1241. Judas Priest / Invincible Shield. 2024. 4/5

The latter part of the career of Judas Priest has had plenty of interesting phases about it, notwithstanding the changes in band lineup in that time, and the other difficulties that have faced the band in that time. Following the return of Rob Halford to the band, they put out two completely different styled albums in “Angel of Retribution”, which tried to harness what the band had done best prior to their separation, and “Nostradamus”, the double CD prog metal concept album that threw the Priest rulebook out the window and created a whole new chapter in their songwriting and production. Both of these albums had their fans and their critics. Some felt that “Angel of Retribution” was both not Judas Priest enough and also too much of a change from their normal sound (“Loch Ness” I’m looking directly at you!), while the huge risks and gamble taken with “Nostradamus” was a marvel to some, and an overblown misplaced epic by others.
In 2011, founding member K.K. Downing left the band citing... well... differences... and Richie Faulkner was brought in, and the youthful energy he brought with him seemed to rub off on the next album, “Redeemer of Souls” as it lifted the intensity lost somewhat by the mist of “Nostradamus”, and it felt as though Judas Priest was back on level footing. Perhaps the only doubts arose from Halford’s capability to continue singing live as he had done in his youth. He himself admitted it just wasn’t possible for him to do so, and that he by changing the way he sang those older songs live, he was able to draw out his ability in this respect. There were still concerns over Halford’s vocal capacity... that is until the release of “Firepower” in 2018, arguably the best Priest album since “Painkiller”, where the songs sat in that perfect Priest tempo, and Halford stayed in his capable vocal range, and the combination produced an absolutely killer album. Glen Tipton’s diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease while recording this album meant that he had to pull back from fulltime duties with the band, with producer Andy Sneap stepping in when required to cover his forced absences.
The initial writings sessions for that album’s follow up occurred in early 2020, but with the onset of the pandemic, and not being able to be together, the writing was more or less put on hold. Then the band began their 50th Anniversary tour, which again was interrupted by the shock of Faulkner’s major heart scare, when he ruptured his aorta on stage, with blood filling his chest cavity. A 10+ hour emergency operation saved his life, but even the most optimistic person could barely believe he would tour again. And yet he did. All of this meant that progress on the new album was much slower than the band had hoped for, but eventually in late 2023 it was completed, and in March 2024 “Invincible Shield” was released upon an expectant and excited fan base world wide.

One of the big things that pops up very quickly on this album is that Rob has decided to extend himself vocally once again, with several songs and lines in other songs reaching for those highs of days gone by. You have to admire Halford, who at an age when he could easily rest on his laurels and sing within certain parameters without anyone feeling cranky about it, that he still has the ability and DESIRE to want to bring out those brilliant top level vocal highs at different stages, which really help to make the songs involved. Will he be able to do the same things night after night in the live environment? Well, that's a problem for Future Bill, because at the moment I just think it's great to hear them coming out of my speakers here in the Metal Cavern.
Those vocals on the album opener “Panic Attack” are that first impression, one everyone has had for months after it was released as the first single from the album. It also has very “Painkiller” like vibes in the guitars, that classic duelling solos and then twin harmony in between. It’s a Judas Priest gold standard type of song, coming at the kind of speed that immediately gets the blood pumping and the fist raising in glee. Those scream range vocals continue into “The Serpent and the King” which continues along the same old school Priest past path, with solos and riffs and drums that just crush out of the speakers. From the outset a different path has been set by this album than was the case with “Firepower”. The band has made a conscious effort not to replicate the success of that album, and instead, early on at least, has ramped everything up including Rob’s vocals in order to differentiate it from that album. And for me, it works beautifully. More of the same comes from the title track “Invincible Shield”, with Scott Travis’s driving double kick being the leading light along with Rob’s doubled harmony vocals throughout the song. There are pieces of this song that remind me incredibly of “Ram it Down”, thus increasing my belief that there is a definite desire to bring in that era of the band’s music into this album. I love it. Others may not, but the sense of deja-vu I get from the opening to this album is a good thing, not one of impending doom. As the album progresses there are examples of these kinds of songs, especially “As God as My Witness” which charges along with the same principles in place. Then there is also another interesting phase towards the end of the album with “Escape from Reality” and “Sons of Thunder”, which on my initial listens to this album reminded me of earlier Priest, those albums from the early 1980’s such as “British Steel” and “Screaming for Vengeance”. It wasn’t until a little bit of research (I occasionally do some) brought forth the fact that Glenn Tipton was the main writer of both these songs, and that unlike the rest of the album that had Andy Sneap as sole producer, these two songs had Tom Allom involved in the porduction, the man who had produced both of those legendary early Priest albums, and a lending hand on “Firepower”. The connection does sound obvious once you have that information.
Other songs such as “Devil in Disguise”, “Gates of Hell” and the album closer “Giants in the Sky” tread a path that contains a similar drum beat throughout and favoured by a rhythm riff that doesn’t change much in the tracks. The mid tempo favoured tracks, each with their own take on the variety to be offered by the band, are songs that act as the glue portion of the album, songs that don’t particularly offer anything extravagant or groundbreaking, but pay their part in the whole.
On the other hand, songs like “Crown of Horns” and “Trial By Fire” stick more closely to the format devised for the “Firepower” album, set in a great hard mid tempo range with Rob’s vocals settling in and not pushing the envelope of his vocal range, instead creating that wonderful mood through his normal range soar that makes modern Priest the wonderful band it is. Scott’s drums don’t overplay themselves, sticking in a great pattern along Ian Hill’s booming bass guitar, which has a terrific resonance throughout this album, and Tipton and Faulkner’s guitars flowing along in harmony together. Like I’ve said before, “Firepower” is an amazing album, and having songs that still utilise that writing style here is terrific to listen to.

The modern digital age has some amazing things in place that make it superior in some ways to those of, say, my teenage years. One of those is being able to hear a new album on the day of its release from midnight, which is when it goes live on the streaming services available, rather than having to wait to be able to get to your local record store and purchase your physical copy and then take it home and put it on your turntable for the first time – or by having to wait for your heavy metal music dealer to get HIS copy and then record it for you on the cassette you provide. In the instance of “Invincible Shield”, my first listen started at 5.50 am on the day of its release, the first of lots of listens in the days since.
Judging an album after such a limited span of time, despite the number of listens to the album equating in the thirties, is never easy, and will no doubt over the course of time become more rounded and probably more accurate. Should this podcast last another 20 years (or indeed, if I last another 20 years) then it would be interesting to listen to what I would say about my thoughts on this album having had that amount of time to digest it. What I can say is that at this point of the journey, this album has a lot going for it. I immediately have my ears prick up as certain songs begin, and I immediately notice when this album comes into the rotation of the other album that I have on my current playlist. I am looking forward to gaining my physical copy of this album and being able to give it the chance to fill the Metal Cavern with its music through my stereo rather than streaming to my Bluetooth speaker or through my headphones. That will be the real test.
At this point though, I would rank this alongside “Firepower” as the best Judas Priest albums since “Painkiller”. As with the previous album, the band has made a conscious effort to reintegrate their historical sound into their newest songs, and they have done it terrifically well. Their sound here is again amazing. Tipton, for as much as he is doing with Sneap in support, is great, and Richie Faulkner again is superb. K.K. Downing is showing with his own band that he still has what it takes, but Faulkner’s injection into Judas Priest has definitely been a positive for the band in both ability and writing. The grand old man Ian Hill continues to prove his worth to the band, and Scott Travis’s drumming still drives the machine. An of course, Rob Halford. Has he lost any of the power in his voice? At times during this album I have just shaken my head at what he can still achieve vocally. He is a remarkable person.
The verdict? Of all of the new albums I have listened to over the past month, this is the one that still demands the most attention. That’s about the best recommendation I can give for this album.

1101. Judas Priest / Nostradamus. 2008. 3/5

I’m sure there were others like me out there that felt some disappointment in the offering produced by the reformed Judas Priest as their comeback album, Angel of Retribution. Over-excitement was definitely a factor in that. So, when the band announced they were going into the studio to record their follow up there was cause for further tingling of the senses. Surely this time they would not only find a way to hold true to the Judas Priest metal ideals, but would also eliminate those slight anomalies that were on the previous album and produce another masterpiece. It turns out that I ended up feeling slightly let down once again.

