Unknown Soldier

That's high praise indeed, whilst I prefer both Rocks and Toys in the Attic over Draw the Line. I still recognize that it's a perfect example of a raw bad tempered slice of hard rock and its attitude makes up for some of its deficiencies, but it's still one of the best examples of its type out there.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Overview
Wow after five albums in a row by North American bands on this year’s list, there was certainly a big shift in terms of quality in favour of the North American continent, despite the fact that America was still not biting the goodies it had on offer! But the top of the pile was still firmly in the hands of the British bands and none more so than in the hands of a bunch of Brummies errrrrrrrr that’s people from Birmingham for any non-Brits reading! That band of course was Judas Priest, that would effectively be the band that took over the heavy metal baton from Black Sabbath and would soon be the vital bridge-link between the unofficial First Wave of British Heavy Metal in Black Sabbath and the just-around-the corner New Wave of British Heavy Metal effectively the second wave. Quite simply nobody at this time, was putting out metal that sounded this fast with such technical precision and vocals that sounded like an operatic wail against a background of real brute force.……well if they did they were probably not doing it as well as Judas Priest did! Sin After Sin is the second album in what is known as a troika of classic Judas Priest albums of the late 1970s, that starts with the Sad Wings of Destiny and ends with the following years Stained Class, before the band moved into a more commercial sounding direction for their fifth album Killing Machine. Also Sin After Sin saw the band ending their tenure with Gull Records and moving onto major labels, their releases in the UK were now on CBS Inc. and on Columbia for the US market. The line-up that had recorded the first two albums Rocka Rolla and the Sad Wings of Destiny, had remained intact with the exception of the drum stool duties and by Sin After Sin, the band would be on their third drummer already in Simon Phillips, who like the previous two drummers, would only stick around for just one album, Simon Phillips would of course go on to become one of the great session musicians of the 1980s and 1990s. Roger Glover now very much a producer to have, would be on production duties here for the album. If their previous album cover for Sad Wings of Destiny had provoked the fantastical aspect of metal, then Sin After Sin would surely provoke its darker and more menacing side. So when it came to metal and the right ingredients Judas Priest nearly had it all: album cover-check, menacing music-check, blitzkrieg guitars-check, acrobatic vocals-check, but image wise they were still working on that one and I guess things weren’t so bright for them either when it came to touring, as they had to play the opening slot for both Foreigner and Reo Speedwagon on their US tours that year.

Rob Halford- Vocals
K.K Downing- Guitar
Glenn Tipton- Guitar
Ian Hill- Bass
Simon Phillips- Drums

Production- Roger Glover

Album
Sinner- The 6 plus minute classic opener, that is to this album what “Victim of Changes” was to the previous album. If anything this track actually displays a harder edged brand of metal than the previous “Victim of Changes” and it’s certainly harder on the ear, but just as rewarding in every way. Diamonds & Rust- A cover of the Joan Baez song and Joan Baez was about as far from Judas Priest as you could get. The song is a well-known cut and actually does sit well on the album and was included on the behest of producer Roger Glover. The song was included at the cost of “Race with the Devil”. Starbreaker- With its bouncy and powerful thrusting feel, this is the perfect third track for the album and it has that distinctive clapping backbeat on the song. The song would be a blueprint for much of the band’s sound over the coming years as well. Last Rose of Summer- With a name like this it had to be a ballad and it always surprised me just how many heavy metal and hard rock bands were doing ballads around this time and in fairness most did them as well as a more straight-laced rock act. Let Us Prey- A brief dodgy sounding Queen effort, but the song quickly moves into …….. Call for the Priest- This aptly named song then speeds the whole thing up again, to give us a nice slab of juicy speed metal and this is a great way to kick-off the second side of the album. The guitar riffs on this album are worth the entrance fee alone! Raw Deal- Probably the most inaccessible track on the album, with its gay themes and it’s a song which certainly pre-dated Rob Halford’s more open gay tendencies that came later on. Here Come the Tears- A downcast later album effort, which despite its slow and mopey sounding start, gradually builds in some great and heavy guitar work in its later part…..before the explosion at the end of the song! Dissident Aggressor- The heavy monster of the album and Slayer later covered this song and I guess that says it all really. “Race with the Devil” one of the later released bonus songs that was originally left off the album in place of "Diamonds & Rust" on Roger Glover's suggestion. It’s nothing special but it does have a feel of vitality about it.

