Tripping Through the Past

JUDAS PRIEST
British Steel (Columbia/Legacy)
Point of Entry (Columbia/Legacy)
Screaming For Vengeance (Columbia/Legacy)
Defenders of the Faith (Columbia/Legacy)
Judas Priest is the textbook example of a heavy metal band. That doesn't necessarily mean they're the best metal band in rock 'n' roll history (though their fans would no doubt argue that point) or written the best songs. However, by the late 70s they had codified the metal image in the minds of supporters and detractors alike with their leather 'n' studs stage look, simplified riff rockers and, most importantly, their lyrics. Priest took the notion of heavy metal-as-lifestyle to new heights of seriousness (and depths of silliness), giving millions of disenfranchised kids who'd never heard punk a philosophy (at least until they turned 21 and started getting laid regularly). Everybody from Manowar to 80s hair metal bands to Metallica owes at least a little something to the Priest.

But whether the music holds up or not depends on your tolerance for the stuff in the first place. Priest's rhythm section is competent if uninspired, guitarists K.K. Downing and Glen Tipton supply an endless stock of journeyman riffs and over-the-top lead breaks and frontman Rob Halford possesses a much-imitated, high pitched growl—he sounds like the pissed-off love child of a Siamese cat and a bear. In other words, the band is custom built for heavy metal. But the real test for these records—all released in the early 80s, Priest's commercial peak—is how well the songs themselves stand the test of time. Fortunately, each of these albums contains at least a couple of undeniably catchy, mindlessly enjoyable rock anthems. 1980's British Steel, their worldwide breakthrough, hits hard with "Living After Midnight" and "Breaking the Law," their signature tunes. The strangely poppy 1981 offering Point of Entry has "Heading Out to the Highway" and "Desert Plains" to recommend it. 1982's Screaming For Vengeance, probably their most homogenized (or consistent, depending on your POV), harbors "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" and the strange "Bloodstone." 1984's Defenders of the Faith, the out-and-out heaviest of the four, scores with "Love Bites," "Freewheel Burning" and "Eat Me Alive," the song that raised the ire of feminists everywhere with the line "I'm gonna force you at gunpoint to eat me alive"—a lyric that took on a new layer of meaning when its author Halford came out a few years ago (not that that makes it any less odious, of course).

Alas, a few hot tunes do not a full album make; most of these records are little more than rote fist-pumpers without even a singalong chorus to redeem them. Except when they descend to self-parody with tripe like "Heavy Duty/Defenders of the Faith" and "Metal Gods," the main thing Priest seems to be good at creating is a kind of heavy metal wallpaper. Not that diehards would agree, and since each album has two bonus tracks (one live, one previously unreleased) and superbly remastered sound by Pete Townshend's brother-in-law Jon Astley (AKA the "Jane's Getting Serious" guy), if you fall into that category, you'll want to pick these up. The rest of us can survive with a smartly chosen best-of. Or better yet with occasionally hearing "Breaking the Law" on classic rock radio. Michael Toland

For fans of: Kiss, Iron Maiden, Manowar