1175. Armored Saint / Raising Fear. 1987. 3.5/5

From their beginnings back in Los Angeles in 1982, Armored Saint had been in and around those bands that became such household names through the course of the 1980’s. Played with them, drank with them, and generally went along the journey with them. It’s interesting that, at different times and under different circumstances in those years leading up to this album, both leader singer John Bush and bass guitarist Joey Vera had been asked to consider becoming a part of Metallica, but both refused as they wanted to remain with their own band. That says something not only for the closeness of the band but in their belief in themselves.
The band's first two albums, “March of the Saint” and “Delirious Nomad”, were well regarded in the industry and did enough sales wise to raise the profile of the band, but it is fair to say that they were really in the second tier when it came to the coverage the band received compared to their contemporaries in the heavy and thrash metal genre during the mid-1980's.
Along with Bush and Vera, Armored Saint’s first formation included Dave Pritchard on lead guitar and brothers Phil and Gonzo Sandoval on rhythm guitar and drums respectively. However, by the time it came to write and record this album, Phil had left the group, and the album was recorded as a four piece, with Pritchard playing all the guitars.
The most noticeable thing about this album is the production and recording. It is noticeable that not only do the songs feel more structured, they are recorded better and have a bit more oomph in the production than the first two albums received. I mean, everyone who knows “March of the Saint” would agree that it would be amazing if it had been recorded a few years later with better production techniques. And while it improves even more come the next album, it still sets this album up as a better prospect in a time when so many of the great albums of the 80s metal scene were released.

Straight up, John Bush takes centre stage and dominates the opening of the album. And as much as I love Phil’s guitaring on the first two albums, I have to admit that Dave really lets rip in great style on this album. It’s interesting that this is the case, with Dave setting up those licks that he also plays off. It is especially noticeable in the opening, self-titled track. It’s a great song, and lights up the album from the outset.
“Saturday Night Special” is a cover of the Lynard Skynard song, a much more upbeat version than the original. Why does it appear on this album? I don’t really know. Maybe the band just loved the song and decided they wanted to do their own version. It’s interesting listening to it because, although it is a good version, it is noticeable that through the verses of the song the guitars don’t really take control and have great pieces like the other songs on the album do – you know, the ones the band actually wrote! No matter, it still sounds great.
“Isolation” is the standing-out-like-thumb track on the album. It mixes up the general style of song that Armored Saint had done to this point of their career, a slower more introspective track, though with the vocals continuing with their loud and powerful cry rather than silently backing off into a power ballad. It also has a great solo from Pritchard in the second half which ignites it beyond what it could have been. It’s an interesting song, one that does defying being catalogued. It is bookended by two great faster tracks. Both “Out on a Limb” and the excellent “Chemical Euphoria” drive the album back to the rafters.
The second side opens up with the excellent “Frozen Will / Legacy” with Dave’s guitaring again a highlight. “Human Vulture” has some great spots from Bush and Vera, with “Book of Blood” and “Terror” continuing on the frenzy. Closing track “Underdogs” is a beauty, screaming along with fire and brimstone from Bush on vocals and Pritchard on guitar, bringing the album to its conclusion in a pleasing fashion.

I had heard very little of Armored Saint until well into the 1990’s, again through a combination of their albums not being easily sought at the time in Australia, and the fact that none of my friend group listened to them or had any of their albums either. So it wasn’t until John Bush joined Anthrax, and came out with the amazing “Sound of White Noise” album that I thought “I wonder where the hell this bloke came from?”, and I eventually went out to track some material down. And as it turned out, this was the first album that I managed to get a hold of, so I know it pretty well. And of course it was a matter of then slowly building up to the other albums. When it came to putting this album on my playlist to listen to again to record this podcast episode, it jumped out of the speakers at me. It grabbed me again from the outset, and my initial reaction was ‘wow, why haven’t I listened to this in a while!’ And like I’ve said before, this is one of the reasons I do this podcast, in order to rediscover great albums that I may not have played in years. So after a good solid three weeks of going around and around, this has been a great catch up. There is so much to like here, and I think that I rate it higher now than I have in the past. It’s not an out and out classic that demands your attention as one of the best ever released, but it does provide all the things necessary to make a really good album.
It also acts as a tribute to Dave Pritchard, as it was his final album. Following the tour Dave was diagnosed with leukemia, and he passed away the following year while the follow up album “Symbol of Salvation” was being written. His guitaring on this album is some of my favourite from the band, and it is fitting that it is memorable because of how good it is and not just because of his passing.

