Today, British Heavy Metal giants, Saxon release a super-charged melodic romp of The Beatles‘ ‘Paperback Writer‘ as third single from their upcoming cover album, Inspirations, set for release March 19th (Silver Lining Music).
“I saw The Beatles on TV for the first time in 1963,” enthuses Biff Byford. “It was a very inspirational moment for me to think maybe I could be in a band!”
Watch/Listen to ‘Paperback Writer at this location; watch/listen to the recently released ‘Paint It Black‘ and ‘Speed King‘ here
Recorded at Brockfield Hall near York, UK, with a firm eye on the old school way using Marshall cabs, Marshall amps, real drums and produced by Biff Byford with Jacky Lehmann recording and mixing, Saxon approach the likes of Motörhead‘s ‘Bomber‘ (with added whistle!), Toto‘s ‘Hold The Line‘, Black Sabbath‘s ‘Evil Woman‘ and a raucous Deep Purple‘s ‘Speed King‘ with refreshingly warm, unfiltered, “vintage” sounding renditions.
Continues Byford: “We wanted to do an album based on our influences, the songs and bands that inspired us to write what we did and still do.”
Byford does, indeed, take on some new vocal challenges, which he duly smashes on the likes of Thin Lizzy‘s ‘The Rocker‘. The net result is that whether cranking up a heavyweight take on Led Zeppelin‘s ‘Immigrant Song‘ or throwing down AC/DC‘s ‘Problem Child‘, Saxon does a supreme job of entertaining both themselves and their audience throughout Inspirations.
