rob halford

REVIEW: Judas Priest – Rocka Rolla (50th Anniversary Remixed and Remastered)

For my original Rocka Rolla (1974) review, click here.

JUDAS PRIEST – Rocka Rolla (1974 Gull, 2024 Exciter Records Remixed and Remastered)

How did he do it?!  Somehow, by some digital miracle of the master tape gods, producer Tom Allom has remixed Rocka Rolla, and transformed it from one of my least favourite Priest albums of all time, to one of my favourites.

Generally I can’t get into the remixed versions of albums.  Even if the remix is objectively a better release, such as Rush’s Vapor Trails or Marillion’s Radiat10n, I always find myself coming back to the flawed originals.

Not this time.

For context, Tom Allom didn’t originally produce Rocka Rolla, and this is not the first remix of it.  Rodger Bain produced, but his name appears smaller than Allom’s on the new back cover.  The Rocka Rolla (full album) remix that appeared on Hero, Hero (1981) was helmed by Bain, less effectively.  Tom Allom is best known for producing the run of Judas Priest albums from Unleashed in the East (1979) to Ram It Down (1988).  What he has done with Rocka Rolla is somehow give it a makeover to sound more like a real 1970’s Priest album.  Sonically, it now has thickness.  There’s a real beefiness to the mix, but not in the sense that you immediate say “oh yeah, this is different.”  It just sounds like the album always sounded that way, and you just got your stereo system upgraded.

The track listing is unchanged.  “One For the Road” still opens with a groove, but now that groove hits different.  You can better appreciate the guitar fills at the end, and the songs goes well past its old fade-out.  This is a trick that remixed album should do more often.

“Rocka Rolla” remains a metal delight, but there is new shimmer to Rob’s vocals and the song chugs with more edge.  It’s all very objective and subtle, but once again Tom Allom took a Priest classic and made it sound like it was always this weighty.

The “Winter” suite is the most altered of any of the tracks.  Notably, Allom chose to separate the tracks from the suite format, and leave them as individual songs.

John Hinch’s drums sound crushingly Bonham-like on “Winter” itself, and the backing riff far more weighty.  The biggest change is that it no longer fades into KK’s guitar showcase “Deep Freeze”.  You can hear more of KK at the end, with some experimental playing that was inaudible before.  The track fades out past its previous point, and “Winter Retreat” stands on its own as a song.  In the 70s, Priest were experimenting with acoustics and psychedelic sounds from time to time.  “Winter Retreat” can now join those songs as something that sonically fits in better.  Finally, “Cheater” always was its own song really, and now it’s just heavier.  Rob’s harmonica is more prominent, which of course recalls the heaviness of Black Sabbath.

Moving on to side two, “Never Satisfied” finally has the punch it always felt like it had inside:  A little more echo on this this vocal line, a lot more weight behind the drums, more texture on the guitars, and a few things made audible for the first time.   We now have the definitive version of this song.  With the impressive soloing mixed in just right, this becomes a long, jammy Priest thumper as it always should have been.  If Rocka Rolla sounded like this when I was a kid, I would have got it immediately.

“Run of the Mill” takes time to build as it always has.  It has a long instrumental section, with some mindblowing guitar playing, and now it’s all finally hitting right.  The bass isn’t just sitting there.  It’s picking you up and taking you along with the groove.  The keyboards in the background are more ominous.  Everything about this is just so much better than the original.

Perhaps the only song that still bores, for the first half anyway, “Dying to Meet You” is similarly upgraded but benefits less from the treatment.  That is until it picks up midway in the “Hero, Hero” section.  This part of the song still cooks, but has a different, more spare feel.  Finally, the light instrumental “Caviar and Meths” really benefits from the remix treatment.  The drums, once again, really add atmosphere to it.

As an added attention to detail, the front cover of Rocka Rolla is now as three dimension as the music.  The water drops are now tactile.  You can feel the bumps with your fingers.  A perfect topper.

