Judas Priest - The Complete Albums Collection (2012, 19 CD Box-Set) RE-UPPED

The most complete Judas Priest collection all in one bundle! Contains ALL 17 Judas Priest albums featuring the classic line up of: Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing and Ian Hill. Newly Re-mastered versions of 'Rocka Rolla' and 'Sad Wings Of Destiny'. Each individual album is packaged in a replica mini-LP sleeve reproducing that album's original cover art. Also contains a 40 Page booklet with photos, liner notes & album credits

A sketchy and underfocused debut, Rocka Rolla nonetheless begins to delineate the musical territory Judas Priest would explore over the remainder of the decade: frighteningly dark in its effect, tight in its grooves, and capable of expanding to epic song lengths. On the other hand, Rocka Rolla is also murkier, less precise and powerful in its riff attack, and more blues-based; the stylistic debts to Black Sabbath and Deep Purple are obvious at this juncture, although they would become much less apparent on subsequent releases. The compositions alternate between short songs and extended suites; some are decent, but overall they don't establish a real direction and tend to plod aimlessly in many of the longer pieces. Mostly a curiosity for hardcore fans, Rocka Rolla definitely hints at Judas Priest's potential and originality, but doesn't always suggest the quantum leap in vision that would occur with their very next record.

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Musicians:

Vocals : Rob Halford
Guitars : Glenn Tipton
Guitars : K. K. Downing
Bass : Ian Hill
Drums : John Hinch

Produced by Rodger Bain
Recorded at Olympic, Trident and Island Studios London during June/July 1974
Engineered by Vic Smith

Track List:

01. One For The Road [4:40]
02. Rocka Rolla [3:06]
03. Winter/Deep Freeze/Winter Retreat/Cheater [9:30]
04. Never Satisfied [4:53]
05. Run Of The Mill [8:33]
06. Dying To Meet You [6:17]
07. Caviar And Meths [2:07]

The year 1976 was crucial for the evolution of heavy metal, as landmark albums like Rainbow's Rising and Scorpions' Virgin Killer began to reshape the genre. Perhaps none was quite as important as Judas Priest's sophomore effort, Sad Wings of Destiny, which simultaneously took heavy metal to new depths of darkness and new heights of technical precision. Building on the hard prog of bands like Queen and Wishbone Ash, plus the twin-guitar innovations of the latter and Thin Lizzy, Sad Wings fused these new influences with the gothic doom of Black Sabbath, the classical precision of Deep Purple, and the tight riffery of the more compact Led Zeppelin tunes. Priest's prog roots are still readily apparent here, particularly on the spacy ballad "Dreamer Deceiver," the multi-sectioned "Victim of Changes," and the softer sonic textures that appear from time to time. But if Priest's style was still evolving, the band's trademarks are firmly in place – the piercing, operatic vocals of Rob Halford and the tightly controlled power riffing of guitarists K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton.

This foundation sounded like little else on the metal scene at the time, and gave Sad Wings of Destiny much of its dramatic impact. Its mystique, though, was something else. No metal band had been this convincingly dark since Black Sabbath, and that band's hallucinatory haze was gone, replaced by a chillingly real cast of serial killers ("The Ripper"), murderous dictators ("Tyrant"), and military atrocities that far outweighed "War Pigs" ("Genocide"). Even the light piano ballad "Epitaph" sounds like a morbidly depressed Queen rewriting Sabbath's "Changes." Three songs rank as all-time metal classics, starting with the epic "Victim of Changes," which is blessed with an indelible main riff, a star-making vocal turn from Halford, explosive guitar work, and a tight focus that belies its nearly eight-minute length. "The Ripper" and "Tyrant," with their driving guitar riffs and concise construction, are the first seeds of what would flower into the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement.

More than any other heavy metal album of its time, Sad Wings of Destiny offered the blueprint for the way forward. What's striking is how deeply this blueprint resonated through the years, from the prog ambitions of Iron Maiden to the thematic echoes in a pair of '80s thrash masterpieces. The horrors of Sad Wings are largely drawn from real life, much like Slayer's Seasons in the Abyss, and its all-consuming anxiety is over powerlessness, just like Metallica's magnum opus, Master of Puppets. (Though this latter preoccupation doubtlessly had more psychosexual roots in Rob Halford's case – witness the peculiar torture fantasy of "Island of Domination.") Unfortunately, Sad Wings of Destiny didn't have as much impact upon release as it should have, mostly owing to the limitations of the small Gull label. It did, however, earn Judas Priest a shot with Columbia, where they would quickly become the most influential band in heavy metal not named Black Sabbath.

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Musicians:

Vocals : Rob Halford
Guitars : Glenn Tipton
Guitars : K. K. Downing
Bass : Ian Hill
Drums : Alan Moore

Produced by Jeffrey Calvert, Max West and Judas Priest
Engineered by Jeffrey Calvert, Dave Charles and Chris Tsangarides
Recorded at Rockfield and Morgan Studios

Track List:

01. Prelude [2:02]
02. Tyrant [4:28]
03. Genocide [5:50]
04. Epitaph [3:20]
05. Island Of Domination [4:16]
06. Victim Of Changes [7:53]
07. The Ripper [2:51]
08. Dreamer Deceiver [5:53]
09. Deceiver [2:45]