“Ambitious” is probably the word that best describes the whole Nostradamus concept from start to finish. From the time it was announced that the next album would be a concept album based on the life of the seer, a musical symphony or rock opera as such, and that it would span two discs, it felt like it was not only going to be overblown but also very un-Judas Priest-like. Certainly not what I considered the band and its music to be like. Even so, I reserved judgement until the album had arrived and I had put it on to listen to for the first time.
Did I have problems with it when it was released? Yes. Do I still have problems with it now? Yes. This is a complex album and one that is almost beyond just being able to put it on and listen to for pleasure. It isn’t like taking out Defenders of the Faith or Painkiller and knowing the songs and headbanging along in glee. This, like an opera, is an entire musical piece, one that is difficult to pick pieces out at random and just enjoy those tracks because in essence they all have to fit together. For me this is the most difficult part of the album. Even with Queensryche’s brilliant concept album Operation: Mindcrime you can enjoy the songs on their own as well as part of the whole album. Here on Nostradamus I find that almost impossible. And in essence that seems to be because the songs themselves as individual components just aren’t great, or inspiring, or energetic.
More than anything, it is just looooooooooong. Because of the fluctuations between the style of songs as each tries to tell another part of the story, and with the short instrumental interludes between songs that are used to connect these parts of the story, it feels as though it stretches out eternally. At almost 103 minutes in total, it is a long time to commit to get through from start to finish, especially when there are tracks that just don’t appeal my general music taste.
The opening of “Prophecy” and “Revelations” is enjoyable enough, mixed in as it is with the synths and keyboards and the symphonic sound that is incorporated throughout. The closing song of the first disc “Persecution” is probably the best song on the album because it sounds like the Priest songs that I love. “Alone” is different from that but in the course of the album is another I don’t mind, along with “War”. “Nostradamus” flows with an energetic burst towards the end of the second disc. To be honest, for me that is as much enthusiasm as I can raise for the individual tracks here, and even that is a stretch.

Is it a flawed masterpiece? I’m not sure. Certainly, the concept and the way it was written and recorded highlights that a lot of thought and work went in to this album, and the band had to know beforehand that because it was unlike anything they had ever done before that it was going to be a hard sell to the fans. As musicians and artists this must have been something they felt very strongly about recording, and I admire the fact that they went outside of their pigeon hole to produce it. I have spent the past couple of weeks reacquainting myself with it for this review and I believe that I appreciate it more now for what it is than I did when it was released. Actually, I’m sure of that. However, as an album to put on for the afternoon to listen to while having a couple of beers, this definitely isn’t the one you are going to grab off the shelves.

Best songs: “Prophecy”, “Revelations”, “Persecution”.

Rating:  “They will not eradicate me, break my will or suffocate me.”  3/5

1094. Judas Priest / Live in London [Live]. 2003. 4/5

It’s probably a sure sign of desperation, given you have only released two live albums in the first 25 years of your existence as a band, and then you release two in a startlingly short space of time. Ostensibly it seems like an effort to keep the band in the public eye, and show their relevance despite a struggle to get fans to accept two albums without your big time lead singer. Whereas '98 Live Meltdown was an audio release only, Live in London was filmed and released as a video as well as this audio contribution. But if you have one, do you need the other? And if the first did the job of introducing your new vocalist in a positive fashion, do you need another to try and shore that support up?

To be honest, I really enjoyed '98 Live Meltdown as a live album. It had a couple of rough pieces, but overall it was a good set list performed by a great band who can still do the job. It introduced new material effectively, and the energy throughout is excellent. And that is where this release falls down for me. The set list has a few necessary changes, incorporating a couple of songs off of Demolition and some other older songs, but for the majority it is the same songs that were played on the previous world tour and as such off of the previous live album. And – for the most part – they don’t sound as good here as they did then.
The first problem that is encountered is that the old songs completely outshine the newer material. There is a massive gap in the vitality and speed and overall metal value of the old classics than there is of the material from the Ripper era. “Hell is Home”, “Feed on Me” and even “One on One” sound slow, clunky and devoid of life compared “Electric Eye”, “Living After Midnight” and “Metal Gods”. They get completely shown up here and exposed badly for their deficiencies. “Blood Stained” and “Burn in Hell” don’t fare any better. It’s a disappointment, and one feels that they could have done a better job in promoting these songs good sides.
The second problem is that this doesn’t seem as energetic and exciting as the previous live album. It’s nice to hear a little bit of variety with songs such as “Desert Plains” and “Running Wild”, but neither of these two songs sound as good as Halford sang them, and the choice of “United” doesn’t work either. And as I said, I think '98 Live Meltdownsounds better overall.

This is still a good live album, and you can’t argue with the amount of material that you get for your money. It also serves as the finale for Tim “Ripper” Owens and his time in Judas Priest. He is a fine front man and he did his job in keeping Judas Priest alive, and I can vouch that seeing the band live with him out front was a worthwhile experience. As an epitaph for his time in the band, this is a reasonable tribute.

Rating: “Judas! Priest! Is! Back!!!”… but only for a short time. 4/5

1093. Judas Priest / Jugulator. 1997. 2.5/5

Much has been made of the seven years that stretched between the release of the monster album Painkiller and of its follow-up Jugulator, which incorporated the leaving of Rob Halford from Judas Priest, and the eventual recruitment of the former singer of a Judas Priest cover band, Tim “Ripper” Owens. The lengthy period of time it took to get to this point has always been an interesting point of discussion. Many wondered if Judas Priest would ever record again in any form with Halford’s absence and no doubt this acted as an encouragement for the band to forge ahead. The danger given the length of time between albums was obviously inherent – would their music still be relevant in a world that had changed so much in that time?

I went into this album with a clear head and open mind. More than anything I wanted to like this album so I wasn’t going in with negative thoughts about it. The writing which forever had been composed by the trio of Tipton, Downing and Halford was now a writer short, and there was always going to be differences in the music because of it. Glenn wrote all of the lyrics while both he and Ken wrote the music, but if you take a third of your writing partnership away there is going to be a swing from the centre to one side or the other. And let’s face it, seven years is a long time between albums even if the band was settled, and the drastic swing between metal in 1990 and metal in 1997 created such a vast chasm that it was always going to be hard to overcome. Releasing “Painkiller II” would have been a disaster. Even so, the none-too-subtle change of musical direction between these two albums was a big gulf to accept.
One thing that wasn’t a problem was the vocals. “Ripper” came in with a great set of vocal chords and an uncanny ability to sound and sing like his predecessor, which for live performances was exceptionally handy as the live show barely missed a beat with the back catalogue of songs, something that is rarely the case when a band changes singers. What did have to be achieved was to find the right range for his vocals on the new songs being written, and given the slight change in this album’s direction that may not have been the easiest part to complete.
Despite all of this, what Judas Priest produced for their ‘comeback’ was like nothing they had ever recorded in their career, and that is where the major stumbling block was at the time, and remains to this day. The fact that they chose to record an industrial metal album at a time when industrial metal was at its prominence is not the issue. The issue is that it is so unlike a Judas Priest album that it becomes almost impossible to listen to. And even though as I said above that I went into this with an open mind, and that releasing “Painkiller II” would have been a disaster, you surely have to think that at least a few pieces of the past would make their way into the mix? But it is almost completely wiped away. This is a sound that has almost nothing to do with what Judas Priest had built their career on and it is somewhat shocking, even today. Honestly, to me it has the same mistakes that Dio made in writing and recording their Angry Machines album, in that there was no familiarity at all between that album and anything else they had released that it caused major fractions in the fan base. Much the same can be said about Jugulator.
And it comes from the very beginning. The opening track on a Judas Priest album is usually one of the highlights, the song that drags you willingly into the album. Think of “Freewheel Burning”, “Electric Eye”, “Sinner” and “Painkiller” as just a few examples. But, even though I like “Jugulator” as a song, it just doesn’t have that same drawing power. “Blood Stained” too has plenty of angst and drive to the song, and to be honest if you have made it through the two opening songs and not turned this off, and have also put completely out of your mind that this is a Priest album, you will be able to get more out of it. This album has more of a tame Fear Factory sound to it than any pretence of following the band’s previous doctrine, which is so very strange as it has more in common with the direction that Rob Halford took with two projects after leaving the band, Fight and Two. If both parties were heading down that path, then why part ways? Why remove the brilliant harmony guitars and great solos which act as the strength of the band to just side with the times? I don’t know the answers to these questions.

