Judas Priest Discography Discussion (part 2 starting page 20)

I think Priest have done better than Rapid Fire in the same vein, but they never seem to miss with these frenetic songs. I liked it as track two, even though it works a natural opener.

Metal Gods has such a great groove. Dave Holland may not be as technically gifted as Binks and Phillips, but he was essential to this album, just this churning, simpleminded relentless bedrock. And the first of several musical solos. Knick has great takes, but he’s dead wrong on the outro. Just a great clanking horde.

Breaking the Law never fails to energize. It’s kinda what punk should have been.

Again with the irresistible force rhythms on Grinder - hammers and pistons and foundries and pumping fists. Such a great simple riff expertly utilized.

I like the admittedly cheesy United in a drunken night with the boys kinda way.

Again with a simple hooky riff, milked for all it’s worth in You Don’t Have to be Old to Be Wise. Check out the way the snare and guitar take turns perfectly filling the pauses of the vocal lines without ever stepping outside the pocket of the song. Halford sings like he means it.

More hooky riffs, driving beats, and another musical solo - Living After Midnight is the perfect metal pop song.

Steeler is solid. It lacks the hooks of much of the album, but has a nice metallic edge and a more progressive structure - a necessary bookend to Rapid Fire that reminds you that despite the singalong chorus of the previous song, you are still dealing with a behemoth metal monster.
 
I’m on my first spin of Point of Entry and...wow. It’s great to finally have a Priest album with incredible production, but the whole thing sounds soulless.

Currently on track 6, not sure if there’s even been a guitar solo yet.
 
Hot Rockin & Desert Plains have leads from both Glenn & KK. Back in the 80s I read interviews where the band said Desert Plains was one of their favorite 80s songs to play live (go figure). I would rather them play Hot Rockin. I saw DP live but not HR. They of course played it on one of the reunion tours with Halford which I did not see :mad:
 
When I first got into Priest I dismissed Point of Entry because everyone said it was crap. I've given it a proper chance recently and found it's actually pretty good. It's got that pop-metal style of the previous album coupled with a darker feel, it's a similar feel to Killing Machine, I think.
 
I may have used the wrong term, when I said pop-metal I meant the shorter, snappier, more commercial style of song.
 
Point of Entry (1981)

Judas_priest_-_point_of_entry_a.jpg


Heading Out to the Highway - What’s immediately apparent is that the production has truly improved from all of the previous albums. The instruments are all bigger, richer, and mixed perfectly. Drums and bass are killing the pocket on this driving, hooky tune. The guitars are super simple which lets Rob’s voice shine over everything. I could imagine this being a great road trip song. The twin guitar harmony at 2:20 might be the best musical moment on the whole album. I wish Tipton and Downing did more harmonies. 9/10

Don’t Go – I love the sick groove that drives the verses. The chorus really kills the momentum. It’s another big, major, stupid lyrical refrain that reeks of trying too hard to appeal to a pop/rock crowd. The solos are fine, but also rather timid. Overall, this song has huge potential that is ultimately left unfulfilled. 5/10

Hot Rockin’ – Rob is tearing up this song with lots of snarling personality, but it’s another “rock guy sings about rock” song (a major pet peeve). Musically it’s fine and the solos are great, especially the first. The bass and drums deserve a shout out again for being incredibly synced up, even if they aren’t doing anything flashy. Rob saves this song from being bad, even if the lyrics are dumb. 7/10

Turning Circles – I love Rob’s verse melodies on this song, but the chorus is somewhat lacking. The quiet bridge with the subtle guitar leads is quite nice. Unfortunately, this is another song that simply fades away as though the band just lost interest in the arrangement halfway through. Another “could have been better” tune. 6/10

Desert Plains – The bass is practically sparkling on this song, especially once that main groove kicks in. As with the previous song, I think the verses are fantastic and that the chorus loses steam. The guitar and drum layers sliding around Rob’s killer verse melodies are quite interesting. I just wish there was some kind of groove change in the bridge. The key change is nice, but could be bigger with a change in groove. As tight as the band sounds, I’m growing tired of the mid-tempo grooves on this album. The rhythm section sounds great, but it’s just too plodding. Thankfully the (brief) solos here are cool. 8/10

Solar Angels – It sounds like we’re going to get a really hard driving song with that intro chug and then: nope! More AC/DC tempo. Everyone except Rob sounds incredibly bored with this song. The recording is boring. The only good thing about this song is the dynamic guitar solo. Mostly this is filler. 4/10

You Say Yes – It’s at this point that I realize this is probably Judas Priest’s Falling Into Infinity. The difference is that when Dream Theater were constrained by the demands of a hit-obsessed record label, they still made decent music. The chorus of this song is so mind-numbingly moronic that it completely invalidates the pretty cool riffing of the verse. This is Priest’s “You Not Me” except it’s worse. “You say yes, I say no” could be up there with Rebecca Black’s “Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun” lyric in “Friday” as far as stupidity goes. The bridge is silly and the band just riffs along over the refrain at the end with zero inspiration. I think I may hate this song more than the previous, arena anthem Queen-copy songs from the last couple albums. 1/10

