Welcome to another edition of From My Collection. Last week, yours truly voyaged out to the land of Cheap Trick (Rockford, Illinois) to catch Queensrÿche on their ongoing Origins Tour which sees them playing their debut EP and The Warning in full. As if that wasn’t enough of a treat, joining them for this trek is none other than fellow US metal legends Armored Saint, who continues to be one of the best live bands on the planet. Admittedly, having a near flawless catalog helps a lot, but when the collective energy, superb musicianship, and powerhouse vocals of John Bush collide, you can, as the old song goes, “feel the magic”. However, today’s retrospective essay is not about Symbol of Salvation (perhaps another time). No, today we go back in time 40 years when Armored Saint made their debut full length attack, swords in hand and all, March of the Saint. Do you have what it takes to “brawl with the brave”? Then read on!
Armored Saint formed in 1982 amidst a scene that was bursting at the seams. California was rife with all sorts of metal, thanks to young and hungry bands forging their own path. If we started listing these bands, we’d be here all day, but Armored Saint was in the thick of this wave that helped birth power metal, thrash metal, and glam metal. Their initial demo was funded by settlement money bassist Joey Vera made after being in a car accident with his former Sapphire bandmate, Tommy Lee. Yes, thee Tommy Lee. As you can see, Mötley Crüe doesn’t have the best history behind the wheel.
This demo caught the attention of Metal Blade CEO Brian Slagel on the east coast. Slagel subsequently featured “Lesson Well Learned” on his Metal Massacre II compilation and compiled 3 of the 5 demo songs onto a self titled EP released in ’83. From there, the next step would be to release a full length album via Metal Blade…which is exactly what didn’t happen. Before they could even blink, Armored Saint were swept up by Chrysalis amidst a wave of major label interest in metal. Considering the ginormous success of Def Leppard’s Pyromania and Quiet Riot’s Metal Health, every major label under the sun was eager to sign anything remotely hard and heavy, Chrysalis being no exception.
Admittedly, Armored Saint weren’t the most “marketable” band. They weren’t nearly as commercial as the aforementioned Leppard and QR, instead lying closer to Judas Priest and early power metal. However, in an age where metal’s visual component was as important as the music itself, Armored Saint left their peers in the dust, taking the stage in full armor. Their performance became the stuff of legend, even featuring simulated sword fights (until a near fatal accident put the kibosh on that). In an age where Iron Maiden and Twisted Sister were packing arenas with their over the top stage shows, there’s no reason Armored Saint couldn’t have done the same.
Furthermore, it would be one thing if Armored Saint was all style and no substance, but they weren’t. Their debut album, March of the Saint, is a US metal masterpiece, and one of the best efforts of its era. This was the sound of a band who was young, hungry, and ready to take on the world, one duel at a time, naysayers be damned. Unlike other legends who took an album or two to get into the groove of things (i.e. Judas Priest, Scorpions, etc.), Armored Saint were ready for battle from the very beginning.
March opens with one of the best “first song, first album” cuts in metal history, “March of the Saint”. While I hesitate to call Armored Saint a power metal band, or March a power metal album, there’s no denying it as its early USPM moments, this opener being the most blatant of them all. A regal intro piece sets the stage for this full blown metallic assault, before segueing into high speed overdrive, as if a musical charge into battle. Everything about this song, from the guitars to the lyrics to the tempo, gets my blood boiling in the best manner possible. It will always be my #1 Armored Saint song, and that speaks volumes for a band with a slew of classic songs.
As if to make a complete 180, “March” is followed by the most commercial song on the album, “Can U Deliver”. Whereas “March” is a grandiose USPM epic, “Can U Deliver” is the complete opposite, a straightforward radio metal banger with sleazy lyrics and an even sleazier groove. Much like the incoming wave of glam metallists, Armored Saint too were inspired by the likes of AC/DC, Aerosmith, and Van Halen, as evidenced by this four on the floor banger. Chrysalis could sense this accessibility, subsequently releasing it as a single and providing the band with their first hit.