Verdict
In many ways Sin After Sin is often regarded as the least of the three albums in the previously mentioned troika of Judas Priest albums, for the simple reason that it deviates from the musical stance that had been laid down on the previous album Sad Wings of Destiny and also it actually dares to build on the hints of experimentation that were featured on that album. On the album Rob Halford’s vocal range was at its very best, whether it was the screaming on “Dissident Aggressor” to paint stripping on “Sinner” to the ballady tones of the “Last Rose of Summer” and the downcast feel on “Here Come the Tears” and the band may have had their best ever drummer in Simon Phillips with his precision double bass drumming! The album is littered with metal classics from the opening “Sinner” with its classic riffs and the sophisticated guitar interplay between the dream team of K.K Downing and Glenn Tipton, all full of their trademark classic twin guitar attacks. Then there is the pure speed metal overdrive of “Call for the Priest” with the blitzkrieg guitars of both K.K Downing and Glenn Tipton. The overtly gay themed “Raw Deal” is as about as macho as it all gets here and it also happens to be one of the best and most accomplished musical tracks on the album. Then of course there is the metal monster of “Dissident Aggressor” one of the heaviest songs of its time and the name sounds like the whole thing was invented for the future thrash metal movement. The energy of the band is served up on the melodic “Starbreaker” whose sound would go onto symbolize the typical Judas Priest sound over the coming years and it was this high geared, potent and distinctive sound that seemingly helped to reshape the vanguard of heavy metal. The cover of “Diamonds & Rust” turns out to be a galloping accomplished success and it’s one of those great and surprising choices by a metal band. But the biggest surprises on the album, surely have to be the ballad the “Last Rose of Summer” and the mopey sounding “Here Come the Tears” again two accomplished efforts, which might not be to everybody’s taste. In fact amongst metalheads Sin After Sin is not seen as a great album, something I whole-heartedly disagree with. Personally I view this album as a more accomplished listen than its better known and higher regarded predecessor the Sad Wings of Destiny and I find the whole experience of Sin After Sin a more overall rewarding listen. In many ways Judas Priest wouldn’t be quite this daring again, at least in terms of accomplished music diversity and song choices! Sin After Sin is one of the very best albums in the Judas Priest discography, but also one of the most underappreciated.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

In the beginning, were riffs, more riffs & even more riffs!

Overview
Well they’ve been a long time coming to this journal, but here they finally are! First off AC/DC have never done that much for me and I’ve never quite been able to nail down the exact reason why, so I’m not going to attempt to try and do it now! Let There Be Rock though, was quite simply the greatest expression of the band up to the date of its release back in 1977. The band had issued their debut and sophomore sets High Voltage and T.N.T both back in 1975 and both had been Australia only releases, a combination of both these albums under the name of just High Voltage was released internationally the following year. In 1976 the band made an international breakthrough on the strength of this album and their third album proper Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. The High Voltage compilation certainly received mixed reviews at the time of its release, ranging from being seen as an album of competent boogie rock with great monster riffs, to being an absolute all time low for the hard rock genre, my own opinion probably fits somewhere between these two estimations. The band from the beginning were essentially ‘bad boys’ with a gimmick and they were fronted by Angus Young with his bowel quaking riffs and his gimmick being a school uniform look of cap, shorts and bare knees, whilst contorting his body to comply with his powerful riffs! Vocalist Bon Scott soon to become synonymous with everything that represented the hard rock genre, had a powerful bellow of voice, that had a tint of whiskey soaked madness and real evil about it (all very tongue in cheek though and always plenty of fun). It was around this time in 1976, that the band re-located to London at the birth of punk and they briefly like so many other bands, were associated with that movement for a short while. But once their brand of no-frills hard rock hit the airwaves, it was obvious that this was no punk band, but a full on hard rock outfit, heavily inspired and based around the more primal instincts of Led Zeppelin. Their 1976 release Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap is often seen as their major breakthrough, personally I think it’s one of the most overrated albums the genre has ever seen and is largely an exercise in band excessiveness to try and demonstrate just how nasty and the mean the band were, but it ultimately fails where it matters and that’s with the music. Much of that album’s fame, actually comes from the fact that it sold by the bucketload after Bon Scott’s untimely death in 1980 and I think that says it all really as to why it became so revered. The following year’s album Let There Be Rock was an altogether different fish from Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap and here’s why………….