Judas Priest's major-label debut Sin After Sin marks their only recording with then-teenage session drummer Simon Phillips, whose technical prowess helps push the band's burgeoning aggression into overdrive. For their part, K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton employ a great deal more of the driving, palm-muted power-chord picking that would provide the basic rhythmic foundation of all but the most extreme heavy metal from here on out. Sin After Sin finds Priest still experimenting with their range, and thus ends up as perhaps their most varied outing. Yet despite the undeniably tremendous peaks here, the overall package doesn't cohere quite as well as on Sad Wings of Destiny, simply because the heavy moments are so recognizable as the metal we know today that the detours stick out as greater interruptions of the album's flow. The proggy ballad "Last Rose of Summer" is the biggest departure here, with florid lyrics and "red blood/white snow" imagery that would be fully at home on any goth rock band's most depressing bedsit dirges. "Here Come the Tears" is musically dissimilar, with heavy guitars and Halford's downcast wailing, but it's just as lyrically mopey. These two sit rather uneasily against the viciousness of the more metallic offerings. Classic opener "Sinner" is packed with driving riffs, sophisticated guitar interplay (including a whammy-bar freakout during a slower middle section), a melody that winds snakily upward, and nifty little production tricks doubtless inspired by Queen. A galloping, fully metallic reimagining of the Joan Baez folk tune "Diamonds and Rust" is a smashing success, one of the most effective left-field cover choices in metal history. "Starbreaker" is the first of many "alien monsters from the sky!" tunes in the band's catalog. Proggy, churchy guitar intro "Let Us Prey" quickly leads into the speed-burner "Call for the Priest," which may just be the earliest building block in the construction of speed metal, and features some of Tipton and Downing's most impressive twin-guitar harmonies yet. "Raw Deal" is a less immediate metal offering that faintly recalls the band's blues-rock roots, though it may be most interesting for the blatant lyrical references to S&M bars and gay haven Fire Island, not to mention an unmistakable endorsement of gay rights. Things close on a high note with the utterly stunning "Dissident Aggressor," one of the heaviest songs in the band's catalog, so much so that it was covered (and not outdone) by Slayer. Once the bludgeoning main riff abruptly kicks in, Halford screams at what must be the very top of his range; a completely manic Phillips offers some of the earliest double-bass drumming in metal; and the crazed guitar solos prove that Tipton and Downing had more than just pure technique at their disposal. It's not a stretch to say that at the time of its release, "Dissident Aggressor" was probably the heaviest metal song of all time. It's the biggest sign here that as good as Judas Priest already was, they were on the verge of something even greater. In what must seem like a much bigger oddity now, the inaugural American tour that ensued found them opening for REO Speedwagon and Foreigner.

allmusic.com

Musicians:

Vocals : Rob Halford
Guitars : Glenn Tipton
Guitars : K. K. Downing
Bass : Ian Hill
Drums : Simon Phillips

Tracks 1-8 Produced by Roger Glover/Judas Priest
Engineered by Mark Dodson
Recorded at Ramport Studios, Battersea
Mixed at Wessex Studios, Highbury

Track List:

01. Sinner [6:45]
02. Diamonds And Rust [3:27]
03. Starbreaker [4:49]
04. Last Rose Of Summer [5:37]
05. Let Us Prey/Call For The Priest [6:13]
06. Raw Deal [6:00]
07. Here Come The Tears [4:36]
08. Dissident Aggressor [3:08]
09. Race With The Devil (Bonus Track) [3:07]
10. Jawbreaker (Live) (Bonus Track) [4:01]

Easily one of the most important heavy metal albums ever released, Stained Class marks the peak of Judas Priest's influence, setting the sonic template for the New Wave of British Heavy Metal more than any other single recording. This is the point where Priest put it all together, embracing their identity as the heaviest band on the planet and taking the genre to new heights of power, speed, musicality, and malevolence. Not until Painkiller would the band again be this single-minded in its focus on pure heavy metal. Their blues-rock roots have been virtually obliterated; largely gone, too, are the softer textures and gothic ballads of albums past. The lone exception is the morbid masterpiece "Beyond the Realms of Death," on which the band finally finds a way to integrate the depressive balladry of songs like "Epitaph" and "Last Rose of Summer" into their metal side. Starting out with quiet, mournful verses, the song's chorus is ripped open by a blazing guitar riff as Rob Halford shrieks about leaving the world behind, a dramatic climax that sounds like a definite blueprint for Metallica's "Fade to Black." Yet it wasn't this song that inspired the ridiculous 1989-1990 court case involving the suicide pact of two Nevada teenagers; that honor goes to the Spooky Tooth cover "Better by You, Better Than Me" (penned by none other than the "Dream Weaver" himself, Gary Wright), on which the band allegedly embedded the subliminal backwards-recorded message "Do it." Astounding implausibility aside (as the band pointed out, why encourage the suicides of fans who spend money?), it isn't hard to see why Stained Class might invite such hysterical projections. On balance, it's the darkest lyrical work of the band's career, thematically obsessed with death, violence, and conquest. That's not to say it's always approving. Sure, there are battle cries like "White Heat, Red Hot," horrific nightmares like "Saints in Hell," and elements of the fantastic in the alien monsters of "Invader" and stone classic opener "Exciter." But the band stays philosophical just as often as not. The twisting, turning title track adopts the biblical view of man as a hopeless, fallen creature preyed upon by his baser instincts; "Savage" foreshadows Iron Maiden's "Run to the Hills" in depicting violent colonizers as the real savages; and closer "Heroes End" laments the many legends born from untimely deaths. So in the end, what really cements the celebrated morbidity of Stained Class is the sinister atmosphere created by the music itself. Never before had heavy metal sounded so viciously aggressive, and never before had that been combined with such impeccable chops. Seemingly at will, Tipton and Downing spit out brilliant riffs that cut with knife-like precision, usually several per song. This means that there's a lot to take in on Stained Class, but if there's nothing here as immediate as the band's later hits, there's also a tremendous amount that reveals itself only with repeated listens. While the album's overall complexity is unrivalled in the band's catalog, the songs still pack an enormous visceral impact; the tempos have often been jacked up to punk-level speed, and unlike albums past, there's no respite from the all-out adrenaline rush. Heavy metal had always dealt in extremes – both sonically and emotionally – but here was a fresh, vital new way to go about it. It's impossible to overstate the impact that Stained Class had on virtually all of the heavy metal that followed it, from the NWOBHM through thrash and speed metal onward, and it remains Judas Priest's greatest achievement.

