919. Judas Priest / Sad Wings of Destiny. 1976. 3.5/5

In many ways it is a miracle that Judas Priest became the band that they have, an inductee into the somewhat controversial Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. Because their start had been fraught with barriers and speed humps. The initial band was formed in 1969 before dissolving the following year, after their first record deal was lost due to the label collapsing. The name was resurrected in 1971 when Al Atkins convinced the band he had joined after its demise, Freight, should change its name to Judas Priest. This band, which included guitarist K.K. Downing and bass guitarist Ian Hill, now fought the eternal battle of young bands to be recognised and gain that long desired record contract. Atkins would leave the band due to the lack of income it was producing, and was replaced by the brother of Hill’s then girlfriend, Rob Halford. A fortuitous meeting indeed. A succession of drummers finally saw John Hinch settled on the drum seat, and after signing a deal with Gull Records, Glen Tipton was added as a second guitarist. This line up then went into the studio to record their debut album “Rocka Rolla”, produced on a measly budget of 2000 pounds. This was not the least of the album’s problems. Producer Rodger Bain, who had helmed the first three Black Sabbath albums amongst others, took decisions with the recording that the band was not in favour with, increasing the tension of the recording. The tone of the album was lightened and dullened significantly by songs that were left off this album at Bain’s request. The production was average at best, and woeful if you were to be honest. And there was almost zero promotion of the album by the label which led to it barely raising a ripple in the market. And the band was broke. The band could quite easily have folded at this point in time.
Instead, they soldiered on, and looked to create a second album, one that they no doubt hoped would come to represent what the band was looking for in their music. Hinch left the band, and was replaced by Alan Moore, who had been one of the rotating circuit of drummers the band had had prior to gaining their recording contract. Gull Records again offered only a 2000 pound budget for the second album. Having moved on from Bain as producer, the band were offered the duo of Jeffrey Calvert and Geraint Hughes to produce the album. These two were the main members of the pop group Typically Tropical, who had just topped the UK singles chart with their song “Barbados”, Gull Records first hit track. Not doubt the record label was hoping that these two could rub ff their magic on Judas Priest as well. The band had two weeks in the studio, recording for 12 hours a day, to get the album finished.
The band was still a long way from the black leather and studs heavy metal image that they would pursue and popularise in future years, and having members of a pop group producing their album might look like a strange move on paper. But the band was determined, they believed in themselves, and they wanted to show the world that they were more than what they had offered on their debut album. The result of all of this produced the band’s sophomore album, one that has had mixed success over the years, under the title of “Sad Wings of Destiny”.

If you had happened to stop off on your journey to the past, and taken in Judas Priest's debut album “Rocka Rolla”, you could be forgiven wondering just what it was that allowed the band to eventually find their feet in the music world, and become the juggernaut that they became. There are moments on that album where you can hear the sound of what became the basis of Judas Priest’s legacy, though it may not surprise you when listening that songs or portions of songs that were rejected for that album by the producer eventually found themselves onto “Sad Wings of Destiny”, and acts as a much better assessment of where the band was coming from at the time of its release. At least three songs that appear on this album - the brilliant and timeless "Victim of Changes", the rocking "Tyrant" and equally foot tapping "Genocide" - had their formation before the recording of the debut album, but were left off that vinyl. Hindsight would suggest that that was perhaps an error, but the fact they appear here shows the strength of the songs that they could force their way onto the second album.
"Victim of Changes" has been a part of Judas Priest folklore forever, a song that has some reflections of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", in that two songs were woven together to produce the one, where it ebbs and flows with harder and softer parts, with loud then quiet guitars, with Rob's vocals subtly moving between the sweet soft section through to the hard pumping screams which he is renown for. Those two songs, “Whiskey Woman” which was eventually left off of the debut album, and “Red Light Lady” which Halford had brought from his previous band, were brought together to create what became “Victim of Changes”, with altered lyrics and suitably recomposed stretches to make it into one. The wonderful guitar solos drawn through the track pulverise the speakers, bringing a huge sense of menace that rarely comes across on the opening album – and then we have the breakdown in the middle of the song, where everything drops in tempo and energy, slowly babbling along like a country stream, but then building to the raging torrent that crashes out as Rob unleashes with his cry of the title of the track – no, I am not even going to try and attempt it – and through to the conclusion. At almost eight minutes long it is the first Judas Priest classic, and contains everything you need to know about the band in one song. And 50 years on, it is still a dominating feature of the band's incredible discography.
Just for good measure, let’s follow that up with “The Ripper”, just to prove that we can also write and perform a perfect 3 minute track that acts as a true single release that does not compromise the principles that the band is beginning to build on this album. It has also stood the test of time since its release. This is the song that perhaps best showcases what Judas Priest brought to the table. The twin guitars of Tipton and Downing really fire here, in the short, sharp sub-three minutes that the song goes for, while Halford's amazing vocal cords get their full work out during the song. It is still as good today as it was on its release, and it is the most iconic of Judas Priest tracks. How can you not love it?
So we start the album with the heavy metal epic, and follow it up with the heavy metal single. What next? Well, how about going all in on the sound that they produced for their first album, but dial it up to eleven in the intensity scale, and utilise a production that doesn’t let it down? What a song “Dreamer Deceiver” is, and arguably one of the most underrated Judas Priest songs. And, look, this may well be because it does mirror the style of song that came from “Rocka Rolla”, and that as the metal ballad of the album it may lose out in comparison to some similar tracks that come down the line (“Beyond the Realms of Death” is just the first one that comes to mind), but this track is unforgettable if only for Rob Halford’s vocals. I mean – fuck me – this guy can fucking sing! The notes he hits on this track are unobtainable. I honestly don’t believe a human can do what he does on this song. And it builds throughout. Yes, it begins as a softer style, the clear guitar with Rob crooning in opening section, which would gives first listeners time to pause and consider just where this song fits and where it is heading. And the build is subtle throughout the almost six minutes of this song. And the way it continues to build until it segues and busts into the next track is also where the beauty of this song comes in. Incredible.
That next song is the metal style of “Deceiver”, returning the album to its heavier dispensation. Like “The Ripper”, it is the short sharp metal anthem type, ripping in with great metal riffs and solos along with Ian Hill’s super bass line and Halford charging on vocals. It completes the first side of the album in wonderful fashion. I do often speak of great album A sides, the ones that have no flaws and excite you time and again when you play the album. Side A of “Sad Wings of Destiny” is definitely in that class.
The second side opens with “Prelude”, a Glen Tipton instrumental piece that banks on piano and synth along with guitars to bring it together. It definitely has Queen-adjacent sounds to it, especially in the Brin May-esque guitar. This then segues directly into "Tyrant", a far more straight forward heavy track, driven along by a hard riffing chorus of the guitars, the compelling drum beat and Halford's vocals in a middle stream range that allows the layman to sing along without having to stretch themselves. And that comes as a relief for most of us. The dual harmony vocals in the chorus give it a lovely commercial type feel without losing the Priest integrity, and Halford’s straight forward tough vocal through the verses is reminiscent of what was to come on future albums. "Genocide" follows a similar path, forming the basis of the standard Priest formula for the present and the future, with the great rhythm section holding together the song, allowing both Tipton and Downing their chance to shine on their solo pieces and Halford to control the song through his vocals. This sits back in a mid-range tempo that many of the standard, album-only Judas Priest tracks have a tendency to do, and lyrically it acts more provocatively than most of the band’s tracks to this point in time had done.
"Epitaph" is the piano based song with layered vocals and several different nuances. At times it sounds as though it is mimicking a Queen song, at other times Halford-with-piano sounds like he is channelling Billy Joel. And then there is a little bit of Black Sabbath’s “Changes” about it. This is another Tipton solo composition, which like “Prelude” brings a different vibe to this album than most fans would have expected, or even prefer. The album then concludes with "Island of Domination", a faster rolling rollicking track that for me at least doesn’t have the same wonderful energy and genius aspects to it as other songs on this album. The end of the album probably misses a beat or two, which seems a shame given the excellence that is covered here.