Anyone who saw the band live during this period knows full well that they were still just awesome, and that “Ripper” was great, but the new material just didn’t gel well with the old stuff. More than anything else that is what harms its overall appeal. There are still some terrific songs on this album, such as “Death Row”, “Burn in Hell” and “Bullet Train”, where when heard away from the rest of the album will garner a positive response. But the album as a whole just doesn’t work in a way that makes it a good Judas Priest album. It is so tied to the era because of the way the songs have been written and recorded that it doesn’t have a chance to stand on its own legs. That is a shame.

Rating: “Changing my course, blurred and scorched, breathing exhaust as we distort”. 2.5/5

1092. Judas Priest / The Complete Painkiller Tour [Live Bootleg]. 1991. 4/5

I didn’t become interested in tracking down bootleg concert recordings until the age of the internet, mainly because I had no way of finding a way into the network that went through such things in my pocketed little corner of Australia. Once the internet became an accessible thing it became something I was much more interested in, and especially from tours that we had not been fortunate enough to have seen here. Amid the reunited Judas Priest of the new millennium I began hunting for anything I could find from the tour promoting my favourite Priest album Painkiller, and that search eventually came up with this gem of a recording.
For the most part, what I was looking for was live recordings of the songs off the Painkiller album, and this doesn’t quite cover it, despite 

proclaiming to have every song from the tour.

As a matter of fact, both “Metal Meltdown” and “A Touch of Evil” were played but they don’t appear on either disc of this album. No big deal, but it still would have been good to have had them as a part of this collection.
Instead what we have here is two performances, one from the start of the tour and one from closer to the end. The first disc is compiled from radio broadcasts of the opening night of the tour in Los Angeles and as such is good quality. This includes the performance of “Better By You, Better By Me” that was at the centre of the court case that the band had spent much of the previous year fighting over the two kids who had claimed the song had backwards messages suggesting they commit suicide. It had delayed the release of the album and the start of the tour, and playing this song was no doubt a little stress reliever for them. Apart from this, the set list contains what you would expect, along with “Between the Hammer and the Anvil” and “Leather Rebel” from the Painkiller album. It’s a good listen.
The second disc is a great audience recording from their gig at Offenbach, Germany in February 1991. This is a true bootleg because the crowd are in the foreground and the band in the background, complete with the crowd nearby the recorder singing along in unison. This is what makes a great bootleg in my opinion, getting a great impression of how the crowd is enjoying the show, while still hearing the songs in there as well. The addition of “All Guns Blazing”, “Night Crawler” and “Painkiller” make this an excellent representation to what is a great disc.

This wasn’t exactly what I was looking for when I went searching for live performances of the songs of Painkiller, but it probably doesn’t exist anyway. What I found instead was an excellent bootleg of two complete gigs from the same tour, where Judas Priest are at the peak of their powers and showcasing their wares to the world. Those that enjoy bootlegs will get a lot from this double album. Those that prefer the crisp live recordings that comes from official releases will still be surprised just how good this sounds.

Rating: “Lightning in the dark!!” 4/5

1090. Judas Priest / Painkiller. 1990. 5/5

The decade of the 1980’s had had its ups and downs when it came to the popularity of Judas Priest. But perhaps more importantly, it had included a degree of differing styles in what Priest had chosen to infuse into their music at different times of that decade. Over the course of four albums in just over four years - “British Steel”, “Point of Entry”, “Screaming for Vengeance” and “Defenders of the Faith” - the band had ridden high on the wave of heavy metal that they had helped to create, and saw their style of dual guitar metal mayhem rise to the top of the echelons they were aiming for. Their decision to move in a similar direction to some of their contemporaries to include a synth sound in their mix for their 1986 album “Turbo” was no doubt seen at the time as a canny if brave move, and while it produced success in some areas along with a hit single, retrospectively it has not been seen to have aged well. Their response to this was to do a hard right turn and try to recover lost support with the “Ram it Down” album in 1988, purported to be a return to their more traditional style of heavy metal. More than anything else on these two albums, it was a combination of differing musical style along with lyrical content that seem slightly more ludicrous than Spinal Tap that was a major stumbling block, combined with the rapid rise in popularity of thrash metal in the form of Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and other bands that was drawing attention away from Judas Priest and what they were producing.
At what point can it be conceived that the band decided that they needed to make a hard decision, and perhaps accept they had made a slight error in their direction? Synths had come in for “Turbo”, but were for the most part pushed out on “Ram it Down”, which was proclaimed to be a return to what Judas Priest did best. Even for someone like me, who enjoys every Judas Priest album and almost every era of the band, I found that the messing about with the ingredients over the previous four years had caused a change in the final product. Having taken the decision to try and run with the synth metal direction, they now found themselves approaching the new decade down the wrong garden path, ending up in the field of poppies rather than the thrash heavy populus of the Emerald City. They were not the only band to have found this fate awaiting them due to similar choices. But this was Judas Priest! One of the bands on which heavy metal had been formed! So the hard and difficult decision began to be made.
Somewhere, somehow, following the tour to promote the “Ram it Down” album, long time drummer Dave Holland was moved on. In his place they brought in the powerhouse of Scott Travis, whose powerful double kick drumming with the band Racer X had always been a prominent part of their music. They also decided to go in a different direction with their producer, with long time partner Tom Allom being let go and Chris Tsangarides coming into the chair. Now, the writing process had to begin for their next album, and given the adjustment and then over correction of their previous two albums, the discussion between the band and the writers and new producer must have been fascinating. Just what did they want and need to produce with their music in order to regain their position as one of the front runners of the heavy metal industry? Given the ground they appeared to have lost to the up and coming thrash metal elite, it would not be an easy task. So what did they do? They produced the album “Painkiller”, and absolutely crushed the fucking music world.

Way back in 1990, there was an absolute plethora of albums coming out that have become folklore in the world of heavy metal music. People’s opinions vary somewhat on them, but as a twenty year old trawling the record store shelves it was an amazing year of releases for this genre. While it is hard to go past albums like Megadeth’s “Rust in Peace” and Slayer’s “Seasons in the Abyss” and Anthrax’s “Persistence of Time” as the stand out albums of this year, one album in particular for me was the one that shepherded heavy metal music into the new decade. It also brought life back to the band in question, hurtling them to the top once again with another album that was a star attraction. The band was Judas Priest, and the album of course was “Painkiller”.
I had pre-ordered this album at the local record store, and came home from work one day to find my mother had picked it up for me. Having done the usual post-work things I took it to my room and put it on and, as I am sure occurred to almost every person who has listened to this album, was completely blown away by the opening drum fill from new Priest drummer Scott Travis. Having ben well informed of this ‘new guy’s’ previous work with Racer X, and that he was a beast of the drums, it shouldn’t have been a surprise, but that opening drum extension was just mind blowing from the outset. It is still as brilliant today, and then that magnificent guitar scream comes in over the top, before the song descends into the opening riff chords. And we are away – but everything you need to know about the album “Painkiller” comes in the opening fifteen seconds of the opening title track. You only got one chance to hear this opening to the album for the first time, but each and every time I play this album, I feel as exhilarated as I did the first time I heard it. It is almost unmatched in heavy metal music history. From there the song just continues into brilliance, as Rob’s vocals join the party, and sit in that high extreme phase of his range for practically the entire song, making it practically impossible to actually sing along with him. It is an incredible vocal feat, one that allows this song to remain as amazing as it has been for the past 35 years. It is a new Halford here, taking charge from the outset, making it known that Judas Priest is here to play with the so called youth brigade, and they are in no mood to relinquish their crown. The dual guitar solos in the middle of the song just tear it apart, and that scream to end the track is outstanding. What a way to open a new album.
What brought about this ‘revival’ in the band and its music? Was it really a revival? There are plenty of fast and hard tracks on the previous album “Ram It Down” along with a toning down of the keyboard and synth side of the recordings, something that makes a return in bigger and more bold direction here. No doubt the addition of Scott Travis on drums rekindles something that Dave Holland did not. Holland’s drumming was always precision and timing perfect and certainly never detracted from the music. Probably the difference here, as is evident from the opening of the album, is that Travis adds to the music and songs and isn’t just a part of the furniture. HIs drumming doesn’t just hold the rhythm, it becomes a bigger part of the picture, and this alone does make a difference in the songs produced.
The other factor changed here is the re-emergence of Chris Tsangaridis as producer, replacing Tom Allom who had produced every Judas Priest album since “Killing Machine”. Was his presence alone enough to create the changes that came with this album? Probably not, but the fact that he gave a fresh air of advice along with his success in those recent times with many other bands and artists surely added to the changes that came with the writing and recording of “Painkiller”.
What we got here was a mashing and melding of all of the greatest parts of Judas Priest, and then amplified beyond the normal. There is aggression in the lyrics and the vocals, there is fire in the guitars and bass, and there is speed and double kick to an extreme in the drums. Rob Halford’s vocals, often dormant in regards to his higher range over some albums, are at their most damaging here, so much so that it makes it almost impossible to sing along with him throughout this album. When Rob is reaching for the ceiling you know every effort is going into the song and it brings the roof down. The added power of the drumming of Scott Travis gives these songs a greater punch, and a harder and faster tempo than they would without it. Ian Hill’s bass is at its best too, providing the big bottom end that highlights the riffs it is backing while exerting its own rumbling influence over them, especially in songs like “All Guns Blazing” and “A Touch of Evil”. Sometimes maligned by those who aren’t fans of the band, Hill’s basslines on this album are a massive part of what makes them so great. Through it all, the magic of the twin guitars of K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton rule all. The melodic interludes that then get ripped apart by their blazing and blistering solos are the culmination of years of brilliant songs and writing. Yes they have been a part of so many amazing interludes over so many albums, but it truly feels as though it was all building to what they produced on this album.
Everything here is a triumph. Those faster and heavier songs such as “Painkiller”, the rifling of “All Guns Blazing”, the almost speed metal tendencies of “Leather Rebel” and pure heavy metal of “Between the Hammer and the Anvil” are complemented perfectly by the slightly less speed influenced but more heavy groove influenced tracks such as the doom riding of “Hell Patrol”, the heavy hitting tones of “Metal Meltdown”, the creepy horror film soundtrack vibes of “Night Crawler” and the charging fist pumping victory anthem of “One Shot at Glory”. On the outlier is the moody brilliance of “A Touch of Evil” which is still perhaps the show stealer it always threatened to be, the one slight change in appearance with the drenching synth that only enhances the concept of the song and the darkening mood that it portrays, a template that could well have been the benchmark of Judas Priest writing sessions had that future panned out differently. There is not a weak song here. Everything clips together perfectly, segueing from one brilliant track to the next, exhorting you to sing, chant or scream along in unison while frantically playing those air guitars to a standstill.