allmusic.com

Musicians:

Vocals : Rob Halford
Guitars : Glenn Tipton
Guitars : K. K. Downing
Bass : Ian Hill
Drums : Les Binks

Tracks 1, 2, 4-9 Produced by Dennis MacKay and Judas Priest
Track 3 Produced by James Guthrie and Judas Priest
Recorded at Chipping Norton Studios, Advision Studios, Trident Studios, Utopia Studios
Mixed at Trident Studios and Advision Studios, London
Engineers: Neil Ross (Trident), Ken Thomas and Paul Northfield (Advision)

Track List:

01. Exciter [5:33]
02. White Heat, Red Hot [4:20]
03. Better By You, Better Than Me [3:25]
04. Stained Class [5:18]
05. Invader [4:12]
06. Saints In Hell [5:29]
07. Savage [3:28]
08. Beyond The Realms Of Death [6:52]
09. Heroes End [5:01]
10. Fire Burns Below (Bonus Track) [6:59]
11. Better By You, Better Than Me (Live) (Bonus Track) [3:41]

To many of their American fans, Judas Priest's fifth album, Hell Bent for Leather, has become synonymous both with the group's adoption of a leather-and-studs wardrobe (a byproduct of singer Rob Halford's then still closeted gay lifestyle) and with crystallizing the more concise and versatile heavy rock songwriting that would be repeatedly polished to a platinum sheen by the early '80s. Funny thing is, Priest fans everywhere but the U.S. felt the very same ways about Priest's Killing Machine LP, which is not at all surprising once one realizes they are in fact the same album, by and large. As the story goes, Columbia Records' U.S. office objected to the original title's violent connotations and insisted on using the far more sexually charged, homoerotic alternative – making this possibly the first and last occasion in history in which Europe chose violence over sex and America sex over violence, instead of the other way 'round. Anyway, other than the album titles and the addition of Priest's cover of Fleetwood Mac's "The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)" to the U.S. track listing, both editions were otherwise virtually identical, down to the cover art and remaining song sequencing. Which brings us back to the aforementioned laser-focused but diverse songs contained within. On the one hand, high-powered juggernauts like "Delivering the Goods," "Running Wild," and "Hell Bent for Leather" kept the Priest metal machine firing on all cylinders; on the other, infectious numbers like "Rock Forever," "Take on the World," and "Burnin' Up" crossed new thresholds of rock radio accessibility; and, having broken through the "ballad barrier" with Stained Class' "Beyond the Realms of Death," the band now felt emboldened to push well beyond it with ever more broadly appealing new offerings like "Evening Star" and "Before the Dawn." These are the real reasons, above all else, why Killing Machine/Hell Bent for Leather was such a pivotal album in Judas Priest's career, and remains a favorite among fans across the world, no matter what title is attached to it.

allmusic.com

Musicians:

Vocals : Rob Halford
Guitars : Glenn Tipton
Guitars : K. K. Downing
Bass : Ian Hill
Drums : Les Binks

Produced and engineered by James Guthrie
Co-produced by Judas Priest
Recorded at Utopia, Basing Street and CBS Studios London
Mixed at Utopia Studios
Assistant engineers: Damian Korner, Andrew Jackson, Kevin Dallimore, Andrew Clark

Track List:

01. Delivering The Goods [4:18]
02. Rock Forever [3:20]
03. Evening Star [4:06]
04. Hell Bent For Leather [2:41]
05. Take On The World [3:01]
06. Burnin' Up [4:07]
07. The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown) [3:23]
08. Killing Machine [3:02]
09. Running Wild [2:59]
10. Before The Dawn [3:23]
11. Evil Fantasies [4:15]
12. Fight For Your Life (Bonus Track) [4:06]
13. Riding On The Wind (Live) (Bonus Track) [3:16]

Judas Priest's first official live recording has always been met with equal amounts of acclaim and controversy: acclaim from those who consider it an excellent summation of the metal legend's 1970s output, and controversy from the critics and industry insiders who criticized what they believed to be a heavily overdubbed and studio-enhanced performance, mockingly naming it Unleashed in the Studio at times. Before delving deeper into this issue, let it be said that except for a few unfortunate omissions ("Hell Bent for Leather," "Better by You, Better Than Me") the track listing here is quite impressive. Along with powerful versions of such storming anthems as "Exciter" and "Running Wild," the band delivers the definitive version of the prog metallic "Sinner," and competent versions of their popular covers tunes, "Diamonds and Rust" and "The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)." Interestingly, most of the tracks from the classic Sad Wings of Destiny fall short of their mark, however, perhaps because they forfeit heaviness at the expense of speed. As for the "live" dilemma, in the late '90s estranged singer Rob Halford would claim in interviews that, while the band's playing was indeed recorded entirely live, his vocals had been ruined in the original mix, forcing him to re-record them in one take in a concert-like setting. If this was the case, it would hardly be the first or most severe case of studio interference on a live recording, and fans seeking a concise, nearly flawless collection of Priest's 1970s hits will not be disappointed.