920. Armored Saint / 2009 Australian Tour Compilation. 2009. 4/5

To mark the first tour to Australia by the mighty Armored Saint, this package was released for all of us Australian fans, according to Blabbermouth to offset the fact that most of the Saint's back catalogue was impossible to source in our corner of the world. In many ways this was true, though the internet had improved this remarkably in recent years.

The album was loosely described as a greatest hits contribution, taking some of the best known Armored Saint tracks and putting them together with some live tracks to flesh out the back end of the release and make it an attractive proposition. Which it undeniably is. Songs were sourced from every Armored Saint album to that point, with "March of the Saint", "Can U Deliver" (live) and "Madhouse" (live) from MARCH OF THE SAINT, "Long Before I Die" (live) and "Nervous Man" (live) from DELIRIOUS NOMAD, "Chemical Euphoria" (live) from RAISING FEAR, "Reign of Fire", "Last Train Home", "Tribal Dance", "Symbol Of Salvation" and "Hanging Judge" from SYMBOL OF SALVATION, and "The Pillar" and "After Me, The Flood" from REVELATION.

Fans could probably argue over the validity of the songs chosen here as being a best of, but to be honest any fan who was going to see the band when they toured would already have had all the albums anyway. For anyone who is a newcomer to the band, this gives a good overview of the band's career to that point in time. What annoyed me more about this release was that I discovered it after the tour took place - a tour I had no idea was occurring. D'OH!

Rating:  "It's the March of the Saint!"   4/5.

872. Armored Saint / Win Hands Down. 2015. 4/5

For a band that has been around for over 30 years - even given the down time that it had with John Bush plying his trade in Anthrax during the 1990's and into the early 2000's - it is quite an achievement to be able to come up with material in the current time that can compare favourably with that which the band released into its early years, and with which most fans will identify the band. It's not unheard of, but it is rare and no doubt difficult. But here is a case in point. Armored Saint may not have released a lot of new material in recent years, but Win Hands Down makes up for that brilliantly, and contains some of the best work of their career.

The one thing that the band has done here better than most of their contemporaries is not forget where they came from. The music isn't the same as what they produced in the past, but it has all of its roots there. This is a modern upgrading of the heavy material the band has always performed, with great production and performances as well as great songs overall.
The most impressive thing about the album is the way it all fits together, not motoring along like a thrash metal album but not pausing breath either. The title track "Win Hands Down" starts the album off perfectly, before great songs such as "Mess", "An Exercise in Debauchery" and the brilliant "Muscle Memory" crash you through the first half of the album. "That Was Then, Way Back When" is highlighted by Gonzo's 16/4 tom-driven drumming, sounding like a freight train, while "With a Full Head of Steam" moves even faster. This is then followed by the headbanging beauty of "In An Instant". "Dive" is the slower and mellower song on the album, with a melancholic feel to the song and driven by that style of guitar riff. While it generally isn't my style of song, and on its own I would be rather ambivalent about it, but it does seem to fit the structure of the album such that I don't feel it has an overly negative effect on how I feel about it within the album. The closer "Up Yours" comes back in your face to finish the album on a positive note.
It's a triumph. This is comfortably a heavy metal album that doesn't go beyond the music the band has always released. It doesn't pretend to be what it isn't. The energy levels of all performers is top notch, each SOUNDS like they are having a ball and as a result they are putting their best musical foot forward. The drumming of Gonzo Sandoval is awe-inspiring. The sound he has got on this album is perfect, and along with Joey Vera's bass provide the solid foundation that keeps the bottom end sounding brutal. His drumming is terrific, technically using each part of his drum kit without it ever sounding like he is trying to dominate or overshadow the band. Along with his bass guitar Joey Vera also rallies to the production table everything he has learned through the years, and brings everything together with a great vibe and magnificent sounding album, instrumentally and vocally brilliant. Phil Sandoval and Jeff Duncan trade licks and riffs throughout like the well-oiled machine they are. This is all brought together by John Bush, who continues to impress on vocals, sticking to his range and his abilities, and belting out each song with gusto, but still able to sing a song such as "Dive" without compromising his talents.

