British metal stalwarts, Saxon have been around in one incarnation or another for more than 33 years.  They began as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal alongside better-known acts such as Def Leppard and Iron Maiden and have certainly shifted gears throughout the changing styles of the decades.  One element (aside from the constant participation of vocalist Biff Byford and guitarist Paul Quinn) has remained the same, however.  Saxon are loud.  I credit them with the beginnings of my worsening battle with tinnitus following a show in 1982 with Krokus and Cheap Trick at the Rib Mountain Speedway in Wisconsin.  Saxon flirted with hair metal and inappropriately glossed production, but they’ve returned, this time for good, to the sound their fans love — brutally beautiful, old school metal.