What did Tom Allom do with these master tapes?  Did he conjure some kind of heavy metal spell and make a two dimensional album sound big and beefy?  Only Allom knows, but now I do believe in magic.

4.5/5 stars

VHS Archives #145: Judas Priest’s Rob Halford on the Ram It Down tour guests on the Pepsi Power Hour (1988)

This is a monumental interview from my VHS collection.  I wore this tape out, as you can tell!  Judas Priest’s Rob Halford provides a lot of detail on the goings-on in 1988, that you don’t often hear.  That was the year of Ram It Down, Stock Aitken & Waterman, “Johnny B. Goode” and much more!  Hear about all that, English tax collectors, Lita Ford and more.  Watch as Michael Williams presents Rob with a gold record for Ram It Down, and Priest…Live!  

Topics discussed:

  • Why did Priest choose Canada to open the Ram It Down tour?
  • Priest’s longevity and why they have lasted so long.
  • The rotating drum seat:  Spinal Tap?  Why so many drummers?
  • Why did the guy’s pants fall down in the video for “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming”?  (“The day’s not complete without an exploding head!”)
  • Why did Priest work with Stock, Aitken & Waterman in January of 1988, and what did they record?  (Hear an excerpt from “You Are Everything”.)
  • “Johnny B. Goode” and how it came about.
  • How do they keep going day after day on a year-long tour?  Are they still hungry for it?
  • What happens next with Judas Priest?
  • Violence in heavy metal.

Please enjoy this classic Rob Halford interview that I almost wore right out as a kid.  Lots of info here that is interesting to this day!

 

REVIEW: Judas Priest – Invincible Shield (2024 Deluxe with bonus tracks)

JUDAS PRIEST – Invincible Shield (2024 Epic Deluxe with bonus tracks)

I don’t usually write “first impressions” reviews, because I like the albums to have time to sink in, and to consider my opinions.

I’ll break some rules this time.

Invincible Shield tops Firepower and could be the best Priest album since Defenders.  Or maybe even before that…

The highlights are many and the riffs are strong.  Rob’s voice has not changed in 20 years and he is still of the same power and range as Angel as Retribution.  As one goes deeper in, the songs continue to gain strength.  “Invincible Shield” didn’t really jump out at first, but does now with a very Maiden-y outro.  “Devil In Disguise” is another early highlight.  “Crown of Horns”, “Escape From Reality”, “As God is My Witness” are instantly likeable, with hooks aplenty and the odd adventurous lick or detour.  Richie Faulkner has been a godsend to this band, injecting them with new songwriting life, metallic riffs and speedy leads.  Meanwhile, you can hear Glenn Tipton too, illness be damned!  He trades off with Faulkner just as is Priest’s trademark.  The classical guitar solo on “Giants In the Sky” is something completely new for this band and a surprising delight.

Invincible Shield has most of the longer material stacked to the top of the album, with the short songs going on side two.  Even with 14 songs, the album is only just over an hour with bonus tracks, not overstaying its welcome, and inviting to repeated listens.  There’s no point in getting a version of this album without the bonus tracks.  You’d be missing out.  You can get them at Target, Sunrise, or Amazon in Canada.  They are “Fight Of Your Life”, “Vicious Circle” and “The Lodger”.  “Fight Of Your Life” might be the most necessary song of the album, as it really hearkens back to the early 70s albums like Sin After Sin.  It could be the deep cut of the record.

Lyrics have always been a shaky point in Priest history, and there are some cringey ones on Invincible Shield, but I doubt they will impede anyone’s enjoyment of this album.  It has summer written all over it, as we await the coming of the sun and the highway months.

Production by Andy Sneap sounds great to these ears, with Ian Hill’s bass rich and deep, and Scott Travis’ drums livelier than ever.  There are flashes back to the 70s and 80s, and some of Priest’s highest peaks of the past.

Martin Popoff may be right, but I’m not going as far as he did.  Still…

Album of the year.

