the Gull Records-era Judas Priest

[nomisofsiman]

Hell Bent For Leather is my favorite Priest album of all time.

Amen to that.

Congratulations...you have officially made one of the most inaccurate statements I've ever witnessed on this forum. :Smug:

Quite frankly there isn't a Judas Priest album that I don't enjoy, period. My top picks are Defenders of the Faith and Painkiller.

~Brian~

Priest is by far my favorite band. No other band even comes close. Having said that though, you actually like Turbo?

Where's the love for Stained Class or Sin After Sin?

Honestly, they have too many good albums that it's hard for me to rank them. The only thing I can say is that Hell Bent and Screaming are my two favorites. Everything else I honestly could probably switch the order up every day...outside of Turbo and Ram it Down. Speaking of which...

Speaking of ranking, here is how I would rank my list of Judas Priest albums, them of course being my favorite band.

1.) Painkiller
2.) Sad Wings Of Destiny
3.) Defenders Of The Faith
4.) British Steel
5.) Ram It Down
6.) Sin After Sin
7.) Nostradamus (fuck you if you don't like it, I do )
8.) Screaming For Vengeance
9.) Stained Class
10.) Jugulator
11.) Hell Bent For Leather
12.) Angel Of Retribution
13.) Demolition
14.) Point Of Entry (some great songs, just not consistent)
15.) Turbo
16.) Rocka Rolla (not a bad album, but I don't consider it a Priest album for many reasons)

Go ahead and tell me how wrong I am, I'm sure that's coming.

How in the hell could you have Ram it Down 5th? I mean half the album is good, but there are some monster duds on that album. I will say though that had it not been for that album, Painkiller never would have existed. It was a step in the right direction after the atrocity that was Turbo.

I'm with you on Nostradamus. I think the people that hated it, were expecting it to be a classic Priest sound. Considering it was a concept album, had orchestral elements to it, I don't know how people thought that would be the case. It was my second favorite album of 2008 next to "Chines Democracy".

We've fought over the Ripper-era albums before, so I'll just leave it at that.

Lastly, I seem to be the only one that liked Point of Entry for some reason. By no means do I think it's their best but I don't think there's a bad track on there. I'll agree though that it might not be as heavy, which I suppose might be the reason you all have for it not being that great.

 

[Metalmilitia2000]

How in the hell could you have Ram it Down 5th? I mean half the album is good, but there are some monster duds on that album. I will say though that had it not been for that album, Painkiller never would have existed. It was a step in the right direction after the atrocity that was Turbo.

I believe you answered your own question right here. Without Ram It Down, there would have been no Painkiller, which not only does it hold my favorite spot as a Priest record, but also my favorite spot at a metal record. From the opening of Painkiller to the ending of One Shot At Glory, that albums slays me. As for Ram It Down, there are some AMAZING songs on it, just unfortunately some other crap thrown in. Ram It Down, Heavy Metal, Hard As Iron, and Blood Red Skies, 4 of my absolute favorite Priest songs. Not to mention the cover art is classic. The fist pounding down on the world, I love it. As for your take on Nostradamus, I agree, I think it was never really understood and appreciated for its' own merit, only the merit of its' predecessors. It's an amazing album and highly underrated. Those who "got it" loved it, those who didn't hated it. It's understandable, but it's really too bad, it's really a great album.

 

[MysticX9]

Killing Machine/Hell Bent For Leather is the "dumbing down for corporate rock" transition. I can't name any good songs on it. Screaming and Defenders are pretty good, but British Steel is a hacky abomination of a spiteful group looking down their noses at a GENERICALLY AVERAGE populace.

You've. Got. To. Be. Joking!!! *lol*

I'm a big Priest fan as my avatar makes abundantly clear so it may be no surprise that I absolutely love HELL BENT FOR LEATHER, it was my introduction to these legends and I think it's still my favorite, although STAINED CLASS, SIN AFTER SIN and DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH are up there as well. There have certainly been some missteps ("Parental Guidance," anyone?) but on some level I enjoy most of what these guys do, like the Scorpions I find even their "poppy" stuff enjoyable. Here's my review of the new BRITISH STEEL 30th ANNIVERSARY BOX SET:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Detritus/message/897

Make sure to at least check out the DVD, fantastic!!!

 

[Justin G]

I love Turbo. Of course I love synth-heavy 80's rock in general. I think people reflexively slag that album like it's just the accepted thing to do.

