Saxon celebrate 1979 tour with Motorhead in They Played Rock And Roll video
Saxon release lyric video for their brand new track They Played Rock And Roll - taken from upcoming album Thunderbolt
Select the newsletters you’d like to receive. Then, add your email to sign up.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Every Friday
Louder
Louder’s weekly newsletter is jam-packed with the team’s personal highlights from the last seven days, including features, breaking news, reviews and tons of juicy exclusives from the world of alternative music.
Every Friday
Classic Rock
The Classic Rock newsletter is an essential read for the discerning rock fan. Every week we bring you the news, reviews and the very best features and interviews from our extensive archive. Written by rock fans for rock fans.
Every Friday
Metal Hammer
For the last four decades Metal Hammer has been the world’s greatest metal magazine. Created by metalheads for metalheads, ‘Hammer takes you behind the scenes, closer to the action, and nearer to the bands that you love the most.
Every Friday
Prog
The Prog newsletter brings you the very best of Prog Magazine and our website, every Friday. We'll deliver you the very latest news from the Prog universe, informative features and archive material from Prog’s impressive vault.
Saxon have released a lyric video for their new track They Played Rock And Roll.
The song and promo celebrate Saxon’s 1979 tour with Motorhead, with frontman Biff Byford revealing its existence in September 2016.
It’ll feature on Saxon’s upcoming studio album Thunderbolt, which is set for release on February 2 via Militia Guard/Silver Lining Music.
Byford says: “The song tells the story of Saxon’s very first tour in 1979 with Motorhead. I want people to get a flavour of what it was like in the UK in 79⁄80 for Saxon and Motorhead at the start of the 80s musical revolution.”
Saxon revealed the title track from the new album in November. Find the Thunderbolt cover art and tracklist below, along with the band’s upcoming tour dates.
- Vinnie Vincent returns to the spotlight for the first time in 20 years
- Alex Lifeson: Rush are basically done
- Our TeamRock+ offer just got bigger. And louder.
- Rapper Machine Gun Kelly to play Tommy Lee in Motley Crue film
Saxon Thunderbolt tracklist
- Olympus Rising
- Thunderbolt
- The Secret Of Flight
- Nosferatu (The Vampires Waltz)
- They Played Rock and Roll
- Predator
- Sons Of Odin
- Sniper
- A Wizard’s Tale
- Speed Merchants
- Roadie’s Song
- Nosferatu - RawVersion (Not available on vinyl)
Saxon Thunderbolt 2018 tour dates
Feb 23: Cardiff University, UK
Feb 24: Cambridge Corn Exchange, UK
Feb 25: Hull City Hall, UK
Feb 27: Tilburg 013, Netherlands
Feb 28: Saarbruecken Garage, Germany
Mar 01: Hannover Capitol, Germany
Mar 02: Frankfurt Batschkapp, Germany
Mar 03: Dresden Schlachthof, Germany
Mar 22: Wilkes-Barre Mohegan Sun Arena, PA
Mar 31: Detroit Masonic Temple, IL
May 05: Mexico City Formula 1 Autodrome, Mexico
Biff Byford: "The late 70s were a wasteland – Saxon came out of that"
Sign up below to get the latest from Classic Rock, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox!

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.
