Judas Priest “Jugulator” (1997)

Wish me luck, I’m going in!

#JudasPriestFest

Instagram post from Sir Rob of Halford celebrating the Judas Priest album “Turbo” turning 40!

Missed “Turbo” by #JudasPriest turning 40! Cheers to self-proclaimed heavy metal pop-tart #RobHalford for the reminder. Need to finish my #JudasPriestFest.

Tim “Ripper” Owens era line-up of Judas Priest. C. late 1990s.

Thoughts? #JudasPriestFest

Love this. My favourite on “Ram It Down”. Should be the album closer.

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Excerpt from Rob Halford’s autobiography: “It was a new decade and the music world was changing. A whole new generation, and genre, of rock was coming out of Seattle, where the grunge movement was kicking off and Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains had all emerged. Metal was shifting into a new cycle. It made us feel that this would be an important, pivotal album for Judas Priest. So, we decided to go for it and endeavour to make the strongest, most intense and most powerful album of our career. We felt it was the record that would dictate the future of the band. We went into the recording sessions with maximum discipline and purpose... and it worked. Scott's titanic drumming gave us a fresh lease of life, all of the components fell into place, and I still think that Painkiller is Priest's Sgt Pepper. It's our musical high benchmark that everything else is measured against. Painkiller was relentless. Aside from the symphonic 'Touch of Evil', it didn't let up from start to finish. It was the special album we knew we had to make, and its music strove to equal the brutal intensity of the title track's uncompromising lyrics: Faster than a laser bullet, louder than an atom bomb Chromium plated boiling metal, brighter than a thousand suns”

“Painkiller” as Priest’s “Sgt Pepper”!?

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Judas Priest Albums Ranking 1. British Steel (1980) 2. Screaming for Vengeance (1982) 3. Point of Entry (1981) 4. Sin After Sin (1977) 5. Stained Class (1978) 6. Killing Machine (1978) 7. Sad Wings of Destiny (1976) 8. Turbo (1986) 9. Defenders of the Faith (1984) 10. Rocka Rolla (1974) 11. Ram It Down (1988)

So, I’ve reached the end of the 1980s in my #JudasPriestFest. A decade bookended by, imo, their strongest and weakest albums to date. I know @metalhoosier.bsky.social was asking, so here’s my Priest ranking so far. There’s a hair’s breadth between those middle tier albums. All great! Late 80s =🫤

While ‘Eat Me Alive’ is “about the joys of getting a good blow job”.

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But this is my highlight of “Defenders”. Everything I love about this era of rock. Really pointing towards what Leppard would do on the softer songs on “Hysteria”.

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Yeah, OK, this slaps. Love how Rob pronounces “sentinel”.

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Guitarists, is there a technical term for the guitar playing at the start of this?

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I love ‘The Rage’ from “British Steel”. Evidence, were any needed, that Priest are far from one trick ponies. The first 40 seconds of this could be “Ju Ju”-era Siouxsie and the Banshees. Then the burning riff comes in. Fabulous.

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I also fucking love libraries. Our local one had this in, so it would be rude not to read it alongside my #JudasPriestFest.

Support yours if you can! 🤘🏻✊🏻📚

I’m only at the start of the 80s in my #JudasPriestFest, so this may not be my final take when the dust settles, but I’ve always thought “Painkiller” is probably my favourite Priest album. By dint of being home to most of my favourite tunes of theirs. It was also contemporaneous to my metal youth.

Cover of Judas Priest’s fifth studio album, “Killing Machine” (1978). Close up of a person’s face - the killing machine? - in shadow with a studded leather headband over their forehead and black blood-spattered goggles over their eyes.

So, it’s the end of the 1970s and I’m five albums into my #JudasPriestFest with “Killing Machine” (1978). I think it’s a step down in quality after “Sin After Sin” (1977) and “Stained Class” (1978).

I’d say this is maybe the one where they really leaned into their campness for the first time.

‘Delivering the Goods’ by Judas Priest plays on Apple Music.

Priestheads… what’s the consensus? Is ‘Green Manalishi’ part of “Killing Machine” or not? According to Wiki it was originally only included on the US version of the album (titled: “Hell Bent for Leather”).

What say you?

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Really hammered home on this one. Especially those twin guitars that point to “Piece of Mind”, no #Priest, no #Maiden.

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Is it just me or did Smashing Pumpkins lift a fair few elements of this corker for ‘I am One’. The feral Sabbath guitar tone. The springy roiling bass. Definitely some shared DNA going on there…

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Bloody hell, did Priest know how to kick off an album!?! 🥵

This is a monster. The drum intro. The trading leads. The twin guitar harmonies half way through. And Rob’s voice is now truly a killing machine (pun intended).

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As I progress through my #JudasPriestFest, I’m compiling a playlist of my favourite tracks from each of their albums. I’m struggling not to put the whole of “Sin After Sin” in!

This is going to be the one to beat in my #JudasPriestFest. There’s not a bad track on it. Can’t stop playing it, bit like I was with Slayer’s “South of Heaven” the other week (fitting given the ‘Dissident Aggressor’ overlap!) It’s all there. Corker!

Screenshot of ‘Sinner’ by Judas Priest playing on Apple Music

Really into Priest’s third album, “Sin After Sin” (1977). Definitely a lot closer to that gold-plated metal sound they’d soon master. Kind of surprised by the ballads still sneaking in (the Hendrix-y ‘Last Rose of Summer’) even as they ramp up the heaviness.

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This is a cracking little ballad from Priest’s second album. Could almost pass for solo Peter Hammill. Even Halford’s delivery is similar. Love it.
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And we’re off! #JudasPriestFest