Armored Saint
March of the Saint
Metal Blade
John Bush – vocals
Dave Prichard – guitars
Phil Sandoval – guitars
Gonzo Sandoval - drums
From the first track, “March of the Saint”, it’s nothing but
great music. Armored Saint uses this album to introduce the world (who hadn’t
gotten their previous EP, which most people don’t have) to their style of
thrash with more of a hard rock vibe and a lot of soul in the vocals. John
Bush, lead vocalist, is absolutely stunning on this effort. Really though, just
about everyone and everything is clicking throughout the album. Songs like
“March of the Saint”, “Can You Deliver”, “Madhouse”, “Mutiny on the World”,
“Glory Hunter”, and “False Alarm” lead up one of the greatest debut albums ever
from any band. This was Armored Saint’s first full album, and they didn’t pass
on any chance of making it the best they possibly could. Amazing melodies, and
not the heaviest of music, but really, it sounds better that way. Tempos are
still pretty high for the most part, but really, the dominating factor with
Armored Saint that puts them above most other bands is their melodies.
As for the sound quality, I have the re-release from August 24,
1999, so the version I have is fairly high quality. Still no N’Sync production,
but still pretty solid with some rawness left to it.
Overall, this is one of the greatest debut albums ever released.
It’s also a highly underrated album from a highly underrated band. The great
melodies make this an 86 out of 100.
1.
March of the Saint
2.
Can U Deliver
3.
Mad House
4.
Take a Turn
5.
Seducer
6.
Mutiny on the World
7.
Glory Hunter
8.
Stricken By Fate
9.
Envy
10. False Alarm
Metal Blade
Lineup:
John Bush – vocals
Dave Prichard – guitars
Joey Vera – bass
Gonzo Sandoval - drums
If ‘March of the Saint’ was a good start, this is the best any
band could possibly do on following up. ‘Delirious Nomad’ uses even more great
melodies than ‘March of the Saint’ did, and does so in so many ways, often
going to uncommon minor keys in order to get that awesome sound. The album
opens with “Long Before I Die”, an awesome song with many hooks in it, and a
great melody throughout. John Bush is really at his best putting everything
into the vocals on this song as well. After that the album goes into “Nervous
Man”, another awesome song which contains the line that is the namesake to the
album. After that the CD blisters through “Over the Edge”, “Laugh”,
“Conqueror”, “For the Sake of Heaviness”, “Aftermath”, and “In the Hole” right
before the highlight of the album is reached in the form of “You’re Never
Alone”. Possibly one of the greatest blends of instrumentals you’ll ever hear
in a single song with a killer bass line, some great guitar work, and of course
Gonzo doing awesome on the drums. The vocal part on the song is also something
amazing as it brings out one of the better melodies you’ll ever hear in a song
during the refrain. The lyrics, although somewhat cheesy, provide a little
sense of hostility during a soothing song, with Bush beautifully singing lines
like, “By that time the switchblade’s in your skin,” and, “See your blood
splash against the wall.” Yet, he sings both of those lines (same tune for each
line) with such grace. It really creates an interesting atmosphere in the song.
The final track, “Released”, is no slouch either, just another amazing track on
one of the most amazing albums you’ll ever hear.
The sound quality for this album is almost perfect for me. There
is an element of rawness on it, which makes it especially fun to listen to very
loudly. In fact, that’s when its at its best.
Overall, there’s not much more right that Armored Saint could’ve
done on this album. Every song on the album ranges from great to amazing. It’s
one of the only albums you’ll ever hear where every instrument has such an
important part in the music, everything done to near perfection. Out of 100,
this sucker gets a 96.
Track Listing
1.
Long Before I Die
2.
Nervous Man
3.
Over the Edge
4.
The Laugh
5.
Conqueror
6.
For the Sake of Heaviness
7.
Aftermath
8.
In the Hole
9.
You’re Never Alone
10. Released
Metal Blade
Lineup:
John Bush – vocals
Dave Prichard – guitars
Joey Vera – bass
Gonzo Sandoval - drums
After blowing the world away with ‘Delirious Nomad’, you’d
either expect them to put out another great album, or a dud. They did neither.
