Review Summary: This is a compilation of Judas Priest picture discs, a nice look at the beast which is Priest from 1978 - 1986.
This cd is a compliation of live tracks taken from various 12" singles and picture discs. Track 1 - "Beyond The Realms Of Death" - was recorded live in Cleveland 1978 and is taken from the Evening Star 12" single. Tracks 2-3 - "White Heat, Red Hot" and "Starbreaker" - were also recorded live in Cleveland 1978 but were taken from the Take On The World 12" single. These live performances recorded during the "Stained Class" tour are the best live renditions of these songs you can find. The sound is clear, clean and mixed well. The band was ON and full of energy, JP needs to release the FULL concert from this show because the three tracks released here prove this to be one of the BEST JP shows EVER! Absolutely fantastic perfomance!
Tracks 4-5 - "Breaking The Law" and "Living After Midnight" - were recorded live in Europe in 1981 and are taken from the Hot Rockin' 12" picture disc. These were recorded during the bands' "Point Of Entry" tour and are also fantastic recordings and renditions. Tracks 5-8 - "The Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown)", "Breaking The Law" and "You've Got Another Thing Coming" - were recorded at the US Festival 1983 and were released on the 12" Green Manalishi picture disc. At this point in their career, JP was at the height of their popularity and the 100,000+ fans at the US Festival let the band know it with their roars of approval!
Judas Priest was the BEST heavy metal band around at this time and these live recordings are sonic proof of how they could deliver the goods!
Track 9 - "Private Property" - was recorded live at the Kiel Auditorum, St. Louis 1986, during the groups "Turbo" tour. Track 10 - "Turbo Lover (Hi-Octane Mix)" was pulled from the Parental Guidance 12" picture disc. These two tracks show how the band steered away from the sound and muscle that made them the most popular heavy metal band in the world, for a more "corporate", "radio friendly" sound that almost ruined the band as the legions of fans that made JP popular were driven away by their decision to go mainstream. JP was able to realize that the fans wanted the "real" heavy metal JP and the band responded with perhaps their heaviest album to date - "Painkiller".
The cd comes with some cool era related band pictures and lyrics for all the songs on the cd. Overall - this cd is worth searching for and buying for the live tracks. "Oh Yeah! You've got another thing coming!"
