Ram It Down (1988)
Ram It Down – A piercing scream shatters the silence of synthesized garbage that was
Turbo and we’re treated to a kickass Priest song right off the bat. The return to fast-paced riffing metal is incredibly welcome and I’m very much onboard with this tune. The lyrics are very stupid “rockin’ rock” lyrics, but they manage to not be entirely terrible and the frenetic pace really carries them through. Rob sounds great, Halford sounds even better. I really hate the stadium pandering with the “shout it out” part, but thank Dio for those vocal shrieks and numerous guitar solos. This song is cool. Not perfect, but cool.
8/10
Heavy Metal – Fuck me, is this song actually called “Heavy Metal”? Welp, here we go. The intro solo is wanky and kind of pointless, but at least it’s not a synthesizer. The first lyric is “power chord”? Immediately I’m done with this song. The lyrics here are atrociously lazy, lame, and completely boring; I hate them with a fiery passion. I really hope Halford doesn’t keep singing the word “guitar” throughout this album…The bridge is cool, but the production is putrid. Guitars sound thin, the drums are clearly a machine, there’s so much phaser on everything…it’s just a mess. Glenn’s solo is really great, but it can’t save this dud. The gang vocals at the end just make it worse.
3/10
Love Zone – This one starts off like a Kenny Loggins tune. I can’t believe they’d single out the (obviously canned) drums like that. Something about the vocals in this sounds off, like they’re not entirely with the beat or chords of the song. It’s probably just the terrible production. I can’t even tell if there’s a bass guitar on this album. I dig the bluesy post-chorus riff. The lyrics are trash again – rock n’ roll, driving fast, lovin’ hard. So far this album is a massive letdown. I’m glad to hear them getting back to metal, especially with the guitar solos, but the lyrics kill it for me.
3/10
Come and Get It – These guitars sound like cheese graters. A fourth song (IN A ROW) about rocking like a rock band? Seriously, I feel like I’m trapped in a nightmare. Like someone wrote the lyrics to this album just to piss me off. I’m honestly taking it personal at this point. The music and lyrics on this track are the worst yet. That repetitive kick drum pad is so distracting. All of the music sounds like it was plugged directly into the mixing board and then given fake reverb during mastering. Everything sounds flaccid and unnatural.
2/10
Hard As Iron – Double bass! It’s fake double bass and it sounds like a modern internet recording destined for the Cheesevivor, but I’ll take it! I’m glad we’re returning to thrashier, speedier sides of Priest. The earthquake sound is lame and the chorus is actually the weakest part, but at least I can rock out to this tune and not worry about terrible lyrics. Well, that’s not true, cause these lyrics aren’t good, but at least they’re not about singing heavy metal on a stage. Is this the closest Priest gets to a pure power metal song? It sure sounds like it. The guitar leads and harmonies are really nice and “victorious” as the lyrics say. I love the incredibly proggy syncopated section after the solos and the tiny bit of neo-classical shred that follows. Hard As Iron is gooey, cheesy fun.
8/10
Blood Red Skies – The mood that this song creates is lovely. It’s dark, epic, and very interesting. The guitars still sound incredibly thin, but Rob’s performance is beautiful. The synths are put to good use in the intro, similar to the synths on
Seventh Son, but they become oppressive in the second half. I really hope this song shows up on a live album because I’d love to hear it without the overwhelming synths in the heavy part. I love the background guitar that comes in during the second heavier verse, sounds like something Adrian might toss into a song. The chorus is powerful, I just wish it sounded a little bigger. The modulation of the cheesy synth line is nice. Halford really slays this song. The more I listen, the more I love it. I wish the production were better, but the song is great.
10/10
I’m a Rocker – Don’t even have to hear it to know what this stinker is about. Lyrics are garbage again. The music is fine, some of the riffs around the chorus are very cool, but this is another song I’ll never seek out. It’s lame, it’s pandering. I want this subject matter to stop now, please. There’s nothing obviously terrible about this song other than the lyrics, but nothing stands out either.
3/10
Johnny B. Goode – I’m usually onboard with Judas Priest’s cover song decisions, but taking a swinging rock ‘n’ roll tune and stripping all the soul out of it is just weird. I don’t think it works at all. The guitar work is wonderful, especially those harmony sections, but they don’t fit in this song. I applaud their effort at trying something new, but this experiment doesn’t work. At least I can listen this as a joke and enjoy this silly interpretation, but it’s not a good Priest song.
4/10
Love You to Death – Sheds of 80’s hair metal shine through on this album’s obligatory sex song about Rob’s Fun Dungeon. I seriously don’t think there’s been a single album in the history of metal that has more songs about the subjects I hate. Thank Dio for that one sci-fi track. KK seems to do more leads on this album than Glenn and he sounds like he’s improving his accuracy. Anyway, I’m just rambling cause I don’t like anything about this song. Oh, Rob’s gonna scream like a little girl and then orgasm during the outro? Good lord, somebody burn the masters on this song.
1/10
Monsters of Rock – After the majority of this album’s pandering “rock tunes”, this sludgy Sabbath-tinged track is a breath of fresh air. Sure, Rob’s singing about heavy metal, but he’s discussing the concept and conception of heavy metal, not just the practice. That’s actually a nice take on the theme. I love the moodiness of this track. Some of the lyrics get too silly, but it works overall. It’s nice to hear the band breathe during the guitar solos, which are melodic and metallic at the same time. I actually hear the bass for 4 seconds! Very good song.
8/10
Album rating – 5.2/10
The strength of Blood Red Skies (and the other three solid tracks) makes this a better album than either
Turbo or
Point of Entry, but more than half of the songs here suck big time. The guitar production is terrible and the choice to use a drum machine is a glaring mistake. Please, bring on something better!
