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 would have a heavy weight to reproduce after creating one of the landmark albums of heavy metal. Sad Wings of Destiny turned the genre on it’s head. The studs and leather still were a couple years away, but they had found that sound. Their sound would evolve even more on their following effort, Sin After Sin. Armed with a new recording contract, some actual cash to record the album and eat, Judas Priest went back in the tank.
Background on Sin After Sin
Judas Priest was finally released from their contract with Gull Records. In return for this, they had to give up the rights and recordings to their first two albums. Gull Records would profit massively from this, re-issuing, re-releasing, and re-packaging these first two albums multiple times over. If you ever see the Judas Priest collection Hero Hero, it’s just these first two albums put into one package. I almost fell for this early on in my Judas Priest listening career. So for those reading, just stick with the single CD’s if you’re going for that complete collection.
Sad Wings of Destiny caught the attention of CBS Records. The signed with CBS and got a £60,000 budget for the recording. The only thing that was left was actually sitting down and putting tracks on. Following Sad Wings of Destiny they needed a catchy title for an album. Luckily, someone had the bright idea of taking inspiration from one of their previous tracks. “Genocide” gave them the name for the new album from the lyric “sin after sin”. Sin After Sin was recorded in January of 1977. Production took place at the Pinewood Studios in London. Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover would serve as producer.
The band wouldn’t avoid some turmoil while recording though. All along, they wanted to produce the album themselves after the shitshow of recording Rocka Rolla. They fired Glover after one day, and went on with the show. After multiple weeks of subpar recordings, they relented and asked Glover back. They only had six days left of time in the studio. They also drummer Alan Moore and replaced him with session musician Simon Phillips. Sin After Sin released worldwide April 8th, 1977. Let’s get on with the review.
1. Sinner
Sin After Sin is an admirable follow-up to Sad Wings of Destiny. Where that album had classic after classic Judas Priest song on it, this one is a bit more subdued. You have classics like “Sinner” and “Diamonds and Rust” combined with underrated gems like “Starbreaker”, “Dissident Aggressor”, and “Call For The Priest”. The album doesn’t quite get to that peak that they set for themselves though. Sin After Sin just barely goes under that album’s perfect score. So I’m going to give it a 9/10 because some of the tracks on this album are more generic sounding and in the case of “Last Rose of Summer” aren’t even Judas Priest songs in my mind.
Judas Priest would get their first commercial hit on the charts with Sin After Sin. It didn’t do well in America at all until much later, but it continued their streak of eleven straight gold albums. They would get some new looks after this album, including a new logo. The gothic style logo was generic and didn’t accurately fit what the band would turn into. So that’s a welcome change. The band did make their first trip to the US on tour with R.E.O. Speedwagon and Foreigner for this album.
Conclusion to Sin After Sin
Sin After Sin continued the evolution of heavy metal for Judas Priest and the rest of the world. It’s use of double bass drum was innovative and set the standard for the genre after it. On tour they replaced session drummer Simon Phillips with Les Binks, who would remain their drummer for their next two albums. The album was a launching point for Judas Priest into the rest of the world.
Check back tomorrow for the follow-up to Sin After Sin, Stained Class. An album that is near and dear to many Priest fans.
For more on Judas Priest, heavy metal, or any other general pop culture, check back to That Hashtag Show.
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