Bon Scott- Vocals
Angus Young- Guitar
Malcolm Young- Rhythm
Mark Evans- Bass
Phil Rudd- Drums

Production- Harry Vanda and George Young

Album (international order)
Go Down- With a brief number opening countdown, we quickly get into what would become standard band fare and that was a heavy blues riff, with lyrics centred around wholesome women and a catchy chorus. Dog Eat Dog- No let up with the musical energy here and there are some really evil sounding lyrics here as well, and the song is as propulsive and as catchy as hell. Let There Be Rock- The somewhat well-known title track that is influenced by the Book of Genesis and again perfectly captures the vocals of Bon Scott and the guitar interplay of Angus Young, a true delight. Bad Boy Boogie- A four minute blast of the band’s very own brand of boogie rock, that always came across as extremely high powered compared to the more laid back ZZ Top version at this time. Problem Child- One of the early band favourites and was actually featured on the previous Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap album. Overdose- Another song about tales of the road and you realize that we are at the back end of the album and so far every song has been a killer! Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be- Another tight boogie rock inspired number and another great album track. Whole Lotta Rosie- The pivotal song on the whole album about a fat and wholesome woman from Tasmania called Rosie, the song is also a nod to Led Zep’s “Whole Lotta Love”.

Verdict
Let There Be Rock is quite simply a mean, dirty and nasty record that’s all centred around the vocals of Bon Scott and the propulsive bluesy riffs of Angus Young. The album contains eight tight intense tracks that do the business in around forty minutes. The album firmly established that this ex-pat Aussie band were here to stay and were certainly not going to fall by the wayside like previous heavy Aussie merchants Buffalo just a few years earlier. The eight album tracks from the opener “Go Down” to the album closer on “Whole Lotta Rosie” are an intense and often crazy journey through the hard rock meanderings of the band and are without doubt the perfect hangover cure! The highlights of the record are probably the title cut “Let There Be Rock” “Problem Child” and the unforgettable “Whole Lotta Rosie”. One of the great elements of AC/DC and hardly an unknown statement either, were the vocals of Bon Scott on the album, who over the course of this album and the next couple of albums Powerage, the live If You Want Blood You’ve Got it and Highway to Hell, would establish himself as one of the most revered and most loved hard rock/metal vocalists ever, and of course dying young as per usual further enhanced that reputation! The other half of the deadly duo was certainly Angus Young and to actually attempt to pick out and highlight his best riffs on the album, is fairly nigh on near impossible really, as his riffs dominate every song here and the whole album just comes across as one big gigantic riff anyway. If Angus Young was the visual face of the band, then brother Malcolm Young on rhythm was certainly the brains of the outfit and was largely responsible for the band’s overall sound. AC/DC were certainly one of the most repetitive bands around and never veered too far from their basic primal instincts, and surely this is one of the reasons why I never ever really warmed to them. But equally this static approach to their trade, is without doubt why millions around the world both adore and swear by them to this day! To their credit the band always stuck to their guns and made little compromise as far as both their music and image went. Let there Be Rock might well be the best example of this no compromise approach and certainly wasn’t willing to take any prisoners either.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

The Batlord

So that's why the production sounds so much like Machine Head. Deep Purple were a kind of stonery, laid back style of metal band, so the fuzzy production worked. Judas Priest are not a stonery, laid back metal band, so the production just makes that album sound weak and dated. I dig plenty of songs on Sinner, but as a whole it just feels obsolete by modern standards.

And "Last Rose of Summer" is ass.