 

[nomisofsiman]

I love Turbo. Of course I love synth-heavy 80's rock in general. I think people reflexively slag that album like it's just the accepted thing to do.

Nah. I really do just hate it. The only two decent songs were Turbo Lover and Out in the Cold. While I do hate synth sounds for the most part, it was the songwriting for the most part that was just piss poor more than anything else.

 

[raising_iron]

Nah. I really do just hate it. The only two decent songs were Turbo Lover and Out in the Cold. While I do hate synth sounds for the most part, it was the songwriting for the most part that was just piss poor more than anything else.

Turbo's song-writing immensely sucked, that was the album that was the cash-grab sell-out, one good song - the title track, very menacing...unlike the rest of the album. Back to the thread topic, Sad Wings is in my top ten albums of all time, period. That album is pure genius...here's my ranking:

SWoD
Stained Class
Painkiller
HBFL
Sin After Sin
Defenders
Screaming
Rocka Rolla
Angel of Retribution
British Steel
Demolition
Jugulator
POE
Ram It Down
Nostradamus
Turbo

 

[edgeofthorns]

Without Ram It Down, there would have been no Painkiller, which not only does it hold my favorite spot as a Priest record, but also my favorite spot at a metal record. From the opening of Painkiller to the ending of One Shot At Glory, that albums slays me.

Painkiller is a desert island album for sure!

~Brian~

 

[Jasonic]

Can I ask a serious question without folks taking offense?

For those who ranked the albums, have each of you honestly heard EACH of those albums in its entirety?

There have been many ranking threads I have seen over the years where when a poster was asked about a particular song on an album they ranked low, the response would be "Oh, I never actually heard that song"

so many times albums are held in either really HIGH regard because of one song, as others are held in low regard for the same reason.

So with Priest, so many instantly lower albums like British Steel and Turbo because of their commercial intent.

As I said, this is a general question about any thread where albums are ranked. I would guess there's a LOT of people who rank Priest albums who never truly heard DEMOLITION or JUGULATOR in entirety. I know I haven't, therefore I would not be able to give a justifiable ranking.

 

[Metalmilitia2000]

Can I ask a serious question without folks taking offense?

For those who ranked the albums, have each of you honestly heard EACH of those albums in its entirety?

There have been many ranking threads I have seen over the years where when a poster was asked about a particular song on an album they ranked low, the response would be "Oh, I never actually heard that song"

so many times albums are held in either really HIGH regard because of one song, as others are held in low regard for the same reason.

So with Priest, so many instantly lower albums like British Steel and Turbo because of their commercial intent.

As I said, this is a general question about any thread where albums are ranked. I would guess there's a LOT of people who rank Priest albums who never truly heard DEMOLITION or JUGULATOR in entirety. I know I haven't, therefore I would not be able to give a justifiable ranking.

I've heard them all, own them all on cd, and own everything except for Jugulator and Angel Of Retribution on vinyl as well, heh.

 

[nomisofsiman]

Can I ask a serious question without folks taking offense?

For those who ranked the albums, have each of you honestly heard EACH of those albums in its entirety?

There have been many ranking threads I have seen over the years where when a poster was asked about a particular song on an album they ranked low, the response would be "Oh, I never actually heard that song"

so many times albums are held in either really HIGH regard because of one song, as others are held in low regard for the same reason.

So with Priest, so many instantly lower albums like British Steel and Turbo because of their commercial intent.

As I said, this is a general question about any thread where albums are ranked. I would guess there's a LOT of people who rank Priest albums who never truly heard DEMOLITION or JUGULATOR in entirety. I know I haven't, therefore I would not be able to give a justifiable ranking.

I wonder the same thing about rankings too sometimes. As for me, like I said my top two are Hell Bent and Screaming. Beyond that I'd probably juggle it day after day. While I still love it, I do think British Steel is overrated compared to the general Priest catalog; however, it is not a completely commercial album by any means. Yeah, I guess you could say the big three, Metal Gods, Living After Midnight and Breaking the Law could be but most certainly the other tracks are not exactly like that.

I have listened to Jugulator and Demolition, and I have not been quiet for my distaste for those albums. After trying a couple times I just turned around and sold them, and I just don't really credit them as Priest albums even though the name is on there.

