Review Judas Priest- British Steel (1980) ***

[Catfish]

Classic Rock Album of the Day- Judas Priest- British Steel (1980) ***

I like to brag that we Rush fans are among the most loyal and fervent on earth. Of course that point is debatable, and fans of today's band could also make a believable argument too. Judas Priest is definitely one of the GOATs of metal, but there are many things that might surprise the casual fan. Hard to believe, but these guys have been around since 1969, and except for a a brief hiatus (1992-1997) they have been a valid and solid band for 55 years consistently. In fact they have charted cuts as late as 2018, and had a 2024 release.

They also hail from Birmingham like Sabbath, and the time differential between the bands is only like 4 or 5 years. Priest however didn't release an album until 1974, meaning they did some hard times and heavy lifting in the trenches, before getting their break. But once they broke, they made at least 7 or 8 Metal Standards that are must adds for the Head Banging Metal Head crowd. Priest are crunching hard rockers that are somewhat of a mix of Rainbow, AC-DC, and Black Sabbath. Their vocalist Rob Halpert is hugely recognizable, and guys like Downing and Hill, though less recognizable grind away in 4/4 blastamania.

Due to timing, some neophytes have erroneously placed this band in the '80's Hair Band Genre. Nope, this is a talented hard working outfit in the vein of Metallica, and not the nonsense era garbage like Mootlley Crue (no typo) Cinderella, Quiet Riot, et. al. For me, by the time this band got big, I was out of my Sabbath metal phase of music tastes, but I sure would be amiss, not sharing what I think is their best work, and an album def. worth a listen. You might be surprised you might recognize a few of them. But in their heyday? It missed my timeframe. And my rating is purely my taste. To the heads of Titania, this is in Sgt. Peppers territory. In their eyes I am sure this is a 5 start effort, and rightfully so.

Fun Fact: Priest didn't have a U.S. Top 10 LP/CD until their 17th out of 18 efforts. (Redeemer of Souls-2014 reached No. 6)

Side 1-
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Rapid Fire- Metal in full force. Standard head banging stuff that screams thrash metal, years and years before it was recognized as a genre,. Judas Priest had changed direction and had speeded up their wares from 70 to 150 bpm. Excellent solos. 5

Metal Gods- Self describing, though a tad pretentious, even in as an allegorical reference. Band slows it down a tad, and meter phrasing harkens more to their 70's style. Nice effect on the chain gang march. 6

Breaking the Law- Great metal song, and one of their staples. Every time I see this I unfortunately get visions of that Beavis and Butthead episode where they are digging it. This is also a staple of the "bad boy" persona of metal heads. 2

Grinder- Lesser cut that doesn't breaks an new ground, and sounds too similar to. a 100 other mid quality Judas Priest songs- 9

United- Very nice anthem like song that has bits of melodic sections that makes United a top tier add. Driving Drum chorus blends nicely into some great strong major power chords. 3

Side 2-
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You Don't Have to be Old to Be Wise- Sounds a lot like mid to late 1970's AC/DC. Even the solos sound like Angus' 8

Living After Midnight- My favorite song by Judas Priest, and I think that sentiment is shared by many others too. Maybe the greatest un-hooked, hooked song in their catalog. Damned Catchy, I'd say. 1

The Rage- Weird almost slow Primus sounding funk And after the adventurous starts, rocks very well, in almost Rainbow fashion, I liked it 4

Steeler- Album ends on a slash metal note that needlessly borrows Breaking the Law phrasing, with little or no other innovative additions. Solo is fast, but somewhat sloppy versus others in comparison 7

 

[recgord27]

This is the album where Judas Priest lost me. I loved all the early albums - Sin After Sin, Hell Bent For Leather, Stained Class and Unleashed in the East especially. At the time, "Breaking The Law" was such a commercial anthem and wherever I went, it was playing. It was a song that I absolutely loathed and it bought the whole album down. I listened to the album recently and it's better than I remember. It may be an important album in the history of metal, but for me I have to agree with the *** rating of @Catfish. A goodish album, but not nearly in the same class as their earlier albums.
Another song from that period that I really loathed was "On The Rebound" on Uriah Heeps Abominog. As a comeback album after Ken Hensley left, it was a good album, all except for that song. Btw UH are one of my favourite groups.

