The early Judas Priest albums

MetallicSeminarian wrote:

Does anyone else agree that "Sin after Sin" is a hugely underrated gem in the Priest catalog?

It's far from underrated on this forum!!!!!!

I tried listening to Ram It Down again recently and it is still a bad album in my book. Turbo has some nostalgic value for me and I like it (don't love it, just like it)

Love Painkiller - great album and a great comeback. I had written Priest off after Ram It Down, then I saw the video for Painkiller and picked up the album. Travis was a great pickup after getting rid of the pedophile drummer.

Still, today I tend to reach for Sin After Sin, Stained Class, Sad Wings or Unleashed before the anything afterwards.

thejokeriv wrote:

MetallicSeminarian wrote:

Does anyone else agree that "Sin after Sin" is a hugely underrated gem in the Priest catalog?

It's far from underrated on this forum!!!!!!

That one and Sad Wings are my favorite Priest albums.

The early albums are the ones I play most often these days, primarily Unleashed, Sin After Sin and Stained Class. I love the style on those early records and it fits my taste more these days.

From the popular era (Killing Machine thru Ram It Down) the album I play the most is Point Of Entry, partially because it's not nearly as overplayed as the others and also because I think it has some great tracks that show Priest had a little more stylistic diversity in this era than most people give them credit for.

Ram It Down also has some excellent songs like the title track, Heavy Metal, Hard As Iron and Blood Red Skies.

Vexer6 wrote:

Ram It Down also has some excellent songs like the title track, Heavy Metal, Hard As Iron and Blood Red Skies.

For me, "Blood Red Skies" is the only highlight of that album.

Can't add anything to this thread that hasn't already been mentioned. Sin After Sin is one of my favorite albums (not just of Judas Priest albums, but of all albums I've listened to) of all time. I like Rocka Rolla, too. I have the 2-album CD that pairs Rocka Rolla with Sin After Sin and it's one of my favorites.

I love Sin After Sin, but the original album needs a bit of remastering as it's very flat sounding. You can hardly hear the bass at all.

It goes without saying that all of the 2001 Judas Priest remasters are complete garbage.

I have a hard time picking my favorite Priest album because they are my favorite band. I can only narrow it down to these:

Stained Class
Screaming For Vengeance
Painkiller
Sad Wings of Destiny
Priest In The East:Live In Japen - this is the Japanese version Unleashed in the East. I prefer it to Unleashed because it has four more songs.

xxx

S.D. wrote:

The early albums are the ones I play most often these days, primarily Unleashed, Sin After Sin and Stained Class. I love the style on those early records and it fits my taste more these days.

From the popular era (Killing Machine thru Ram It Down) the album I play the most is Point Of Entry, partially because it's not nearly as overplayed as the others and also because I think it has some great tracks that show Priest had a little more stylistic diversity in this era than most people give them credit for.

Solar Angels is great.

^^^ I hold Point of Entry near and dear to my heart because the first Priest song I ever heard (thanks to MTV in its early days) was from that album - "Headin' Out to the Highway."

Witchfinder wrote:

Priest In The East:Live In Japen - this is the Japanese version Unleashed in the East. I prefer it to Unleashed because it has four more songs.

There were also two additional tracks that showed up on a limited UK single. I found a bootleg expanded version that gathers together all the material in one place and puts the concert back into the sequence of the original shows. The bonus tracks are:

Rock Forever
Beyond The Realms Of Death
Delivering The Goods
Evil Fantasies
Starbreaker
Hell Bent For Leather

Point Of Entry has a bunch of great tracks; Desert Plains, Turning Circles, Solar Angels, Heading Out To The Highway, You Say Yes, Troubleshooter, etc.

Fat Freddy wrote:

^^^ I hold Point of Entry near and dear to my heart because the first Priest song I ever heard (thanks to MTV in its early days) was from that album - "Headin' Out to the Highway."