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Unknown Soldier

The first thing I noticed is that "Call for the Priest" actually sounds even faster than the studio version!

I'd agree with that.

Now this is what I won't agree with or at least part of it. Whenever I've read reviews about Sin After Sin the majority are negative, BUT nearly all of those negative reviews come from staunch metalheads (you can tell they are by the way they talk on the review Whereas the more positive reviews tend to come from rock music listeners in general. Also the criticism tends to be focused around the song choices rather than the production. In hindsight Roger Glover wouldn't be the right person to produce that album and you've summed him and his laid back approach very well, but I do think his influence on the band encouraged them to branch out and for that reason it's probably the richest sounding album in the band's discography, most won't agree with me there, but there you have it. Also I think Sin After Sin is also a metal album for non-metalheads and more for a listener of rock in general.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Overview
Thin Lizzy just missed top spot here, with an album that could’ve taken it quite easily in another year. The band were at the height of their powers and were probably the finest hard rock band around with an ear for pop. The band had the amazing ability in putting out a sound that completely satisfied all aspects of the rock spectrum, from listeners of hard rock, soft rock and then onto popsters. They were also able to be as commercial sounding as they wanted to as well and without ever really isolating their hardcore fanbase, history tells us that this is no mean feat to achieve! Much of Bad Reputation was recorded with the trio of Phil Lynott, Scott Gorham and Brian Downey, largely because the other half of their moody and mean guitar team of Scot Brian Robertson was unable to play on more than three tracks, due to an injury that he had received in a brawl prior to the main recording of the album. As you can see, the band members not only played hard on stage but also off it as well! Unfortunately for him, this would be his last studio album with the band and an end to the fabled line-up. He later went on to form the hard rock band White Horses with Jimmy Bain who had previously featured on the Rainbow album Rising! (see review) before going onto an even bigger gig with Motorhead in the 1980s. In regards to the album cover, it always struck me just how ruthless bands could be, unless they did this sort of thing as an in-band joke and that was to often leave the band member that hadn’t played that much on the album, off the actual album cover despite being a member of the band! In Thin Lizzy’s case Brian Robertson doesn’t appear on the album cover, which kind of reminds me several years back when the head of Harry Shaw was left off the Hard Stuff debut Bulletproof album cover as well. The album was produced by Tony Visconti one of the biggest producers around, who had an enviable discography of having produced the likes of T.Rex (in their various forms) the Stawbs, Wings, Gentle Giant, Badfinger, Sparks and Argent amongst many others, but of course it was his tenure with David Bowie where he had truly made his reputation in the 1970s. But his work with Thin Lizzy, would’ve surely have been the heaviest thing he had worked on up to this date and his natural flair for getting the artist to express themselves, certainly paid dividends on Bad Reputation.

Phil Lynott- Bass/Vocals
Scott Gorham- Guitar
Brian Robertson- Guitar
Brian Downey- Drums

Production- Tony Visconti

Album
Soldier of Fortune- A melodic band classic that has an almost film soundtrack start to the song and it flows through its allocated 5 plus minutes with elegant ease. Bad Reputation- After the melodic flow of the opening track, it’s all hell bent for leather here on the title track, as the song is one thumping mother of a track, with guitars, bass and drums in powerful unison here and some damn heavy playing! (also the attached video is one of the best I’ve ever seen of any band from the decade in a live setting!) Opium Trail- We’ve had both melodic and heavy, so now it’s the turn of pure energy and this song is something special from beginning to end, and the song title suggests the subject fare of the song as well! Southbound- Locking onto the melody of the opening track on the album, this song is fairly standard and easy on the ear Thin Lizzy style, who always seemed to have a sprinkling of such tracks on their albums. To be honest though, the song does have a tendency to drag for a little too long towards the end. Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in Its Spotlight)- With its cheeky and catchy intro, this is one of the band’s most recognizable tunes and a timeless classic, that accounts another one of Phil Lynott’s great stories and is blessed with some great guitar playing in its latter section, and a song that has been covered by the Smashing Pumpkins over the years. Killer Without a Cause- A strong album track that combines the melodic side and hard rocking sides of the band in perfect harmony. Downtown Sundown- One of the few songs on the album solely written by Phil Lynott, which again veers on the album’s softer side, not a bad song at all, but the band have done this kind of thing better elsewhere. That Woman’s Gonna Break Your Heart- By now the band are just punching out catchy numbers and as always they make it seem so easy, it’s like they can write and play this stuff in their sleep. Dear Lord- A somewhat lordly goodbye to the album.