allmusic.com

Musicians:

Vocals : Rob Halford
Guitars : Glenn Tipton
Guitars : K. K. Downing
Bass : Ian Hill
Drums : Les Binks

Produced by Tom Allom and Judas Priest
Recorded live at Kosienenkin Hall And Nakano Sun Plaza Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Recording engineer: Yoshihiro Suzuki
Mixed at Startling Studios, Ascot, England
Engineered by Neil Kernon

Track List:

01. Exciter [5:39]
02. Running Wild [2:53]
03. Sinner [7:32]
04. The Ripper [2:44]
05. The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown) [3:16]
06. Diamonds And Rust 3:31
07. Victim Of Changes [7:13]
08. Genocide [7:20]
09. Tyrant [4:33]
10. Rock Forever (Bonus Track) [3:28]
11. Delivering The Goods (Bonus Track) [4:07]
12. Hell Bent For Leather (Bonus Track) [2:41]
13. Starbreaker (Bonus Track) [6:00]

Predating Metallica's self-titled blockbuster by 11 years, Judas Priest's British Steel was a similarly pitched landmark boasting many of the same accomplishments. It streamlined and simplified the progressive intricacies of a band fresh off of revolutionizing the entire heavy metal genre; it brought an aggressive, underground metal subgenre crashing into the mainstream (in Priest's case, the NWOBHM; in Metallica's, thrash); and it greatly expanded the possibilities for heavy metal's commercial viability as a whole. Of course, British Steel was nowhere near the sales juggernaut that Metallica was, but in catapulting Judas Priest to the status of stadium headliners, it was the first salvo fired in heavy metal's ultimate takeover of the hard rock landscape during the 1980s. Packed with strong melodic hooks, British Steel is a deliberate commercial move, forsaking the complexity of the band's early work in favor of a robust, AC/DC-flavored groove. It's a convincing transformation, as Priest prove equally adept at opening up their arrangements to let the rhythms breathe (something Iron Maiden, for all their virtues, never did master). The album is built around the classic singles "Breaking the Law" and "Living After Midnight," both big hits in the U.K., which openly posit Priest as a party band for the first time. But British Steel is hardly a complete break from the band's past. There are still uptempo slices of metallic mayhem bookending the album in "Rapid Fire" and "Steeler," plus effective moodier pieces in "Metal Gods" (ostensibly about gods literally made of metal, though you know full well the band wanted a nickname) and the crawling menace of "The Rage," which features arguably the best Rob Halford vocal on the album. Not everything on British Steel quite holds up today – the British hit "United" is a simplistic (not just simplified) football-chant anthem in the unfortunate tradition of "Take on the World," while "You Don't Have to Be OId to Be Wise" wallows in the sort of "eff your parents, man!" sentiments that are currently used to market kids' breakfast cereals. These bits of blatant pandering can leave more than a whiff of unease about the band's commercial calculations, and foreshadow the temporary creative slip on the follow-up, Point of Entry. Still, on the whole, British Steel is too important an album to have its historical stature diluted by minor inconsistencies. Rather, it sealed Judas Priest's status as genre icons, and kick-started heavy metal's glory days of the 1980s. It went Top Five in the U.K. and became their first Top 40 album in the U.S., going platinum in the process and paving the way for countless imitators and innovators alike.

allmusic.com

Musicians:

Vocals : Rob Halford
Guitars : Glenn Tipton
Guitars : K. K. Downing
Bass : Ian Hill
Drums : Dave Holland

All songs written by Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford and K. K. Downing
Produced by Tom Allom
Engineered by Lou Austin
Cut at Trident Studios by Ray Staff

Track List:

01. Rapid Fire [4:08]
02. Metal Gods [4:01]
03. Breaking the Law [2:36]
04. Grinder [3:58]
05. United [3:36]
06. You Don't Have to Be Old to Be Wise [5:04]
07. Living After Midnight [3:31]
08. The Rage [4:44]
09. Steeler [4:30]
10. Red, White & Blue (Bonus Track) [3:43]
11. Grinder (Live) (Bonus Track) [4:50]

Having reinvented themselves as an arena metal act with the hugely successful British Steel, Judas Priest naturally opted to stay the course with Point of Entry, keeping things simple while adding a bluesy boogie in places, a sound they hadn't really attempted in quite some time. However, where British Steel's simplicity was an effective reworking of the band's sound, Point of Entry's songs aren't always up to par, making its less well-crafted tracks sound like lunkheaded, low-effort filler. When Point of Entry works, it works well – "Heading Out to the Highway," "Solar Angels," and "Desert Plains," for example, are great, driving hard rock songs, but British rock anthem hits "Don't Go" and "Hot Rockin'" seem oddly generic given Priest's reputation for inventiveness. Even if Point of Entry is somewhat disappointing overall, though, it's partly because of the album's genre-transforming predecessors; it does have enough good moments to make it worthwhile to diehards and fans of the group's more commercial '80s output.

allmusic.com

Musicians:

Vocals : Rob Halford
Guitars : Glenn Tipton
Guitars : K. K. Downing
Bass : Ian Hill
Drums : Dave Holland

Produced by Tom Allom
Recorded at Ibiza Sound Studios, Spain
Mixed by Louis Austin and Tom Allomat Starling Studios, Ascot, England
Mastered at CBS Recording Studios, New York on the CBS DisComputer System by Stewart Romain

