Road Runner records runs a podcast called Skull sessions where they discuss an entire featured artist discography, I figured we could do something similar on this board, and I thought I would start with the mighty Judas Priest since long time member Scott has just discovered the joys of the Priesthood, each day I post the next album released in chronological order, opinions pro, con, lukewarm and anywhere between are welcomed and we will start in the beginning with their debut 'Rocka Rolla' (1974)




Who wants to start?

Don't have it. But I like the cover.

I personally like the album and it is a debut album that really does not point the way to what Judas Priest would sound like in the future. It was produced by Rodger Bain who was most famous for producing the early Black Sabbath discs.

This album is different than the rest of their discography due to it having a slight blues influence on a few tracks such as the opening track 'One for the Road' the title track and their song suite of 'Winter'. The last song on the disc, 'Caviar and Meths' seems to point to the direction Judas Priest would explore further on their follow up disc.

Very good album for a debut.

I love this album and did even back in 1981 when I first heard it, even though it was nothing like what I had heard from them up to that point. "Winter" is a great doomy kinda song, very Sabbath-like and "Dying To Meet You" is a cool track with some great heavy guitar, I think it wouldve sounded great live back around the Sin After Sin era if they beefed it up somewhat, kinda like "Victim Of Changes" was on Unleashed In The East.
A forgotten and overlooked album by JP but this album is classic 70's, my favorite decade of music.

Great idea for a thread!!!!!

Love it. It was a very 70's sounding album. There were hints of what was to come.

This is one of the early Priest albums I don't have.

It has some good tracks and I enjoy hearing Priest do something so different from what they went on to do. I don't like the cover though.

Highlights: One For The Road, Never Satisfied.

Run of the Mill is such a classic song, gives me goosebumps everytime. It took me a while to get into this album as a whole, but it's a good one.

I have this on the Gull Records label as well as 2nd one both on vinyl!

Wargod50

I respect it for what it is but it didn't leave a lasting impression on me like other debuts. Priest is a band that got better with age kinda the opposite of Sabbath where their early stuff was more classic imo.

I don't own it on cd. But I have it on mp3. There are some great songs on this album,but not all of them.
Diamonds and Rust is one of the best covers I ever heard, I which to see them play this song one day.
The main riff from rocka rolla song is very contagious. I have seen other version of this album before
To my opinion this album doesn't gets near to the one that comes next

Excellent album, gets unfairly panned alot because they dont have the full classic sound yet. But, IMO it doesnt sound too much different, just a little more blusey.

Run Of The Mill, Cheater, Never Satisfied, One For The Road, Dying To Meet you are worth the price of it alone.

This album may not receive the critical kudos as the Priest albums that followed, it could be due to a number of reasons, it is the only Priest album that none of the songs became concert staples. It also has a bluesier sound than anything that band has released since than.

You can traces of what they are capable of and what they will become, the duel guitar harmonies in the title track, 'Run of the Mill' was definitely a heavy track for its era.

I have never owned this one, and only now own the "Hero, Hero" comp, so there are some songs off it that I have never heard. However, it's a good start, although the band had alot of growing to do.

Oops. I suppose you're right. It's actually a couple songs off Sad Wings that are omitted.

Move along, nothing to see here.

I always get a kick out of this video

I like this album. Good solid, mid-70s stuff. Cheater's probably one of the meanest songs the band ever did in terms of its lyrical content

I dig ROCKA ROLLA. Have it on vinyl (with the bottle cap cover) and CD (with the armored guy cover). It was a bit of a shock when I first heard it back in the mid 80s after cutting my teeth on later Priest platters like SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE and DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH but eventually it won me over. It definitely stands on its own apart from the rest of their discography; they were young guys, wearing their influences on their sleeves, and hadn't found "their" sound yet.

Oh, and you gotta love the pix of the band members on the back of the album... Ian Hill looks like the Dalai Lama, and Downing's rockin' a Huggy Bear pimp hat.

Fave track would be a toss up between "Cheater" and the title track.

Useless trivia: the "armored guy" artwork that appears on most current copies of this album was painted by Melvyn Grant, who went on to do a bunch of latter-day Iron Maiden artwork (i.e. FEAR OF THE DARK, LIVE @ DONINGTON, etc.). Supposedly it was originally submitted to the Priest guys as a possible cover for SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE but they passed on it at that time.

This is the one disc missing from my JP discography. I have an "early days" best of that contains some songs from it, but that's it.

Oh, I'm also missing Demolition, but I ain't counting that one.