5/5 stars

VHS Archives #132: Fight’s Rob Halford & Jay Jay talk books (1993)

Rob Halford once said he devoured books.  What books were Rob and Fight bassist Jay Jay reading in 1993?  MuchMusic had this segment called “Between the Covers” with Erica Ehm, encouraging kids to read by talking to rock stars about books.  It’s only 1:15 long but interesting regardless as there are so few interviews with Jay Jay.

Saturday Test Stream & ReAction Unboxing

The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 62.5 – Unboxing Halford & Testing the Laptop

 

Went live this afternoon to test out my new laptop. I also tried out a new two-camera setup that worked really well. Introducing: ToyCam!*

We took a close look at the new Rob Halford (Judas Priest, obviously) ReAction figure by Super7.  It’s a sweet figure complete with microphone, whip, and chains!  I also opened up a Twilight Zone Eddie (Iron Maiden), which is a clear figure.  I’ve always had a thing for clear action figures.  And he looked sweet.  And finally, I opened a large size Transformers Devastator which is double the height of the regular ReAction line.

These ReAction figures are inspired by the original 1977-1984 Kenner Star Wars figures.  Similar scale, similar modelling, and completely backwards compatible.  I can have Darth Vader vs. Jean-Luc Picard vs. Rob Halford vs. Papa Emeritus III vs. Alien vs. Andre the Giant in a battle royale if I so choose.**

Enjoy this impromptu but very successful Saturday stream.

 

* I have summer plans for this dual-camera setup.  With the new laptop and new cottagewifi ready to go this summer, picture this:  SunsetCam.  As we interview the stars, or run down a Nigel Tufnel Top Ten, I can have a dedicated camera just showing the changing landscape as the sun goes down.  It’s going to be awesome.

** Super7 have licenses for so many properties, it’s insane.  In music alone, they have ReAction figures for Lemmy (Motorhead), Slayer, the Misfits, Rancid, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Ghost, King Diamond, Venom, and Anthrax, with many variations thereof.  And that’s just the music.

VHS Archives #102: Rob Halford Interview ’91 (The day of his last gig with Priest before quitting!)

19 August, 1991.  Operation Rock and Roll, featuring Alice Cooper, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Metal Church and Dangerous Toys rolled into Toronto.  The last show of the tour.  Unfortunately the day lives on in infamy.  It was the day Rob Halford hit his head (right on the bridge of the nose) on the drum riser, knocking him out cold!  Priest performed “Hell Bent for Leather” as an instrumental while Rob lay unseen in a cloud of artificial fog!  On top of that, and unbeknownst at the time, it was Priest’s very last gig with the Metal God for a decade.

This pre-accident Pepsi Power Hour interview by Michael Williams is interesting because Rob discusses their forthcoming compilation Metal Works a full two years before it was out.  At that point the plan was to try and write a couple new songs for the compilation, and then go back into the studio to record a brand new Priest album some time in 1992.  Needless to say, that did not work out!  As the last show of the Painkiller tour, this day was actually the last time Rob even saw his bandmates until they reconciled!

REVIEW: Judas Priest – Priest, Live & Rare (1998 Japanese import)

JUDAS PRIEST – Priest, Live & Rare (1998 Sony Japan)

Fun fact:  in 1998, there were three Judas Priest live albums released.  First was the official ’98 Live Meltdown, featuring then-current singer Tim “Ripper” Owens.  There was also Concert Classics, an unauthorised CD from the British Steel tour that the band swiftly took legal action to remove from store shelves.  Finally, a CD called Priest, Live & Rare released by their old label Sony in Japan, featuring a smorgasbord of live B-sides.

Judas Priest’s B-sides don’t garner a lot of attention, but are worth looking in to.  Fortunately, a large assortment of them are collected on this compilation.  Covering a period from 1978 to 1986, Priest released a number of live B-sides (and one remix) that are included here.  Only two (“Starbreaker”, and a version of “Breaking the Law”) were released on CD in the 2004 Metalogy box set.  Because Priest were conscious of giving value to fans, the live B-sides are not the same familiar versions from live albums.