Track List:

01. Heading Out To The Highway 3:47
02. Don't Go [3:18]
03. Hot Rockin' [3:18]
04. Turning Circles [3:42]
05. Desert Plains [4:37]
06. Solar Angels [4:04]
07. You Say Yes [3:29]
08. All The Way [3:43]
09. Troubleshooter [4:01]
10. On The Run [3:48]
11. Thunder Road (Bonus Track) [5:12]
12. Desert Plains (Live) (Bonus Track) [5:08]

In the early '80s, a new musical movement, dubbed "The New Wave of British Metal," swept across England. The conspirators include such heavy bands as Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Saxon, and Def Leppard, but Judas Priest is often credited as the originator and leader of the pack. Rob Halford's vocal histrionics and the dual guitar attack of K.K. Downing and Glen Tipton mesmerized metal-heads everywhere. While Priest had been together since the early-'70s, the band's big U.S. breakthrough came with 1982's SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE.

Like most other metal bands that broke through in the early '80s (Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, etc.), Judas Priest took advantage of the then-developing video medium. MTV put the clip for "You Got Another Thing Coming" in heavy rotation, and the song became one of heavy metal's all-time classic anthems. Other album tracks, such as "The Hellion," "Electric Eye," "(Take These) Chains," "Devil's Child," and the title composition, were all prime metal cuts. With its perfect balance of heavy riffing and melodicism, SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE is considered by many to be among the finest heavy metal albums ever made.

allmusic.com

Musicians:

Vocals : Rob Halford
Guitars : Glenn Tipton
Guitars : K. K. Downing
Bass : Ian Hill
Drums : Dave Holland

Produced by Tom Allom. Engineered by Louis Austin.
Recorded at Ibiza Sound Studios, Ibiza, Spain
Mixed at Beejay Recording Studios, Orlando, Florida and Bayshore Recording Studios, Coconut Grove, Florida.

Track List:

01. The Hellion [0:42]
02. Electric Eye [3:39]
03. Riding On The Wind [3:10]
04. Bloodstone [3:53]
05. (Take These) Chains [3:08]
06. Pain And Pleasure [4:16]
07. Screaming For Vengeance [4:43]
08. You've Got Another Thing Comin' [5:10]
09. Fever [5:22]
10. Devil's Child [4:51]
11. Prisoner Of Your Eyes (Bonus Track) [7:12]
12. Devil's Child (Live) (Bonus Track) [5:03]

The last quality album from Judas Priest's commercial period, Defenders of the Faith doesn't quite reach the heights of British Steel or Screaming for Vengeance, in part because it lacks a standout single on the level of those two records' best material. That said, even if there's a low percentage of signature songs here, there's a remarkably high percentage of hidden gems waiting to be unearthed, making Defenders possibly the most underrated record in Priest's catalog. Musically, it follows the basic blueprint of Screaming for Vengeance, alternating intricate speed rockers with fist-pumping midtempo grooves and balancing moderate musical sophistication with commercial accessibility. It's a craftsmanlike record from a band that had been in the game for a full decade already, but was still vital and exciting, and decidedly not on autopilot (yet). The record opens high-energy with the terrific "Freewheel Burning" and "Jawbreaker" before moving into lost anthem "Rock Hard Ride Free," the more complex "The Sentinel," the cold, oddly mechanized single "Love Bites," and the slightly darker "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll." Coincidentally (both were released the same year), there's a bit of Spinal Tap creeping into the band's approach on side two – not just in calling a song "Heavy Duty," but also in the ridiculous rough-sex ode "Eat Me Alive," which comes off like an S&M-themed "Sex Farm" (albeit without the tasteful subtlety). It wound up getting the band in trouble with Tipper Gore's PMRC, though one wonders if it would have helped or hindered their cause that the song's sexual aggression was, in hindsight, not directed at women. At any rate, Defenders of the Faith charted only one spot lower than its predecessor, and was certified platinum. Hereafter, Priest would have significant difficulties adapting to the fast-changing landscape of heavy metal in the latter half of the '80s.

allmusic.com

Musicians:

Vocals : Rob Halford
Guitars : Glenn Tipton
Guitars : K. K. Downing
Bass : Ian Hill
Drums : Dave Holland

All songs written by Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford and K. K. Downing
except "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll," written by Bob Halligan, Jr. and "Turn On Your Light," written by Glenn Tipton and Rob Halford
Produced by Tom Allom Engineered by Mark Dodson
Assistant Engineers: Christian Eser, Bruce Hensal, David Roeder, Ben King, Buddy Thornton
Recorded in Europe
Mixed at DB Recording Studios, Miami, Florida and Bayshore Studios, Miami, Florida
Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York

Track List:

01. Freewheel Burning [4:24]
02. Jawbreaker [3:28]
03. Rock Hard Ride Free [5:36]
04. The Sentinel [5:04]
05. Love Bites [4:48]
06. Eat Me Alive [3:36]
07. Some Heads Are Gonna Roll [4:08]
08. Night Comes Down [4:02]
09. Heavy Duty [2:26]
10. Defenders Of The Faith [1:29]
11. Turn On Your Light (Bonus Track) [5:24]
12. Heavy Duty/Defenders Of The Faith (Live) (Bonus Track) [5:26]

