Saxon - Crusader
This cover just screams m-e-t-a-l...
Normally such a nihilistic display of barbarism would be a little off-putting, but Saxon uses this in a historical context, which raises the question as to whether they were subtly protesting the English crusades, given the slain oppressed at the hooves, or if they were glorifying it, since that would be the metal thing to do. I have my own suspicions, but I'll let you be the judge...
posted by Ray Van Horn, Jr. at
6:20 AM
14 Comments:
As I recall, Saxon was one of those bands that liked to dabble in political history, so I'm curious as to whether the lyrics shine any light on the intent of the cover.
I remember being 13 years old, sitting on a hotel bed on a school trip to Mexico City, and listening to "Dallas 1pm" on my headphones. I thought it was so incredibly cool that these British metalheads even knew who JFK was, let alone wrote a song about him.
At first glance, I think this runs the risk of being confused with a Molly Hatchet album, but it is better when you take a closer look.
I'm wondering which of these songs has the best historical commentary: Just Let Me Rock," "Bad Boys (Like To Rock N' Roll)," or "Rock City?"
"Dallas 1pm" is not my favorite JFK reference though. That goes to the Misfits' "Bullet," probably the only song to ever portray the assassination in a pornographic way.
It's an alright cover, but I prefer Wheels of steel and Denim and leather with the simple Saxon logo. This was their last decent album. Their next two albums had cool covers, but the music was lousy.
Actually, Mark, Lionheart and the newest one, The Inner Sanctum are really good albums for Saxon. I almost went with Denim and Leather but felt this had more to talk about. But those late eighties albums...peeeyew!
Bob, I roared over your historical commentary rip. I think someone's trying to tweak his favorite sparring partner, Chuck!
Chuck, I'm not really sure if there's any commentary on the cover, but I just think the trampled bodies gives off a little protest, just my opinion. "Dallas 1 pm" is certainly not what anyone would expect from Saxon!
Ray-Next two as in Innocense is no excuse and Rock the nations which were the next two after Crusader.
Great cover! Who's the artist?
Exactly, Mark, those are quite rank and litter one of my Saxon comps.
Not sure of the artist, dschalek....I used to have it on cassette and have yet to replace it CD...anyone else have a copy that can enlighten us?
I have a full 24 X 36 poster of this album cover and it is a great piece of album art.
I bet it is, dude! I never had it bigger than a cassette, but I stared at it quite frequently.
Paul Raymond Gregory does all the art work or Saxon, Molly Hatchet, Blue Oyster Cult I believe and a few others. He's wonderful.
The artist is Paul Gregory
Paul Gregory is the artist
I had (have?) the 12" vinyl of this somewhere! the art work wraps front to back of the album cover. You're only seeing 1/2 the picture, albeit most of the context. The back continues the marching army behind the banner bearer dribbling off into the dust with a couple more bodies (a horse too?) on the ground. Ahh, fit right in to my "D&D" days HAH! Havent fired this up in 15-20 years? Just gave it a listen (off iTunes no less) love the Crusader prelude. Was looking for a hi res image on the web no luck yet...Cheers.
Frank Frazetta illustrated most of the iconic Molly Hatchet album covers. This was Paul Gregory's first album cover and probably his best. He seemed to regress as time went on.
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