Innocence Is No Excuse

Innocence Is No Excuse
Studio album by Saxon
Released June 24, 1985
Recorded Union Studios, Munich, Germany
Genre Heavy metal
Length 42:05
Label EMI / Parlophone
Producer Simon Hanhart
Saxon chronology
Crusader
(1984)		 Innocence Is No Excuse
(1985)		 Rock the Nations
(1986)
Singles from Innocence Is No Excuse
  1. "Back on the Streets" / "Live Fast Die Young"
    Released: August 1985
  2. "Rockin' Again" / "Krakatoa"
    Released: October 1985
  3. "Rock 'n' Roll Gypsy" / "Krakatoa"
    Released: March 1986
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal4/10[2]

Innocence Is No Excuse is the seventh studio album by heavy metal band Saxon released in 1985 (see 1985 in music). It was the group's first album for EMI after a falling-out with their previous label, Carrere Records, and their last with original bassist Steve Dawson.

Release and reception

The song "Everybody Up" was used in the 1985 Italian horror movie Demoni.

The album was given a generally positive review by Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic, who awarded it four out of five stars. Although he commented in his review for the band's previous album Crusader that this album "would only lead to greater extremes of personality disorder and leave the group's fan base confused and utterly divided",[3] he praised it for being "their strongest collective set of songs since 1981's Denim and Leather" although acknowledged that some of the songs "rubbed many fans the wrong way". He singled out the songs "Back On the Streets", "Rock 'n' Roll Gypsy" and "Broken Heroes" for praise, the latter of which he described as an "excellent ballad". He also pondered the question of what price the album had to the band's "street-level credibility" and said that "The answer will never be agreed upon".[1] Martin Popoff, author of The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal, reviewed negatively the album which represents for Saxon the return "full-steam to the bastions of metal, without an idea in their dust-clouded heads", as shown in the clichéd titles and in the "old age ineptness on this rule-book headbanging fare."[2]

Track listing

Side one
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Rockin' Again"  Biff Byford, Graham Oliver, Steve Dawson 5:12
2. "Call of the Wild"  Byford, Paul Quinn, Oliver, Dawson, Nigel Glockler 4:03
3. "Back on the Streets"  Byford, Quinn, Oliver, Dawson, Glockler 3:59
4. "Devil Rides Out"  Byford, Dawson 4:23
5. "Rock 'n' Roll Gypsy"  Byford, Dawson 4:13
Side two
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
6. "Broken Heroes"  Byford, Dawson 5:27
7. "Gonna Shout"  Byford, Quinn, Oliver, Dawson, Glockler 3:58
8. "Everybody Up"  Byford, Dawson 3:28
9. "Raise Some Hell"  Byford, Dawson 3:40
10. "Give It Everything You've Got"  Byford, Quinn, Oliver, Dawson, Glockler 3:27
2010 remaster bonus tracks
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
11. "Back on the Streets" (12" Club Mix)Byford, Quinn, Oliver, Dawson, Glockler 5:10
12. "Live Fast Die Young" (b-side "Back on the Streets")Glockler, Dawson, Byford 3:48
13. "Krakatoa" (b-side "Rock 'n' Roll Gypsy")Byford, Quinn, Oliver, Dawson, Glockler 3:46
14. "The Medley" (live, b-side "Rock 'n' Roll Gypsy")Various 9:05
15. "Gonna Shout" (live)Byford, Quinn, Oliver, Dawson, Glockler  
16. "Devil Rides Out" (live)Byford, Dawson 4:59
17. "Back on the Streets" (BBC in Concert, Hammersmith 1985)Byford, Quinn, Oliver, Dawson, Glockler 4:38

Personnel

Production

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1985 Billboard Pop Albums[4] 130
1985 UK Albums Chart[5] 36

References

  1. 1 2 Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Saxon Innocence Is No Excuse". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
  2. 1 2 Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 315. ISBN 978-1894959315.
  3. ↑ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Saxon Crusader". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2013-09-27.
  4. ↑ "Innocence Is No Excuse Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
  5. ↑ "Innocence Is No Excuse Chart Stats". Chart Stats.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-31. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
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