‘Raising Fear’ is not even at the same level as ‘Delirious Nomad’, but then
again, you’ll find very few albums that are. It is a very good album still. The
opening track, “Raising Fear” gets you off to a great start. “Saturday Night
Special”, somewhat humorous to hear them doing a Lynyrd Skynyrd cover, but they
do it well, and it follows “Raising Fear”. Other great tracks include “Out on a
Limb”, “Frozen Will/Legacy” (which features some great guitar work throughout),
“Human Vulture”, and “Book of Blood”. This albums was also, sadly, the final
studio album that Armored Saint would do with guitarist David Pritchard, as
shortly before they started recording ‘Symbol of Salvation’ (their next album),
he passed away due to leukemia. He did make his mark on the music industry in
his short time. He played on three great albums from a great band. He performed
some amazing guitar solos on those albums as well, which, unfortunately won’t
be known by most of the public due to Armored Saint being such an underrated
band. Yet, for his final offering in the studio, I have a feeling that David
was proud of this effort, and I’m sure the rest of the band is too.
The sound on this album is very similar to ‘Delirious Nomad’.
It’s somewhat raw, but still easy to make out, and it’s another album that
sounds much better when turned up as loud as possible.
Overall, this album didn’t match up to ‘Delirious Nomad’, but
then again, not many could. It is still an album much better than most groups
will ever put out in their entire careers, but due to the band not getting the
publicity they deserve, most will never realize that (it’s not like they
wouldn’t fit into the mainstream, they have a sound that the general public could
love). This was a very solid effort from a band that’s consistently put out
great music. Out of 100, this is a 79.
Track listing
1.
Raising Fear
2.
Saturday Night Special
3.
Out on a Limb
4.
Isolation
5.
Chemical Euphoria
6.
Crisis of Life
7.
Frozen Will/Legacy
8.
Human Vulture
9.
Book of Blood
10. Terror
11. Underdogs
Metal Blade
Lineup:
John Bush – vocals
Phil Sandoval – guitars
Jeff Duncan – guitars
Joey Vera – bass
Gonzo Sandoval - drums
Armored Saint, revamped, is back. This time it’s minus the
deceased David Pritchard, but with Phil Sandoval returning to the band, and a
second guitar added in the form of Jeff Duncan. David Pritchard was able to
write an awful lot for this album before he passed away, so his influence is
strongly felt throughout the album, and this album, in a sense is a tribute to
him, and what a tribute it is. The albums starts out ripping with “Reign of
Fire”, and the groove really sets in with the next track, “Dropping Like
Flies”. After that, “Last Train Home” shows a slightly more sensitive side of
the band before they head into “Tribal Dance”, which goes back to that hard
rock groove that had been established earlier in the album. After that, “The
Truth Always Hurts” goes back to the sensitive side of the band, but also
carries that groove. Tracks like “Symbol of Salvation”, “Hanging Judge”,
“Warzone”, and “Burning Question” give an awful lot to the album before the
centerpiece, “Tainted Past” hits, the band’s thoughts on the world and their
emotions about it, makes for a great song. The album closes out with
“Spineless”, another song that carries on that great rock groove that this
album has throughout. The album is dedicated to David Pritchard, and another
album I think Dave would be proud to have and be a part of. This album is right
up there with ‘Delirious Nomad’. Armored Saint, with this album proved that
they could still constantly release great album after great album. Sadly
though, this was the bands last album for 9 years as they temporarily broke up
in 1993 after a rough tour.
The sound quality on this album is more high quality than the
past few releases. Then again, given the subject of it, I feel it was an
appropriate move. The album still sounds great when turned up, but then again,
it sounds awesome at any level.
Great tunes, an awesome groove throughout the album, and solid
sound quality. This album was an emotional album for the group and I’m sure for
many of the fans, but they pulled through and delivered one of their best
offerings to date. Out of 100, this is a 93.
Track listing
1.
Reign of Fire
2.
Dropping Like Flies
3.
Last Train Home
4.
Tribal Dance
5.
The Truth Always Hurts
6.
Half Drawn Bridge
7.
Another Day
8.
Symbol of Salvation
9.