It is ludicrous that although this album was recorded early in 1990, and indeed was completed by the end of March, that it was not released until six months after that date. This was due to the much publicised trial over the supposed subliminal messages that finally began in June of 1990, a civil trial over the alleged backward messages on the Judas Priest song “Better By Me, Better Than You”, that it is alleged encouraged the suicide attempt of two teenagers in 1985. The case was eventually dismissed on 24 August 1990, which allowed the band to finally release their new album.
As I alluded to earlier, I had pre-ordered this album from The Rock Factory at Shellharbour Square, one of our nearby record stores, and arrived home from work one day to find my mother had gone and picked it up for me and left it on my bed. And so that afternoon I put it on, and had my brains metaphorically blown out. And it did the same things for months afterwards, alongside those other several albums I have mentioned here that came out around this same time - “Rust in Peace”, “Persistence of Time”, “Seasons in the Abyss” and “Empire”. It was an incredible time in music for a 20-year-old headbanger.
This album defined for me where I thought metal was heading back in 1990, into the next decade. Along with those other brilliant albums from the same year, it felt as though this was going to be the new direction that heavy metal was going to take, the morphing of heavy and thrash and speed metal into a monster that bands like Priest, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer could paint the decade of the 1990’s with, that they would make this the next wave, the next generation, of the heavy metal story. Of course it all became a ‘final shot at glory’, as Priest had almost predicted with their closing track.
This album is rarely away from my stereo for a long length of time. It always seems to find a reason to be played, to find its way off the shelves and back into my stereo. When my friends from over the years get together to have a few drinks and reminisce on old times, this album always seems to be a part of the soundtrack. Everything about it brings back this moment in time, as most of us turned 21 years of age within months of its release, and that period of our lives has this rusted onto it.
Last year I was fortunate enough to be asked to be a guest on the wonderful podcast hosted by Jay and Jeff that is called the Judas Priestcast, and on this episode, we were asked to come up with a movie idea that incorporated Judas Priest songs as the soundtrack to that movie. I basically took the entire “Painkiller” album and built my story idea around it, so that I could use the album as the soundtrack. Yes, that was slightly obsessive, but that is exactly how I feel about this album. Also, if you haven’t done so already, check out the Judas Priestcast podcast, it is one of the best out there.
So as you can probably imagine, I have had this album out for the last couple of weeks, and once again I have been playing it to death once again. Somewhere between 15 to 20 times as I first bathed in its awesomeness, and then studied its characteristics intensely. It is an album I could have spent another hour or so praising its magnificence, outlining its every great moment in intense detail. For the most part I have avoided that, simply for the fact that you all know this album as well as I do, and you either agree with me or you don’t, and no amount of fanboying about that will change your mind. Which is not what I am here to do. My role on this podcast is to present you with the albums of my life, the good and the average, and offer to you my opinion for what it is worth. I hope you’ll agree with me, but I understand that won’t always be the case. When it comes to this album, suffice to say that it is one of the most important building blocks in my love of music, and also myself as a person. If you delve below my surface, you will find the hell patrol, you will find all guns blazing, all taking that one shot at glory.
As I mentioned, I truly believed this album was pointing towards the future of heavy metal in 1990. Not for the first or last time in my life, I would be proven wrong. Grunge had taken seed, and Metallica would further commercialise the genre with the release of the black album the following year, and bands began to change their sound away from this magnificence to something… less magnificent. Judas Priest of course went on a lengthy sabbatical after this tour, with Rob Halford leaving the band for other ventures, and what should have been the album that provided the springboard to further greatness for the band instead became a lasting monument to their memory and legacy instead, and for a long time looked as though it would be their final chapter. All in all, it would not have been a bad way to bow out.

1089. Judas Priest / Ram It Down. 1988. 3.5/5

When the decision came about to split the “Twin Turbo” double album idea into a ‘heavy’ and ‘light’ concept over two albums, there were a number of songs left over from Turbo that came to be used here on Ram It Down. And there are noticeable differences in the songs of both albums. A lot of the synths used in Turbo have been moved out or placed in the background here, allowing this album to go back to being a guitar and drum based track list. The lyrics for the most part are a simplified version of recent albums, trying to return to a different time. It is an effort to make a heavier album than the last, whereas perhaps making a ‘better’ album may have produced something that was more significant.

It holds up with the opening track, the title track “Ram it Down” which screams out of the speakers at you with fire and speed, the best elements of the Judas Priest juggernaut. Perhaps it is somewhat simplistic in lyrics and base set, but there are any number of great Priest songs that you could name that are like that, and this is another great version of that. Why it is maligned so much I don’t know, because “Ram it Down” is a great metal song. This is followed by the perhaps metaphorically titled “Heavy Metal”, but again it has what you want. Halford’s vocals are in his upper range almost all the way through, while the magnificent guitars of Downing and Tipton shred away in style. As it is obviously written as an anthem, it is strange that it has been used so infrequently live since the end of this tour.
We head into a section of the album where the words ‘double entendre’ come into play most significantly. “Love Zone” is a strange concept song for this band, or at least so I would have thought. Perhaps in the end it just confirms the groupie situation for the touring band is the same for everyone, but it wasn’t a direction I thought Judas priest would cover. I was mistaken. This is followed by “Come and Get It” which for all intents and purposes is just about the music and if you want it… well, you know… but I’m sure if you put your mind to it you could come up with a way that the lyrics here could be interpreted another way. This then leads into “Hard as Iron” (yeah I know, pretty easy to laugh at…) which again lyrically doesn’t point in the way you might initially think but you could certainly make a case that it does. Beyond this lame attempt at breaking down the lyrics of these three songs, each continues in the heavy vein of the album, with a greater push to emphasise the guitars and vocals on this scale.
“Blood Red Skies” is a beauty. Without even trying to compare them for fear of being seen as ludicrous, “Blood Red Skies” is in a similar vein to past gems such as “Beyond the Realms of Death” and “Victim of Changes” in its composition. It’s moody subtleness throughout emphasises its difference to the other songs on the album, and as a result I think it is one of the standouts on Ram It Down. “I’m a Rocker” retains the slower tempo as the follow up which is probably slightly strange considering the title and lyrics, but it again looks the chanting anthem qualities between the twin solos of Downing and Tipton.
One of the songs that I am not sure about even today is the cover version of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode”. Done for the soundtrack of the comedy film of the same name, it was then shoehorned onto this album and released as a single as well. Yep okay, it’s good that they did their own version of the song, and didn’t stick to a note by note revision of the original, and the band sounds great here, but I often just think is it necessary? Another song, “Thunder Road” was bumped from the album in order to fit this on, and I believe it is a superior and better song. It was eventually released as a bonus track on the remastered version of Point of Entry. To be honest, “Thunder Road” could have replaced either of the last two songs on the album too, as I think it is also better than them. “Love You to Death” and “Monsters of Rock” are both really only average songs that perhaps lengthen the album longer than it needed, and are both just a little too slow in tempo after the first half of the album for my liking.
For many Judas Priest fans, this album over-corrected what they felt wasn’t quite right with the previous album. There was a fire-and-brimstone quality that perhaps it didn’t have and they wanted more of that. In essence there is plenty of that here on Ram It Down, but it is missing the pure rocking anthem that songs like “Turbo Lover” and “Locked In” provided from that album. Many probably felt that a mixture of the two – the harder, heavier edge of Ram It Downalong with a fissuring of the keyboard and synth sound from Turbo to influence the feel of the songs – may produce the album that they were looking for. This indeed is what came to pass with the following album which opened the new decade in the most amazing style.