My introduction to Judas Priest is something that you have already heard before on this podcast, not too many episodes ago as it turns out for the “Point of Entry” album, and which you will heard again in the very near future for yet another Judas Priest anniversary album episode. Suffice to say it came in my final years of high school, when my Heavy Metal Music Dealer recorded the first side of their live album “Unleashed in the East” for me at the end of another album he was putting on cassette for me. And yes, that was surely the most awesome way to be introduced to Judas Priest. Then followed the videos on “Rage”, such as “Freewheel Burning” and “Turbo Lover” and “Breaking the Law”, and I was immediately on board.
This album, as with most of the 1970’s album’s, came a little while after that. I collected the 1980’s albums, and after having gorged on “Painkiller” in 1990 and 1991, I knew I needed everything that Judas Priest had to offer, and I began to buy up all of those other albums. When I got to “Sad Wings of Destiny”, there was a small sense of slight disappointment. Not about the album. But by this time I knew the songs such as “Victim of Changes”, “The Ripper”, “Tyrant” and “Genocide” so well, but from the amazing “Unleashed in the East” live album, so it was the live versions of these songs that I knew, the heavier faster versions. And, on initial comparison to the versions that were here on the studio album... well they just compare. Obviously, over time listening to this album, that faded to nothing. I could still love the live versions of those songs, but the ones presented here on this album had those other flourishes and touches to them that made them unique.
Listening to this album over a decade after it was released, and knowing the albums that followed it, does change the impact it had on me as a listener. Compared to those that had the opportunity to listen to it on its release, and get the full impact of the album compared to that first album, my initial thoughts were less engaged. Like I said, knowing basically half the album prior to listening to it made it a different experience, because I was wating for and wanting to listen to those songs I knew, and I perhaps gave less emphasis to those that I didnt know. And maybe judged it that way too. And given the waves of change that do come with the songs on this album, that wasn’t necessarily the best way to approach it. Again, over time, that changed for me, and I appreciated the album far better as time went on.
In today’s terms, 50 years on from the release of this very important album, you have heard today my true feelings on this album. The majority of it is amazing. Listening to it again this week has been a pure delight. And yes I would suggest that the second side of the album is a lot less excellent over than the first, and that some of what appears on the second side is only above average at best, but then again that does remain true for many Judas Priest albums. A lot of the hard work done by the first half of the album does get pulled back a little by the second half.
Following this album, Judas Priest, still under heavy financial pressure from the lack of funds and promotion from their record label, took the chance to sign a contract with CBS Records, gave thema budget 30 times greater for their next album. It did mean that in breaking that contract, the rights to their first two albums remained with Gull for decades. In the long run, it was a small price to pay to find a way to make a career that included making money in the music business.
“Sad Wings of Destiny” remains a landmark in the Judas Priest catalogue. One that pointed to a brand-new sound, and a brand new direction, and becoming the not-so-victim of changes of their own.