From the “Evening Star” single in 1978 comes “Beyond the Realms of Death”, Judas Priest’s “Stairway to Heaven”, or so some said.  It’s a rather weak comparison, but “Beyond the Realms of Death” does hold special status.  Glen’s solo, though imperfect, drips with the tension that comes from the live performance.  From the same gig, but lifted from the “Take on the World” single comes “White Heat, Red Hot” and “Starbreaker”.  You can hear the life in the songs, from Les Binks’ organic drum work to Rob’s impassioned performance.  The man is in top voice especially on “White Heat, Red Hot”.  Les Binks has an extended energized drum solo on “Starbreaker”.  These are fantastic live versions that need to be in a diehard’s collection.

The next single visited is 1981’s “Hot Rockin'”, with two live B-sides:  “Breaking the Law” and “Living After Midnight” from that year in Holland.  The drum stool has changed hands from Les Binks to Dave Holland, and it is like the band has had a heart transplant.  The difference is notable given that on this CD, Binks went out on a drum solo.  It’s like a pacemaker has been installed and the pulse of the beast has been tamed.  But that’s 80s Priest for you, and with that said, these are two excellent versions of some serious Priest hits.  Refreshing to hear, after the same familiar ones over and over again.

Priest’s set at the 1983 US Festival has not been released on CD yet, but here are some for you.  (The Festival on DVD is not an issue — the deluxe Screaming for Vengeance contains the whole thing.)  Here you get “Green Manalishi”, “Breaking the Law” and “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming”.  “Green Manalishi” is a fantastic version (at least for one with Dave Holland on drums!) and Rob is peak Halford.  These three tracks are sourced from a live 1983 Japanese “Green Manalishi” EP that costs some fair funds on its own.  (This is the version of “Breaking the Law” that you can also find on the Metalogy box set.)

“Private Propety” (originally from 1986’s Turbo) is a rare live take from St. Louis. It was originally released on the “Parental Guidance” 12″ single.  Therefore it’s not the same one from Priest Live, nor the Turbo 30th anniversary set.  This one predates the release of the others and has a nice untampered quality.  Finally, also from the “Parental Guidance” single, is the only disappointing B-side in this collection.  It’s the “Hi-Octane” extended remix of “Turbo Lover”!  Extended remixes were a popular thing in the 80s.  Every mainstream artist did them; for example Def Leppard, Kiss and Aerosmith.  “Turbo Lover” is one of the poorer such examples.  Were any dance clubs likely to play Judas Priest?  No, but the Priest did try.

Unweildy ham-fisted “Turbo Lover” aside, Priest, Live & Rare is a highly recommended collection to get 10 rare Priest B-sides in one fell swoop.  Definitely cheaper than tracking down all those singles.

4.5/5 stars

 

 

REVIEW: Judas Priest – Defenders of the Faith – Part Two – Special 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition and 2001 Remaster

For yesterday’s review of the original album, click here.  

JUDAS PRIEST – Defenders of the Faith (2001 Sony reissue, 2014 Special 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

Let’s start this review by taking a quick look at the bonus tracks that were added to the 2001 Sony remastered CD.  The first is an acoustic ballad called “Turn On Your Light”.  With lead guitars overdubbed later on, this spare acoustic ballad would have been a sharp left turn for the band had it come out on the next album (Turbo).  It’s very light, even more so than the material that made the album.  On the other hand, given the musical climate of the era, maybe it could have been a hit that propelled Priest to heights previously unseen.  We’ll never know.  The second bonus track comes from Long Beach on the Defenders tour.  It is the duo of “Heavy Duty” and “Defenders of the Faith”, but we’ll get into it later as it’s also included (albeit remixed) in the 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition we’re about to discuss.  Important to note:  the 30th Anniversary does not include “Turn On Your Light”.  If you want to get that song, you have to get the 2001 version.

