Breaking with tradition, this is actually not an album I own (yet). It's one of the few Priest records I actually don't have. But still, it's worth a review because it very well could be the best in their whole catalog.
1990 saw a decidedly different Judas Priest than previous incarnations of the band. Someone who hadn't listened to their material since British Steel for instance, would be amazed at how thoroughly their ears were being sonically assaulted. The band was in their rarest form...the performances on this album remind me of a fighter who shows up for one fight in the most amazing shape of their life and puts on a mindblowing performance, never to duplicate it. The twin-guitar assault was more technical than ever (hold up for a grip son....SWEEP PICKING?), Halford's vocals were pushing the limits of even his vocal chords, newly hired drummer Scott Travis brings the rapid-fire double bass from his speed-metal roots, and Ian Hill....oh who fucking cares it's Ian Hill.
While there are numerous outstanding Priest albums, I think a large percentage of the fanbase would pick this as their apex. It would be another fifteen years before Judas Priest released a new album with Rob Halford at the mic, and still to this day I think this is their heaviest, hardest, rawest album from top to bottom.
PAINKILLER
Theme: Here comes the Painkiller. He's basically the mother fucking silver surfer, but with wings, and he rides a motorcycle made out of a dragon. He's chrome, on fire, faster than the speed of sound, and he can fly. Oh and by the way he's from hell.
Key Lyric: "Faster than a laser bullet
Louder than an atom bomb
Chromium plated boiling metal
Brighter than a thousand suns."
Notes: One of the band's fastest, hardest, and most recognizable songs, I maintain that if Halford is going to die, it's going to be during a performance of this song on stage. The music video is the first time we get to see the horror that is a bald halford with no goatee.
HELL PATROL
Theme: Pissed off, coked up firebreathing demons from the bottomless pit of hell have come to the surface of the Earth. Why? To fucking specifically kill you.
Key Lyric: "Brutalize you
Neutralize you
Gonna go for your throat as you choke
Then they'll vaporize you"
Notes: Another outstanding track off this album...the drums are in your grill the whole time, and there are some great harmony guitar lines. It goes to show just how heavy this whole album is that there is just track after track of hard hitting songs without a break, which is not something the listener has heard from the boys before.
LEATHER REBEL
Theme; Typical Halford tale of martyrdom aboard a screaming Harley (most likely while clad in circulation-stopping tight leather). I'm a dangerous rebel living on the edge....remember my legend after I die...my heart's on fire...um am I forgetting anything? After 15 years of hearing Halford's heartfelt pleas to take him seriously as a mysterious biker, I'd hope the message has gotten through.
Key Lyric: "Like a renegade
All alone I walk through fire
Till I crash and blaze
I'm living on the edge"
METAL MELTDOWN
Theme: Explosions. Metal is power. We are metal. We have the power. Fire. Vague, unnamed entities are about to explode before you. Attending a Judas Priest concert is akin to having an atom bomb detonate in the seat next to you.
Key Lyric: "Imminent collision
Shockwaves all around
Generating energy
Screams so loud "
NIGHT CRAWLER
Theme: Mysterious, amorphous creature from hell itself stalks a town full of people and brutally devours them. I sure as shit hope you're noticing a common thread here.
Key Lyric: "Huddled in the cellar
Fear caught in their eyes
Daring not to move or breathe
As the creature cries"
Notes: Some pretty top-shelf creepy atmospheric keyboard and guitar lines in this one. As you're no doubt noticing so far, this album has a startling and jarring lack of innuendos related to: penises, sex, bondage, the thirst for power, and world domination. But I guess if you have to sacrifice the usual Priest lyric barrel, demons eating motherfuckers alive is a good substitute.
BETWEEN THE HAMMER AND THE ANVIL
Theme: Man do we hate those uptight anuses that accused us of forcing their fat manchild to commit suicide.
Key Lyric: "Transgression
They prey on grief
Our mission
To purify belief"
Notes: Supposedly written about the court case where Halford and the boys were accused of inserting subliminal messages into a song which caused a kid to commit suicide. 2 hilarious points about that:
1. This song's lyrics are so obtuse you would almost NEVER think that's what this song is about. I just imagine Rob Halford sitting down with a thesaurus, a candle, and a chianti and looking up the words "power" "righteous" and "sinner" and going to town.
2. The song they got sued over? It was a gat damn COVER.
Oh and the two handed tapping part during the epic guitar solo is sex.
A TOUCH OF EVIL
Theme: Slut. Just being touched by you is akin to having my paynus posessed by Satan.
Key Lyric: "A dark angel of sin
Preying deep from within
Come take me in I'm so afraid
But I still feed the flame "
Notes: What the fuck is up with the video for this song?
BATTLE HYMN/ONE SHOT AT GLORY
Theme: Destruction of our vague, unspecified enemies (or random colons) at all costs. Fuck hard today and become a legend in the future.
Key Lyric: "This day will last forever
Deep in the hearts of men
Courage and victory
Remember, remember"
Notes: Halford just absolutely couldn't hold it in any longer. For a gay heavy metal musician born in 20th century England, he sure dreams about dying specatularly on the field of battle a lot.
No comments:
Post a Comment