in an era of Facebook, Lady Gaga, Sketchers and Angry Birds.

  “Alice hates technology, disco is still a nightmare for him and working in a cubicle from nine-to-five would give him cold sweats,” Cooper says. “At the same time, this is a nightmare so all these normal life things are thrown into this crazy world that’s only logical when you’re in the nightmare. You could have an elephant in your garage, and you’re on the lawn in a pink tutu cooking hot dogs. And at the time it’s fine. But when you wake up you go, ‘How insane is that? Where did that come from?’ So we realized that having Alice in a modern-world nightmare is a great place to come from theatrically because we can go anywhere we want and make it as insane as possible.”

  A wild, surreal odyssey, Welcome 2 My Nightmare provided Cooper and Ezrin the opportunity to work with numerous musicians and experiment with various musical styles. The three surviving members of the original band, guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway and drummer Neal Smith, co-wrote three songs and they all played on “When Hell Comes Home,” a gritty ‘70s-style rock track about the nightmare of domestic abuse. “I wanted the song to feel like it was off of Love it to Death or Killer, Cooper says. “But we never had to talk about playing the song ‘70s-style, they just did it. It was great and there was nothing we could do to make it any more ‘70s ‘cause that’s just the way these guys play.”

  The collaborations with his fellow original band members stemmed from their 2010 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, for which they reunited to play four songs. “I was always looking for a logical reason to work with them again,” Cooper says. “When we broke up there was no bad blood. Most bands break up and they start suing each other. We never broke up on that level. We broke up on a very friendly level. ‘You go do what you’re gonna do, I’m gonna do what I’m gonna do. Let’s see what happens.’ When we got in the Hall of Fame I called them up and I said, ‘We have to do four songs. Let’s get together and rehearse.’ And they sounded great. They played great. We did a few projects after that. We played a couple times together. And I said, ‘Let’s keep it going. Let’s get these guys on the album.’ And Bob said, ‘That’s a great idea. Let’s write with these guys.’ It just worked.”

  The first single from Welcome 2 My Nightmare, “I’ll Bite Your Face Off,” is about a gorgeous but deadly female who takes Alice by the hand and guides him through the various scenes of his nightmare. The song was co-written by Neal Smith and features a swaggering ‘60s British rock rhythm, brash, bluesy guitars and sneering, seductive vocals. “We tried to make this sound as much like early Rolling Stones as possible and we really did capture that,” Cooper says. “We’ve been doing it onstage and the audience sings along without knowing the song.”

  On “Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever,” Cooper combines a tongue-in-cheek disco beat and rhythm with near-rap vocals and lyrics about taking a machine gun to zombie disco dancers who refuse to die. Then there’s the zany surf rock of “Ghoul’s Gone Wild,” the derelict down-on-his-luck slur of “The Last Man on Earth,” and the Beatles meet Gary Glitter show tune “The Congregation,” which stars Rob Zombie as a narrator describing such modern-day nightmares as telemarketers, lawyers, pimps, mariachi bands and mimes.

  One of the highlights for Cooper is the throbbing, modern rocker “What Baby Wants,” which stars Ke$ha as the devil. “Some people thought I was crazy to have Ke$ha on the record, but I never saw her as one of these Britney Spears diva girls. I saw her more as a rock singer. So I said, ‘Let’s present you not as a diva, but as a rock singer on this.’ We wrote the song together and in the end the darker lyrics were hers.”

  Like The original Welcome To My Nightmare, which was highlighted by “Only Women Bleed,” Welcome 2 My Nightmare also features a lovelorn ballad, “Something to Remember Me By,” which was written with Dick Wagner back when they released “I Never Cry” in 1976. “We never used it on an album before because I never felt I was good enough to sing that song,” Cooper reflects. “It was never in my key, I could never get it right. Finally, we got it where my voice is in the right place so we included it and it may be the prettiest ballad we ever wrote. Steve Hunter played guitar on it and we really got a nice Beatles-y sound out of it. So when you’re listening to it you hear this really pretty romantic song and then you realize that in the Nightmare Alice is singing to a pile of bones that used to be a girl.”

