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March 28, 2024, 09:51:59 PM

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Judas Priest are fucking wicked

Started by The Mollusk, June 29, 2022, 10:07:47 PM

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The Mollusk

I only start metal threads here now, cheers.

I only got around to Priest a couple months ago and I went backwards from Painkiller which was totally the wrong thing to do, should have ramped myself up gradually from the early stuff and then got myself inside a big cannon and stuck Painkiller on and launched myself into the fucking sun. Instead I peaked too soon, and I'm still really really digging the early stuff though I need to revisit it because not gonna lie I discovered Painkiller and was like, this is it really isn't it, there's no need to listen to any other heavy metal. Painkiller is like heavy metal goosed the fuck up on steroids, absolutely everything cranked up to the eyeballs, by conventional rock standards one of the most searing and relentless mental bastard albums I've ever heard.

Halford's vocals were one of the strong draws, amplifying the lyrics from standard "daft but great fun" standards to actually making me want to go and stand in the middle of the road and scream them at passing cars. At the end of "Between the Hammer and the Anvil" when he wails the song title twice I fucking burst out laughing, just utterly brazen and bonkers. Thing is, I don't get nearly as much from other howling banshees like Bruce Dickinson or King Diamond, I think because I'm not as big a fan of more elaborate storytelling in this kind of metal. But a bloke singing about a fucking LEATHER REBEL? Yeah, I will absolutely have a slice of that pal nice one.

Tipton and Downing on guitars as well, what a fantastic pairing. Rock perfection.


You can talk about other Judas Priest material here if you like.

bgmnts

Yeah def my favourite metal band and Halford's vocals are top drawer.

Hard to say anything beyond they are fucking superb. I would say some of their more "cerebral" stuff has that british metal band pretention that Spinal Tap parodies.

But yeah songs like Electric Eye, Hell Patrol, Turbo Lover and Breaking The Law are up there as some of the best metal songs of all time. Painkiller is a pure gym track as it's sometimes a bit too overwhelming and I want to punch someone listening to it.

Also, his coming on stage casual as fuck like he owns the gaff is one of the coolest things i've ever seen: https://youtu.be/yMVV_HsHcX0?t=41

Glebe

Breakin' the law, breakin' the law!

madhair60

saw them in 2008. was good. nothing else to add. not just to this thread, i mean in general. i am bereft of purpose. goodbye

Pink Gregory

People say Screaming for Vengeance is the best one, but I say British Steel or Stained Class - even though the latter seems to have a bit of a weak sound.

Rapid Fire is such a mission statement - POUNDING THE WORLD/LIKE A BATTERING RAM


Head Gardener

still got a badge from the olden days


Dark Sexy Dangerous

#7
They were a big part of my life as a teen, and still I love them to bits, but by goodness I find some of Tipton and Downing's solos painful to listen to (especially from Screaming for Vengeance onwards). Harsh beyond what was justified by the era.

But whatever, they're brill. This is one of my favourites of theirs:




Dark Sexy Dangerous

A gem from the much-maligned Turbo:


badaids


Priest are wicked.

Delivering the Goods is a striding, thrusting, dripping erect penis of a song.

Dark Sexy Dangerous

#10
This one's from Point of Entry, another much-maligned by fans for being too 'pop'. Probably the most tasteful drumming you'll find on a Priest record.


Head Gardener

Quote from: badaids on June 30, 2022, 03:01:40 PMPriest are wicked.

Delivering the Goods is a striding, thrusting, dripping erect penis of a song.


Famous Mortimer

I'm sure you all know about it, but maybe the best thing about Priest that's not the music is this incredible short film. I once had a nice chat with the director trying to work out what the t-shirt being worn by the oddball at 10:48 was (he even went back to his original footage to get me the best quality still possible).


The Mollusk

Quote from: Head Gardener on June 30, 2022, 04:43:24 PM

Why would you not skip the first two and just go straight to "all the gay"?

badaids

Quote from: Head Gardener on June 30, 2022, 04:43:24 PM

That's the point! Though I don't know of Halford is making an intentional statement, or if it is an unintentional release of homosexual frustration.

Martin Van Buren Stan

I dunno if I could ever dissociate them from that horrible trial they went through and the pure desolation of that kid's deformed face and their trailer park parents taking the band to trial. I watched the documentaries about that as a kid before hearing a note of their music so that was the first impression I had of them. Anyone remember Bill Hicks and his disgusting "fuck them, they were losers" routine about the case? What an absolute scumbag that man was. I was an admirer of his for a while but that bit put me off.

