Judas Priest vs. Metallica

I know some of Priest's lyrics seem pretty ridiculous, but compared to the Metallica's they appear genius. Music Mole nailed it in one sentence.

Everything aside, Judas Preist wrote Breakin' the Law, and no matter how awesome the song "One" is (and how even more awesome the video is), Judas Preist comes out on top.

You want "cornball"? Play "United" off British Steel.

These two bands serve entirely different ends. Yes, they're both metal, but within the genre they are apples and oranges. Priest vs. Maiden? Sure. Metallica vs. Anthrax? Sure. Priest vs. Metallica. Nope, it doesn't work.

that is one cornball song indeed. but it's a got a pretty fabulous bubblegum hook, you've gotta give it that.

Priest was great though, don't get me wrong.

xpost: Comparing Anthrax to Metallica? Those two are just as un-alike. Try slipping in Among The Living sometime and follow it with Ride The Lightning. Totally different stuff there, my friend.

xpost: Apples and Oranges? That's the point. Both are metal-defining metal bands. But which is better? Thus the question. Judas Priest's take on speed metal is pretty ass-kicking, too (Painkiller). The dualing guitars sound warped and melting at cosmic assault speed like a fiery demon flying through the air on a motorcycle with radial saw blades for wheels.

This is true of more than just their cornball.

Anthrax's cornball is not embarrassing. Depending on your sense of humor, it can be totally stupid, but I don't think it's embarrassing as such.

I had a roommate once who was really into bad dance music and metal. He once told me that Lou Bega's "Mambo No 5" was "great." He also said that he felt Metallica's lyrics were "thoughtful." I found those two comments coming from him to be very telling.

Umm...pardon the pun...but NOT!

Anthrax and Metallica (and Slayer and Megadeth) were the four pillars of the burgeoning speed metal scene. By comparison, Judas Priest were lumpen, cliche-ridden dinosaurs. Anthrax and Metallica -- stylistically -- had plenty in common. Moreover, both bands (and all four, really) were the antidote to Judas Priest's by-that-point bloated shenanigans (prior to their fleeting speed-metal reinvention circa Painkiller).

Anthrax and Metallica (and Slayer and Megadeth) were the four pillars of the burgeoning speed metal scene.
No shit, but they don't sound alike AT ALL. Danny Spitz never spat out a solo remotely like Kirk. Scott Ian never made riffs anywhere near as bluesy as James and James didn't need a screaming chorus to save his always-screaming vocals. And Slayer didn't sound anything like Megadeth and Megadeth didn't sound anything like Metallica, even if Dave used to be IN Metallica. You're confusing a rumblind E string for a necessary means of comparison.

By comparison, Judas Priest were lumpen, cliche-ridden dinosaurs. Anthrax and Metallica -- stylistically -- had plenty in common. Moreover, both bands (and all four, really) were the antidote to Judas Priest's by-that-point bloated shenanigans (prior to their fleeting speed-metal reinvention circa Painkiller).

And now it's come full circle. Speed metal is oh so much more cliche than the stuff it was trying to out-cool. The big thing with Metallica was they were writing about "real" stuff instead of Satan, women and drugs, but after only a few albums of the nonsense alternatives everyone suddenly realizes, "Hey, I don't want to listen to an angry song about pollution with inverted sentences like 'never will it mend' and stupid-ass concepts about a guy with no limbs, vision or sight." Give me a fucking break.

Which band is better = not only a comparison of bands, but comparison of two major phases of metal-defining metal. In other words, it's only like comparing apples to oranges if you think both are equally good fruit. If you think apples suck, then comparing apples to oranges is not a problem. And they are both fruits just like Priest and Metallica are both metal.

Whether it's Immortal or Priest, I cannot get my metal ridiculous enough. Looking through my record collection, it's clear I favour the camp ludicrous stuff over the gutsy testosterone stuff. Thinking about it further, I'm sure that has something to do with the yin/yang balance in the music. I find Priest that much more delicious because for every over-the-top macho move they make, they balance it with a feminine move (thanks mainly to the voice and lyrics of Mr Halford), making the music like a wedding cake - towering, absurdly grand, yet somehow stable and well balanced.