In many ways like Point of Entry this album gets lost in the discography of Judas Priest, more from the album that followed than from any real distaste of the album itself. It may never be considered one of the great releases, but it isn’t quite the disappointment that some make out they believe it is. Taken on its merits it still has plenty that should be better regarded than it is.

Rating: “Can you feel the power, blinded by the light.” 3.5/5

1088. Judas Priest / Priest... Live! 1987. 5/5

Back in 1979 Judas Priest released their initial live album entitled Unleashed in the East: Live in Japan, which was praised and loved in most circles but also somewhat derided in a small circle because of the re-recording of the vocals after they were trashed on the original tapes. As such some believed it could never be considered as a true live album, which didn’t stop it being extremely popular. Thus with the announcement and release of the band’s second live album, the double vinyl opus Priest... Live!, those thoughts could be put to rest, and the fans could enjoy a live album with no foibles and great songs. So you’d think.

I’m not going to lie to you. When I got this album, even though it was a couple of years after its release, I was excited. I love and loved Unleashed in the East: Live in Japan and I was looking forward to hearing another live album. As it turned out, at the time I hadn’t heard any of the Turbo album apart from the title track, so given it was recorded on the Fuel For Life tour to promote that album there were obviously songs that I hadn’t heard before. My enjoyment of them allowed me to go back in search of that album after the fact and probably helped me to enjoy it more than many did at that time.
The album has no songs on it from any album prior to the previous live album. The band played songs on that tour from their 1970’s era but chose not to put them on this live release, which in the long run I think was a great idea as we instead heard only songs which to that point had not been released as live versions. I also meant that a lot of songs that didn’t get played live too often after this tour were caught for future posterity here.
So what we get here is not necessarily the definitive selection of Priest tracks from the 1980’s, but it is an impressive and enjoyable selection. The triumvirate of “Electric Eye” into “Turbo Lover” and then into “Freewheel Burning” is a high energy speed-fest that highlights the best part of the album with three of the era’s best songs. I still enjoy the opening of “Out in the Cold” moodiness that leads into the anthemic “Heading Out to the Highway” and the ground shaking “Metal Gods”. And not forgetting the awesomeness that is “The Sentinel”, with Halford at his glass shattering best in his vocals. Some will see the missing space that comes with not having songs like “Screaming For Vengeance” and “Rock Hard, Ride Free” on the album, though this was rectified with the remastered version of the CD some years later.
In the live setting, the band sounds spectacular. Dave Holland on drums is as metronomic accurate as ever and does a great job, with his rhythm partner Ian Hill on bass keeping the bottom end perfectly sound. The dual electrifying guitars of K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton are just fantastic, searing and scene stealing between them, while Rob Halford shows that he can carry his pipes live just as well as he does in the studio.

Priest... Live! is a terrific live experience and a great recording of Judas Priest the band in their element. It may not be as energetically satisfying as Unleashed in the East: Live in Japan was, but it perfectly captures the 80’s decade of this great band in their defining moment.

Rating: “It’s Friday night and the Priest is back!”  5/5

1087. Judas Priest / Screaming for Vengeance. 1982. 4.5/5

Whether or not Point of Entry was considered to be an experiment of sorts, an effort to write an album that would search for commercial success, is hard to pin down. Whatever the debate of it has become, one can only assume that during the writing for the follow up, which became Screaming for Vengeance, that there was a committed effort to return the band to a heavier sound, one utilising all of the talents of the band rather than just moving along in third gear. Anyone who listens to both albums back-to-back will no doubt come to the conclusion that something had changed, because chalk and cheese does not even begin to describe how different those two albums are.

Any doubts of Judas Priest’s validity in the world of music are eradicated within the first 60 seconds of putting this album on. The ripping instrumental attack of “The Hellion” screams out of the speakers. In fact, it is almost the ultimate opening stanza of a Priest album, probably only topped by the opening to their 1990 album down the track. This shoots straight into “Electric Eye” which in turn is of the highest quality opening tracks in Priest history. It has it all, speed, screams and sensational twin guitar solos to lock in the middle of the song. It is still one of my all-time favourite songs from this band. This is followed by “Riding on the Wind” which continues in the same vein, a hard and heavy opening from the rhythm that sets off Halford in his higher range vocal strains, something that certainly wasn’t stretched on the previous album, and it immediately makes this better because of it. “Bloodstone” finds that perfect mid-tempo heavy rhythm and settles in for the distance, leaving Halford to sing mightily along with the chorus of guitars playing underneath him. A terrific opening to the album.
“(Take These) Chains” has different bent than the other songs here, certainly because it was in fact written by Bob Halligan Jr and not the band itself. It circles a more commercial property and perhaps veers into a soft metal or hair metal sound than the rest of the album has. It has those ‘sing-along’ qualities but not of a fist-pumping variety that would normally be the case with great Judas Priest tracks. “Pain and Pleasure” is a song right out of context with the rest of the album. It’s a throwback to the 1970’s and doesn’t fit in here with the faster and more energetic 1980’s sound, but more than anything else, it is just quite boring and unattractive. It closed out the first half of the album, but perhaps not in a way that enhances the album. Don’t get me wrong, these two songs are fine, but they are in a different setting than the three that preceded them.
This is recovered in full with the title track “Screaming for Vengeance” which opens the second side of the album in scintillating style. Fast and strong once again with the best parts of the Downing/Tipton combination, Halford’s vocals again are the star attraction, reaching for heights that he makes sound so easy. This is followed by the anthemic drive of the classic “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming”. Built around the same style that songs like “Breaking the Law” and “Living After Midnight” drew on, this became the song that finally saw them break into a commercial setting and receiving radio airplay around the world. It’s funny as this occurred once the band had returned to writing songs that had a real metal edge to them, unlike the more commercial bent that they had been looking for on Point of Entry which for the most part seemed to put fans off.
“Fever” is another track that just differs slightly from the central themes of the music on the album. The clear and quieter sections of the song, all held together by the constant and consistent rhythm of Dave Holland and Ian Hill, makes for a completely different atmosphere within the song to the rest of the album. I found that it took some getting used to, and to find how it related to the other songs surrounding it. “Devil’s Child” then wraps up the album in style, harking back to the first two songs on the second half of the album, taking on a hard edge beat and energy while Halford spits out the lyrics in the way you would expect.
Apart from the songs that have been written for this album, the band is in fine form throughout. Dave Holland’s excellent steady timekeeping perhaps doesn’t appear flashy in any sense of the word, but it is perfectly effective and holds the songs together. Ian Hill on bass is his laconic self, and again while he mightn’t be flashy in comparison to others around, his bass lines are important and perfectly suit the way the songs and other players in the band utilise them. The duelling and complementing guitars of K. K. Downing and Glenn Tipton are at their best here and highlight the great songs on the album, while the return of the full range of Rob Halford’s vocals is one of the highlights.

Many consider this to be the pinnacle of Judas Priest’s career, and while I believe it is one of the highlights it isn’t quite in that category for me. If I had been just a little older and had gotten this when it was released instead of some five or so years later then perhaps my feelings would be different. This still hits all the right areas though and set in place a template that could be followed to find the best Priest releases – speed, energy, brilliant guitar licks and Halford screaming from the rafters. A winning combination.

