Judas Priest

(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)

The forerunners of 1980s British heavy metal were Judas Priest, who emerged at a time when the hard rock phenomenon seemed to have fizzled out amid the chaos of punk rock.

When they recorded their first album, none of the original members remained - the lineup led by singer Al Atkins with bassist Bruno Staphenhill (the one who gave the band its name). The quintet never stabilized due to constant drummer changes, but the other four members were: bassist Ian Hill, singer Rob Halford, and two guitarists, Kenneth "KK" Downing and Glenn Tipton.

The funereal atmospheres of Judas Priest were still composed and rational compared to what would come later, but they were the ones to create many of the stereotypes of British heavy metal: from the apocalyptic sound (razor-sharp guitars and cannonade drumming) to the iconography (studs and black leather), from the singing (Halford�s infernal vocals) to the lyrics (horrific and violent).

In reality, Judas Priest were recycling the dark-tinged rock of Black Sabbath and Blue �yster Cult. They had started in 1973 and debuted with the album Rocka Rolla (Gull, 1974), featuring the Rolling Stones�style cadence of the title track. Their second album, Sad Wings Of Destiny (Gull, 1976 � Koch, 2001), was already a classic of the gothic/psychedelic/hard genre, thanks to the long and macabre Victim Of Changes, reminiscent of the early hypnotic and melodramatic Led Zeppelin, Ripper, a cabaret-like melody twisted with macabre guitar flourishes, and Genocide and Island of Domination.

It is with this album that the furious and epileptic style of the "New Wave of British Heavy Metal" was born, bridging British hard rock, American heavy metal, and punk rock.

From the point of view of album sales, the golden season started with Sin After Sin (CBS, 1977), containing Sinner, Last Rose Of Summer and Dissident Aggressor (even though the hit was a Joan Baez cover) and continued on Stained Class (CBS, 1978) and Killing Machine (CBS, 1978), aka Hell Bent On Leather (1979), in the vein of scientifically exploiting the very stereotype that they had invented.

On Stained Class at least the power-ballad Beyond The Realm Of Death is a classic (with two great solos, first by Tipton and then by Downing), and the album also features Exciter, Invader, Saints In Hell. On Killing Machine the highlight is Take On The World.

The first part of their career was summarized on the live Unleashed In The East (CBS, 1979).

Their success increased with British Steel (CBS, 1980), containing Breaking The Law and Living After Midnight, Point Of Entry (CBS, 1981), containing Solar Angels, and especially Screaming For Vengeance (CBS, 1982), thanks to a new futuristic and sadomaso look, to better and less truculent arrangements, to magniloquent and melodic songs such as Screaming For Vengeance, Another Thing Comin' and Devil's Child.

Defenders Of The Faith (CBS, 1984), with Freewheel Burning, Turbo (CBS, 1986), with Turbo Lover, Ram It Down (CBS, 1988), less poppy than the previous ones but even more indulgent, continued the saga with ups and downs, but also among contract obligations that forced the band to release albums at a pace not justified by their inspiration.