All the Way – And here we go again with AC/DC. I’m so fucking tired of this pocket groove. This song is like some horrific Frankenstein monster of The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, and Van Halen. The only thing I like about this song is the emotion Rob’s putting into his performance. I don’t know how he can muster up that kind of energy for these bland tunes. The guitar solo gets cut off for no reason just to go back to the lame chorus. As soon as it double times into something interesting THE FUCKING SONG FADES OUT. Christ. Oh well, at least it’s better than “You Say Yes”. 3/10

Troubleshooter – Someone shoot the fucking drummer. Give him some cocaine. Whip the guitar players with something. This shit is getting so boring. Has someone done tempo mapping of this album? I swear to Cthulhu every song is the same tempo. Anyway, Tipton and Downing underplay the shit out of this song with simple blues licks. The guitar solos are fun at least, because they add some sort of life to the proceedings. There’s a cool ascending (Aeolian?) pattern in the second solo that I like. Once again the lyrics are pointless. Meh. 3/10

On the Run – Cool. More mid-tempo blues. I like the blues, guys. I like tight drum and bass, guys. But shit: do something interesting! Halford appears here for a little bit in the chorus and it’s a welcome return to the knowledge that these guys are supposed to be a metal band. “On the Run” could be a ZZ Top song, a Thin Lizzy, but it doesn’t sound like a Priest song except for the brief chorus shrieks. 3/10

The second half of this album falls off so hard (and the first half wasn’t spectacular as it is). I take back everything I ever said about wanting Priest to only write compact, hooky songs if this is the result. If this was the first Priest record I ever heard I would not keep listening. It’s easily their worst album so far.

Album rating – 4.9/10
 
Solar Angels. Not an awesome song but a "big chord", atmospheric sort of sci-fi viby track. Probably my 3rd favourite after Heading and Desert Plains.
I like the On the Run chorus. Sticks in your head.
 
Solar Angels was the opening track of the tour. This is also the tour where Maiden toured U.S. for first time on Killers tour opening for Priest. Paul D pissed off Steve by saying to the press that Maiden was going to blow Priest away
 
Your review is very much like I felt about it back in '81 except for Angels and Run which I always thought were great.
I played this a month ago and it surprised me how well executed it was, and I wallowed in those steady beats.
It'll never be No.1, but it's preferable to Firepower which doesn't sound like Priest at all.
 
terrell39 said:
Solar Angels was the opening track of the tour. This is also the tour where Maiden toured U.S. for first time on Killers tour opening for Priest. Paul D pissed off Steve by saying to the press that Maiden was going to blow Priest away
Click to expand...

Maiden failed to "blow away" Priest on the Point of Entry Tour and also on the Screaming for Vengeance tour the following year. Priest were on fire live on those years.
 
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Point of Entry is one of several reasons why it's mindblowing that Priest vs Maiden is even up for debate. You could argue that Maiden only really had one period of decline in their career. Priest, on the other hand, lost the plot several times. Point of Entry is the first real example of that. It's amazing that they went from the brilliantly executed, passionate, and masterfully detailed British Steel to this lazy, middle of the road dad rock. Where the band sounds hungry on British Steel, they sound complacent on Point of Entry. They're letting the younger groups (Maiden etc) run circles around them. I'd like to think touring together made Priest re-evaluate themselves for the next album.

The thing is, most of the songs aren't that bad. There are a couple gems, mostly on side 1. But, as Knick pointed out, it's like every song is the same tempo. There's no drive to the music. It's as if they forgot how to be a Metal band. Many of the songs are saved by Halford's performance, which is just as strong as ever. There's no life in the rhythm section, although the guitar leads are pretty good for the most part. Even the good songs on the album just suffer from what seems to be a lack of motivation. Also, while post-Stained Class Priest is pretty straightforward lyrically, there's a difference between writing simple straightforward lyrics that contribute to catchy choruses and lyrics that are just plain lazy.

I really like Solar Angels, it has a cool drive and I like the lack of a chorus. Unfortunately, this is really the only thing worth hearing on Side 2. On the Run is OK but not something I'd go out of my way for. You Say Yes, Troubleshooter, and All the Way are among the worst the band has to offer.

From Side 1 I like Heading Out to the Highway and Desert Plains. These are probably the only songs that live up to the standard of straightforward Rock songs that was set by Britsh Steel. Don't Go gets a lot of flack I've noticed, but I don't mind it. It has a great groove and the chorus is catchy. Turning Circles is a nice hidden gem. Hot Rockin' is pretty decent as well, but I can't unsee the video whenever the song is on:

 
Heading Out To The Highway, is a fantastic Priest song and I’d include it in a list of their greatest tunes. Desert Plains I love, it is one of those songs I’d class as, “a brilliant deep cut.” Other than that I have little time for that album, other than watching the promo video for Hot Rockin, which is hysterical, Halford bursting into the sauna to sing, “Hot Rockin” as he throws water on the hot coals gets me everytime.
 
Hot Rockin & Heading Out to the Highway were my 1st Priest videos on MTV. In addition to Run To the Hills, this was my 1st introduction to Heavy metal...and I was hooked!
 
Point Of Entry is one of the worst albums Priest ever made. It has those singles sandwiched with mostly the worst kind of filler. Not much else. A typical 80’s album really. I liked both version of the artwork, even though the band hates it.
 
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