One of the most successful bands that came out of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal in the eighties was Saxon. Starting off as two bands merging under the name Son of a Bitch, they changed their name to Saxon and soon started touring in support of bands such as the Ian Gillan Band, Motörhead and Ozzy Osbourne before hitting their own success. Saxon are also cited as one of the bands that the fictional band Spinal Tap are meant to be based on with IMDB's trivia stating 'Derek Small's bass-playing technique (playing with one hand, so the other is free to point in the air) is based on the bass player from Saxon.'
Now, with 19 studio albums to their name and another in the making, Saxon are still going strong with continued success and are heavier than ever. They will be performing at Donington's Download Festival this weekend for the fifth time in their career, the first time being at the first Monsters of Rock in 1980.
Here are Saxon live in Wacken with Wheels of Steel