Searching for a way to retool their sound, Judas Priest attempted to accentuate their melodic side on Turbo by incorporating synthesizers and '80s pop-metal stylings ("Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days" sounds more like Poison, albeit with synths). The restrained songcraft sometimes pays dividends, especially on the synth-driven leadoff track, "Turbo Lover," easily the best song on the record and a successful reimagining of the Priest formula. But often, the band simply sounds directionless, unsure of exactly which path to accessibility it should follow; moreover, the synth-guitar backing and overly polished production give the album an oddly mechanized, processed feel. It certainly doesn't help most of the material, which is often at least competent but rarely inspired enough to make much of an impression. That's unfortunate because Turbo's best moments indicate that with a clearer focus, the album could have been a creative success; however, it's overall Judas Priest's weakest release since Rocka Rolla.

allmusic.com

Musicians:

Vocals : Rob Halford
Guitars : Glenn Tipton
Guitars : K. K. Downing
Bass : Ian Hill
Drums : Dave Holland

All songs written and arranged by Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford and K. K. Downing
Produced by Tom Allom Engineered by Bill Dooley
Mixed by Glenn Tipton, K. K. Downing, Tom Allom and Bill Dooley
Assistant engineers: Paul Wertheimer, Sean Burrows Equipment surveillance: Tom Calcaterra
Recorded at Compass Point Studios, Nassau.
Mixed at the old and new Record Plant, LA Mastered by Bernie Grundman, LA., USA

Track List:

01. Turbo Lover [5:32]
02. Locked In [4:19]
03. Private Property [4:30]
04. Parental Guidance [3:26]
05. Rock You All Around The World [3:38]
06. Out In The Cold [6:27]
07. Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days [4:40]
08. Hot For Love [4:12]
09. Reckless [4:20]
10. All Fired Up (Bonus Track) [4:45]
11. Locked In (Live) (Bonus Track) [4:25]

Judas Priest's first live album, Unleashed in the East, was a powerhouse, but Priest…Live! is a sad, lackluster document of an aging heavy metal band desperately trying to hold onto its glory days. No matter how hard it tried, the group could not hide the fact that its power was declining rapidly.

allmusic.com

Musicians:

Vocals : Rob Halford
Guitars : Glenn Tipton
Guitars : K. K. Downing
Bass : Ian Hill
Drums : Dave Holland

Produced by Tom Allom
Engineered by Patrice Wilkison Levinsohn
Assistant engineer: Charles Dye
Mixed at Criteria Recording Studios, Miami
Mastered by Mike Fuller, Miami
Recorded during the Judas Priest 'Fuel For Life' World Tour of 1986

CD1 Track List:

01. Out In The Cold [6:51]
02. Heading Out To The Highway [4:53]
03. Metal Gods [4:11]
04. Breaking The Law [2:43]
05. Love Bites [5:27]
06. Some Heads Are Gonna Roll [4:23]
07. The Sentinel [5:14]
08. Private Property [4:51]

CD2 Track List:

01. Rock You All Around The World [4:42]
02. Electric Eye [4:20]
03. Turbo Lover [5:53]
04. Freewheel Burning [5:01]
05. Parental Guidance [4:11]
06. Living After Midnight [7:24]
07. You've Got Another Thing Comin' [8:05]
08. Screaming For Vengeance (Bonus Track) [5:55]
09. Rock Hard Ride Free (Bonus Track) [6:43]
10. Hell Bent For Leather (Bonus Track) [4:43]

After the failed experiment of Turbo, Judas Priest toned down the synths and returned to the basics, delivering a straight-ahead, much more typical Priest album with Ram It Down. The band's fan base was still devoted enough to consistently push each new album past the platinum sales mark, and perhaps that's part of the reason Ram It Down generally sounds like it's on autopilot. While there are some well-constructed songs, they tend toward the generic, and the songwriting is pretty lackluster overall, with the up-tempo title track easily standing out as the best tune here. And even though Ram It Down backed away from the territory explored on Turbo, much of the album still has a too-polished, mechanical-sounding production, especially the drums. Lyrically, Ram It Down is firmly entrenched in adolescent theatrics that lack the personality or toughness of Priest's best anthems, which – coupled with the lack of much truly memorable music – makes the record sound cynical and insincere, the lowest point in the Rob Halford era. Further debits are given for the cover of "Johnny B. Goode."

allmusic.com

Musicians:

Vocals : Rob Halford
Guitars : Glenn Tipton
Guitars : K. K. Downing
Bass : Ian Hill
Drums : Dave Holland

Produced by Tom Allom
Engineered by Henrik Nilsson
Recorded and mixed at Puk Studios, Denmark
Mastered at The Town House, London

Track List:

01. Ram It Down [4:49]
02. Heavy Metal [5:58]
03. Love Zone [3:59]
04. Come And Get It [4:07]
05. Hard As Iron [4:08]
06. Blood Red Skies [7:51]
07. I'm A Rocker [3:59]
08. Johnny B. Goode [4:39]
09. Love You To Death [4:37]
10. Monsters Of Rock [5:31]
11. Night Comes Down (Live) (Bonus Track) [4:33]
12. Bloodstone (Live) (Bonus Track) [4:05]

At the dawn of the '90s, Judas Priest were in sad shape: out of touch, seemingly creatively bankrupt, coming off the two worst albums of their career, and left for dead by many observers. Trying to right the ship, Priest jettisoned longtime producer Tom Allom and his tinny '80s sound, as well as the serviceable groove drumming of Dave Holland, and brought in veteran metal producer Chris Tsangarides and onetime Racer X skinsman Scott Travis. Most importantly, though, Priest stopped trying to be a stadium act in the midst of hair metal's heyday. All those changes come into sharp focus as soon as the title cut of Painkiller starts – Travis' thunderous (and crisp-sounding) percussive maelstrom lights an immediate fire under the bandmembers' asses; Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing tear through a crushing, diabolical riff; and Rob Halford starts shrieking like a wicked witch, giving perhaps the most malevolent-sounding performance of his career. It's a startling statement of musical purpose that arrived seemingly out of nowhere, heralding a comeback that rivals George Foreman's. Once the leanest, meanest, darkest metal band on the planet, Priest were clearly giving up on the mainstream and instead embracing the thrash and speed metal underground they'd helped spawn. Not only do they come to terms with it here, they teach those whippersnappers a thing or two, marrying furious instrumental pyrotechnics to an unerring sense of songcraft. Spurred on by Travis' jazz-trained double bass assault, Painkiller never once lets up, slowing down only for the elegant menace of the prog-tinged "A Touch of Evil," and without an unmemorable tune in the bunch.

