Review Summary: A near-perfect album that only falters in its last track and on some of the lyrics, exceedingly childish and immature for a band on this stage of their career. Other than that, it deserves its status as classic.
My relationship with Judas Priest was slow to develop at least. Ever since I first got into metal at age 13/14, I kept hearing about how great these guys were and how their records were classics. So, as any self-respecting metalhead wanting to be respected, I went out and got one of their records.
The man at the store said
Screaming For Vengenace and
Painkiller were their must haves, so in spite of having heard great things about
British Steel, I got
Screaming instead. It didn’t really help me figure out the Priest-worship that was going on, so I got two more records
Priest: Live and Rare and the ubiquitous
Painkiller, probably one of the most overrated titles in my 800-plus CD collection.
Of course, any of these titles helped exactly zilch in improving my opinion on the band, and so it was with great surprise that I found myself falling in love with Priest after finding
Living After Midnight: The Best Of Judas Priest in the bargain section of a store. «Man», I thought, «I didn’t know they were so good!» Sure, I had liked some of the things in the previous albums:
Riding on The Wind was great, the live versions of
Breaking the Law were awesome, but nothing that could really justify the godly status Priest attained among metalheads.
But
Living After Midnight finally made me get it. Since then – and in little over a year – I have acquired more Priest CD’s than in all my previous years of metal. I got
Jugulator, a small disappointment. I got the excellent
Angel Of Retribution. But first and foremost, I corrected my mistake and got
British Steel.
I was lucky enough to find a copy of
British Steel – the original CD edition, not the remaster – for a meagre 5 euros at a second-hand CD store. Never mind the fact that the former owner’s name was inked into the cover – destroying any and all collectible value – I got it anyway, for the music alone. The tracks from this album were among my favorites on
Living After Midnight, and while I thought that album gave them too much space overall, I knew I had to get this record.
And the least I can say is that I wasn’t disappointed.
Now I get it!
Now I understand why Priest are so revered! Even with a crappy production, this album is so clearly a classic, it’s almost surreal.
Sure, it won’t go down at first listen. It will sound disappointing, and the fact that you have to wait until track three – yes, three! – to hear a (short) guitar solo may disappoint you. But give it another spin.
Then this album will get you. And once it does, it never lets go.
Simply put, seven out of nine tracks are classics (one of them a hidden gem), and only one is definitely and decidedly weak. All of them feature great hard rock riffs courtesy of Tipton and Downing, ripping performances from frontman Rob Halford and a steady rhythm section comprised of bassist Ian Hill and drummer Dave Holland. Although the band’s sound is declaredly guitar-oriented, both rhythm players have their moments, and are clearly audible throughout, even though the overall sound of the original issue is a little hollowed-out.
The album kicks off with
Breaking The Law. This song is a metal classic, and its intro is very well known even outside of metal. It consists of a snaking lead that drives the song forward, along with a “driving along the motorway” kind of backing rhythm. Overlapping all this is a very confident performance from Rob Halford, who makes sparse but effective use of his falsetto, particularly on the word
law at the end of every chorus (“Breaking The LAW!!”). The mid-section, where on the live performances there is a short solo, is here punctuated by the sound of police sirens. A small disappointment, but a great opening track and a highlight of the album nonetheless.
Rapid Fire is not as Rapid, really (not
Painkiller rapid, or even
Riding on The Wind rapid), but it does make good use of Holland’s double bass work. The riffs are a bit more spaced-out, but they really do sound like guns firing at times. A case in point is that this song does not, effectively, have a chorus. However, just like Black Sabbath’s
Iron Man, this track works well even without the «catchy» section. Another great display from Halford, a bit more high-pitched this time, but never overdoing it. He follows the beat with gusto, in a powerful piece of rock vocalizing. A good song, perhaps not up to standard with others on this album, but it will not actively bother anyone.
Metal Gods is the sort of song that sneaks up on you. At first you’ll dislike it, but then you’ll go «hmmm, this is interesting», and by third listen you’ll be hooked. Again, there is hardly an overused chorus, but that doesn’t mean this is a bad track. What little chorus there in fact is, is GREAT, with a great vocal effect. Another high point of the album.
Grinder is another Judas classic. Moving along at a steady driving pace, it features lyrics about something (the aforementioned “grinder”) that sounds like a cross between a sex offender and a horror monster. This time there
is a solo, and a pretty good one. However, this track is not one of the album’s best, and will probably be skipped quite often.
United is a slower track, driven by Holland’s mammoth percussion. This is really the drummer’s high point on this album, since he drives the verse almost by himself. Halford spews out a rant about fighting their enemies and standing tall together, and the anthemic chorus really does evoke images of warriors defending their gates. Take that, Manowar! Once again, there isn’t a solo, but in this case, it wasn’t really needed. Great track.
Living After Midnight once again starts with Dave Holland pounding away, creating a great hard rock beat. This is the most hard-rocky track on this album, with a riff that even – for a brief moment – brings to mind the 1977 British punk scene. And what to say about the solo, other than it’s great? It’s short, but you’ll enjoy every little bit of it. I know I do. The downside? The chorus is repeated a bit too much, but perhaps this serves as compensation for
Rapid Fire. The truth is this song is
THE highlight of the album, and a deserved classic.
The seventh track is the lost gem I mentioned earlier.
Don’t Have To Be Old To Be Wise is an oft-forgotten track that really stands out on this album. Sharing some similarities with
Grinder, this song is however far superior, if not lyrically, then definitely in what concerns music. The riff, chorus and solo are all great, and Halford lets rip with his falsettos, although once again he doesn’t overdo it. A great track that begs to be discovered.
The last two tracks are weaker. However,
The Rage is an OK track. The tempo is somewhere between
Grinder and
United and the instrumentation is good, as is Halford’s performance. But the chorus, unlike others on this album, is unmemorable. As for
Steeler (a track in the mould of
Grinder) it’s just plain dull, and easily the low point of this album. Fortunately, it’s the last song, and so it doesn’t tarnish our memory of the album.
The reissue has a bonus song, but I don’t have that edition so I really can’t discuss
Red, White and Blue. Reportedly it is similar to
United.
All in all, a near-perfect album that only falters in its last track and on some of the lyrics, exceedingly childish and immature for a band on this stage of their career. Other than that, it deserves its status as classic.
Good:
- Almost every song
- Rob Halford
- Solo on
Living After Midnight
Bad:
-
Steeler
- Childish lyrics
Reccomended Tracks
Breaking The Law
Metal Gods
Living After Midnight
Don’t Have To Be Old To Be Wise
Rating: 4,8/5 = 5/5