The Mollusk

QuoteThe trial was also the subject of a 1991 documentary entitled Dream Deceivers: The Story Behind James Vance vs. Judas Priest. In the documentary, Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford commented that if the band were so inclined to insert subliminal commands into their music, messages commanding their fans to kill themselves would be quite counterproductive; from the band's perspective it would be much more practical to insert the command "buy more of our records"

Legend.

willbo

After reading his book, I've got a theory that Breaking the Law is about Halford's then romantic frustration. But he doesn't know actually know that himself. It came out subliminally. But yeah top band

Martin Van Buren Stan

Quote from: willbo on June 30, 2022, 08:47:32 PMAfter reading his book, I've got a theory that Breaking the Law is about Halford's then romantic frustration. But he doesn't know actually know that himself. It came out subliminally. But yeah top band

Breaking the law is about committing crimes

Head Gardener

Quote from: The Mollusk on June 30, 2022, 06:49:17 PMWhy would you not skip the first two and just go straight to "all the gay"?

"Delivering the Goods is a #1 striding, #2 thrusting, #3 dripping erect penis of a song"

it works perfectly!

idunnosomename

possibly my favourite band but I do have my issues with them, especially their current incarnation.

Rocka Rolla (1974) - not so bad when you revisit it. even if they hadn't done anything else it would be a nice little album. title track rules

Sad Wings of Destiny (1976) - their most underrated album, partly because of the label problems. even next to Rainbow Rising in the same year this is an absolute monster of early heavy metal, also fancy Queen-esque vocals. it's like a whole album of Ogre Battle and the best bits of March of the Black Queen really

Sin After Sin (1977) - first outwardly gay songs and some of the heaviest stuff going. so heavy Slayer would cover Dissident Aggressor a decade and a half later

Stained Class (1978) - Exciter is the proto-Painkiller. dont think the album itself is their classic though. some brill songs but some crap ones too

Killing Machine / Hell Bent for Leather (1978) - similar really. more boogie stuff as they try and take the US.

British Steel (1980) - I dont really like this album tbh. except for Grinder which I fucking love and I also like Rapid Fire and Breaking the Law when it's at its live tempo.

Point of Entry (1981) - well i could be contrarian and say I like this but well a lot of it is shit if im honest. love Hot Rockin' though and of course Desert Plains is great

Screaming for Vengeance (1982) - like British Steel there's a lot of crummy tracks on this alongside the classics. but also, Bloodstone and the title track which are rollocking speed metal.

Defenders of the Faith (1984) - Jawbreaker is my favourite song about sucking an enormous dick and also fucking hell what a side A. shame about side B

Turbo (1986) - shamelessly commericial but also more consistent than anything they put out since the 70s. Reckless is brilliant

Ram It Down (1988) - unfairly maligned, the title track is an absolute fucking slab of speed metal. A lot of it is sub-Turbo, but the proto-Painkiller makes up for it.

Painkiller (1990) - PAIN! PAIN! KILLER! KILLER!! that a couple of Brummies called Ken and Glenn who started out in the mid 70s could keep up with the new lads like this is just insane. most extreme speed metal ever. perfect.

Jugulator (1997) - guess this isnt on streaming. i loved it, even though some of it is shit. but there's Cathedral Spires which I think everyone can get behind.

Demolition (2001) - last two tracks are shit, the rest isn't bad. Bloodsuckers is a top song

Angel of Retribution (2005) - trying to do Brave New World to make a load of money and came out like something that sounds like a greatest hits of all new songs. i only really care about Hellrider and Demonizer which are just like some of my favourite songs ever for how fucking insane they are

Nostradamus (2007) - complete bobbins except for the title track. so bad they were going to do a full performance of it live which they quietly shelved when everyone said it was shit.

Redeemer of Souls (2014) - oh dear where did Ken go. I saw a British Steel era tribute the other week and for some reason they played Halls of Valhalla as their last song after playing Livin' After Midnight and all that, I went fucking apeshit. HALLS!!! OF VALHALLA!!! Rob even does a death growl in the bridge! love it. rest of the album who cares

Firepower (2018) - who cares at this point really, I think this album is better than Redeemer but acts like Primal Fear are putting out better Painkiller worship these days. And now Glenn can't even play because of his Parkinson's it's even sadder. Glad Richie Faulkner survived his heart exploding while he was playing Painkiller though, which may be the most metal thing ever.

famethrowa

Quote from: Famous Mortimer on June 30, 2022, 04:46:47 PMI'm sure you all know about it, but maybe the best thing about Priest that's not the music is this incredible short film. I once had a nice chat with the director trying to work out what the t-shirt being worn by the oddball at 10:48 was (he even went back to his original footage to get me the best quality still possible).