That constant, balls-out intensity is a big reason why metal's younger generation has come to consider Painkiller perhaps the ultimate speed metal album. Older Priest fans will likely complain that the lyrics are silly, and they won't be wrong – for all its fury, the title track is about the winged knight riding the monster motorcycle depicted on the front cover. However, there's a convincing argument to be made that this brand of comic book fantasy holds up better over time (and is more fun) than most would care to admit (and it can't be any sillier than, for example, members of Morbid Angel worshipping H.P. Lovecraft's fictional Ancient Ones as actual demonic entities). Thus, Painkiller's influence reaches further than many longtime fans might expect: traditionalist power metal bands wanting a harder edge adopted a good chunk of Painkiller's approach, yet its blend of chops and aggression also caught the ears of the emerging extreme metal movement, even inspiring a cover version of the title track on Death's final album, The Sound of Perseverance. In the end, Painkiller secured Judas Priest's legacy with the next generation of metal fans; it's the point where their contributions make the most sense to modern ears more attuned to metal extremes (and more affectionate towards lyrical clichés). It isn't the most important of the Priest classics, but it is the fastest, the meanest, and, well, the most f***ing metal album they ever released. Simultaneously a stunning revitalization and the last great album they would ever make, thanks to Halford's imminent departure.

allmusic.com

Musicians:

Vocals : Rob Halford
Guitars : Glenn Tipton
Guitars : K. K. Downing
Bass : Ian Hill
Drums : Scott Travis

Produced by Chris Tsangarides and Judas Priest
Engineered by Attie Bauw and Patrice Rouillon
Recorded at Miraval Studios, France
Recorded and mixed at Wisseloord Studios, Holland by Chris Tsangarides, Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford and K. K. Downing
Mastered at The Townhouse Studios, London

Track List:

01. Painkiller [6:06]
02. Hell Patrol [3:37]
03. All Guns Blazing [3:57]
04. Leather Rebel [3:35]
05. Metal Meltdown [4:50]
06. Night Crawler [5:44]
07. Between The Hammer & The Anvil [4:49]
08. A Touch Of Evil [5:44]
09. Battle Hymn [0:56]
10. One Shot At Glory [6:48]
11. Living Bad Dreams (Bonus Track) [5:22]
12. Leather Rebel (Live) (Bonus Track) [3:40]

Described by the newly reunited band as "the second (and final) part of 1976's pseudo-conceptual Sad Wings of Destiny," 2005's Angel of Retribution is a halfhearted attempt at recapturing the band's pre-Turbo heydays. The only thing that these two records have in common, though, is the winged avatar that graces their respective covers – Retribution's angel is adorned with gun metal instead of flesh. Judas Priest's 16th studio album will be a frustrating one for fans, as the leadoff track, "Judas Rising," promises great things – the swirling guitar intro that slowly reveals a mammoth, multi-tracked Rob Halford scream is positively goosebump-inducing – but what follows is textbook heavy metal played with precision by a group that doesn't have the slightest interest in challenging anybody, least of all itself. Priest have never been poets, but their lyrics were always far removed from the Dungeons & Dragons musings of similar artists like Dio or Manowar, so when these New Wave of British Heavy Metal pioneers offer up a 12-minute epic about the Loch Ness monster ("Lochness"), complete with the chorus "Lochness protects monstrosity/Lochness confess to me," it all feels a little too Spinal Tap. This is a shame because Halford is still a force of nature and Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing are still the most underrated dual-guitar attack in the genre. These are not "bad" songs, however, especially for a band in its 28th year, so never mind that "Revolution" is essentially a rewrite of Jane's Addiction's "Mountain Song" or that "Eulogy," a ballad that makes references to numerous songs from the group's past, ends up sounding like it's directed at the band itself rather than the listener. Angel of Retribution does indeed rock just hard enough to please longtime fans and convert a few new ones along the way. "Here they come, these Gods of steel/Megatron/devouring what's concealed."

allmusic.com

Musicians:

Vocals : Rob Halford
Guitars : Glenn Tipton
Guitars : K. K. Downing
Bass : Ian Hill
Drums : Scott Travis

Produced by Roy Z and Judas Priest
Engineered by Roy Z
Mixed by Roy Z and Stan Katayama
Recorded at The Old Smithy, Worcestershire, UK and Sound City, California, USA

Track List:

01. Judas Rising [4:13]
02. Deal With The Devil [3:55]
03. Revolution [4:43]
04. Worth Fighting For [4:19]
05. Demonizer [4:38]
06. Wheels Of Fire [3:47]
07. Angel [4:24]
08. Hellrider [6:24]
09. Eulogy [2:52]
10. Lochness [13:30]