As much as I love Armored Saint's early albums, this came as more than a pleasant surprise when I first got it. The fact that it still sounds like the classic Armored Saint but with that modern production makes it an instant classic. As a result it should appeal to both old and new fans alike, and for me is one of the best albums of 2015.

Rating: Seeking adventure every which way, knowing full well there may be hell to pay.  4/5

758. Armored Saint / March of the Saint. 1984. 3.5/5

Armored Saint is another of those wonderful coming-togethers of high school friends who decided that they wanted to create a band, that then went on and actually made a career out of it. They were formed in 1982 by musical brothers, guitarist Phil Sandoval and drummer Gonzo Sandoval, who had attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Los Angeles, and they were joined by fellow alumni from the same school vocalist John Bush and bass guitarist Joey Vera. These four originally played together during high school in a short-lived band called Royal Decree, but as they got serious about their music, they decided they needed some extra oomph, and a new name. The extra oomph came from guitarist Dave Prichard who had attended nearby South Pasadena High School, while the new band name has been attributed to Gonzo, who claims to have conceived the band name Armored Saint after watching the movie “Excalibur”.
The band began to play the same venues where the Bay area bands were beginning to become noticed and started making a name for themselves. In the story that was related in the episode on this podcast dedicated to Metallica's “Kill ‘Em All” album, in 1983 John Bush was invited by drummer Lars Ulrich to audition as singer for Metallica following the release of that album, as at that point in time James Hetfield was suffering from a lack of confidence in his ability to play guitar and sing on stage at the same time. However, Bush turned down the offer at the time, as he wanted to remain with his school days band, hoping that they would soon get their own break. It would have been a remarkably different future for both bands if Bush had indeed agreed to join Metallica.
Armored Saint had recorded a five-song demo, from which the song "Lesson Well Learned" was used on the compilation album “Metal Massacre II”. This exposure, along with their demo tape, enabled the band to be signed by Chrysalis Records, and led to eventually being able to record their debut album on the back of it, called “March of the Saint”.

This has all of the right attributes to be a terrific heavy metal album but does tend to come across as a bit lighter than it should. It is caught somewhere between wanting to be an out-and-out heavy metal album, or one that is heavy but still accessible to the commercial market. Certainly, the production makes it feel this way, which is supported by comments made by John Bush and Joey Vera a few years ago. Vera commented in 2006 with fullinbloom music that “At the end of the record we were very unhappy with the production, the mix, the way we worked and who we worked with. And the producer and manager let us spend over $300,000 on our first record. To this day we are still in debt for that one”
This is fairly obvious in most of the songs, that you reach a point where you really expect it to delve into a heavy riff or riffs, but it continues along at a far more subtle lineage. This only hampers the album for those that are looking for more grunt that is available. No doubt at the time it was released, the fans would have expected something more akin to the debut albums of Metallica and Exodus for example, the bands they had been their peers in that scene at the time.
In some ways this does also allow John Bush's vocals to get a bit lost in the mix, and not fully utilise what is available. Because the music has been produced in a "lighter" fashion than what would be classed as a thrash or metal album, it leaves the vocals at times sounding reedy and unfinished. If the songs had had more grunt to them, it would have allowed the vocals to meld better with the music and help produce a heavier album. If the lines of lyrics didn't finish so often with the vocals in an upward inflection, and instead brought them down to help drag those riffs into a heavier mode, it would have worked even better. There is a basis to be said that rather than the production that this is just the way John Bush approached his vocals at this stage of his career, and that is quite possibly the case. However, one feels that an experienced producer who was looking to get the best out of the band rather than looking for a commercial success out f the recording would have been able to fashion his better with communication and actually producing for the genre the band was settled in.
The opening trio of songs on the album give it a reasonable entry point, showing strong vocals along with the great rhythm of Gonzo and Joey, along with serviceable guitar stretches from Phil and Dave. The opening title track shows a good burst of speed and enthusiasm from the music and the vocals. “Can U Deliver” is balanced by a good dual solo section from the guitars through the middle of the track. “Mad House” picks things up a bit with a faster tempo and more exciting rhythm riff which lifts the song as one of the better on the album. “Take a Turn” has a commercial bent about the music n places, but John’s vocals actually come through harder here than on other songs on the album.
One of the other comparisons that can be made about this album in looking back is that there is a general symmetry and similarity to the way the songs and composed and sung. The rhythm of guitars, bass and drums does tend to get a bit samey through the middle tracks of the album, which is something that some fans will find aggravating while others will barely even notice. This can be said for songs such as “Seducer” and “Mutiny on the World” and “Glory Hunter” for instance. “Stricken by Fate” and “Envy” have a much better guitar presence, and more energy through the whole band as a whole, especially with John hitting harder in his vocals through these songs. The album then comes to its conclusion with the very Sweet Savage-sounding closing track “False Alarm” which finishes off the album in a pleasing style.