Verdict
When I listened to this album again to see where I would place it for the year, it quickly became apparent to me that I was listening to the band’s finest ever hour, as everything seemed to sound surely how the band had envisaged it to sound and I imagine that Tony Visconti had a lot to do with this as well. If Jailbreak is regarded as their most famous album then Bad Reputation is their very best quality wise, and the two sit side by side as towering band achievements. Any type of trepidation that could’ve been expected with Brian Robertson not performing on the majority of the album, can be quickly alleviated as Scott Gorham puts in the performance of a lifetime here and basically does the work of two men where it matters, it was known as doing ‘double duty’ at the time. Phil Lynott as I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions, was one of the great rock poets of his generation and here again he is in full flow on delights such as the album opener “Soldier of Fortune” the side one closer “Southbound” and probably the most recognizable of them all in the classic single “Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in Its Spotlight)”. Then there is the mesmerizing “Opium Trail” without doubt one of the band’s very best efforts ever! This is a song of both great vocal poetry and vitality which doesn’t let up for a second, and shows just how comfortable the band were with playing faster tracks, it’s basically a song I can listen to everyday. “Killer Without a Cause” certainly a play on Rebel Without a Cause, is a strong album track that marries the heavy and soft leanings of the band in perfect unison. But the heaviest song on the album is certainly the title track “Bad Reputation” which is a monster of song and shows what being heavy is all about and that alone is worth the entry fee. As an album Bad Reputation also kicks from pillar to post, as one of Thin Lizzy’s most cohesive efforts song for song and certainly their richest sounding as well……depending on your opinion of course. The songs are melodic gems played by a gritty no-nonsense band and when they decide to get heavy on songs like the title track “Bad Reputation” and the gritty and energetic “Opium Trail” few can touch em’. Few looked as good as Phil Lynott in black leather and the man was a legend along with his band, and few bands could encompass so many subtleties and yet please so many.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Urban Hat€monger ?

Can't disagree with that, if someone asks me which Thin Lizzy album they should check out I always say Bad Reputation.

About Brian Robertson, the reason he's not featured on the cover or didn't write any songs on the album isn't just because of his hand, they did actually fire him shortly before they went into the studio because of his alcoholism being a problem. Eventually he convinced them that he had it under control and they let him rejoin towards the end of the albums completion as a session / touring musician rather than a full band member (Which explains the cover) basically telling him 'Screw up again and you're gone for good'. Which he did during the tour so they got rid of him for good.

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The Batlord

Dude, it's Judas Priest. They have the diversity of a skinhead rally. You might as well tell a cactus to branch out. "Last Rose of Summer" just sounds like the seventies version of that really lame power ballad that was somewhere on every hair band's album back in the eighties. It's just...awful. I don't even like "Diamonds and Rust". I know it's supposed to be one of their classics, but it's just a snoozefest as far as I'm concerned. Of course, most of the album is still fantastic, but when I have to skip more than one track on an album, I start deducting points.

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Unknown Soldier

I didn't know those details and they certainly fill in the gaps. I'm surprised it was never mentioned on some of the album reviews and stuff I looked at, as it's quite a key fact.

You have to remember, that you're retroactively applying what you know about Judas Priest decades later. Back then they were still not the world famous Judas Priest and metal monsters that they would become, they didn't even have a metal image. What they were doing in terms of diversity, was nothing out of the norm really for bands at that time. The decade uptil then had been dominated by prog rock bands and many a prog rock band had straddled the line between prog and heavy rock, and this equally worked in reverse for the heavy rock bands as well, so in retrospect what they were doing was nothing overly surprising back then.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

The Batlord

I know it's not surprising. Which is why it bugs me. A lot of that album just feels like generic seventies-ness to me.

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