This and Painkiller have generally been recognised not only as Priest's finest's albums but also as metal classics. One listen to this album and its not hard to see why. This album is pretty old, it was made in 1980. Yet it still sounds fresh, and except for the few cheesy moments, it could be written today.
Judas Priest's strengths lie in 3 different areas. The first one is Rob Halford's incredible voice. He has one of the most influential voices of all time. He can do high pitched screaming, he can do some great growling, and he can also sing really well. A good example of this would be the song Rapid Fire, and United., but really, this entire album has great singing.
Another area is the riffs. Yu dont have to go very far for great riffs in this record.. Breaking the Law, Rapid Fire, Metal Gods, Living after Midnight, every single song has a great riff in it. The riffs Judas Priest wrote have inspired evertyone from Metaliica to Killswitch Engage to Slayer to Decapitated. They're crunchy, ballsy riffs.
The 3rd is Judas Priest's commitment to Metal, and to Youth. You dont really have to look any further then the cheesiest song on the album "United." The chorus "United united united we stand, united we stand one and all." There's also "You dont have to be old to be wise" and the like. Bands who try to sell with teenage angst should take note of Judas Priest. Instead of whinging about there childhood, theyre trying to lift the next generation up. Good stuff.
So from the points I made there.. Judas Priest have it all. Good heavy riffs, great vocals, and a down to Earth connection with the kids. All this is a great recipe for one of the best metal albums ever made.
Standout tracks:
Breaking the Law
Rapid Fire