  Fans of the first Welcome To My Nightmare will recognize melodic references to the original woven throughout the new record. For example, in the cinematic minor-key song “The Nightmare Returns,” Ezrin plays the theme from “Steven” when Cooper sings, “I think we’ve heard that song before.”

  “I really like the idea of having some of the musical identity of the first album showing up in the second album,” Cooper says. “It really connects the two and if you’re a real Alice fan and you hear those themes it makes you feel comfortable.”

  Welcome To My Nightmare, which came out in 1975, was a landmark album for Cooper. It was his first solo release, following a historic string of anthems written and recorded by the original band between 1971 and 1974, including “School’s Out,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “Elected,” and “I’m Eighteen.” A multimedia smash long before the dawn of music television, Welcome To My Nightmare proved that Cooper could remain popular musically and could take theatricality to an entirely new level of dream by exposing audiences to the crippling fears of a seven-year-old child with an active imagination.

  Welcome To My Nightmare spawned two major singles, the ominous, anthemic title track and the beautiful, melancholy acoustic ballad “Only Women Bleed,” and featured narration by horror movie icon Vincent Price. In addition to touring the live “Welcome To My Nightmare” show, Cooper created the prime time special The Nightmare, which was essentially the first long form music video. The program debuted in April 1975. In September he shot the concert film “Welcome To My Nightmare” at London’s Wembley Arena.

  “A seven-year-old kid is pretty sure there’s something living in the closet and thinks that something is waiting for him under his bed,” Cooper says. “His toys are probably coming to life and trying to kill him. And I thought, ‘Well, that’s a good general approach for the album because we’ve all been kids and we’ve all had those nightmares.’”

  From his first solo album, 1975's Welcome to My Nightmare through releases such as 1994's The Last Temptation and 2000's Brutal Planet, concept albums have been a specialty of Alice's, and this time he spins the story of a serial killer who imagines himself as the most predatory of all insects, trapping his prey, killing them, then enveloping his eight victims in silk, taking a leg from each of them. A web of intrigue, wrapped around some serious hard rock.

  Co-produced by Alice with the team of Danny Saber [Black Grape, Rolling Stones, Ozzy Osbourne, David Bowie] and Greg Hampton [Bootsy Collins, Buckethead], songs like the opening "I Know Where You Live" and "Vengeance Is Mine," featuring a snaking metal guitar solo from Slash himself, evoke such classic Alice anthems as "Is it My Body," and "Under My Wheels" along with landmark albums like Love It To Death, Killer and School's Out. There's also a patented rock ballad in the tradition of "Only Women Bleed" and "I Never Cry" with "Killed by Love." Along Came a Spider features Cooper's touring band of drummer Eric Singer, bassist Chuck Garric and guitarists Keri Kelli and Jason Hook. Songwriting was handled by Alice with Saber, Hampton, Garric, Kelli and a few friends including former band member Damon Johnson and Warrant's Jani Lane.

  Along Came a Spider has elements of serial killers such as Hannibal Lecter, Son of Sam, Ted Bundy, Jack the Ripper, Sweeney Todd and Psycho's Norman Bates with Alice himself taking the central part, acting out the murderer's diary -- challenging reality by Alice Cooper inhabiting the identity of a serial killer who imagines himself a spider. As he has in the past, Alice chronicles a classic battle between good and evil, with inevitable results.

  "Evil should get punished," says Alice. "It should never win. And that, to me, is what's most satisfying. I may love Darth Vader when I watch Star Wars, but I feel relief when he finally gets what's coming to him."

  ...Read Alice's full biography @ AliceCooper.com

• 

  The Damned

  Led by lead vocalist, Dave Vanian, The Damned is a punk rock/ goth rock band from London, England founded in 1976.