Armored Saint shifts gears yet again with the breakneck ferocity of “Mad House”. I always found it ironic that John Bush would go onto sing for two bands with songs titled “Mad House”/“Madhouse”, but I digress. In terms of brute force and high velocity, “Mad House” is as frenetic as any early thrasher of the era, boasting heavy influence of NWOBHM speedsters Raven and Tank. From a sonic perspective, the three songs we’ve analyzed thus far should have no relation whatsoever, but do ever so efficiently, never sounding out of place.
Side A progresses even further with the cryptically melodic “Take a Turn”. In true metal ballad fashion, this was no commercial sellout, but rather an exercise in musical depth akin to Judas Priest’s “Beyond the Realms of Death” or Mercyful Fate’s “Melissa”. Admittedly, it’s not nearly a proggy as either, but it’s equally compelling in its own way, boasting a haunting atmosphere and impassioned vocal delivery courtesy of Bush. It would sure be a trip to hear them dust this off live one day.
Closing out March‘s first half is the delightfully dirty “Seducer”. Think “Can U Deliver” is sleazy? Think again. If there was ever such a fusion as power-glam, this would be it. I’d like to think somewhere Blackie Lawless is fuming that he didn’t write this one amidst the BDSM hymns that make up W.A.S.P.’s self titled debut. And yet despite its sleaze factor, there is an undeniable accessibility to “Seducer”, largely thanks to its mega hooks. If Chrysalis wanted to release a follow up single to “Can U Deliver”, this could’ve been it.
As we flip over to side B, we’re greeted by another personal favorite of mine (Aren’t they all?), “Mutiny on the World”. It’s on here that the Priest influence becomes more evident than ever. The defiant attitude and razor blade riffing screams British Steel, yet is arguably stronger than any cut on said album save for “Rapid Fire” and “Steeler”. It’s a total fist pumper that, just like “March of the Saint”, speaks to the internal rage of young delinquent metalheads who felt the world was against them (they weren’t wrong).
With its militant riffs, regal melodies, and fantastical lyricism, “Glory Hunter” is another cut that can be filed in the early USPM category alongside “March of the Saint”. The guitars are played in a manner more characteristic of the exotic side of euro metal than anything American, specifically Uli Jon Roth era Scorpions and Mercyful Fate. I have to hand it to the dynamic duo of Phil Sandoval and Dave Prichard (rest in power) for thinking out of the box and crafting such memorable twin leads. They seldom get enough recognition.
The band’s knack for groove and swagger come to the fore yet again on “Stricken By Fate”, which can only be described as midtempo, yet tough as nails. In many ways, it’s as if we’re being given a sneak peek into Armored Saint’s future, when hook-laden metal became key on their masterpiece Symbol of Salvation. Of course, these Californian warriors didn’t have crystal balls (or did they?), so they were merely living in the moment, penning what they enjoyed and subsequently piecing together a very well thought out metal monument.
“Envy” is yet another Priest flavored number, boasting one of the best riffs Tipton and Downing never played, before a re-recording of their demo song “False Alarm” closes the affair out with class. As fun as “False Alarm” is, even in this new and improved rerecorded format, one can hear the songwriting evolution this band made over the course of a couple years. Seriously, put it next to “March of the Saint” or “Take a Turn” and the difference becomes damning.
Although March of the Saint didn’t catapult Armored Saint to overnight superstardom, it did cement them as an unstoppable force of the US metal scene. Over the course of the next 8 years, Armored Saint would tour with the likes of Quiet Riot, Metallica, and Grim Reaper amongst others, before calling it a day upon Bush’s move to Anthrax in ’92. They’d eventually reunite in ’99, fold again in ’03, and reunite again in ’06, tearing up the globe as if no time passed at all ever since. Today, we here at Defenders raise our swords to these brave warriors and their colossal contribution to the world of heavy music. Saints will conquer!