 

[dr wu]

Supposed to be their 'best lp'...but I was never much of a fan ,but I do like 'Beyond the Realms of Death' from Stained Class....heavy prog rock to me.

*For @recgord27.....some questions for fun....since you are a big Heep fan.*

-The name Uriah Heep came from which Charles Dickens novel?
-What bands ,name at least 2, were Hensley in before Heep?
-What bass player was also in one of his earlybands and later in Jethro Tull?
-What other famous bass player ended up on 2 later Heep lps.?
-What band was John Lawton from before he sang for Heep?

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[recgord27]

-The name Uriah Heep came from which Charles Dickens novel? - David Copperfield
-What bands , name at least 2, were Hensley in before Heep? - Toe Fat, The Gods, and side projects Machine Head and Weed
-What bass player was also in one of his early bands and later in Jethro Tull? John Glascock
-What other famous bass player ended up on 2 later Heep lps.? John Wetton and Trevor Bolder of Spiders from Mars for a few more
-What band was John Lawton from before he sang for Heep - Lucifer's Friend (the s/t album is brilliant imo)

 

[dr wu]

-The name Uriah Heep came from which Charles Dickens novel? - David Copperfield
-What bands , name at least 2, were Hensley in before Heep? - Toe Fat, The Gods, and side projects Machine Head and Weed
-What bass player was also in one of his early bands and later in Jethro Tull? John Glascock
-What other famous bass player ended up on 2 later Heep lps.? John Wetton and Trevor Bolder of Spiders from Mars for a few more
-What band was John Lawton from before he sang for Heep - Lucifer's Friend (the s/t album is brilliant imo)

So how many of those did you have to look up...or did you know all of them?
Wetton of course was in King Crimson.
What two other famous musicians were in The Gods for about a year in 67.....no looking them up?

The fist 2 Lucifers' Friend lps are very good and the next 3 are decent also.

 

[recgord27]

I know them all. UH is definitely one of my favourite bands and I have over 100 bootlegs alone, all their box sets, all their albums, books, and side projects, the solo albums and as many dvds that I could get my grubby mitts on. Same with all the related bands like Keef Hartley with Gary Thain, unreleased Spice albums, etc... I was really obsessed with this band at one stage.
You're probably talking about Greg Lake and Mick Taylor if memory serves me well. I have the 2 Gods albums, but they weren't quite there yet imo. Same with Toe Fat.
A clue to my UH obsession should probably be my byline under my user name. "Walking down a dusty road" comes the song "Stargazer" from Ken Hensleys second album Eager To Please
How many of these questions did you have to research?

 

[dr wu]

I know them all. UH is definitely one of my favourite bands and I have over 100 bootlegs alone, all their box sets, all their albums, books, and side projects, the solo albums and as many dvds that I could get my grubby mitts on. Same with all the related bands like Keef Hartley with Gary Thain, unreleased Spice albums, etc... I was really obsessed with this band at one stage.
You're probably talking about Greg Lake and Mick Taylor if memory serves me well. I have the 2 Gods albums, but they weren't quite there yet imo. Same with Toe Fat.
A clue to my UH obsession should probably be my byline under my user name. "Walking down a dusty road" comes the song "Stargazer" from Ken Hensleys second album Eager To Please
How many of these questions did you have to research?

None....I tended to get into music trivia in the old days so I know those names/bands from many years ago. Yes...it was Lake and Taylor.
I also have the first 4 Keef Hartley band lps...really like Half Breed and Time Is Near... and The Gods lps and Toe Fat....I dont have Machine Head ,Weed, or Spice though and only found about those a few years ago.
I had a copy of the first two Lucifers Friend lps from the old days, but I was in this little antique store about 5 years ago and this old lady said any lps she had were $3 each...she had 2 copies gatefold on Billingsgate of the first Lucifers Friend ...so of course I bought both.
I have the Heep lps up to and including Firefly ....after that I stopped buying them.
What can you tell me about the newer ones ..from say 1995 and on.
Also want to pick your brain...I really like discovering bands from 67-74....Brit prog psych folk or edgy stuff . I have many but if you have any you really are fond of throw out some names on more obscure ones or send me a pm and we can get into them there.

 

[recgord27]

Like you, a music trivia nut. Always looking for new bands, same era. Will pm you after giving it some thought
We've hijacked this thread enough