Review Summary: A very bumpy ride, Rocka Rolla demonstrates a Judas Priest that had not yet found its place sonically.
Most debuts fall into two categories. They either show a band that has spent time developing its sound, and found its place, or show a band that is still trying to do that. Rocka Rolla definitely falls into the latter category. It has some catchy tunes, but it overall fails to impress. Just one album later, Priest had developed much further, and for that reason this album is generally written off. While it doesn't really deserve that fate, it certainly isn't a classic by any means.
Lineup: Rob Halford- Vocals, Harmonica
KK Downing- Guitar
Glenn Tipton- Guitar, Synthesizer
Ian Hill- Bass guitar
John Hinch- Drums
Let's talk about musicianship. Rob Halford is significantly misused, with his trademark screams present in only a few parts of this album. This is because most songs were originally designed for Al Atkins, the bands original vocalist. The twin guitars of KK and Glenn are essentially nonexistent, and the guitar solos in general are unmemorable. The riffs are good though. John Hinch's drumming is actually quite good, he's no Les Binks, but he does his job well. Ian Hill's bass playing is actually stellar. It's smooth and precise, a far cry from the stuff he's done since the 80's. Ian is probably consistently doing the best job of anybody on this album.
Musically, calling this album out of the ordinary is a huge understatement. Instead of screams we have harmonica solos, and instead of singing about badass winged messiahs, Rob sings about women. Typical 70's hard/blues rock stuff. According to the band, this album was recorded live in studio. I don't know much about music production, so I'll just take their word for it. What I do know however is that Rodger Bain made some truly awful production choices. He believed that the band should leave off many of the songs that were later put on Sad Wings from this album, in favor of more radio friendly cuts, like the title track. But why leave on the truly horrendous "Winter" suite, "Run of the Mill" and "Dying to Meet you", all of which clock in at over 6 minutes each? Ultimately, I'm glad he decided to do that, many of those tracks are what made Sad Wings so great. Rocka Rolla is also very fuzzy sounding in general, but I'll cut him a break on that one, this thing was definitely done on a tight budget.
As far as highlights go, there are three. The aforementioned "Run of the Mill", utilizes Rob's voice unlike most of the rest of this album, in fact it's one of his best vocal performances to date. The guitar solo is a bit boring though. The title track "Rocka Rolla", has a tight, bluesy riff, and a catchy chorus, which is enough to make it a highlight. "Never Satisfied" should be familiar to anyone whose seen the Epitaph concert. It also has a good riff, and one of the better solos on the album. Other than that there's not much to talk about. The "Winter" suite is an abomination, and it kills anything the album had going for it up to that point. "Cavier and Meths" is a 2 minute long outro, but it was originally a 10 minute long song, the band was convinced to shorten it by non other than Rodger Bain.
So that's it, Rocka Rolla. It's far from a necessary listen for anyone but the most devoted of Priest fans, but I believe that the highlights that I mentioned should be heard at least once by anyone who enjoys Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple, as well as Priest.