Moving over to the Metallica camp, there is definitely yin in the music, but it appears in the seams and the gaps - doubt, fear, anxiety, and barely-concealed (as opposed to overt) vulnerability. All this is covered over, just, by the macho roar of the guitars and voice. One feels they can't come up with hooks like Priest because they are worried about sounding 'gay'. My take on this is that metal that itsn't gay is not true metal. *ducks*

I think another interesting comparison is Priest and Pantera circa 1990-1995. Pantera had that very American macho metal vocal style, but also an equally American rhythm section swagger, locking in the drums, bass and guitar into a sexual strut, which was sufficiently feminine to have the camp, glammy thing that I like in my metal. It wasn't feminine as such, but at least aware of the women and what they like in a man, hahaha. Just like early Motley Crue. People say Pantera buried their hair metal beginnings, but in fact the pansexual glam touch is audible throughout their harder, later days. I'm not surprised Priest and Pantera hooked up to tour at one point.

On another point, 'United' was correctly fingered earlier as Priest's weakest moment. The terrace anthem tendencies in hard-edged British pop.... There must be a CD-R in that concept.

x-post

I agree up to a point. Perhaps it's possible to have [true] metal that isn't in fact "gay." However, I think you totally have to risk sounding "gay" to do anything that could be considered "genius."

And Priest, at their best moments, are fucking genius.

Now c'mon somebody bring up Budgie so I can talk about how fucking genius they are!

So I'd read about the Priest-obsessed kids who killed themselves, but I didn't learn until last night that one of them lived for years after having blown his face off. Blarrrgghghghghgh

I read a chapter on it in The Gift of Fear and it was truly stomach-turning.

Thank you, abbott. i just googled that and found a video interview of him. god, it's nightmarish and indeed stomach churning.

http://www.liveforfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/i-will-become-arseface-300x300.jpg

Oh man I daren't look it up, I'm imagining that one Crispin Glover book cover with the jawless man (which is revolting). The guy who wrote The Gift of Fear (v v good book btw) encountered so many awful people, but it wounds like meeting this kid in person made him saddest/was hardest to talk to. It was the only time he mentioned regretting a choice to meet or talk to a violent person.

i remember seeing a clip of him years and years ago

In my list, I've got 2 Metallica albums in my top four, but five Priest albums in my top 30, so Priest wins. And Slayer also beats out Metallica. It's easy to forget, but Metallica were still kind of a cult band until the 1991 album. I'd like to see the first week sales figures of And Justice For All. I remember buying it in college and no one else caring about it.

Looks like And Justice reached #6 on Billboard and was platinum within 9 weeks, so I was wrong about that. Master Of Puppets was much more of a slow burner, as it was release on March 3 1986, and wasn't certified gold until November 4, peaking at #29 on Billboard.

Pre-Soundscan Billboard charts were kinda wacky (esp. for non-"pop" stuff) so I'm not sure those Metallica numbers are entirely reflective. Definitely up to and including the Black Album each successive Metallica album was a bigger and bigger pop deal, but I'd say certainly by Master they had ceased to be a cult act.

i guess it depends on how we define "cult band". my recollection is that metallica were still very much a cultish niche act circa master. on release, it sold well to the large and loyal diehard metalhead crowd, but metallica's name was barely starting to spread beyond that.

based on what i saw at the time, justice was a huge street-date breakthrough. most of my college friends went nuts for it instantly. it went head-to-head with straight outta compton for jambox supremacy that late summer & fall. nevertheless, the appeal was still limited to an audience of beer & weed-sodden "rockers" and "partyers" (among whom masters and garage days had been building steam over the two years prior).

real pop-star-type visibility and mainstream/radio success had to wait on the self-titled.