Hanging Judge
10. Warzone
11. Burning Question
12. Tainted Past
13. Spineless
Metal Blade
Lineup:
John Bush – vocals
Phil Sandoval – guitars
Jeff Duncan – guitars
Joey Vera – bass
Gonzo Sandoval - drums
After an 8 year absence, Armored Saint sent waves through the
hard rock community when they reunited. John Bush had been spending time with
Anthrax, who was on break at the time, and everything really couldn’t have been
better for an Armored Saint reunion. Was it just another case of a band
reuniting and not putting anything spectacular together? Nope! The first five
songs on the album are just simply amazing (“Pay Dirt”, “Pillar”, “After Me,
The Flood”, “Tension”, and “Creepy Feelings”). While the following track,
“Damaged” could use more imagination, it’s still a pretty easy song to rock out
to. After that, there isn’t a single bad track on the album. Highlights include
“Den of Thieves”, “Control Issues”, “No Me Digas”, and “Upon My Departure”.
Armored Saint really proved with this album that they might truly be a band
that can only be slowed by lack of radio play. All that can really do to them
is limit their funds, they’ll still crank out great album after great album.
This is just proof of that, especially since they can just take 7 years off,
get back together, and put something like this together. It’s simply amazing.
The sound on this album is a bit more low ended than their past
albums. That also has to do with the more low ended riffs along with Bush’s
voice going lower with age. Still though, he sings very well on this album. It
really just has a more powerful style of sound on it, which along with the
great melodies, fits in very nicely.
This album not only marked the return of a great band to the
music scene, it showed the listening world what they could do. There are very
few flaws with this album. It’s just another great effort from a great band.
Out of 100, survey says 88.
Track listing
1.
Pay Dirt
2.
The Pillar
3.
After Me, The Flood
4.
Tension
5.
Creepy Feelings
6.
Damaged
7.
Den of Thieves
8.
Control Issues
9.
No Me Digas
10. Deep Rooted Anger
11. What’s Your Pleasure
12. Upon My Departure
Metal Blade
Lineup:
John Bush – vocals
Dave Prichard – guitars
Phil Sandoval – guitars
Jeff Duncan – guitars
Joey Vera – bass
Gonzo Sandoval - drums
This is more of a rarities collection from Armored Saint, but
right at the top are two brand new songs from the band, “Real Swagger” and
“Unstable”. Both songs carry that awesome Armored Saint rock feel, and both
songs really can catch you with their hook. After that it’s a series of live
and demo and rerecorded tracks. Included are a 2001 re-recording of the song
“March of the Saint”, which sounds just as good, if not better than the
original. There’s a beautiful acoustic version of “Tainted Past” which was
recorded in 2001 as well. Right after that you get a live version of the track
“Creepy Feelings” that matches up well, if not better than the original
version. From there, you get the tracks off of their original 1983 EP, the
entire thing. On the second disc you get a couple of live music videos if you
put it into your computer, but if you put it in your player, you get some great
songs like “Pirates”, “Tongue and Cheek”, and “Get Lost”. Both discs have very
high quality music on them.
The sound quality varies on the album. The live tracks sound
great, but the crowd is kind of hard to hear for the most part. Most of the
stuff is pretty much untouched from where they got it, like the 1983 EP, which
had been touched up a bit, but still left pretty raw.
This was a great way for Armored Saint to give their fans many
pieces of their history all at once. The band put out some great stuff
throughout the years, and for some of those fans that would have a tougher time
getting a hold of it (as if it wasn’t hard enough already), this is a good way
for them to be able to get it. It’s another great release from the world’s most
consistent band. Out of 100, this is 84.
Track listing
Disc 1
1.
Real Swagger
2.
Unstable
3.
March of the Saint
4.
Day of the Eagle
5.
Never Satisfied
6.
Tainted Past (acoustic)
7.
After Me, The Flood (live)
8.
Creepy Feelings (live)
9.
Lesson Well Learned
10. False Alarm
11. On the Way
12. Stricken by Fate
Disc 2
1.
You Can Run but You Can’t Hide
2.
Betty ‘79
3.
People
4.
Get Lost
5.
Tongue and Cheek
6.
Pirates
7.
Medieval Nightmares
Band avg. score - 87.666
