Favorite Song off of "Rocka-Rolla" by Judas Priest

Released- September 6th, 1974.
Recorded- June – July 1974 at Island, Trident and Olympic Studios.
Personnel-Rob Halford – lead vocals, harmonica,K.K. Downing – guitars,
Glenn Tipton – guitars, synthesizers, Ian Hill – bass guitar, John Hinch – drums.

I got this album after "Sad Wings of Destiny" and before "Sin After Sin" was released.   There were a couple of us in my neighborhood that were hip to both Priest and Scorpions a few years before other caught on.

Some great tunes on here like the title track, "Cheater", "Never Satisfied", "Dying To Meet You/Hero, Hero". "Run Of The Mill".

My favorite has changed a few times over the passing of the years.
My vote today goes to "Dying To Meet You/Hero, Hero"

"Never Satisfied" for me.

I'm not a big fan of Priest's ballads--save for Run of the Mill. Epic and moving with some great guitar work. Nice buildup as well.

One For The Road
Cheater
Never Satisfied
Run Of The Mill

Those are the only songs I can remember off the top of my head. I'll have to go back and listen to the album again to refresh my memory on the rest.

Well, I remember the title track but it's so stupid I wouldn't pick it for anything.

S.D. wrote:

One For The Road
Cheater
Never Satisfied
Run Of The Mill

Those are the only songs I can remember off the top of my head.  I'll have to go back and listen to the album again to refresh my memory on the rest.  

Well, I remember the title track but it's so stupid I wouldn't pick it for anything.  

that was the one I picked

Went for Never Satisfied. One For the Road and Cheater are up there too.

The title just reads "Dying to Meet You" on my copy (nothing about heroes). Pretty good song. I actually like this album a lot, and at the time it would have been an acceptable debut album for a heavy rock band, but obviously the following album blows this away and changes the game completely. And also inadvertently leaves Rocka Rolla underrated.

My only problem with Sad Wings Of Destiny is that the definitive versions of several of those songs are on Unleashed In The East, the studio versions sounding quite puny by comparison (Victim Of Changes, Tyrant, Genocide, The Ripper).

Same goes for Diamonds And Rust from Sin After Sin, the live version on Unleashed blows it out of the water.

As usual, good point, S.D. For the poll, James, I went with "Never Satisfied" but "Cheater" is a very close second.

Yes! Another series of polls for another of my favorite bands!

I'd forgotten how many fillers are on this album.

Every time I hear "Cheater" I think of "My Sharona." Anyone else think that?

For the poll, it was between "Run of the Mill" and the title track. "Run of the Mill" has that powerful build-up and Halford hitting that ridiculous high note. It's a bit long, though. "Rocka Rolla" is such a fun song with the quirky guitar riff. It's the song I remember the most from the album, so it gets my vote.

"Never Satisfied" for me.

"Never Satisfied" for me as well...

This is the only Priest album I have never heard.

"Cheater" for me.

[quote="S.D."]My only problem with Sad Wings Of Destiny is that the definitive versions of several of those songs are on Unleashed In The East, the studio versions sounding quite puny by comparison (Victim Of Changes, Tyrant, Genocide, The Ripper).  

Same goes for Diamonds And Rust from Sin After Sin, the live version on Unleashed blows it out of the water.  
[/quote

Agree 100%.

I went with never satisfied

Never Satisfied gets my vote.

I have only heard this and Exciter as far as studio albums go (everything else was on compilations) but it has some of my least favorite material that I have heard from them so far. I was obviously born too late to appreciate it, and maybe it's true that it was a good debut at the time, but nothing really stood out to me compared to what I've heard from 70s hard rock.

It's impossible to be "born too late" to appreciate music. In my teenage years of the 80s I spent just as much time exploring late 60s and 70s albums as I did the current artists. Then in my 20s I got heavily into jazz and was listening to lots of stuff recorded in the 40s, 50s and 60s. Now, I do think maturity can expand our appreciation, some music I first heard when I was a teenager didn't sound good to me at all, but started sounding great when I got older. And conversely, a lot of the music I thought was the ultimate when I was 16 I have no use for in my 40s.

Perceptions can change a lot over the years, I never write anything off completely.

True, hence why I listen to incredibly conservative stuff today that I hated as a young'n.

Good timing on this poll for me, i've been jamming all the priest albums a ton recently. My pick is dying to meet you/hero hero

Cheater... I no longer own this album. I have always wondered, why the two covers? I like the "Coca-Cola" cover better. Just looks cool. This album is OK but I prefer Sad Wings.

mikeinfla wrote:

Cheater... I no longer own this album. I have always wondered, why the two covers? I like the "Coca-Cola" cover better. Just looks cool.

I would assume that the "armored guy" art was slapped on later pressings of the album because it looked more "metal" than the "bottle cap" cover.

I prefer the "soda" cover too, mainly for the hilarious band photos on the back (dig KK Downing's pimp hat and Ian Hill's Dalai Lama ensemble!)... I have a vinyl copy with that cover and a CD with the reissue art.

Fun fact: the "armored guy" art was done by Melvyn Grant, who's also done the bulk of Iron Maiden's latter-day album covers, starting with Fear of the Dark.

Lari wrote:

The title just reads "Dying to Meet You" on my copy (nothing about heroes).

Yeah, I have both versions of the cover on vinyl and the "Hero. Hero" compilation as well... No mention of it on any of them. Since I don't have the tunes memorized I used Wikipedia for the info. So my guess is they must have added the "Hero/Hero" due to song being on that compilation ?

Never cared much for this album. It doesn't represent what they would soon become afterward.

James B. wrote:

Lari wrote:

The title just reads "Dying to Meet You" on my copy (nothing about heroes).

Yeah, I have both versions of the cover on vinyl and the "Hero. Hero" compilation as well... No mention of it on any of them. Since I don't have the tunes memorized I used Wikipedia for the info. So my guess is they must have added the "Hero/Hero" due to song being on that compilation ?  

Probably. But it seems to be only a Wikipedia thing. Metal Archives, Rate Your Music or other sources don't have it.

I think it's just Dying to Meet You.

Having said that, obviously the song has two halves. I have no problem some people calling the second half Hero, Hero. But I prefer it as one long track. That's also why it's my favourite.

Troublezone wrote:

Never cared much for this album. It doesn't represent what they would soon become afterward.

Agreed to a degree. However, there's still some real interesting stuff here. Depending on how big of a Priest fan your are, of course. But you can definitely hear the cogs turn from heavy rock to Judas-Priest-Heavy-Metal on tracks like Never Satisfied.

And damn, here are the origins of Rob Halford and that voice. Just listening to Dying to Meet You.

One for the Road, Rocka Rolla and Cheater are also enjoyable groovy rocking heavy rock songs. In 1974, in this genre, this doesn't lose out to many albums. The whole genre was in its infancy.