...that and "Hot Rockin'"

S.D. wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

Priest In The East:Live In Japen - this is the Japanese version Unleashed in the East. I prefer it to Unleashed because it has four more songs.

There were also two additional tracks that showed up on a limited UK single. I found a bootleg expanded version that gathers together all the material in one place and puts the concert back into the sequence of the original shows. The bonus tracks are:

Rock Forever
Beyond The Realms Of Death
Delivering The Goods
Evil Fantasies
Starbreaker
Hell Bent For Leather

I've heard that one as well.

chewie wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

^^^ I hold Point of Entry near and dear to my heart because the first Priest song I ever heard (thanks to MTV in its early days) was from that album - "Headin' Out to the Highway."

...that and "Hot Rockin'"

Yep, that one too, but I vividly remember hearing/seeing the video for "Headin'" the first time I ever watched MTV after school in the fall of '81.

I also saw the Ramones' "Do You Remember Rock N Roll Radio" video that same afternoon. Not a bad start to my hard-rock education, I'd say.

S.D. wrote:

Point Of Entry has a bunch of great tracks; Desert Plains, Turning Circles, Solar Angels, Heading Out To The Highway, You Say Yes, Troubleshooter, etc.

That's actually one of my favorite Priest albums. Love t from beginning to end.

I would have a hard time picking my favorite Judas Priest, I will defend 'Turbo" even thou its not my favorite Judas Priest album, because its just dumb fun album. 'Ram It Down" is not a great album, but I still like it, even if the lyrics make Nikki Sixx sound like Bob Dylan in comparison.

I thought "Painkiller" was a kick ass album and loved it at the time. I still like it but don't reach for it often, but I always thought the album was proving something to themselves and their fans, look we are still a metal band.

I hate 'Point of Entry' x10 as much as 'Turbo', despite loving 'Desert Plains', because after 'Solar Angels', everything dies horribly as Tipton and Halford run naked and wanton from one end of the Ibiza studio to the other, jumping out the window, and coming back in to do it again before jamming on some AC/DC covers.

I think Point Of Entry is mrely decent, it has a few good songs, but IMO has too many tracks that are either average(Troubleshooter, On The Run) or outright bad(You Say Yes)

I agree with everyone who said that Unleashed in the East is a great way to get into older Priest.

And Stained Class really is one of the best metal albums ever!

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

I hate 'Point of Entry' x10 as much as 'Turbo', despite loving 'Desert Plains', because after 'Solar Angels', everything dies horribly as Tipton and Halford run naked and wanton from one end of the Ibiza studio to the other, jumping out the window, and coming back in to do it again before jamming on some AC/DC covers.

Vexer6 wrote:

I think Point Of Entry is mrely decent, it has a few good songs, but IMO has too many tracks that are either average(Troubleshooter, On The Run) or outright bad(You Say Yes)

I was about to make this same point after reading all the Point Of Entry love, LOL. After "Solar Angels," yuck! "You Say Yes" is un-listenable to me.

Still, all the stuff through "Solar Angels" is great and "Heading Out To The Highway" may be my favorite Judas Priest song.

Painkiller is a monster of an album. If I have to pick one power/speed album to show people what its all about, that would be Painkiller. It simply redefined the genre and spurred tons of bands like Primal Fear, Iron Saviour, Silent Scream, etc. still trying to emulate it to this very day...

My top 5 JP albums. The actual order can vary slightly depending on my mood. Today it is:

1. Painkiller
2. Sad Wings of Destiny
3. Defenders of the Faith
4. Turbo
5. Screaming for Vengeance

My Top 5

1. Screaming For Vengeance
2. Sin After Sin
3. Stained Class
4. Defenders Of The Faith
5. British Steel (I think, I haven't heard Hell Bent For Leather in a long time)

I personally can't understand the hate for "You Say Yes", I've always loved that groove...it would fit together nicely in a playlist with "Burnin' Up" from HBFL.