Saxon at this point seem to have lost their core nerve or direction, and instead imitate whatever is popular at this point. yes they still sound like Saxon at least, but this is merely because of Biff Byford's recognisable voice. It is no wonder to me that personally I lost all interest in this band around the prior album and particular this one. It should be titled "Generic" rather than "Crusader".
Saxon are not exactly famous for state of the art cover design. They basically until now seemed content with a barebone, almost deliberately, cheesy design. This seems to change here using a quite pretentious oil-painting that seems to be a nod to an attempt at a concept. This style of design does not fit their music style in my opinion. It has more "prog" to it and adds to the let-down when you actually get to hear the music.
The "prelude" is merely some battle noises, to give an ambient feel to kick you into the "Maiden/Manowar'esque" title track. I would agree that the title track is decent, but still I don't get a nerve like in earlier Saxon. And setting off in a prog/concept feel and then just getting - what follows - a set of very generic hard rock tracks, is not going cut it for me. It is mediocre and a false trademark.
Anthems like "Just Let Me Rock" is toe-curlingly cheesy and clerarly sends a signal that they are selling out to please a primarily american audience, sucking down to a lower common denominator than they have to. They are better than this. Maybe record-label/producer hoped to break these guys into the big league - but that is not heir game ... take a hint from AC/DC and stick to the one thing you do well.
The nail in the coffin is actually the sad cover of unsung metal pioneers Sweet's "Set Me Free" that is so astoundingly inferior to the original, without adding anything interesting to the mix ... not even a Saxon'esque touch. This is close to self-parody.
Avoid this one, almost at all cost, unless you just have to have everything Saxon
- The Crusader Prelude 1:06
- Crusader 6:37
- A Little Bit Of What You Fancy 3:52
- Sailing To America 5:06
- Set Me Free 3:19
- Just Let Me Rock 4:12
- Bad Boys (Like To Rock 'N' Roll) 3:26
- Do It All For You 4:45
- Rock City 3:17
- Run For Your Lives 3:53