• 

  Saxon

  Saxon is a british heavy metal band, formed in 1976 in Barnsley, Yorkshire. As leading lights in the new wave of British Heavy Metal they had a brief period of UK Top 40 success in the early 1980s, and also tasted success in Europe and Japan. They still tour heavily and regularly. Their latest (in support of The Inner Sanctum album) tour is their largest in the UK since the early 1980s.

  They started somewhere around South Yorkshire, UK as SOB during 1976 with founder members Graham Oliver and Steve Dawson. This band joined forces with another local band, Coast, featuring Biff Byford on vocals and Paul Quinn on guitar. The two bands then finalised with a line-up comprising of the then 26 year old Graham 'Oly' Oliver, Steve 'Dobby' Dawson (27), Paul 'Blute' Quinn (26), Pete 'Frank' Gill (27) and Peter 'Biff' Byford (27). The name of the band was Son Of A Bitch. That name was dropped a few years later and the band re-christened themselves SAXON. They were at this time playing the usual rock clubs and concert gigs supporting The Ian Gillan Band and Heavy Metal Kids, amongst others, playing all their own material. Demo tapes were recorded at Tapestry Studios, with producer John Verity (Ex. Argent singer/guitarist). They hawked these round the usual record companies only to be ignored as the new-wave was at its height at this time. After a few months the band finally gained a favourable reaction from EMI man Peter Hinton. He had come up to Barnsley to see the band play at the town's Civic Hall. He was very impressed and recommended SAXON to Claude Carrere as candidates for his new label on the British scene, Carrere Records. Claude decided to offer them a contract, after hearing the band's demo tapes.

  Saxon (1979)

  The album SAXON (CAL 110) was recorded, again with producer John Verity, and was ready for world distribution in May 1979. The first single taken from the album was Big Teaser c/w Stallions of the Highway (CAR 118). Although Stallions was the band's first single in the nation's heavy metal charts, it eventually reached number one in the Powerhouse chart on July 24th 1979. Their second single Backs To The Wall c/w Militia Guard (CAR129) also reached the top in the Powerhouse charts in January 1980. The single was released to coincide with a nationwide tour as special guests of MOTORHEAD. The tour, which began on November 10th at the Bracknell Sports Centre, took the band to all the major venues around the nation, including three nights at London's Hammersmith Odeon. The tour ended on December 16th at the specially arranged Christmas concert there. The band went into the studios again and recorded their second album Wheels Of Steel.

  Wheels Of Steel (1980)

  Wheels Of Steel was released in May 1980. The album was produced by Pete Hinton and SAXON. It reached the top five of the UK album charts. The band appeared on 'Top Of The Pops' with their two hit singles Wheels Of Steel and 747 (Strangers In The Night).

  Strong Arm Of The Law (1980)

  SAXON quickly recorded another album, titled Strong Arm Of The Law and released it in November of the same year. The album was again produced by Pete Hinton and SAXON. Two singles were released, Strong Arm Of The Law and Dallas 1PM.

  Denim And Leather (1981)

  In 1981 the band had been on the road for most of the year with little time for recording a follow-up. In the past few months they had toured almost every country in the World. They were particularly successful in Japan, where the single Motorcycle Man maintained a presence in the charts for a five month period. October 1981 saw the release of their fourth album, dedicated to their fans and their usual style of dress, Denim And Leather. The album was backed up by a 46-date UK and European tour.Denim And Leather went silver in the UK and charted all over Europe. Two singles, And The Bands Played On and Never Surrender, were released from the album. Two days before the tour, drummer Pete Gill damaged a hand and Nigel Glockler, an old friend of SAXON, replaced him. He had to learn the whole set in a day and a half, and fulfilled all expectations.

