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.
Stained Class is Judas Priest’s fourth effort and their first with drummer Les Binks. The band learned their lessons from their first two albums and made a fantastic third effort with Sin After Sin. I consider this run of albums from the band to be among the best of any band in history. If it wasn’t for the dud of Point of Entry (that discussion comes next week), they would have gone on a run of albums that would rival anyone, even the great Iron Maiden.
Background on Stained Class
Stained Class is the first of a significant tonal shift for the band. Their first three albums were still grounded in the musical stylings of the 70’s. Lots of space rock influence and possibly some influences by Queen. This is the first time that Judas Priest actually fully became the juggernaut that we all know and love. There’s only one ballad on the album. The rest of the tracks are pure unadulterated British style heavy metal.
It was the first Priest album to have contributions from all of the members during the songwriting process. Ian Hill had his first songwriting credit on the track “Invader”. Les Binks made a massively simple, but effective contribution to “Beyond The Realms Of Death” and that son’g riff. The album would be certified gold later. It continued that streak of gold albums for the band.
In addition to the changes to their lineup, the band changed the font for their logo to better match their new more aggressive sound. This new font would stick around to this day. The album was recorded in October-November of 1977. The producer was Dennis Mackay and it was recorded at the Chipping Norton Recording Studios. Stained Class finally released on February 10th, 1978. It was the highest selling Judas Priest album at the time and the first to crack the Billboard 200 charts in the US. It was a first of many things for Judas Priest and it started their upwards ascent into the stratosphere of Heavy metal.
1. Exciter
Stained Class is like seeing Judas Priest grow up before your eyes. They’ve found what works for them and it translates to an almost perfect album. This album seems to get lost for a bunch of fans. It took many years of listening to Priest before I fully got into the intricacies of this album. After listening to it all the way through for this review, I can safely say that this is among the best that Judas Priest has to offer. It’s a full 10/10 effort from the band. It’s no coincidence that it was their highest charting album at the time.
Stained Class is an album with no weak songs. There isn’t a weak link in this chain. You can point to “Better By You, Better Than Me” for standing out among the songs, but it shares the view of Judas Priest being in your face and aggressive.
Stained Class helped catapult Judas Priest into a new level of success that would culminate in their next run of albums. Because of the lawsuit filed against them, the album is tinged in controversy. Judas Priest have come out against the act of suicide and “Beyond the Realms of Death” is a firmly anti-suicide song. The next album Killing Machine/Hell Bent For Leather would swap out the dark subject matter and intricate song structure for a more commercial sound. You’ll have to check in tomorrow for more on that album.
For more on Judas Priest, heavy metal, or any other general pop culture, check back to That Hashtag Show.
Reviews