 

[nomisofsiman]

I've heard them all, own them all on cd, and own everything except for Jugulator and Angel Of Retribution on vinyl as well, heh.

Yowzas!!! And I thought I was a huge Priest fan. The only one on vinyl I have is Nostradamus.

 

[Jasonic]

I've heard them all, own them all on cd, and own everything except for Jugulator and Angel Of Retribution on vinyl as well, heh.

Cool!! I am not saying anyone specific here hasn't heard them all.

I just know with any big band, people rank albums they truly have not heard in its entirety.

(IE - Metallica is a good example, since a TON of people would rank St Anger and Death Magnetic low, though honestly had never heard either in its entirety)

 

[Metalmilitia2000]

Cool!! I am not saying anyone specific here hasn't heard them all.

I just know with any big band, people rank albums they truly have not heard in its entirety.

(IE - Metallica is a good example, since a TON of people would rank St Anger and Death Magnetic low, though honestly had never heard either in its entirety)

I know, not taking offense, heh, just explaining my particular situation.

 

[Jasonic]

An aside: My way of rating or ranking or stating my liking for an album is based on songs I like. I know some people go by the album as a whole. I don't do that, I guess because there aren't that many albums I like all the way through.

Yeah, see, and for me it would be the complete opposite.
Your logic is the reason why Slayer is performing SEASONS IN THE ABYSS in its entirety this year!!! The album as a whole isn't stellar, but War Ensemble is a top 10 all-time SLAYER great, so the album gets held in a high regard.

 

[nomisofsiman]

I've heard all of them all.

An aside: My way of rating or ranking or stating my liking for an album is based on songs I like. I know some people go by the album as a whole. I don't do that, I guess because there aren't that many albums I like all the way through.

For example, Hell Bent for Leather. I really like maybe 5 songs on it. The rest I don't care for. But I like those 5 songs so much that it ranks highly on my list of Priest albums.

Yeah I also don't do it that way. For me personally there are a lot of albums I like front to back. I also am the type of person that prefers listening to full albums, rather than mixing up my ipod and just listening to songs. Usually, if I don't like most of the songs on a disc but love some, I rarely listen to it.

 

[J-Dubya 777]

I love Turbo. Of course I love synth-heavy 80's rock in general. I think people reflexively slag that album like it's just the accepted thing to do.

Nope, I really DISLIKE it. I don't follow trends, so if I like something, I like it, if I hate it, I hate it. Turdbo = Lame songs, overly processed guitar tones, and imo, lacking any testicles at all. I grew up on Priest's old stuff, so this, to me, was like a sharp stick in the eye....

Edit: I see I'm not alone in thinking this...

 

[Jasonic]

TURBO is probably the biggest factor in my never being able to 100% side with Priest in the never-ending MAIDEN VS PRIEST debate. Sure, Maiden had some not-so-stellar releases, but still nothing like the fall from grace that TURBO was.

Sure, TURBO has "some" enjoyable tracks, but for a JUDAS PRIEST album, it simply is unacceptable. Period.

 

[raising_iron]

Personally, I rank 'em by considering the album as a whole (music has always been an album experience for me) and strangely enough myself and Pate are relatively close all the way through the list despite our different approaches. I haven't really thought about someone ranking albums they haven't heard, I guess I assume if you're ranking them you've heard them, but personally, I own every cd by Priest (except Turbo, I never replaced my cassette!), and since the release of British Steel have purchased every one of the albums upon release.

Jasonic, you seriously haven't heard the Ripper era Priest albums? Get 'em, they're not as bad as some would have you believe.

 

[BenMech]

TURBO is probably the biggest factor in my never being able to 100% side with Priest in the never-ending MAIDEN VS PRIEST debate. Sure, Maiden had some not-so-stellar releases, but still nothing like the fall from grace that TURBO was.

Sure, TURBO has "some" enjoyable tracks, but for a JUDAS PRIEST album, it simply is unacceptable. Period.

Turbo was at least an interesting risk, If not a successful one.

Ram It Down is the truly most unacceptable album in the discography. Nobody can disagree with that

 

[Metalmilitia2000]

Turbo was at least an interesting risk, If not a successful one.

Ram It Down is the truly most unacceptable album in the discography. Nobody can disagree with that

Oh great, another person to give me my opinion. Can't you read? If you look up, you will see it highly ranked on my list, as I think it's a great album.