Best Judas Priest Album

Finished listening to Painkiller. I had heard very mixed things about it and I think it is pretty mixed bag quality wise, but overall a good album.

Like with British Steel, I think there's just too many formulaic sounding songs but I like this way better than British Steel.

Maybe the bigger metal fans will school me on this but I feel like a recurring problem in a lot of 80s-90s metal is that they will have these atmospheric and gorgeous intros and interludes but not incorporate those sounds into the songs entirety, prioritising the standard metal sound for the majority of the track instead.
I think "Night Crawler" in particular does this, but also the wonderful "Battle Hymn" setting up for the much less interesting "One Shot At Glory".

As everyone seems to agree, "Painkiller" is totally stunning (I love the Death version just as much), it has some of my favourite lyrics ever because it's just so gloriously over the top it offers a spectacle I can't find much anywhere else.

"Metal Meltdown" is amazing, that instrumental section in the middle with all the solos and effects is spectacular.
Love the drums and guitar riff in "Leather Rebel". There's good stuff sprinkled across the album so I'm never really irked by any of the tracks.

The other remaining albums in the box are Sin After Sin, Turbo and Angel Of Retribution. Which is the best of these three?

turbo

Sin After Sin! An unbelievably heavy album for its time.

Sin After Sin is so great. "Sinner" and "Dissident Aggressor"...bewm.

Redeemer of Souls still holds up very nicely

the live set (at Kemper Arena in KC) included on the Turbo reissue is pretty amazing...completely blows Priest...Live! out of the water

I've heard that. Looking at it on Spotify now - it's a really weird set list.

honestly it's almost a perfect setlist for my personal priest tastes, i've always been a big turbo apologist and it's funny they do a ton of turbo and poppier stuff from the early 80s then all of a sudden jump back to the 70s for a big nearly 90 minute Victim of Changes followed by Green Manalishi...

90 minute Victim of Changes!

Take that, Grateful Dead!

Is that real? Do the audience go along with it?

Just spent a minute or so figuring out how a 90 minute Victim of Changes might pan out, basically it'd be the greatest piece of music ever recorded if the arrangement was done right

The audience is advised early on to take another look around, they're not goin' anywhere.

haha ok that was supposed to be 9 minute

tales from pyrographic oceans

yeah I was like I don't think even Halford would be able to hang for the whole 90 minutes of that lol
If KK was still in the band he would have been up for it tho I reckon

can we make 90 minute Victim of Changes happen ffs

When I started this poll I remember thinking that the results were in line with ILM at the time. It's interesting that the site has changed that new people here think it was strange. As much as a new poll might be interesting, a better poll would be to pick the band's second best album, because every incarnation of ILM will pick Sad Wings for sure.

rocka rolla at 2 is still mystifying to me

I can't remember a thing about it

Listening to Point of Entry for the first time in quite a few years, the record sounds a whole lot like Judas Priest trying to write AC/DC songs. Some of these tunes would fit fine on something like Flick of the Switch with the reverb.

So... Turbo. First few spins I couldn't really be arsed with it but it's a lot better than I was expecting and even some of the extremely cliched songs are pretty good.

"Turbo Lover" is the only track I like completely.

The early verses in "Locked In" that end with "you got the key, the key to my heart, go ahead and use it" are some of my favorite Priest moments ever but the chorus and much of the rest of the song feel like they just weren't up to delivering what should have been one of their best songs.

"Private Property" is pretty good, could have been an anti-sexual harassment anthem if it didn't have a few lines of incredible bragging! Not that I think he should have changed it.

"Parental Guidance" and "Rock You All Around The World" are two that seemed the most cringey and cliched but they're actually quite fun and I like it how Halford is acting like an ambassador for heavy music.

"Out In The Cold" is pretty good but after that I kind of lose interest. Until... bonus track "All Fired Up" is better than anything on the album! Just awesome.
Turns out that "All Fired Up" and "Red, White & Blue" are both from the Turbo sessions. Why didn't these get used earlier? What on earth were they thinking?

I didn't realise that Judas Priest started in the 60s but all the original members were gone within a short number of years.

Sin After Sin is good fun. "Diamonds & Rust", "Let Us Prey/Call For The Priest", "Here Come the Tears" moving into "Dissident Aggressor" are all great.

Stained Class is the best and got screwed here

Stab! BAAAAAAWWWWLLL, punch! CRAAAAWWWWWWLLLL

yeah stained class is the one

I maintain 7 votes for Rocka Rolla as best Priest album is still the single worst ILM poll result

"Dissident Aggressor" is the shit!

Stained Class, Screaming For Vengeance, Defenders of the Faith are prob my top 3.

I mean, Sad Wings of Destiny & Rocka Rolla are cool & all but I don’t really think of them when i’m looking for a ~PRIEST~ fix.

I’d be less upset if Turbo got top spot. I mean jfc

maintain 7 votes for Rocka Rolla as best Priest album is still the single worst ILM poll result

― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, September 1, 2018 11:20 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this was some Sanjaya shit

I like metal but never liked a single thing by Judas Priest - 2 votes

I wish at the time we explored what motivated these two sad creatures...

Sad Wings is one of my favs for sure. "Tyrant", "The Ripper", "Victim of Changes", "Dreamer Deceiver" are 4 of my fav tunes.

Rocka Rolla tho....I can like, hum one tune ("One for the Road")

I'm glad to see some of the best stuff is yet ahead of me. Never knew Stained Class was supposed to be special.

Rocka Rolla is fine but it doesn't even feel like they've found themselves yet, it's like the voting Book of Talyesin as the best Deep Purple album....Sad Wings is very 70s but still feels like a metal record and Priest

Rocka Rolla is the indie pick

ums otm

I am now going to finally listen to Ram It Down cos why the fuck not, it's about time

I still love the title track and "Blood Red Skies", Johnny B Goode is awful. everything else, I haven't heard!

"Heavy Metal" - the fuck is this pseudo-Def Leppard shit

"Love Zone" - this was p much written for strip clubs wasn't it

"Come and Get It" - this at least SOUNDS like Priest, at least until the bridge when it goes to hair metal town. and these lyrics, fuuuuck

"Hard as Iron" - jesus christ

"Blood Red Skies" - always loved this one, a fav. shame about the album it's on

"I'm a Rocker" - this song is wearing zebra pants with a shit-stain on the back

"Johnny B Goode" - god, what they did to the chorus is just criminal

"Love You to Death" - this could p much be a late 80s Motley song

"Monsters of Rock" - this is fucking 'Stonehenge'

Not too keen on Angel Of Retribution but "Hellrider" is really fun and "Loch Ness" is the most nwobhm thing, I'm impressed how straight faced it is, it's pretty cool.