Review: Saxon – St. George’s Day Sacrifice – Live in Manchester

I’ve never been a great fan of live albums, but listening to Biff Byford’s stage banter makes this entire experience worthwhile. Despite being one of the oldest and most prolific NWOBHM bands still touring, the guys in Saxon are still extremely humble and grateful to their fans. St. George’s Day Sacrifice catches an entire chorus of Saxon fans backing up Byford’s vocals, but not at the expense of a crisp, immediate recording of the instrumentation. “Crusader” definitely benefits the most from this stellar audience interaction. –Henry Glasheen