On 2005's (almost) divine comeback album Angel of Retribution, Judas Priest fans got a modern day update of the band's genre-bending 1976 classic, Sad Wings of Destiny. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal legends return to the mines for 2008's Nostradamus, though this time it's another band's treasure they're looting, specifically Iron Maiden's 1988 concept album, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Heavy metal's obsession with seers, sorcery, and anything else that falls under the nebulous blanket of the "dark arts" is legendary, and Maiden's loosely knit tale of a visionary "chosen one" provided listeners with one of the last great albums of the pre-grunge, epic metal era, due in part to some truly memorable songs that remain fan favorites even to this day. Nostradamus, on the other hand, manages to live up to nearly every Spinal Tap cliché (non-deliberate, laugh-inducing cover art; melodramatic spoken word interludes; rhyming "fire" with desire). At nearly two hours long, one expects a certain amount of filler, but the dated keyboard strings, soft piano, and bluesy, minor-key guitar licks that populate every nook and cranny in between (and often throughout) each track sound like discarded incidental music from The X-Files or an RPG video game "cut scene." The songs themselves are hit or miss, with the emphasis falling on the latter, due mostly to an over-reliance on three-chord, midtempo filler, but as is the case with nearly every Priest offering, when they're on they're dead on. Disc one closer "Persecution," after a lengthy organ/guitar intro, unleashes Nostradamus' finest six minutes, boasting one of the best choruses the band has produced since 1988's "Hard as Iron" (few things sound as natural and satisfying as Rob Halford's metallic voice running through a phaser, and his signature scream, when it arises, still has no equal). The predictable but effectively apocalyptic "War" (taking a cue from Holst's Mars, Bringer of War) spawns one of the few great orchestral breakdowns on the record, while both "Death" and the nearly seven-minute title track feature stunning guitar work from Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing. None of this, however, can save Nostradamus from the fact that even if it were reduced to a single album (it should have been), its flaws would far outweigh its triumphs. Excess and metal go together like blood and guts, but even gore loses its ability to draw a reaction after the umpteenth beheading.

allmusic.com

Musicians:

Vocals : Rob Halford
Guitars : Glenn Tipton
Guitars : K. K. Downing
Bass : Ian Hill
Drums : Scott Travis

Produced by Glenn Tipton and K. K. Downing
Engineered by Richard Wood
Mixed by Attie Bauw at Bauwhaus Amsterdam, with Glenn Tipton and K. K. Downing
Recorded at The Old Smithy Studio, UK

CD1 Track List:

01. Dawn Of Creation [2:32]
02. Prophecy [5:26]
03. Awakening [0:53]
04. Revelations [7:05]
05. The Four Horsemen [1:35]
06. War [5:04]
07. Sands Of Time [2:37]
08. Pestilence And Plague [5:09]
09. Death [7:34]
10. Peace [2:22]
11. Conquest [4:42]
12. Lost Love [4:28]
13. Persecution [6:34]

CD2 Track List:

01. Solitude [1:23]
02. Exiled [6:33]
03. Alone [7:50]
04. Shadows In The Flame [1:10]
05. Visions [5:24]
06. Hope [2:09]
07. New Beginnings [4:57]
08. Calm Before The Storm [2:05]
09. Nostradamus [6:43]
10. Future Of Mankind [8:30]

Nearly 40 years after their initial formation, Judas Priest were as strong a live force as they had been at their early-'80s peak. Frontman Rob Halford virtually created the archetypal metal look with his studded leather garb, and the band's ultra-clean, technophilic riffing, and fleet dual lead guitars set the standard for power metal on an arena-filling scale. This is the band's fifth live album, following 1979's glorious Unleashed in the East, 1987's disappointing Priest…Live!, and the two they recorded with Tim "Ripper" Owens on vocals, and it's much closer in quality to Unleashed than any of the others. Part of that is no doubt due to the state of the band in the 21st century: Halford's 2004 return lit a fire under the others, and the two studio albums they've released since are among their most satisfying – and, in the case of 2008's Nostradamus, shockingly ambitious. This disc, recorded on tour in 2005 and 2008, features one song from Angel of Retribution and two from Nostradamus ("Prophecy" and the crushing "Death"), and otherwise concentrates on deep album cuts from the band's copious back catalog. Fans are spared one more run-through of "Breaking the Law" or "Electric Eye," instead getting thunderous versions of "Between the Hammer and the Anvil" from 1990's underrated Painkiller, the powerful "Beyond the Realms of Death" (during which it doesn't seem like anyone in the audience committed suicide) and "Dissident Aggressor," a song so heavy that even the mighty Slayer couldn't do much but speed it up a bit when they covered it for South of Heaven. The band even busts out "Eat Me Alive," their hilariously PMRC-baiting sex anthem from 1984's Defenders of the Faith. This rip-roaring live set proved that Priest were still putting on one of the best shows in metal.

allmusic.com

Musicians:

Vocals : Rob Halford
Guitars : Glenn Tipton
Guitars : K. K. Downing
Bass : Ian Hill
Drums : Scott Travis

Produced Judas Priest and Tom Allom
Recorded during the Judas Priest 2005 and 2008 world tours.
Mastered by Kevin Metcalfe at the Soundmasters.

Track List:

01. Judas Rising [4:23]
02. Hellrider [5:38]
03. Between The Hammer & The Anvil [4:35]
04. Riding On The Wind [3:28]
05. Death [7:52]
06. Beyond The Realms Of Death [6:52]
07. Dissident Aggressor [3:03]
08. A Touch Of Evil [6:10]
09. Eat Me Alive [4:35]
10. Prophecy [6:07]
11. Painkiller [7:12]