Product Description
Scarce Actual 1980 Japanese First Pressing ~ Still In Top Condition! Includes Insert With Lyrics, Labels Are Clean. Saxon Were Part Of The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal In Early ’80s & Are Still Rockin’ In 2024!
Japanese vinyl pressings are highly sought after by audiophiles and collectors, due to their premium sound quality and beautifully presented packaging. The sonic quality of Japanese records is regarded as the best in the world. No wonder all the original Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab records were pressed in Japan! The covers are printed on better quality heavy stock paper too. Near MintĀ Japanese pressings are becoming scarcer — and therefore more collectable and valuable every year.
Condition – Vinyl: NEAR MINT!
Condition – Cover: EXCELLENT!
Side 1:
Motorcycle Man
Stand Up And Be Counted
747 (Strangers In The Night)
Wheels Of Steel
Side 2:
Freeway Mad
See The Light Shining
Street Fighting Gang
Suzie Hold On
Machine Gun
AMG –
Songs that positively gleamed with a bright, metallic sheen. Wheels of Steel tops the heap of essential Saxon albums. After finding themselves a qualified heavy metal producer in Pete Hinton, the members of Saxon recovered from their disappointing debut in fine form with 1980's career-defining Wheels of Steel. As well as effectively setting the template for the band's most successful efforts, the album's songs positively gleamed with a bright, metallic sheen similar to that exhibited by the chrome eagle hoisting a motorcycle wheel on its iconic cover. Wasting no time with niceties, Wheels of Steel kicked straight into fifth gear with one of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal's signature anthems, "Motorcycle Man." A proto-speed metal classic, the song also reintroduced the oft-recurring biker themes that would rear up again on the even more frenzied "Freeway Mad" and the album's epic title track (as well as on many future tracks). Another song joining "Wheels of Steel" in Saxon's career roll of honor was the dramatic, lyrically unique "747 (Strangers in the Night)", but a slew of additional standouts like "Street Fighting Gang," "See the Light Shining," the furious "Machine Gun," and the contrastingly romantic "Suzie Hold On" (perhaps the band's finest early ballad) rounded out the album in style. Wheels of Steel tops the heap of essential Saxon albums. 4 Ā½ Stars