Review Summary: Priest continues the mainstream approach and release their first weak album...
Because of the enormous success of 1980’s
British Steel, Judas Priest were obviously not going to abandoning their current direction. In fact, the sound of their next album
Point of Entry was more radio-friendly than ever. It came out a year later than its predecessor, and used its mainstream sound as a basis for the new album, while expanding it with blues-rock influences reminiscent of
AC/DC, something only hinted at way back in their career; on their debut
Rocka Rolla.
Point of Entry’s Judas Priest was:
- Robert John Arthur Halford ~ Vocals
- Kenneth Downing Jr. ~ Lead Guitar
- Glenn Raymond Tipton ~ Lead Guitar
- Ian Frank Hill ~ Bass Guitar
- David Holland ~ Drums
For the most part, Point of Entry gives its listener a very negative impression. Almost all songs are uninteresting, bland and very uninspired (blues-)rock. Singles
Don’t Go and
Hot Rockin’ are annoying tunes that could have been composed by any rock band. You Say Yes is even worse than the rest, and has such an idiotic chorus that it makes me wonder how this band ever managed to release such a masterpiece as
Sad Wings of Destiny.
Luckily, there are just a few gems in the sea of mediocrity that make the album not all that awful. Opener
Heading Out to the Highway is a rocking and catchy song about driving, obviously, but it works well and turns out to be the highlight of the album. Two other great songs can be found in the middle of the album:
Desert Plains and
Solar Angels. The former is highlighted by a very solid pulsing rhythm section, and the latter has some great soloing for a change, as the rest of the soloing on the album, which is normally the highlight in a Priest song, isn’t worth so much. Most importantly, these 3 tracks show the band having good fun making music, something unfortunately not heard on the rest of Point of Entry.
There isn’t much more to say about the 7th Priest studio album. It consists of mostly poor songs with just a few great ones among them. Their discography has so many better albums to offer, and Point of Entry is a Priest album that is supposed to be picked up only by diehard Priest fans and collectivists.
+ The good moments show that Judas Priest can still do mainstream rock just as well as heavy metal
- Overall, the album is very bland and uninspired
- Way too many poor songs
- The mainstream inspiration seems to have died out for a great part
Recommended tracks:
Heading Out to the Highway
Solar Angels
Desert Plains
