Heading out to the highway with Judas Priest

[phlemmy]

It was 1977 or 1978 when my brother brought home a copy of Sin After Sin and it was the first time I had ever heard of Judas Priest. I was already listening to KISS, Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper so metal was no stranger to me. I listened to SAS often and it's where my love for JP began.

Rocka Rolla - 1974
I like this album much more now than I did say 15 years ago but I don't love it. Lots of good songs on here and really no stinkers, but it's a very different album than anything they would put out in the coming years.
6/10

Sad Wings of Destiny - 1976
I was never much of a fan of Victim of Changes and if I never heard it again I'd be ok with it. Tyrant, Dreamer Deceiver and Genocide are great. I love this album in general.
8/10

Sin After Sin - 1977
Anytime I put this album on I play it all the way through. I adore their version of Diamonds and Rust. In general, I think this was one of Halford's best albums. It's also a fun album to play along on bass.
10/10

Stained Class - 1978
Another perfect album. This was the second album I heard by them and was hooked instantly. Every song on here is awesome, especially for 1978. I didn't realize until today that Better By You was originally written by Gary Wright. If anyone has an mp3 of that, feel free to send it to me.
10/10

Killing Machine/Hell Bent for Leather - 1978/1979
Other than the silliness of Evil Fantasies, this is another great album by Priest. I could live without Delivering the Goods as well.
8/10

British Steel - 1980
Obviously the album that gave Priest their biggest notoriety in the states. It's really a simple album riff-wise and the drums got dumbed down a lot (of course since Dave Holland joined on this one). This was the first JP album that I actually owned. I never liked United and really can't stand to hear Living After Midnight or Breaking the Law. I played those 2 songs in bands enough times over the years to kill it for me forever. I do like Metal Gods and You Don't Have To Be Old To Be Wise quite a bit. This album was really the true beginning of their lyrical silliness.
7/10

Point of Entry - 1981
The album so many love to hate. I like this one quite a bit. Hot Rockin' sucks. Period. Priest is definitely staying the course riff-wise when compared to British Steel.
8/10

Screaming For Vengeance - 1982
Ugh. I've caught grief over the years for my distaste of this album. I like the title track and Electric Eye the best. You've Got Another Thing Comin' is OK, I've just heard it way too many times.
4.5/10

Defenders of the Faith - 1984
Ugh again. Other than Some Heads Are Gonna Roll (quite possibly my fave Priest song and they didn't even write it!), I don't really like this album. Is there another version of that song floating around by Mr. Halligan?
2/10

Turbo - 1986
Not bad in general. Parental Guidance is rather retarded and I don't really like Wild Nights, Hot and Crazy Days or Hot for Love at all. Still, It was a tad better than the previous 2 LPs. Out in the Cold is the best song on there.
5/10

Ram It Down - 1988
Geez guys. What the? Blood Red Skies and Ram It Down are about the only ones I can stomach.
2/10...barely

Painkiller - 1990
WTF? I hated it then and I hate it now. Sure, it's heavy but it's not catchy. I was excited that a local acquaintance, Scott Travis, had joined the band but they weren't able to deliver an album that I wanted to listen to. This is lyrically one of the dumbest albums ever written.
-0/10

Jugulator - 1997
Other than Cathedral Spires, I don't like this album. Like Painkiller, it is the lyrical equivalent of the writings of an an average 2nd grader.
0.5/10

Demolition - 2001
Easy.
0/10

Angel of Retribution - 2005
It's been 3 years already? Wow. Worth Fighting For and Angel are really really good songs. The rest of the album leaves me flat. Still, it's the best thing they did since Point of Entry.
5/10

Nostradamus - 2008
We'll see.
X/10

I know there are some big Priest fans here, so let 'er rip!

[nattiep]

I disagree with you a lot on this one, Sean. Counter review coming soon.
Funny, I put Out In Cold on just before I saw this was posted.

[rickenbrother]

I like Turbo much less than Sean does.
I like Painkiller more than Sean does.

[phlemmy]

90% of the world liked Painkiller more than I did/do.

[chuck_king]

I know there are some big Priest fans here, so let 'er rip!

Wow, not as many as you'd think, apparently. But I guess the dearth of Priest albums in people's top ten lists was a sign.

Well, they are definitely MY favorite metal band. I discovered them around the time of Hell Bent for Leather and was a big fan through Screaming for Vengeance. I think all the albums in that period were great. I bought Defenders of the Faith but it didn't really knock me over; I kind of lost track of them after that. Of the earlier albums, while Sad Wings of Destiny has a different sound than their later stuff, it is a very cool album.

I know you've kept your reviews to just studio albums, but if I could have only one Priest album it would definitely be Unleashed in the East.

This may sound weird, but I think that Judas Priest actually has more pop sensibility to a lot of their music than many other metal bands. It's obvious in songs like "Living After Midnight", but even in some of their less overtly poppy tunes there are elements that you just don't hear in most other metal. Inasmucn as they as much as anybode else were instrumental in defining the genre, obviously their influences came from other areas, and were melded into the final product.

On the strength of your reviews, I'm going to reexamine Sin After Sin and Stained Class, which I sort of glossed over back in the day.

[nattiep]

I have a response for this, but I'm still writing it.

[EVILFACE]

Stained Class is prolly my favorite JP album, really like Better By You, Better Than Me. I like all there albums up to Painkiller. I like the title song and A Touch of Evil, but can't stand the rest. It sounded way to forced "listen to us play hard and fast, we're not old!!!!". The only song from that point forward I like is "Revolution" from Angel of Retribution.

[loendmaestro]

Sean, did you ever get the MP3 of "Better By You" by Spooky Tooth (Gary Wright)?
I can hook you up if you need it. Actually Spooky Two is a good LP all the way through....

[phlemmy]

Chris, I got it. It's killer!

[nattiep]

Title track from the new album.

http://www.epicrecords.com/judaspriest/

[phlemmy]

Title track from the new album.

http://www.epicrecords.com/judaspriest/

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[nattiep]

Really? Wow. I though Rob was pretty decent, better than the 04 and 05 tours, although I'm not too big on the whole concept they have goin here since Nostradamus was a big phony.

[phlemmy]

I don't mind concept albums, but I know Rob will not be able to pull it off live.

[nattiep]

Sadly, no, some of that must've taken a lot of work to not have him sound like a person with their throat slashed.

[nattiep]

I got the album today.. internet is great. Not very far into it and I'm not really paying attention. But when I am I'm not impressed. No screams yet, too much orchestra, the whole concept is just stupid to me. Add this to the list of new albums that dissapoint me.