Our top 10 Armored Saint songs list presents the music of a sensational metal band first formed in Los Angeles in 1982. When covering metal from the early ’80’s, most bands fell into a relatively small handful of groups. The City Of Angels was famous for launching Van Halen and tons of glam or hair metal bands that dominated FM rock radio in the late 1970s and 1980s. However, another style of music known as the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal was taking metal to tougher places thanks to the influence of bands like Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, not to mention Thin Lizzy, Scorpions and UFO.
In LA, however, there was a distinctive branch of heavier music that counteracted the glam bands. Among them were a nascent Metallica, which quickly moved up to San Francisco as other Bay Area thrashers were starting out, thanks in part to drummer Lars Ulrich, being Danish and making frequent trips to Europe bringing back bands like Diamond Head, Angel Witch, and others that somehow ignited and created the toughest fastest metal, although European thrash was close on the Bay’s heels with Kreator, Sodom, and Destruction.
Armored Saint hail from Los Angeles and are deeply rooted in the heaviness of Judas Priest. The band is fueled by a set of absolutely superb musicians who make metal with very sophisticated hooks and riffs that spawn an incredibly original sound of substantial metal brilliance. Singer John Bush was asked several times to join Metallica but wanted to work with his own band. He would pull double duty later with Anthrax, but never left the Saints, and they still produce some of the most top-notch metal you can find from any era. Lyrically they are very intelligent, and Bush has one of the classic metal voices. Here are some great tunes to get you started, and hopefully you’ll get their albums because they truly are some of metal’s best.
# 10 – March Of The Saint
This is the title track from the band’s debut album also entitled March of the Saint. Armored Saint’s first album was released on October 9, 1984. The album featured John Bush on vocals, Phil Sandoval and Dave Prichard on guitars, Joey Vera on bass and Gonzo Sandoval on drums. The album was a gutsy thrash classic metal hybrid that defined a young earnest band that meant business. This smoking album was recently remastered on CD complete with bonus demo tracks added to the original track listing.
# 9 – Saturday Night Special
Continuing with our top 10 Armored Saint songs list we present this great cover version of Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s classic track “Saturday Night Special.” This one was easily one of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s toughest tunes. Armored Saint knows a good tough song to cover and does the song in fine fashion. The song comes from the Raising Fear album which featured lead guitarist Dave Prichard, who tragically would pass away from cancer.
# 8 – Reign Of Fire
In the number eight spot on this fun Armored Saint songs list is the scorcher “Reign Of Fire. The song was released on the album Symbol Of Salvation. This magnificent album stands as one of the band’s best album releases. The album was released on May 14, 1991. It was the band’s first album to feature guitarist Jeff Duncan. The band would not release another studio album for eight more years after the release of Symbol Of Salvation.
# 7 -Dropping Like Flies
The second tune is a classic one-two punch when you realize the music isn’t going to ease up any time soon. The album Symbol Of Salvation from 2018 is also being released as a live album in its entirety, so that tells you something.
# 6 – No Me Digas
Fueled by the Latino heritage of two of the band members of Armored Saint, the group pays tribute to the styles of calypso music in the song “No Me Digas.” The title translates in English to “Do Not Tell Me.” This song appears on the grand Revelation album. The album was released on March 7, 2000. The album features John Bush who has spent time not only as lead vocalist of Armored Saint but also with the legendary band Anthrax.
# 5 – For The Sake Of Heaviness
At the halfway point on our top 10 Armored Saint songs list we present the mind-blowing track “For The Sake Of Heaviness.” The song was released on the album Delirious Nomad. This was the band’s second album release. The album was released on October 30, 1985. This was back during the Dave Prichard days, and the title is self-explanatory. While the Prichard-led guitar was fine, it was decidedly more in the style of the early New Wave Of British Heavy Metal sound which was pretty much the standard before the thrash San Francisco style kicked in.
# 4 – La Raza
In the number four spot on our top 10 Armored Saint songs list, we showcase the killer cut “La Raza.” The song was the title cut to the band’s 2010 album La Raza. Listen to the opening riffs of this tremendous song. The twin guitar riffs of Jeff Duncan and Phil Sandoval will light up your rock and roll metal shoes. If you want to turn metal fans onto this band, this is one to show off.
# 3 – Muscle Memory
If this list isn’t blowing your metal mind, you better drink some metal juice and clean your ears out. This rocking tune is off the equally heavy Wins Hands Down album. The album was released on June 2, 2015. Meat Loaf’s stepdaughter Pearl Aday makes an appearance on this very cool album. The album was produced by the band’s phenomenal bassist Joey Vera.
# 2 – Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants
It’s very cool to be able to place a relatively new song this high up on the list from a band that’s been around for a long time. This scorcher from Armored Saint’s newest album Punching The Sky, presents a very strong argument that this band Armored Saint is in no way ready to call it a day. The album Punching The Sky was released on October 23, 2020. It stands as the band’s eighth album. It once again features the long-running lineup of John Bush on vocals, Phil Sandoval and Jeff Duncan on guitars, Joey Vera on bass and Gonzo Sandoval on drums.
# 1 – My Jurisdiction
Did we mention how much we love the band’s latest album? We love it so much that we chose a track from the album to be placed in our number one spot on our top 10 Armored Saint songs list. Armored Saint combines social ills with their considerable musicianship and hooks. Fans should have no trouble discerning Bush’s lyrics. The mix on all the albums makes sure it’s truly a band of brothers, with seamless chemistry second to none. Those who miss Judas Priest back in their glory days but are reluctant to check out other like-minded bands that truly excel in real songwriting need to give this great band a serious listen.
Feature Photo: © Markus Felix | PushingPixels (contact me), CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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