Rating: “You think you've private lives, think nothing of the kind, there is no true escape I'm watching all the time”. 4.5/5

1086. Judas Priest / Point of Entry. 1981. 3/5

Following the success of the British Steel album and the singles that were released from it, I guess it was a no brainer that Judas Priest would stick to the same formula for their next album and try to replicate that commercial success. Whether or not that was a good idea – and whether or not they achieved that – is a question that is still asked amongst the Priest fandom. Perhaps ignoring the debut album, the one Judas Priest album that rarely gets mentioned in any shape of form is Point of Entry. Is it purely because it just doesn’t have many songs on it that are considered classics, or is it because it is believed to have been out of step with the other albums that were released around it? The opinions are wide and varied.

The more I have listened to this album over the last couple of weeks, the more I have come to appreciate it for what it is. I had never owned a copy of this album, most probably because when I went out in my big-spending-on-albums in my youth this album just wasn’t on ANYONE’S radar for something I needed to have. As a result I only ever got snatches of songs on various best-of releases and the occasional acquaintance who had a copy and played it while I was over. The age of digital music brought easier access to such things and I was able to listen to it completely, before finally buying my own copy more as a way of completing my collection. But on heavy rotation in recent times along with the other Judas Priest albums, it fits neatly into the niche it was created for. It isn’t as regimented as British Steel and it doesn’t have the speed or upward energy of Screaming for Vengeance, and in places it has an easy listening feel to some of the songs, certainly in relation to previous albums. In fact Point of Entry is quite unique in the Priest discography in that it sounds as though the songs have been written in a way that may attract more commercial airplay than the band would usually have, but I’m not sure that it succeeded. Once again Rob Halford has kept his vocal range in check, for the most part eschewing any major extension of his famous vocal chords and in the main sticking to a range more within normal human hearing. A lot of the songs have periods within them that are deliberately quiet and soft, mirroring a reflective air which in turn shows a different side from the band than what we have seen on previous albums.
Most of this therefore has created the metaphorical vacuum that Point of Entry has seemed to fall into. When it comes to memorable tracks from the album, there is really only one, the opening track “Heading Out to the Highway”. It is the only song on the album that stayed in the live set list beyond the tour to promote it, and it is one of the fan favourites. But most of the rest of the track list just doesn’t stick in the memory of most. The other two singles released from the album were the next two tracks on the album, “Don’t Go” and “Hot Rockin’”, neither of which to me comes across as a single. Indeed, if commercial airplay was what the band was aiming for then it doesn’t seem like it came out of the oven the right way. And thus we have an album without highlights, without big musical hits that can help raise the profile of an album and also lift the mood of the listener when you have it on the turntable.
That said, put it on, play it loud and decide for yourself. Because when I do this, and when I have done this over the last couple of weeks, I’ve enjoyed the album immensely. I still love “Heading Out to the Highway”, I think it is a great song. The tempo change of “Don’t Go” and “Hot Rockin’” isn’t such a problem when you are just listening to the album and not trying to break it down in a review. “Turning Circles” is an unusual Priest song that works here because it fits the pattern of the writing. “Desert Plains” is a vastly underrated song, more so because it doesn’t have that massive fire and energy of a typical Priest song but is more of a slow burn. “Solar Angels” is like a sister track to “Desert Plains” and starts the second side nicely. “You Say Yes” is a bit clunky but enjoyable enough. “All the Way”, “Troublemaker” and “On the Run” all smoothly ride out the end of the album, and there’s just a hint of Van Halen in each of them.

Point of Entry probably ended up proving to the band that they needed to redefine the direction they were heading in if they wanted to make a bigger impression in the next decade. While the album did well enough at the time there’s no doubt in hindsight that it wasn’t exactly what their fan base was looking for. And while it will never rank as one of their best albums, it by no means is the worst offering. Different, yes. Out of character, yes. But for all of that it is still a good listen.

Rating: “Full moon is rising, the sky is black, I need your call I'm coming back”  3/5

1085. Judas Priest / Unleashed in the East: Live in Japan [Live]. 1979. 5/5

The oft-used formula of recording and releasing a live album once a band has released four or five studio albums comes to the fore once again, this time for Judas Priest. Having released five studio albums over five years, “Unleashed in the East: Live in Japan” was the result of two nights recording on their Hell Bent for Leather World Tour in Japan in early 1979, and brought to life a selection of their best material for the fans to feast upon.
Okay, so there has always been some controversy about this album, over whether or not it can be considered to be a ‘live’ album. All through the 1980’s and well into the 1990’s there was a chorus of opinion that the album wasn’t a true live album, and that if it was not in fact recorded in the studio and had live effects dubbed over it, then there was a certain amount of ‘clean up’ done in post-production in order to cover up spots where things didn’t sound as good as the band had hoped for. Eventually, vocalist Rob Halford admitted in an interview after he had left the band following the “Painkiller” album that some of the vocals had been ruined on the original recordings, and that to fix these he went into the studio and re-recorded some of those songs in a faux-live setting. Interestingly however, in an article by Ville Krannila on K.K. Downing’s current website, he quoted Glenn Tipton as saying Rob had the flu and a case of partial laryngitis when these recordings were made, which took some of the edge off his voice. Thus, when Priest returned to England, some overdubs were necessary in order to finalise the recording. The difference in explanation has left some people even today that are not convinced the whole album isn’t a ‘sham’, and those of this belief offer the album the rather harsh title of “Unleashed in the Studio”. But given that no further explanations have ever come from anyone surrounding the band at the time surely it should be accepted that this was the only part that didn’t come from those two nights in Japan, and that the touch up of vocals was inobtrusive and necessary to provide the best product available.

Beyond this circle of discussion, just listen to the album and discover how terrific it is. Judas Priest’s albums to this point were for the most part excellent and there are plenty of terrific songs on them. Many of them appear on this album. And it is not until you hear them here that you understand just how good those songs are, because they are all improved immeasurably on stage. They are played at a faster tempo, they are louder, and the guitars of Tipton and Downing are superb, flailing their licks and solos in strident support. The rhythm of Ian Hill’s bass is deep and booming and Les Binks’ drums ring through perfectly. Mixed with the screaming vocals of Halford and you have an atmosphere that brings every angle of these songs to a more positive end.
The first side of this album to me is perfect, indeed the equal of any other opening side of a live album ever produced. Opening with the brilliance of “Exciter”, Halford reigns in the crowd with his call of “fall to your knees and repent if you please!” while the duelling guitars of Tipton and Downing excel. This is followed by an amazing version of “Running Wild” which for me is almost the highlight of the album, as it really brings this song to life. The studio version on “Killing Machine” is terrific, but it is this live album that makes it the kind of going-out-and-party anthem that should be sung at the top of your voice as you walk between pubs on a Friday night. The awesome “Sinner” follows, again ramping up the studio version into a real humdinger, and then another superb rendition of “The Ripper” leads into the still-perfect version of “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)”. Yes, this may be a cover of a very early Fleetwood Mac song, but here on “Unleashed in the East” it becomes a Judas Priest anthem for ever more. Every single one of these songs is improved on this recording and they are still brilliant to listen to with the stereo on 11 today.
The second half of the album catch match the first half, but only because side A is just so superb. Again, a heavy fast-paced version of “Diamonds and Rust” is the perfect track to lead off side two, another cover song that gets completely blown to pieces here to become a Judas Priest anthem and not a Joan Baez tome. This is followed by “Victim of Changes”, and my word how good does this sound in this live format. Rob’s vocals here are just tremendous, he nails everything brilliantly. One of Priest’s best songs and performed brilliantly by all. To complete the set, we have great versions of “Genocide” and “Tyrant” to finish off the original album in style.
For those that also gained the remastered edition of the CD later on down the line, you also get four additional songs which are worth listening to, but for me this is the album as I will always remember it.

