Saints Will Conquer

I have the thing where I tend to cross reference another band in a post then a few posts later profile that particular band or artists. Sometimes by choice, other times by accident. This is one of those posts. Few posts back I profiled Anthrax. In that post I made reference to Armored Saint. For what they are, Armored Saint seem to be a forgotten band of the 80's Metal scene. So let's take a trip back and revisit their Live record, 'Saints Will Conquer'

Somewhere in my collection I have a copy of the record on vinyl. It's unopened and I may have paid like $2 back when I was slumming around Phoenix. In fact the CD version is actually different from the vinyl, but more on that in a sec. Armored Saint to most people are know for having former Anthrax vocalist John Bush in their ranks. Others may know the tale of how John Bush almost became the singer for Metallica around the time of 'Ride The Lightning'.  But most die hard Metal heads know that Armored Saint were a pretty well known band with lots of radio and MTV airplay in their hey day. However for as a well known band in their initial ten years together, they only released an EP, four studio albums and a Live Record. The band dissolved after Bush was asked to join Anthrax in the early 90's as well as the untimely passing of Guitarist Dave Prichard from Leukemia. However in '88 the band did release a short little Live album called 'Saints Will Conquer'. The original vinyl release only 5 live tracks and a cut from their original EP. The CD version actually added two more songs in "Chemical Euphoria" and "Long Before I Die". As far as I know it's far from a full set. The band at that time had been riding high for some time. The album was recorded at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland OH on October 9, 1987. Short in nature it serves as a reminder of what a great band Armored Saint was at the time.

Like many of the great 80's metal bands, Armored Saint did make a comeback. Releasing 'Revelation' in 2000, the band was poised for a comeback of sorts. However Bush continue to sing for Anthrax on and off again and Bassist Joey Vera has been busy with his other band Fates Warning. The band has more recently released an album. 'La Raza' was released in 2010 with some splash but again the band seems to be on a get together when we feel like it mentality of late. There is talks of a new record in the near future. Armored Saint to me still sounds fresh as they did when they first unleashed 'March Of The Saint' on us some nearly 30 years ago.

 

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