If Black Sabbath are the grandfathers of heavy metal, then Judas Priest is the father that outdid them in almost every way. If you ask me to show someone what heavy metal is, I won’t hand them a copy of Paranoid or Master of Reality. I’ll instead hand them a copy of Screaming For Vengeance, British Steel, or Painkiller. That’s what Judas Priest means to the heavy metal community. Without them we wouldn’t have a classic look for heavy metal with studs and leather.
Thin Lizzy and Wishbone Ash might have been the first to use the twin-guitar attack, but Judas Priest was the one that solidified it in the heavy metal sphere. K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton were and still are probably the best twin guitarists for any band. It was set to be the 50th anniversary celebration for Judas Priest this year. To make up for those shows being postponed, it’s high time for Judas Priest-A-Thon. The brother to the album by album reviews, Iron Maiden-A-Thon and the cousin to our series of Rush album reviews. You’re going to be getting a Judas Priest album review, every business day, until we’re all through.
Judas Priest made an instant classic album with Stained Class. It didn’t take them long to get back into the studio to record a follow-up though. Coming a merely eight months after that album, depending on where you live, Killing Machine/Hell Bent For Leather was a radical departure to that sound. Stained Class was the last vestiges of that 70’s era bluesy power sound from the band. They would be in search of a more commercial friendly sound.
Background on Killing Machine/Hell Bent For Leather
I bet if you don’t know, you’re wondering why I keep typing Killing Machine/Hell Bent For Leather. The story behind the US getting Hell Bent For Leather in 1979 and the rest of the world getting Killing Machine is controversial.
Before the release of Killing Machine in the US, there was a school shooting in San Diego. At Grover Cleveland Elementary, Brenda Spencer shot and killed two people and injured another nine before she was apprehended. CBS Records decided to change the name of the record in the US to Hell Bent For Leather. That cut of the album had a different tracklisting than the earlier British release. For the sake of this review, I’ll be calling the album Killing Machine going forward, but we’ll use that US tracklisting.
It was produced by “Better By You, Better Than Me” producer James Guthrie. Killing Machine was recorded at Utopia Studios in London. The overall production for the album was the best that the band had done to that point. It stripped away the dark, fantasy lyrics from previous releases in favor of a more commercial sound. None of the songs on the album are longer than around four minutes, which was also a first for the band.
Killing Machine is definitely a turning point for the band where they made a distinct change. Let’s get on with the review.
1. Delivering The Goods
Like the vocal and tonal departure that it represents, Killing Machine is not a great album in the vein of the previous three for the band. It has a sort of halfway sound that the band wouldn’t perfect until their next album British Steel. This album feels very much like British Steel .05 when I listen to it. The ideas are there for some great tracks, but others aren’t executed very well. The top holds this album up from a middling score.
Killing Machine is an album that I feel has this mystique and aura to it. It feels like it should be a Priest classic alongside those other albums. But when you go through the whole album, what tracks stick out? “Hell Bent For Leather, “Running Wild”, “Green Manalishi”, “Delivering the Goods”, and maybe “Killing Machine”. The others I believe are skippable. So for that fact, I’m not going to shit on the album too much, but it gets a 7.5/10 from me. It might be the reason why we get the superb British Steel later, but that’s not a good enough reason to give it a higher score.
Judas Priest would fire Les Binks as their drummer after recording the “live” album Unleashed In The East. I won’t be reviewing that one for the main series of Judas Priest-A-Thon, but it’ll for sure be one that I’ll look at later. Their next album would change the course of heavy metal history. You’ll have to check back tomorrow for that one though.
For more on Judas Priest, heavy metal, or anything pop culture related, make sure to check back to That Hashtag Show.
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