Samson
From page 84 of Classic Rock Magazine April 2000
Re-issues (Air Raid]
Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson owns Air Raid Records but these re-issues don't appear to have been lavished with much care.There's no bonus tracks, the liner notes are appalling, and on the spine of one, the band's name is mispelled as 'Samsom'. Strangely, although Dickinson's on the sleeve of 1979's bludgeoning debut 'Survivors' (*****), he joined Samson too late to have participated. Still, at least he can claim to have been connected with 'I Wish I Was The Saddle Of A Schoolgirl's Bike'.The following year's remarkable 'Head On' (*****) fused lyrical eccentricity with Paul Samson's full-on guitar, and before Dickinson jumped ship to Maiden, '81's 'Shock Tactics' (*****) had suggested that Samson were onto a winner. Check out 'Live At The Reading Festival '81' (*****), released a decade later. The latter is still an inspiring documentation of a band who never fulfilled their vast potential. Dave Ling


