Judas Priest Discography Discussion (part 2 starting page 20)

Heavy Metal is awesome, Glenn is really tearing it up there. I must be the only one who likes Come and Get It :(
 
I LOVE Come and Get It! Especially the intro. Saw them on this tour and enjoyed it live. They also played I'm A Rocker, RID, & Heavy Metal.

What REALLY shocked me is they did NOT play Hard As Iron (1 of their fastest songs) or Blood Red Skies (had to wait about 25 years before they finally played it live)!

When this was released, I don't remember ANY promotion. Didn't even know it was out until a friend gave it to me for my birthday!

The song Johnny B. Good was recorded for the film Johnny Be Good starring Anthony Michael Hall.

Really think this is an unappreciated cd and one i fondly remember.
 
Blood Red Skies was the most glaring omission, shame they never played it with KK. Dave Hollands health was getting pretty bad around this era, that was why he left, right? Maybe that's why Hard As Iron never got played, the speed might have been too difficult for him.
 
Edington said:
Blood Red Skies was the most glaring omission, shame they never played it with KK. Dave Hollands health was getting pretty bad around this era, that was why he left, right? Maybe that's why Hard As Iron never got played, the speed might have been too difficult for him.
Click to expand...

Not sure about his health, but he had another drummer playing to help with those fills, sitting under the damn stage.
 
After hearing the single Johnny B Goode, Ram It Down stayed in the shop, unwanted for two years, until one day, post-Painkiller and Nice Price offer, I plucked courage, paid up, took it home and attempted to ram it somewhere. I was pleasantly surprised.

The guitars have a rawness which give the intermediate vanilla tracks an edge.
The title track is absolutely bonkers with a solo akin to Charlie Chaplin on speed, staggering around, out of control, hilarious but fabulous all at once.
Heavy Metal is groovy; cheesy of course, but Cornish Cruncher rather than a Turbo bland Edam.
Where Heavy Duty was merely a chant, Monsters is a fully realized song, and a good one too.
The obvious diamond Skies is a bona fide classic. I love the slow fade, which demonstrates there were quality decisions being made.
My favourite is the immense Hard As Iron, one of my top Priest songs.

So really not bad. Better than Turbo and Point of Entry, and I think I may prefer it to the next one.
 
Forostar said:
Hmm aren't you a little hard on I'm a Rocker? I am afraid you're getting irritated by the lyrics. So much about metal and rock. And then another tune...!
But this has fine music and vocals. Love the melodies and solos and riffs too. Catchy chorus.
Click to expand...

No, I just can’t see past the lyrics. This is a part of who I am - if your lyrics are subpar, I just can’t love it.

Edington said:
Heavy Metal is awesome, Glenn is really tearing it up there. I must be the only one who likes Come and Get It :(
Click to expand...

Yep!

terrell39 said:
I LOVE Come and Get It! Especially the intro. Saw them on this tour and enjoyed it live.
Click to expand...

Or not! I just can’t get into those lame lyrics.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
No, I just can’t see past the lyrics. This is a part of who I am - if your lyrics are subpar, I just can’t love it.
Click to expand...
Not saying you need to ignore the lyrics. But weird to see this having an as low grade as the other songs from this and previous albums. Do you really find the rest of the music as bad as the other 3's you gave?

This is not better than Love Zone? Even Private Property had a higher grade. What the....
 
Last edited:
I find it interesting that so many people dislike “Johnny B. Goode”. I’ve always thought that it was one of the best metal covers out there and was a cool spin on the original. I like it a lot; dunno what people don’t find good about it.
 
Forostar said:
Not saying you need to ignore the lyrics. But weird to see this having an as low grade as the other songs from this and previous albums. Do you really find the rest of the music as bad as the other 3's you gave?

This is not better than Love Zone? Even Private Property had a higher grade. What the....
Click to expand...