When I was a kid, around the time of Defenders of the Faith, I can remember listening to a live Priest concert with the next door neighbour George.  We were on his picnic table in the side yard, listening to it on the radio.  That must have been Long Beach, May 5 1984, the show included in the Anniversary Deluxe set.  Spread over two discs, it’s a full Priest show with nine of the ten new songs played.  Only the controversial “Eat Me Alive” was not played.

“Love Bites” is an unusual set opener, but of course they did use “Out in the Cold” on the following tour too.  The mix is bass-heavy with Ian Hill up front for some reason.  Barking Rob spits out the words like bullets.  Sticking with new material, it’s “Jawbreaker”, the second track on Defenders, performed at light speed.  Rob says hello to 13,000 heavy metal maniacs and then dives into the oldies.  Three well-received number from British Steel in a row:  “Grinder”, “Metal Gods”, and “Breaking the Law”.  Though robotic in tempo these songs were and still are landmarks for the band.  “Breaking the Law” is the most lively, with Rob acting as the cheerleader in concert.

They reach way back for “Sinner”, which again suffers from the Dave Holland treatment on drums.  It’s too fast and stiff.  Fortunately, Halford belts out the chorus in scream-form with earnest.  “Desert Plains” comes next, a song for which there are few live versions available.  It’s a bit too fast, with pulse of the original song lost, but strong nonetheless.

Another batch of new songs follow, all awesome in their own right:  “Some Heads are Gonna Roll”, “The Sentinel”, “Hard Hard Ride Free” and “Night Comes Down”.  It speaks to the strength and popularity of the album that the set looks like this.  These are ably performed, though Rob’s voice sounds very raw on “The Sentinel”.  The crowd goes completely nuts when, before “Rock Hard Ride Free”, he announces that five million people are listening live on the radio!  Unfortunately due to his sore-sounding voice, the version on Priest…Live makes for better listening.  “Night Comes Down” (issued in an alternate live mix on the Ram It Down 2001 remaster) is one of Priest’s most unsung triumphs, a ballad of sorts set in the dusk.  Try listening to it when the sun is going down some time.

Strangely, “Electric Eye” is the first song from the previous hit album Screaming For Vengeance, an album that is largely ignored here in favour of the new one.  Next it’s a last gasp of new songs in the form of “Freewheel Burning” and the anthemic duo “Heavy Duty” and “Defenders of the Faith”.  These are a treat.  Rob uses “Defenders” to get the crowd to do a singalong.  “Freewheel” is pretty manic, and then it’s into the set-ending classics.

“Victim of Changes” can’t help but be the centrepiece of the set.  It’s a serious Priest epic and isn’t rushed through like other songs.  This version is just a little bit different.  “Green Manalishi” is dutifully tough, though every version with Dave Holland is intrinsically and unfortunately inferior to the one with Les Binks.  The guitar solos are note perfect and full of sparks.  Moving on to “Living After Midnight”, it’s big blockheaded fun.  “Hell Bent for Leather” is a high speed thrill as always, and then Priest finally end it on “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” and the inevitable and annoying “Oh-oo-oh-oo-oh-yeah” crowd singalong.

The 30th Deluxe has a booklet with several live pictures — none of former drummer Dave Holland however.  (If you don’t know why, Google him and guess.)  The remastering of the album itself may be new, but the real emphasis is on the complete concert.  The fact that the setlist contained almost all the new album makes it unique among Priest releases.  It’s a show worth returning to and playing again.  If Rob’s voice was less rugged that night, it might have been a live album in its own right.

3.5/5 stars

 

 

 

 

 

REVIEW: Judas Priest – Defenders of the Faith (1984) Part One – Vinyl

JUDAS PRIEST – Defenders of the Faith (1984 Columbia)

If memory serves, in contemporary times, Defenders of the Faith was considered good but not as good as Screaming for Vengeance.  It was a down-ratchet in terms of tempo and intensity.  With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that both albums are near-equals in quality.

