Free Saxon

I've been buying new Saxon albums since the band released Call To Arms in 2011. At the time, I was really only familiar with their classic records from the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal era, but that new record really hooked me at the time and put me on notice that Saxon was still going strong. The band has released a few new records since then, and I've rushed out to grab the vinyl for each one. When I heard that they were releasing their 24th album this year with Carpe Diem, I found myself struggling to show much interest. Maybe it was because I really only wanted to listen to hardcore, but after one quick listen of the new album, I just shrugged my shoulders and set it aside.

Every month or so through the Spring, I would give Carpe Diem a spin on Spotify. It was okay, but I still wasn't hooking me. I stayed away from it all Summer, and was starting to resign myself to the fact that I just didn't need to buy the record. Like the new Scorpions album, I figured that it was good for a couple of listens, but it wasn't something that I needed clogging up my shelves. On a whim, as we moved into the Fall season, I queued up the record in Spotify again. I was surprised with what I heard. The record was better than I remembered, and I found the songs having a much stronger impact on me. Saxon continue to release solid traditional heavy metal... they do what they do, and they do it well. I'm glad that this finally clicked with me, because I'm really liking this album.

When I went to buy a copy, I wanted the red vinyl pressing. I found a seller on Discogs that was selling one at a decent price, and I grabbed it. It seems that I've been burned a few times over the past year with sellers not listing records for the correct colored vinyl, and I was disappointed to get fucked on it again with this Saxon record. I usually don't bother complaining for bands that I'm not collecting, and I'll typically just take the record I'm sent and be okay with it. Since this is the third or fourth time that I've had this happen to me, I fired off a message to the seller to let him know his mistake. I wasn't really expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised when he issued me a full refund and told me to keep the record. Good deal.