I had known of Armored Saint as a band prior to the mid-1990's but had never really pursued them or chased down their music. In the end, it wasn’t until John Bush left the band to join Anthrax in 1992, and then released what I consider to be the amazing “Sound of White Noise” album that I thought that I probably need to check out just what this Armored Saint band had produced. I heard a few things in those pre-internet days, but it still wasn’t until the early 2000’s that I began to be able to collect their early works, including this album. Since that time I have enjoyed their music, while finding that they do not completely satisfy me with their style of metal/hard rock. The potential however can be heard from the start, which “March of the Saint” is.
When I did get a copy of this album, my thoughts were much as I have explained earlier in this episode. All of the bones are here for a terrific heavy metal album, but it doesn’t quite come together that easily. Did the producer water down what the band had written, trying to give the record company an album that it could promote to a certain market? Or is it just the earliest work of a band that had the potential to be big, but was still finding their feet? I’m not sure. And let me be clear about this - this is still a better than average album which I enjoy whenever I put it on, but you can also perceive some of the reasons why the band was unable to break through to superstar status. The album itself is still terrific, but to me it feels as though something is missing, that something has been lost.
I recently bought this on vinyl at our local Kiama Record Fair, and have been playing it again for the past couple of weeks at home – and I assure you that on vinyl it does sound much better. It’s still a good album, but it isn’t a GREAT album. It doesn’t match “Kill ‘Em All” or “Bonded by Blood” as thrash albums of the era, but it still has its moments. Sometimes, you just have to accept that that is enough.

364. Armored Saint / Eindhoven 12-5-1989 [Bootleg]. 1990. 4/5

This is an A quality soundboard bootleg from Armored Saint at their theoretical peak back in 1989.
It contains the very best of the Saint's songs, the band are in awesome form, while John Bush screams at his best throughout.

As the band lack a full live release, this is probably the best that you can find if you want to experience how the band sounded live. A terrific mix of great songs and great attitude.

Rating: "March of the Saint" indeed! 4/5

349. Armored Saint / Delirious Nomad. 1985. 3/5

Armored Saint was one of those bands that, in the 1980’s in Australia, you heard about but couldn’t really gain access to. I know I was familiar with their name through the end of high school, but ‘regular’ record stores didn’t carry their albums, and they most certainly didn’t want to order in that ‘heavy metal rubbish’, and the second hand record stores that littered the cities also didn’t ever seem to have any.
Finally a couple of years ago, when John Bush was forsaken by Anthrax and returned to his former band, I decided it was time to check them out, now that the opportunity to gain music from overseas is much easier. Delirious Nomad was the first album I found.

There is little wonder they had a good following in the day. John Bush’s vocals are just fantastic, and the songs rock along. OK, maybe in this modern age the songs have dated, like many of the bands from that era, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them just as much. I find myself disappointed I didn’t have this album in high school – I could have annoyed a lot more people.

Rating: Good solid outing from a good solid band. 3/5