It begins with a bang.  “Freewheel Burning” is borderline thrash, with the kind of high octane tempos they do so well.  Racing metaphors are paired with a lightspeed lead Rob Halford vocal, syllables flowing so fast that only a seasoned rapper could keep up with his flow.

Look before you leap has never been the way we keep, our road is free.
Charging to the top and never give in never stop’s the way to be.
Hold on to the lead with all your will and not concede,
You’ll find there’s life with victory on high.

Without a lyric sheet, there was no way you were able to follow the words.

After an adrenaline rush like that, Priest wisely shifted the throttle back a few gears with “Jawbreaker”.  Though not slow, it’s also not mental like “Freewheel Burning”.  The pace is determined.  It would not be controversial to say that Dave Holland isn’t as complex a drummer as Les Binks was.  Still he and Ian Hill do lay down a pulsing, robotic metal beat.

Third in line and backed by regal guitars, “Rock Hard Ride Free” sounds like an anthem.  “Rock hard with a purpose, got a mind that won’t bend.  Die hard resolution that is true to the end.”  For context, in the 1980s, being a metal fan was like choosing to be a neighbourhood pariah.  Many of us appreciated upbeat, encouraging messages like “Rock Hard Ride Free”.  We believed in something, and it wasn’t what the teachers and preachers thought it was.  That’s what “Rock Hard Ride Free” is about.

The first side closes on “The Sentinel”, a mini epic.  A street battle is taking place in a shattered apocalyptic landscape.  It could very well be the same world inhabited in “Blood Red Skies” or “Painkiller”.

Amidst the upturned burned-out cars,
The challengers await,
And in their fists clutch iron bars,
With which to seal his fate.
Across his chest in scabbards rest,
The rows of throwing knives,
Whose razor points in challenged tests,
Have finished many lives.

A multi-parted dual guitar solo animates what the rumble must look like.  Rob tells the story with the necessary urgency.  In the end it’s a scream-laden metal triumph.

Ominous echoing bass notes ring as soon as the needle drops on Side Two.  “Love Bites” was a single, an unusual song with a very spare riff.  Its simplicity is its weapon as it bores its way into your brain.  Halford sounds absolutely menacing.  Then they go turn on the afterburners for the very naughty “Eat Me Alive”, a song which got them a bit of trouble in the 1980s.  It  was one of 15 songs the Parents Music Resource Center wanted stickered for “explicit content” . “I’m gonna force you at gunpoint to eat me alive” sings dirty Rob, as the parents of America weep in their Cheerios.  Not an album highlight, except in terms of pure aggression.

Much more interesting is the slower, menacing “Some Heads Are Gonna Roll”.  A great deep cut.  Dave Holland could have been a drum machine for what it’s worth, but this song is a champion.  Interestingly they followed it with the even slower “Night Comes Down” which might be the album ballad (albeit a heavy one).  Great pulsing bassline by Ian Hill on this track.  It’s a more sensitive, thoughtful side of Rob.  “Call me and I’ll wait till summer.  You never understood that I would wait forever, for love that’s only good.”

The album closes on a dual track:  “Heavy Duty” / “Defenders of the Faith”.  “Defenders” itself is an epic outro with “Heavy Duty” being the main part of the song.  As it implies, this is a heavy duty stomp.  The highly processed drums are accompanied by a repeating riff until Rob breaks into the outro.  Though “Defenders” itself is only a minute and a half in length, it’s among the best minutes on the album.

Not a perfect album, but even though this is a simpler Judas Priest for the 1980s, it still commands respect.  Defenders of the Faith is undoubtedly an 80s album.  It’s aimed at a wider demographic that wouldn’t necessarily get their earlier more complex material.  Defenders does it well, with some truly timeless riffs, and great song after great song.