  The Eagle Has Landed - Live (1982)

  The prime objective of 1982 was the conquering of the USA. On their second tour of 38 dates, travelling from New York down to Florida, through Texas to the West Coast, SAXON finished with four sell-out shows at the 'Whiskey' in Los Angeles, and three in San Francisco. The success of this tour prompted the rush release of Strong Arm Of The Law in the USA on May 21st, and the booking of a further tour in June/July. SAXON recorded a live album at the end of 1981, and released it on May 14th, 1982. The fans were asked to name the album, and the overwhelming choice of the title was The Eagle Has Landed. The Eagle flew around the world to return for a 28-day British tour beginning on September 16th 1982. They appeared at Castle Donington's Monsters Of Rock Festival amidst touring the US. They play Dallas with Rainbow on Thursday, fly to England for Castle Donington on Saturday and then fly back to the US on Monday for a show in New York, quickly followed by an appearance in Germany for their equivalent of the Monsters Of Rock Festival! The appearance at Castle Donington gave SAXON the title of first band to have played the Monsters of Rock Festival twice, having first played there in 1980.

  Power And The Glory (1983)

  October/November 1982 saw SAXON back in the studio to work on their latest album with the title of Power And The Glory, produced by US producer Jeff Glixman. In Los Angeles alone it sells 15,000 copies in its first week. Three videos are released: Power And The Glory, Nightmare and the re-recorded Suzy Hold On. Touring was inevitable and was a great success. Also released was the video SAXON Live, a concert filmed in Nottingham, UK. Unfortunately, 1983 was the year that saw SAXON's departure from Carrere, the original label that signed the band. This was due to some inside discrepancies on the part of Carrere regarding the actual sales of SAXON's albums. They were subsequently picked up and signed by EMI.

  Crusader (1984)

  Crusader was the first album for SAXON to be released through EMI in 1984, although this was also the last album that Carrere handled, produced by Kevin Beamish and recorded in Los Angeles. This was the year that the band visited the States to tour yet again, this time in conjunction with Motley Crue, SAXON headlining some nights and Motley Crue the others. Iron Maiden toured the US in the same year and SAXON were invited to be special guests of theirs. The end of 1984 and during 1985 sees SAXON tour in support of Crusader which is proving successful in the USA. SAXON also tour with supporting band Accept in Germany.

  Innocence Is No Excuse (1985)

  Innocence Is No Excuse, the band's eighth album is released during September, 1985. The album was recorded at the Wisseloord Studio in Holland. Two singles were released: Back On The Streets and Rock And Roll Gypsy. EMI then released SAXON Live Innocence, a live video from the recent tour and 2 promo clips for Back on the Streets and Rocking Again.

  Rock The Nations (1986)

  1986 was quite a year for SAXON with the departure of Steve Dawson, long-time bass player. He left, because of problems with his wife. 'She really fucked him up', as Biff said. In came unknown bassist, Paul Johnson. They recorded a new album titled Rock The Nations where Biff actually handled all the bass parts, although the credit went to Paul Johnson. Three singles (and videos) were taken from the album: Northern Lady, Waiting For The Night and Rock The Nations. Elton John played piano on Party 'till you Puke and Northern Lady. A tour of Europe was scheduled during 1986 and towards the end of the year Biff and the boys joined with Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force in the States.

  Destiny (1988)

  1987 saw the departure of Nigel Glockler to the band GTR, a project band made up from ex-Yes band members and vocalist Max Bacon. In came drummer Nigel Durham. SAXON recorded Destiny, their last album for EMI who just did'nt want us to record a new album, Biff said. Following the tour and with the recent demise of GTR came the anticipated return of drummer Nigel Glockler to the Saxon fold. Paul Johnson left and was replaced by Tim 'Nibbs' Carter, first gigging in Budapest. He is quickly accepted by Saxon's fans and becomes a permanent member touring during the latter part of 1988, proving to be a dominant, competent songwriter and general Saxon stage maniac. By the way, at this time he's only 22!

  Rock 'N' Roll Gypsies - Live (1989)

  1989, SAXON recorded a new live album Rock And Roll Gypsies. Biff and the boys consequently toured with Manowar as a double headliner in Germany. Power And The Glory, the video anthology, is released on PMI. Following the German tour SAXON retire to the studio to write for the next album. However, between writing, SAXON break to play a series of charity shows in the UK.