My Judas Priest journey began with this album, and I can think of no better way to do it. The first time I heard Judas Priest was the music video for the song “Freewheel Burning” on ABCTV’s Rage program late one Friday or Saturday night, which blew me away. The following week I went to school and was discussing this with my resident heavy metal music dealer, and his reply was “OK, I’ve got something at home for you”. A few days later, on a blank cassette, he had recorded a different album for me (it was Black Sabbath’s “Heaven and Hell” believe it or not) and on the remaining room left on the cassette I had the first side to Judas Priest’s “Unleashed in the East”. Far out, did that cassette get a hammering over the time that it was alive!! I became obsessed by both albums, but after becoming increasingly annoyed by the fact that I didn’t have the whole album (the cassette cut out just as Rob sings “I’ll be damned, here comes your ghost again” from “Diamonds and Rust”) I had to get my dealer another cassette to record the whole album for me. And then I soon got completely sick of that, and found a way to purchase my own vinyl copy to satisfy my needs (memory serves that “Heaven and Hell” was also purchased around that time).
And I was obsessed by this. And how can you not be? There is nothing bad about this album. It is Judas Priest’s version of Kiss Alive! And for me I believe had the same effect. Prior to “Alive!” Kiss was a good band with a solid following, but that alive showcased what they were, a live band, and how their best songs sounded even better live, and Kiss took off. It is the same here with “Unleashed in the East”. For instance, have a listen to “Rocka Rolla”, the band’s first album, and one I did an episode on just this month. Listen to the way Priest sounded on that album, and then listen to this album. Now THAT’S a journey, and only a period of five years has passed between the two. Priest had EXPLODED in that time, and their songwriting and aggressive joy on stage was a huge part of that. Les Binks’s huge drumming, the booming and underrated bass guitar of Ian Hill. The twin synchronised guitars of K.K. Downing and Glen Tipton at their absolute peak, with solos that scream through the speakers. And Rob freaking Halford ripping vocal chords to shreds. This is a tour de force, a blitzkrieg of metal proportions. I have listened to this again at least 20 times in the past three weeks, and I have been excited when it starts every single time.
Whether or not you consider this to be a true live album is, in the long run, irrelevant. What matters is just how much you enjoy listening to this album, and how good you think it is. Since I was first given a copy of this back in 1986, I have considered it to be an absolute gem. Every version of every song on “Unleashed in the East: Live in Japan” is a classic, and I never get tired of putting the album on and air guitaring along to every part of it. You know what? I’m going to go and put it on again. Right Now!

1084. Judas Priest / Killing Machine. 1978. 3.5/5

As they have done on a few occasions during their long and storied career, Judas Priest tended to mix up just how powerful or aggressive their albums were, changing their sound from album to album in a rebuilding fashion, at times looking to move with the times, and at others abandoning that for what they knew was their tried and tested method. Up until this album there had been a gradual build and refashioning from a progressive rock to a more recognisable heavy metal sound, increasing with each release. And while some of that remains here on “Killing Machine”, there seems to be a lull overall, something that doesn’t quite hold up with the direction the band had been heading in.
Much of this can be assessed n the era the album was made. At the time punk was making its short and sharp incision into the populace of music in the UK, and while Judas Priest’s first albums had been clothed in progressive and complex songs, they were beginning to look to write and perform songs in that 3-4 minute range, that could be picked up by the radio and would make their mark not only with the fans of the shorter formed punk rock songs, but also in looking to make a play for the US market. “Sin After Sin” had brought that to the fore while the band’s previous album “Stained Class”, released just eight months previous to this album and one that was reviewed in Season 4 of this podcast, had settled into that nicely. While Judas Priest was an obvious influence of the soon-to-be-prominent NWoBHM, they were not actually part of that movement, so it would be unfortunate to try and label the band’s albums in several music genres. And while both of those earlier albums had been heard to building the band’s sound in that direction, “Killing Machine” itself does have one of those swayings of direction that I spoke of at the beginning of this oration. What becomes interesting is that it was yet another cover song performed by the band, one that didn’t appear on the original pressing of the UK version of the album, that helped to gain the band the exposure in the US that they were after, and indeed is the song that many still regard as the one that started the Judas Priest surge to immortality.

When you put this record on what you get is a polished, great sounding album. The playing from all members is superb. The drums are again perfectly played by Les Binks, with his expertise on hi-hats and cymbals especially pleasing. Ian Hill does as he always does with great bass riffs and bottom end throughout. The guitars of Glenn Tipton and K. K. Downing are truly superb, and their riffs and solos are caught clean here by producer James Guthrie, while Rob Halford’s vocals are as always fantastic.
However, the songs themselves have taken an interesting turn and that is where the difference lies between this album and the previous two releases. Overall the songs are much less technical, and there is a much more basic beat and layout to them. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is quite noticeable from the beginning. There is nothing wrong with any of the songs on the first half of the album, it’s just that there is nothing overtly exciting about them either. The opening track “Delivering the Goods” has always been a classic, a barnstormer, and it gets the album motoring from the outset. Such a great riff throughout followed by superb solo slots from Glenn and KK and Les Binks terrific drumming and solo to close out the song. It opens the album on a brilliant note with attitude and style. This is followed by “Rock Forever” and “Evening Star”, which both have very basic song patterns, and trot along in a mid-tempo range. “Rock Forever” is a staple of Judas Priest albums from this point on in their career, solid heavy tracks that back up the better known tracks of the album, and hold that joy through the album. It might sound like a basic track with verse, chorus, verse, solos, verse, chorus, but everything is pure Priest in its output, and it’s a great song. “Evening Star” changes things up a bit, moving from a progressive part replete with synth and chorused background vocals to a basic chorus line. “Take on the World” is Priest’s effort here to be an anthemic song, one to be sung in stadiums all over the world, but without the drive or balls to really make it one. In the end it feels weaker than it is because it feels like it is trying too hard to be something it is not.
Side Two of the album opens up with “Burnin’ Up”, which also falls into the average ranking. A Judas Priest love song? Well, they occasionally do a good one (see “Turbo Lover” somewhat down the track) but this is really only average. The title track “Killing Machine” doesn’t seem to get out of second gear at any stage, and while it is much like “Rock Forever” in that it is one of those solid Priest tracks it doesn’t stand out beyond that. The power ballad “Before the Dawn” sounds great, with Halford’s vocals soaring throughout, but it just isn’t my style of song and doesn’t grab me in the slightest. And the closing track “Evil Fantasies”, even though it was written and recorded well before the song “Heavy Duty”, still sounds like a poor cousin to it, and Halford’s vocals for the first half just sound completely out of context with the song. In the majority of these songs, it just feels as though one of the major drawcards of Judas Priest, their twin guitar assault, has gone completely missing.
There are some major highlights here though. “Delivering the Goods” I have already mentioned as one of my favourites, along with the more markedly upbeat “Hell Bent for Leather” (which also substituted for the title of the American released album) and “Running Wild” which I’ve also always loved. “Hell Bent for Leather” is a beauty, rollicking along with an awesome riff and Rob’s hard piercing vocals chanting along the lyrics perfectly. It’s short, its sharp, and it is a great song to turn up and play loud at parties or on the road. All of this also describes “Running Wild”, a youth anthem of sorts of partying and drinking with the boys, and it has always been a favourite. It brings the album back to life when it exlodes after the title track. Perhaps surprisingly though it is the heavier cover version of Fleetwood Mac’s "The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)" which is the star of the show. This was not on the original release of “Killing Machine” and only originally made it on the U.S release. I didn’t hear Fleetwood Mac’s version for many years after I first had this version, and this version puts it in the shade. That it is the redeeming feature here is interesting given that the other cover songs Priest had done on previous albums were also fan favourites. One thing that you can take from this album is that when performed live the songs on this album sound infinitely better. That isn’t meant to be a criticism, it is just meant to show that the band knew what they were doing in the writing process, it just took until they played them live to get the energy into them that they probably needed in the studio. Take a listen to “Unleashed in the East: Live in Japan” and you will know what I mean.

This album was one of the first Judas Priest albums I ever listened to. Not coming into this genre of music until the mid-1980’s, my introduction to the band was actually the “Unleashed in the East” live album, of which a number of songs from this album were on. And in many ways it initially cruelled my enjoyment of this album, simply because I knew those unbelievable live versions of these songs first before I heard the original studio versions. And for awhile that made it difficult for me to enjoy this album to its fullest, because I always wanted those live versions of the songs. Over time however, the album clicked into gear for me, and everything came up roses.
While it probably sounds as though I have torn this album apart a bit in regard to some of the songs, it really is not a bad album. Indeed, it is a quite fantastic album. When I put it on and just listen to it without trying to break it down for a review, I just love it. The couple of dead spots that I might consider a hinderance are unnoticeable as you play it from start to finish and have those true great and brilliant tracks suck you along for the ride. My favourite songs are spread evenly throughout which probably helps that. It is an album where the band did take some chances, and were still having a range of styles in the track list. The love song, the power ballad, the progressive range. All of this adds to the majesty of the album, even if on occasions I might look for the skip button for a couple of the songs if I can’t be bothered to stick with that change of styles. Judas Priest, both before this album and beyond it, would make such decisions in their song writing and recording, and much more extreme than you will find here. Rest assured, everything on this album is worth pursuing, and those stand out tracks are still at the top of the list of greatest Priest songs ever.
The band’s first live album followed this album, and showcased for those in any doubt that Judas Priest was a band worth reckoning. “Killing Machine” is often overlooked in Judas Priest’s early catalogue over “Sin After Sin” and “British Steel”, but it is well worth your while giving it a spin or two if you have never done so.