Quite nice that the camera cut away just before he done a sexual assault.

dontpaintyourteeth

It's a shame that Point of Entry isn't very good because that's a huge consecutive run of great metal albums otherwise (Sad Wings of Destiny to Defenders of the Faith, basically). Only Sabbath (first six) and Maiden (eighties) can compete as far as I'm concerned. And of course that's not even including Painkiller, which might be the best one. What a band.

dontpaintyourteeth

I found a signed photo of Rob Halford in an antique mall in Las Vegas once. An odd thing to find amongst a load of Garfield mugs, but that's Vegas baby!!!

Pauline Walnuts

I prefer the versions of the early songs that appeared on their Unleashed in the Studio East album, a bit more 'go' to them.

iamcoop

TWISTING THE STRANGLE GRIP
WON'T GIVE NO MERCY
FEELING THOSE TENDONS RIP
TORN UP AND MEAN

Makes me wanna kick windows in.

I know Priest are obviously massive but I always thought they should be the behemoths of U.K. metal, not Iron Maiden.

None of this shit about Elves and Jesters, just straight up VIOLENCE, MOTORBIKES and POUNDING GUYS. Bliss.

idunnosomename

All Guns Blazing's solo is completely Tipton, which is kinda amazing because it sounds like a duel. if you watch him do it live, he has such economy of motion, it's quite outstanding to watch. i can never quite get over how Glenn was born 1947 - only (nearly) four years after Jimmy Page - and he kept up with the shred scene like this


Rock in Rio 23 Jan 1991 (GREAT intro by Rob here)


Irvine CA 9 Nov 1990

(also Rob had given up on hair by this tour, and he became a true bald icon rather than keeping his rather desperate Turbo Mullet)

but have Iron Maiden ever mentioned an elf or a jester? Bruce solo did the latter I suppose. but Maiden's lyrics are frequently more real than most of Priest's, being about war and stuff.

I just think Maiden were a lot more consistent and weren't quite as desperate to crack the US market as Priest were. I do think it's interesting how Maiden made themselves absolutely massive as a brand with the reunion and Priest kinda flunked it.

but Priest's best songs are just untouchable metal. from Victim of Changes through to Painkiller

iamcoop

Quote from: idunnosomename on July 03, 2022, 09:50:01 PMAll Guns Blazing's solo is completely Tipton, which is kinda amazing because it sounds like a duel. if you watch him do it live, he has such economy of motion, it's quite outstanding to watch. i can never quite get over how Glenn was born 1947 - only (nearly) four years after Jimmy Page - and he kept up with the shred scene like this


Rock in Rio 23 Jan 1991 (GREAT intro by Rob here)


Irvine CA 9 Nov 1990

(also Rob had given up on hair by this tour, and he became a true bald icon rather than keeping his rather desperate Turbo Mullet)

but have Iron Maiden ever mentioned an elf or a jester? Bruce solo did the latter I suppose. but Maiden's lyrics are frequently more real than most of Priest's, being about war and stuff.

I just think Maiden were a lot more consistent and weren't quite as desperate to crack the US market as Priest were. I do think it's interesting how Maiden made themselves absolutely massive as a brand with the reunion and Priest kinda flunked it.

but Priest's best songs are just untouchable metal. from Victim of Changes through to Painkiller

You make some very good points.

I'm obviously projecting my own subjective view onto it - there's always been something I inherently dislike about Maiden - I find it hard to articulate other than it seems a bit cynical to me - Priest always seemed a bit more real.

Anyway apologies for bringing other bands into this thread. Metal is the best and anyone that's a metal fan is a friend of mine.

idunnosomename

ill happily criticise maiden, most of their post 2000 albums are frustratingly over-long dominated by Harris' pondering "epics" (and I suppose the two Blaze ones too... but they were a bit more novel back then at least). but they got a whole new generation of fans in a way Priest didn't. and while Andy Sneap and Ritchie Faulkner are both great bunches of lads, it does a seem a bit hollow now. also god knows if this tour with Ozzy Osbourne will ever happen