Heavy metal band Saxon have dropped a new cover of ‘Paperback Writer’ by The Beatles, 50 years after their break-up. The original topped the charts in the UK and across the world in 1966. The cover will be the third track on their new album ‘Inspirations’ which is due to be released on 19th March. Saxon’s last album, ‘Thunderbolt’ was released in 2018 and ‘Inspirations’ would be the band’s 23rd album.
The lead singer and producer of Saxon, Biff Byford talked to The Metal Voice about The Beatles and the upcoming album: “The thing with The Beatles when they played on TV for the very first time in 1963, I was 12 or 13 years old, so seeing a band on TV in my living room was a big first for me so it influenced me a lot musically. Then obviously The Stones came later. I thought The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and in particular Hendrix influenced us definitely. Everyone one of the cover songs on the album has a connection to the band.”
‘Inspirations’ is a cover album featuring 11 classic tracks such as The Rolling Stones’ ‘Paint It Black’, AC/DC’s ‘Problem Child’, Black Sabbath’s ‘Evil Woman’ and Led Zepplin’s ‘Immigrant Song’. It was recorded at Brockfield Hall near York and produced by Biff Byford and Jacky Lehmann. The album has been produced in an old school style using Marshall cabs, Marshall amps, real drums to create a special vintage sound.
Biff Byford said that he wanted a balance of keeping the album authentic and adding a unique spin of the band at the same time: “We sort of changed the songs a bit but it would be a sort of travesty to mess with them a bit too much. I wanted to keep them fairly simple to the original but with a heavier sound, a heavier angle. Obviously my voice is completely different to their voices. I think my voice definitely gives it a different angle anyway, keeping it straightforward but with a powerful performance.”
Saxon’s new album ‘Inspirations’ is available to pre-order now on their website, check out the lyric video for ‘Paperback Writer’ below.