1083. Judas Priest / Stained Class. 1978. 4/5

Judas Priest’s transition from a softer and less technical style of music into a leading brand for the genre of heavy metal is more or less completed by the release of Stained Class. The progression of the heavy nature of the material from album to album continued here, with Stained Class certainly the heaviest overall album Judas Priest had released up to this time. With this comes further excelling of the skills of the band, with each member breaking out here to provide terrific individual performances that in turn make for a precision effort from the band.

“Exciter” is still perhaps the star of the album, and opens it up in blistering style, with a scintillating drum beat from Les Binks and hard core bass from Ian Hill, which is matched by the blazing guitars of K. K. Downing and Glen Tipton. Topping it off is Rob Halford’s high level vocals piercing through to create the kind of high energy and high velocity track that kicks off an album in the best way possible. "White Heat, Red Hot" continues this excellence with another rousing performance by the two guitarists.
The cover of Spooky Tooth’s “Better by You, Better Than Me” is surprisingly effective and enjoyable. Though it was record company-mandated in order to try and soften the heavy metal mood that permeated this new release, it is so well done again that it still fits in perfectly on the album. This was the song (and album) that was at the centre of the controversy in 1990 where the band was taken to court over supposed subliminal messages (“Do it!”) masked but heard if played backwards, to which two men shot themselves after listening to the album. The case was dismissed (check out the documentary “Dream Deceivers: The Story Behind James Vance Vs. Judas Priest” for the story, it is well worth a look), but it gave this song and album both free press and notoriety.
The title track “Stained Class” is another ripping song, rattling along with the fire and force that the first half of the album set up. This is followed by "Invader" which is simple in concept but perfect in execution. Sometimes the simple songs are the best, and this is one of them. “Saints in Hell” channels Led Zeppelin throughout, again utilising a middle section that sounds like it is a freeform live exposition piece, with Halford’s vocals almost Plant-like and the guitars almost Page-like, while the following track “Savage” is the most straight forward song on the album.
“Beyond the Realms of Death” is a throwback to the progressive roots of the band, switching between from the quiet acoustic opening to the full blown electric hard rock, as well as having the technically perfect guitar solo to the faster thrash based solo, and Halford’s immaculate vocals hitting all the extremes with precision. Blowing out to almost seven minutes, this has become a timeless classic for the band and taps into every corner of the Priest armoury. It is still a gem. “Heroes End” has tinges of Skyhooks in it, which is a very strange thing to say I know, but the less heavy aspects of the song still remind me of their style. It closes out the album nicely with a heavy riff and a rocking vocal track.
For me the most interesting part of this album is how few of the songs have become mainstream go-to Judas Priest songs, both by fans and the band itself. Much of the album has rarely been played live since the tour to promote it was completed which in itself is not an unusual thing, but for an album that is so highly regarded it has so few of its individual components making a name for themselves away from the album itself. Most can name “Beyond the Realms of Death” and “Exciter” perhaps, but beyond that the songs seem to become transparent. Even after the controversy over the civil action over the suicide attempts, Stained Class may remain a great album but as a whole rather than the sum of its parts.

Stained Class remains one of the great Judas Priest albums. Though the band’s musical style would vary over the course of the 1980’s decade, this album was written and recorded when they were still on the rise in their attempt to create a heavier environment away from their early progressive beginnings, and that is still here and can be heard in the songs on this album. The drive and determination is all enshrined in the vinyl it was cut into, and none of it has dated over the past forty years, which still makes it a pleasure to put on and air guitar to.

Rating: “Fall to your knees and repent if you please”.  4/5

1082. Judas Priest / Sin After Sin. 1977. 4/5

For those coming in late to the Judas Priest story, Sin After Sin can perhaps be best described as a conduit. It is the bridge between how the band started out and how they were to transform. The beginnings of this could be found on the Sad Wings of Destiny album with some of the songs there. This definitely increases and improves here though there is enough of the past sound here to allow it to be labelled as the bridge between the two eras of the band. Like the previous album there are three or four stand out songs here that can still be compared to the best that Judas Priest has written and performed, however it is the overall change in the music that is produced that makes this an interesting album to listen to.

Leading off the album is the quite brilliant “Sinner” which screams off the vinyl and marks itself as one of the great opening tracks of a Judas Priest album. The tone is set from the outset, with Halford’s vocals screaming for the ceilings and the guitars taking lead throughout. Even when it slows it is a menacing slowness, atmospherically driven by the guitars and the terrific drum work combining hi-hats and cymbals in perfect synchronisation. It is still a sensational song. This is followed by the famously speeded up and heavy version of “Diamonds and Rust”, originally written and performed by Joan Baez. It is amazing that such a cover song, given a more rock oriented grunt, was the song that first gave Judas Priest time on radio airwaves. Apart from that it is a great version of the song and alongside another cover version that came along a couple of years later has become a staple for all fans of the band
If “Sinner” is the complex part of Priest, and “Diamonds and Rust” is the creative part of Priest, then “Starbreaker” is the heart of Priest. It is the kind of song that they eventually made the centre of their albums, the straight forward heavy song with that amazing rhythm base of the drums and Ian Hill’s brilliantly effective bass lines, holding the centre as the guitars of Glen Tipton and K. K. Downing firstly wind together and then explode separately into their solo sections before their duet in harmony, and allowing the unique vocal chords of Rob Halford to do their thing. “Starbreaker” is not the star attraction, but it is the song that holds its own with the superstar attractions and continues the great vibe of the album, and it is songs like this that gives Judas Priest its star billing.
“Last Rose of Summer” is the best example of a song reaching back to their past. While Halford’s vocals easily climb around the melody of the tracks and give it that honeyed simplicity that makes it likeable, there is no power at all in the music itself. The drums blithely keep time while the guitars are kept in check all the way through, almost acoustically driven rather than the full power twin lead/rhythm that made the band who they became. Certainly this is not a bad song, it is indeed a terrific track filled with great musicianship – but it is a ballad driven song that changes the mood of the album from the time it begins until the time it ends. Sin After Sin was pretty much the final album that contained songs such as this. The same can be said of the album’s other more reflective track, “Here Come the Tears”. It too heralds back to the band’s earlier material, though on a much more mature and composed writing and performing scale. It builds from the start into a crescendo of guitar solo and Halford’s vocals crying over the top, which will either please the fan or set them in their place.
The short intro of “Let Us Prey” cuts straight into “Call for the Priest” – showcases the best of the Tipton/Downing partnership in the middle section, trading solo pieces and then combining for the harmony guitars in the middle as well. It is this that was developed over the following albums that made Judas Priest what they became, and while “Call for the Priest” may only be classed as a ‘better than average’ interpretation of that here on this album, all the bones are visible and accounted for. “Raw Deal” does much the same thing, another good song that, for anyone who has heard future albums, contains similar sounds and musical turns from some more famous songs that were to come down the line.
Perhaps the track that best sums up where the band is heading is the album closer, “Dissident Aggressor”, which starts with a layered Halford scream and is followed by the hard and heavy guitars soaring through the heaviest section of the album while the great rhythm of the drums and the bass drive this along in its hardest elements. It’s heavy and short, so short that you can’t believe it is over when it finishes. It is still enough forty years later to give you shivers and make you want to listen to more, both hear and on other albums. It is still a great track and embodies just what Judas Priest had in front of them.

As a bridge between the past and the future, this album does its job. Each element of the band does their job well, and the songs have increased in power and aggression. Those songs that still remain with a tinge of the early days sound terrific musically but for me just drag it back from being an elite album. It doesn’t stop it from being a very good album, and is a necessary stop for those who want to know what Judas Priest were about before they became one of the flag bearers of the heavy metal movement.

Rating: “We both know what memories can bring”. 4/5