  Greatest Hits - Live (1990)

  Solid Ball Of Rock (1990)

  1990, SAXON have been together for 10 years and they schedule a UK/European tour under the banner of '10 Years Of Denim And Leather'. They recorded another live album and a video with the same title. For the rest of the year they worked on their new studio album, titled Solid Ball Of Rock. The album is released on February 4th 1991, followed by the single Requiem- We Will Remember (18th March), a track dedicated to all those Rock stars in the heaven's above. SAXON were picked up and signed by Virgin, and played all over Europe and even in America, Japan, Australia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and New Zealand!

  Forever Free (1992)

  In 1992 SAXON recorded another successful album, Forever Free, at Hey You Studios, Vienna, Austria and Gems Studios, Boston, Lincolnshire, UK. The album was produced by Biff Byford and Herwig Ursin. A single, Iron Wheels, a track dedicated to Biff's father is released.

  Dogs Of War (1995)

  In 1994 SAXON had been working on material for their next studio album. The album, Dogs Of War, is released in early 1995, but immediately after the recording, long-time guitarist Graham Oliver left the band. In came Nigel Glockler's friend and guitarist Doug Scarrat to fill Oliver's shoes. SAXON recorded a new video-clip Dogs Of War, which appeared on MTV's Headbangers' Ball. Finally, after another thumbs year of touring SAXON recorded a few Christmas shows in Germany.

  The Eagle Has Landed - Live Pt II (1996)

  1996 saw the release of Saxon's latest live album, The Eagle Has Landed Pt II. Biff and the boys toured consequently, the whole year through. They also record the song You've Got Another Thing Comin', for the Judas Priest Tribute CD.

  In 1997, EMI re-releases Wheels Of Steel and Strong Arm Of The Law as a double CD. It contains 11 bonus tracks mainly live recordings from 1981.

  Unleash The Beast (1997)

  Saxon release a new studio album in May. The title is Unleash The Beast, which is produced by Kalle Trapp and Saxon. The album is just as cool as Dogs Of War and Wheels Of Steel, and includes a semi-acoustic ballad Absent Friends, dedicated to John 'J.J' Jones the crew boss who had died the previous year. Saxon began their Unleash The Beast tour in May, where they played in Germany, Holland, Belgium, Sweden and lots of other countries. Unleash The Beast reached the top 100 in Sweden, Germany and also Switzerland. In November they played two gigs in Brazil (Sao Paulo and Santos), ended the year with a Christmas show in Belgium.

  1998, Saxon begins the year with two shows in England in February. In March and April, they are going to play in the USA again. This tour went very well, they played 26 gigs! then returning to Spain for a further three shows. After the Spanish gigs, they played on the Brazilian 'Monsters of Rock', then all over Europe and some further gigs in the USA late November. They then opened for Deep Purple in Rotterdam, Holland. The Unleash the Beast tour ended November 21st in Hardenberg, Holland.

  An injury prevents Nigel continuing to play drums for Saxon, but he still writes new songs with the band for the next album. Saxon is now using a German drummer Fritz Randow, who already played with the band on the last tour in Europe. Saxon play the Arena Open Air festival in Holland, with Motorhead and Dio.

  Metalhead (1999)

  Saxon released their awesome CD Metalhead in September 1999, and continued to tour the world in support of this opus for the next 2 years, culminating in some prestigious headline shows at the first ever Bloodstock UK Metal Festival in the UK, and Wacken in August 2001 where the infamous eagle made its welcome return!

  Killing Ground (2001)

  Somewhere in amongst this busy schedule for Metalhead, Saxon found the time to record KILLING GROUND, as well as some new versions of classic tracks. These albums are being released later in 2001, following which Saxon will embark on World Tour no 999!!

• 

  Messa

  Messa emerged on the first day of 2014.

  The extreme diversity of their musical background immediately proved to be essential in the construction of the band’s sound: Prog, Black Metal, Punk, Dark Ambient, jazz, Blues and Doom… all those influences have been channelled into a sonic cauldron that the band defines “Scarlet Doom”.

  The new album 'The Spin' is out now.