That goes to show how much lyrics affect what I'm listening to. Some of those songs have better music than the Turbo tracks you mention, but even worse lyrics and terrible production. In general, I'd say that my 10 point scale is divided between points for instrumental quality, lyric quality, performance, and production. So:

1-5 = production, lyrics
6-10 = musical quality, overall strong strength, emotional effectiveness

Thus, songs with a 3 or 4/10 essentially means that I think the music fine to good, but I would have rated the lyrics or production (or both) a 0/10 (which isn't an option). Songs with 6-10/10 generally have good enough lyrics and production to allow the instrumental and overall power of the song to ring through and end with a higher overall rating. Does that make sense? Probably not. Makes sense to me, though!

Diesel 11 said:
I find it interesting that so many people dislike “Johnny B. Goode”. I’ve always thought that it was one of the best metal covers out there and was a cool spin on the original. I like it a lot; dunno what people don’t find good about it.
Click to expand...

It's interesting, hence my higher rating than the bad originals on Ram It Down, but I just don't think it works. Metal bands covering blues songs was also a thing in the 80s and almost none of them really work for me beyond the initial oddity value. Priest covering "Johnny B. Goode", Megadeth tried "These Boots" and "I Ain't Superstitious", Armored Saint's cover of "Saturday Night Special", etc.
 
Cheers Knick, I was curious how well you like the music and vocals on I'm a Rocker, compared to other low grades.
 
Including the lyrics, but particularly musically, the Rocker is in line with British Steel tracks like Don’t Have to be Old and United. It’s cheesy but feels more warmly produced and self-aware than the sleazy, soulless (and largely embarrassing) music that generally defines this album.
 
It’s tough to say what hurts this record more, the puerile lyrics or the sterile sound.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrK
Johnny B Goode is a fun b-side, Ram It Down is fine and would have been great had it been recorded in the Painkiller sessions. Monsters is too sludgy and dull, but at least it sounds like Priest. Iron borders self-parody. Come and Get It is lame. Love Zone is Priest trying to be Motley Crüe. WTF? Blood Red Skies is brilliant. Heavy Metal has a bad chorus and worse lyrics, but is otherwise different and actually pretty cool, with a nice build and interesting solos. Love You to Death is the most despicable thing they’ve ever done.
 
mckindog said:
Including the lyrics, but particularly musically, the Rocker is in line with British Steel tracks like Don’t Have to be Old and United.
Click to expand...
These songs lack the excellent guitar work and melodies from Rocker which is a less monotone song.
 
Diesel 11 said:
I find it interesting that so many people dislike “Johnny B. Goode”. I’ve always thought that it was one of the best metal covers out there and was a cool spin on the original. I like it a lot; dunno what people don’t find good about it.
Click to expand...

It's an OK cover that suits their mid-80's pop sound fairly well, but as mckindog said, it's what b-sides were for back in the day.
 
@MrKnickerbocker are you also interested in doing non-Priest studio albums Halford and Tipton did, either alternating with Priest material in chronological order, either seperately?

Halford did these albums:
1993: Fight - War of Words
1995: Fight - A Small Deadly Space
1998: 2wo - Voyeurs
2000: Halford - Resurrection
2002: Halford - Crucible
2010: Halford - IV Made of Metal
(there is another one: Halford - "III: Winter Songs", but I don't know if this Christmas album is worth checking out to be honest; the tracklist looks garbage)

Glenn Tipton did two non-Priest albums:
1997: Glenn Tipton - Baptizm of Fire
  • Glenn Tipton – all guitars and vocals, bass on track 13
  • Robert Trujillo – bass on tracks 1, 2, 10
  • C.J. de Villar – bass on tracks 3, 4, 8, 9, 11
  • Billy Sheehan – bass on tracks 5, 6
  • John Entwistle – bass on track 7
  • Neil Murray – bass on track 12
  • Brooks Wackerman – drums on tracks 1, 2, 10
  • Shannon Larkin – drums on tracks 3, 4, 8, 9, 11
  • Cozy Powell – drums on tracks 5, 6, 7, 11, 12
  • Rick Tipton – drums on track 13
  • Don Airey – keyboards on track 6
  • Whitfield Crane – backing vocals on track 10
2006: Tipton, Entwistle & Powell - Edge of the World
  • Glenn Tipton – guitars, vocals
  • John Entwistle – bass
  • Cozy Powell – drums
Additional musicians
  • Don Airey – keyboards
  • Neil Murray – additional bass on track 11
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top