RECORD STORE TALES MkII: Getting More Tale
#386: ‘The Mighty Priest’ – A Mix CD

In January of 2009, I determined to make another mix CD for my best friend Peter.   He really enjoyed them and wanted some more tunes from the LeBrain Library.  The theme this time was Judas Priest.  We had both been playing the video game Rock Band a lot, and I enjoyed singing lead on the song “Painkiller”, so we played that one frequently.  Peter decided that he wanted to check out some Priest, so I worked very hard to make a CD suited to his own personal needs.  I set out five constraints to my Mighty Priest mix:

1. Peter only knew three Priest songs: “Painkiller”, “Breaking The Law”, and “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin'”.

2. Peter generally hates slow songs. Therefore, unfortunately, I could not include classics like “Dreamer Deceiver”.

3. I always try to include a variety of tracks from as many albums as I can.

4. Must be limited to a single CD.

5. One rare track – my trademark is always sneaking in a rarity.

So I whittled down the 50 songs I started with to the nice and cozy 79 minutes you see below. Keeping in mind my self-imposed constraints, what would you have done differently?

I sought feedback, and I received feedback.  My ever faithful rock compatriots had these words:

Uncle Meat: Well…Michael…valiant effort. It is a good mix of new and old Priest. But…no “Electric Eye”? What is wrong with you? I cant even believe you would make this list without including it. That “Turbo Lover” is on here…and not “Electric Eye”…kinda makes me feel dirty…unloved. And?!?!?! No “Freewheel Burning”? . I’m getting mighty confused Mr. Ladano. No “Sinner”? “Heading out to the Highway”? I know their catalogue is extensive…but the omission of “Electric Eye” especially is very disturbing….

Dr. Dave: “Rock Hard Ride Free”!!!

Sarge: No “Metal Gods”?  Actually I only ever owned British Steel, so I cant comment on anything.  “Metal Gods” was always my favourite on that album.

Andy: I’m going to have to register an alternate opinion entirely, and that is, with any band that’s been around as long as Priest has, and has done as many albums as they have, simply cannot be captured in a “best of” that is only one CD. You just can’t do it – there’s too much good stuff, even disqualifying the “slow” songs like you did. I tried it with Manowar, and ended up with a full CD after their first four albums. I’ll be doing my personal The Best of Manowar, Volume II sometime soon….

So what I would have done differently is this: Go in chronological order, and put in all of the absolute “must have” songs from each album (remembering the rules for your friend, of course). Don’t overlap songs from one album on more than one CD, so you might have to juggle the playlist a little. Then, when CD #1 is full, move on to Volume 2.  Eventually, hand over your two (or in the case of Priest, maybe 3!) CDs to your friend, apologizing that you simply couldn’t fit it all onto 1.

Johnny Sixx: What I would have done is include their track “Love Bites”…it’s a gem.

All of them made excellent points, and I think it must be concluded that a truly great single disc Judas Priest collection cannot be made.  As Uncle Meat said, I think I made a valiant effort, but 80 minutes is simply not enough time for the Mighty Priest.  The next time I attempted to do something like this, I went with Andy’s advice in the back of my head…

…And ended up with a 5 CD set!  But that’s another story.