{"id":1336,"date":"2017-09-05T02:04:29","date_gmt":"2017-09-05T02:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.loudsoundepicenter.com\/?p=1336"},"modified":"2017-09-05T02:19:32","modified_gmt":"2017-09-05T02:19:32","slug":"how-judas-priest-made-a-speed-metal-masterpiece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/?p=1336","title":{"rendered":"HOW JUDAS PRIEST MADE A SPEED METAL MASTERPIECE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After an explosive comeback with <em>Ram It Down<\/em>, <strong>Judas Priest<\/strong> took their ambition to the extreme.<\/p>\n<p>Many fans were worried following the release of <em>Turbo<\/em>, believing the metal gods had taken a permanent change in direction&#8230; and for the worse.<\/p>\n<p><em>Ram It Down<\/em> was a reluctant return to the band&#8217;s heavy metal roots, though some were still concerned about the 80&#8217;s pop metal vibe that had made its welcome into the songwriting. Little did they know, <strong>Priest<\/strong> would completely revitalize themselves in the next 2 years.<\/p>\n<p><em>Painkiller<\/em> dialed everything up to 1000 and pushed their capacity to inconceivable new heights. With former <strong>Racer X<\/strong> drummer,\u00a0Scott Travis, behind the drum kit, <strong>Priest<\/strong> was ready for lightning speed rhythms and fierce live performances.<\/p>\n<p>The opening track destroys listeners with its unforgiving onslaught of heaviness. Rewarding Travis with a proper introduction in <strong>Priest<\/strong>, his iconic drum intro is the perfect starting point to the 6 minute powerhouse.<\/p>\n<p>Despite being among the longest songs on the album, <em>Painkiller<\/em> quickly breezes by as it keeps listeners excited and on edge throughout its entirety. It features Glenn Tipton&#8217;s best work by far including one of the greatest guitar solos of all time complete with admirable sweep picking.<\/p>\n<p>But the main focus is Rob Halford&#8217;s astonishing lead vocals. This is the only track where he belts out his highest range on every word, proving his superhuman ability in spades. Right when you think it&#8217;s about to end, KK Downing rips up one final solo leading to the outro.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Judas Priest - Painkiller\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nM__lPTWThU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>You could almost rate and review the album right then and there, but it only gets better&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re looking for filler anywhere on <em>Painkiller<\/em>, you won&#8217;t find it. Each song has something to offer. Despite the amount of face-melting brutality, there&#8217;s plenty of melody in every track.<\/p>\n<p><em>Hell Patrol<\/em> and <em>Leather Rebel\u00a0<\/em>personify the metal scene with fist-raising choruses and badass lyrics.<\/p>\n<p><em>All Guns Blazing<\/em>\u00a0is like the shortened, less talked about version of the title track. Delivering nothing but pure aggression, it kicks your ass every step of the way with an infectious chorus.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Judas Priest - All Guns Blazing (Live 1991)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jBvIRQns-6Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>One of the most underrated songs in heavy metal history is the catastrophic <em>Metal Meltdown<\/em>. It proves in every aspect why <strong>Judas Priest<\/strong> are the UK&#8217;s finest group. Enough said.<\/p>\n<p>Another highlight on the album is the haunting <em>Night Crawler<\/em>. It&#8217;s a standout packed with tons of atmosphere and an evil guitar tone, especially halfway through when Halford sings his menacing monologue.<\/p>\n<p>At this point, the anticipation level begins reaching its climax with the next two songs.<\/p>\n<p><em>Between The Hammer &amp; The Anvil<\/em> is arguably the peak of <em>Painkiller<\/em> as it builds this elaborate piece in under 5 minutes. Incredible pacing and an amazing two-handed tapping solo makes this a memorable <strong>Priest<\/strong> classic.<\/p>\n<p>This review would not be complete without mentioning <em>A Touch Of Evil<\/em> since it&#8217;s one of the many masterpieces in their catalog. Featuring Don Airey on keyboards and a dramatic riff, this sets the stage for their most epic creation yet. What makes it sound so grandiose is the emotion behind the songwriting. Tipton takes it down a notch with a slower tempo even in his solo, showing more feel over speed. Halford also marks his finest moment with breath-taking screams, specifically after the solo leading up to the chorus.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Judas Priest - A Touch of Evil\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PW-6FKFnHx8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve reached the last portion of the album, you know there&#8217;ll be something worth hearing. And <strong>Priest<\/strong> always delivers&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><em>One Shot At Glory<\/em> satisfies listeners with an appropriate finale, closing the 43 minutes of annihilation with one last heavy number. More importantly, it demonstrates the chemistry between the irreplaceable guitar duo:\u00a0Glenn Tipton and\u00a0KK Downing!<\/p>\n<p>Overall, <em>Painkiller<\/em> is a remarkable work of art that&#8217;s often cited as\u00a0the greatest all-time metal album. It&#8217;s ranked among the best, because it represents each member of the band firing on all cylinders.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s consistent, vigorous and embodies everything heavy metal stands for. This LP took <strong>Priest<\/strong> to a new realm and not only made it their best album, but also a landmark for the genre.<\/p>\n<p>The year 1990 brought out the best in a lot of groups and this is just one of them.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1368 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/judas_priest_credit_aaron_rapoport-1024x957.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"957\" srcset=\"https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/judas_priest_credit_aaron_rapoport-1024x957.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/judas_priest_credit_aaron_rapoport-300x280.jpg 300w, https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/judas_priest_credit_aaron_rapoport-768x718.jpg 768w, https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/judas_priest_credit_aaron_rapoport.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>After an explosive comeback with Ram It Down, Judas Priest took their ambition to the extreme. Many fans were worried following the release of Turbo, <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/?p=1336\" title=\"HOW JUDAS PRIEST MADE A SPEED METAL MASTERPIECE\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[43,50,53,61,450,452,484,102,112,115,451],"class_list":["post-1336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-on-this-date","category-soundwave","tag-glenn-tipton","tag-heavy-metal","tag-ian-hill","tag-judas-priest","tag-kk-downing","tag-painkiller","tag-ram-it-down","tag-rob-halford","tag-scott-travis","tag-speed-metal","tag-turbo"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/post-37737-1278465400.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1336"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1376,"href":"https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336\/revisions\/1376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudsoundepicenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}