Favorite Saint Song - Warriors of the Son

Rich's post asking about Saint reminded me that I had promised to do a series of threads in the same manner as Beardad's Rez threads and the ones initiated by Samson about Petra and Disciple.

So here is the first one from Saint....I plan to combine the remixed & rerecord albums so this won't drag out to 30 posts (I'm also going to skip the DVD).




Warriors of the Son
 
Originally released in 1984 and reissued several, several times (including recently by Retroactive Records as part of their “The Originals” series).  In addition the band completely recorded the album in 2004 (the rerecord album is often referred to as "Warriors of the Son 2004").  The rerecords finds the band in great form (including Josh’s vocals), although a few of the songs are sped up.  The rerecord also includes two extra songs “The Killers & Destroyers” and “The Reaper”.  Both were said to be songs from the 1984 period that the band didn’t have the time (or funds) to include at the time of the original recording.
 
Having been a huge fan of the later NWOBHM bands Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, I found much to like in Saint as their music doesn’t stray much from that type of sound.  Driving guitars with pounding drums and bass topped with a nearly operatically talented vocals and hooks galore gives you have a formula for great heavy metal.
 
I find the production on the rerecords to be substantially superior to the original so I tend to gravitate towards that version of the album more.  I seriously do not dislike any of the songs on this album.  Plan 2, Warriors of the Son, Vicars of Fate, &Times Wasting are all favorites of mine.  But if forced to pick one single song from this fantastic album it would have to be the thunderous drum pounding, guitar chugging title track "Time's Wasting".
 
Which is your favorite?



(note: unable to find youtube vid for most of the songs on this album....here is a live version of Vicars of Fate recorded in 2005)

This record, which I have had since it was released in '84, and Messiah Prophet's Rock the Flock showed me that yes, Christians can do metal. I remember thinking that my faves Rez were losing their hard edge, and although I still loved their music I was seeking harder, faster, and louder, and those two albums really fed my need.

I have this one on vinyl, as well as on CD with three other Saint albums (The Collection, Amazon.com > $50 for new!), and I think I actually prefer the vinyl. The raw power of this album just sounds better ... well, raw!

My only complaint about this album is the drums for Warriors of the Son. I've always thought the opening salvo sounded like it stuttered (ba-dump, bump ... badump, bump) and could have been done better.

All six songs are awesome (I've never heard the two from '04), but I think my favorite is "Legions of the Dead."

Went with Warriors of the Son. I feel they got so much better I don't listen to this much.

I haven't heard this album in many, many moons.  I have it on cassette so I'll have to give it a listen before I vote.

Xid wrote:

I haven't heard this album in many, many moons.  I have it on cassette so I'll have to give it a listen before I vote.

Very cool!

The cassette is cool?

Xid wrote:

The cassette is cool?

No    cool that you're gonna give it a listen before you vote.

Gotcha!  

BearDad wrote:

All six songs are awesome (I've never heard the two from '04), but I think my favorite is "Legions of the Dead."

The two from '04 are brilliant, and you should go and check them out. 

As for which song is best... I LOVE this album, and it was difficult to decide, but went with Plan II in the end.  Great stuff!

Just to show how solid the album was it's interesting to note that everyone likes different songs.  Not a weak song on this album!

I picked Abyss.  I don't know why, but it's just the first song that came to mind when I opened this.  Truthfully, there isn't a bad song here.

yeah it was hard to pick, they are all good. The 04 album is the only saint album I am missing. Patiently waiting for the upcoming reissue. I think the drums have been remixed, much like The Revelation. If that is the case I bet it sounds good. (yeah, I know I said I don't have it but I have HEARD it and while it is pretty good it was recorded with electric drums and they just don't have the same punch as normal drums).

I had to go with Legions of the Dead.  We covered it in my first Christian band.

First, I picked the self titled song as that one stuck out the most for me, and it was on a compilation album in the mid 80s that I remember hearing a few times, thus burning that song in my memory as a good memory. True there are many good songs to choose from on this album.

Second, I was not aware of a re-record of this ! I am seeking a copy as we speak. Though I always loved this album and have the original on vinyl, I've always thought it was a bit weak in production and the vocals were a teeny bit amateur (don't stone me please, just my opinion). So, to know there's a re-record with their later professional production and improved vox... I WANT IT!  

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

First, I picked the self titled song as that one stuck out the most for me, and it was on a compilation album in the mid 80s that I remember hearing a few times, thus burning that song in my memory as a good memory. True there are many good songs to choose from on this album.

Second, I was not aware of a re-record of this ! I am seeking a copy as we speak. Though I always loved this album and have the original on vinyl, I've always thought it was a bit weak in production and the vocals were a teeny bit amateur (don't stone me please, just my opinion). So, to know there's a re-record with their later professional production and improved vox... I WANT IT!  

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SAINT-WARRIORS-OF-THE-SON-CD-2004-Armor-Records-Christian-Metal-/251391492814?pt=Music_CDs&hash=item3a8819c2ce

$25 is a bit much for me, even for this one.

Yeh, it's almost impossible to find. 15 to 18 bucks maybe, but right now I'm playing catch-up from previous purchases and won't be buying for at least 3 months.
Sigh

Went with Plan 2 over Warriors & Legions.  FLA did a fantastic cover of Plan 2.

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

Yeh, it's almost impossible to find. 15 to 18 bucks maybe, but right now I'm playing catch-up from previous purchases and won't be buying for at least 3 months.
Sigh

Don't worry it will be affordable when Retroactive finally gets around to reissuing it.

Staybrite wrote:

Xid wrote:

The cassette is cool?

No    cool that you're gonna give it a listen before you vote.

Wrong! Cassettes are cool!

I'll be looking out for the re-record re-master re-release. The original version had very weak sonics and is hard to listen to. I think my favourite song might be Time's Wasting. In fact, I wanted to do a 7/4-time version of it on the CMR Saint tribute, but I gave up. Might resurrect it, though.

MikeInFla wrote:

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

Yeh, it's almost impossible to find. 15 to 18 bucks maybe, but right now I'm playing catch-up from previous purchases and won't be buying for at least 3 months.
Sigh

Don't worry it will be affordable when Retroactive finally gets around to reissuing it.

   

Ok. Now I'm listening.

Plan 2 - Cool tune.  Surprised by how much of the lyrics I remember.
Legions of the Dead - I do like this one. Good rocker.
Abyss - Good rockin' tune, too.
Warriors of the Son - Whenever I see or hear this title I see Josh on stage saying it in his dramatic manner.  Decent song but not at the top of list for me.
Vicars of Fate - I've always liked the flow of this one.
Time's Wasting - Decent tune.  Kinda mellow.

It's amazing what comes back even after 20 years.  It's amazing my cassette still plays.  My fav comes down to Legions and Abyss.  My vote is for Abyss.

Fundy predicted correctly about several different songs getting picked as favorites. All of the original version songs have taken at least 2 votes except for "Vicars of Fate" (which at this time doesn't have a single vote).

Abyss!