4.5/5 stars

 

REVIEW: Judas Priest – Unleashed in the East (1979, Remastered)

JUDAS PRIEST – Unleashed in the East (Originally 1979, 2001 Sony reissue)

The best Judas Priest live album isn’t the biggest or the newest.  It’s the first:  the humble Unleashed in the East.  The first Priest album to be produced by Tom Allom, the last with Les Binks on drums…this is a special album for a number of reasons but most important are the songs.  It would not be going out on a limb to suggest that some of these tracks are now the definitive versions.

Like many live albums of the 1970s, it has been questioned how much of Unleashed in the East was redone in the studio.  Rob Halford has maintained that only the vocals were touched up, but it does not matter one iota when the needle hits wax or laser strikes plastic.  The band were at a musical peak in 1979, and with accelerated tempos, they attacked the best of their body of work, although neglecting the bluesier debut Rocka Rolla.

With “Exciter” (from 1978’s Stained Class) opening the set, this collection has more energy by comparison to the somewhat stiffer studio counterparts.  Les Binks has his foot on the pedal and the band is fully energized on this proto-thrash classic.  “Stand back for Exciter” indeed, as Halford has the Tokyo crowd in the palm of his hand, heavy on the echo.  “Running Wild” (1978’s Hell Bent for Leather) is extra caffeinated compared to the in-the-pocket original, giving the album the feel of a race.  KK goes bananas at the end, and then it’s his showpiece:  “Sinner” from 1977’s Sin After Sin.  Finally it sounds like Priest have stopped hurryin’ about.  About half of the track features KK taking his guitar to outer space in a trippy solo segment.

In its original form, “The Ripper” (1976’s Sad Wings of Destiny) was thin and stiff by comparison.  Here it is a beast, with Rob Halford fully unleashed and stalking the back-alley streets.  Easiest contender for most definitive version of a song on Unleashed in the East.  “Green Manalishi” also comes close, with this electrifying version containing the full-blown dual solo in fantastic, crisp, live glory in stereo.  Each part of the solo is an essential part of the song, just as “Green Manalishi” is an essential part of the album.  If you own the LP, this is where you flip sides and go straight into an adrenalized “Diamonds and Rust”, keeping the energy moving.  Binks’ double-bass work is fun as hell to listen to, like a kid who can’t stop tapping his feet excitement.

The Priest epic “Victim of Changes” takes its time to unfold, though mightily it does.  The live setting and the unstoppable Les Binks make this another definitive Priest live version.  It is the climax of the album, with the last two tracks “Genocide” and “Tyrant” unable to surpass its mountainous metal spires.  Regardless, both are far more fuelled than their seemingly crippled studio counterparts.  Halford is more expressive and engaging live, while the guitars riff on relentlessly.

This album would be 5/5 stars right here, full stop, no need to elaborate.  The already definitive Priest live album became even more definitive in Japan in 1979, and 2001 in the rest of the world, with additional bonus tracks.  On the 2001 remastered Sony edition, all the tracks blend into one another without fade-outs.

Most of the tracks originated on Hell Bent for Leather, with one from Sin After Sin.  “Rock Forever” and “Delivering the Goods” cook!  Not too dissimilar from the originals, these are nice additions that extend the album without weakening it.  “Hell Bent for Leather” was conspicuous by its absence from the album proper, so its restoration is significant.  Finally the lengthy “Starbreaker” occupies the final slot, including a Binks drum solo.  An odd positioning but a stellar version nonethless.  All said and done, the version of Unleashed with bonus tracks is just over an hour long.  By today’s standards that’s a bit short for a live album, but it certainly does feel more complete.

Though he was indeed a significant source of Judas Priest’s musical power both on stage and in the studio, Les Binks quit the band mid-tour to be replaced by ex-Trapeze drummer Dave Holland for the remainder.  Binks was never made an official member on paper and was dissatisfied.  To be sure, other Priest drummers can sympathise.  The only taint on this otherwise perfect “live” metal album is the absence of the departed drummer on the front cover.

5/5/5 stars

 

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