Search - Samson :: Nineteen Ninety Three

Another mediocre Samson album

Lunar Strain | United States | 09/21/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"After the surprisingly good 1990 album Refugee, Paul Samson releases yet another mediocre album under his name. It seems that when Bruce Dickinson left the band in 1981, Samson has been struggling ever since to release a really monster of an album.



I've always thought one of the major downfalls of Samson was the ability to find a really good singer after Dickinson. Nicky Moore took over vocals after Bruce and I don't really like his vocals at all. Nicky sang on 3 albums and then Refugee introduced 2 new singers, who were much better. Sadly, those singers didn't last. Now Paul Samson himself takes over vocal duties for "Nineteen Ninety-Three", the first time he has sang since the bands debut Survivors in 1979. Though Paul gets the vocal duties done, he is a far better Guitar player than singer.



The songs themselves contain some great guitar playing, but overall the songs just are average, or mediocre, if you will. Hey You and Dream are both faster songs and are decent, but the third track Back to You is a little too Bluesy for my taste. The Word, Slip Away, Can You Imagine, It Ain't Fair, Used It Before You Lose It, The Edge, and When I Will I See You Again Again contain good guitar playing, but the lyrics are forgettable and the Paul Samson's vocals don't aid to the songs enjoyment. Room 109 is a great instrumental and is a remake of the same song that appeared on the album Refugee.



Overall the album is just blah, with no substance other than good guitar playing to drive the songs along. This would be the last Samson studio album though the band would continue to tour and release a couple more live albums before Paul's death of cancer in 2002.



It should also be noted that the album was originally released simply under the title "Samson" (a self titled album if you will) when originally released in 1993. Magnum records re-issued the album in 1996 under the name "Nineteen Ninety-Three", which I just think is silly."