I know I should probably get off my ass and start reviewing new releases, like Megadeth’s Th1rt3en, Mastodon’s The Hunter, or the thing I’m really dreading: Metallica and Lou Reed’s Lulu. But you know what, Judas Priest just came to town and it was fucking awesome so I’m going to review one of their albums and you’re just going to have to accept that.
Painkiller is essentially Priest’s last classic album, which shouldn’t come as a surprise given that their next two albums had Ripper Owens on them. But even since Halford returned to Priest they haven’t managed to put out a completely solid album.
Priest has often been a band that has a hit then a lull but prior to this album they suffered majorly from the very misguided Turbo and it’s only slightly less retarded brother Ram it Down. Now for most bands it might take a few albums to get back on track but amazingly Priest did it in just one. Painkiller is easily Priest at their most metal. Clearly the rise of 80s thrash had had somewhat of an impact on them and that was channeled into their most ferocious album.
The best song on the album is easily “Painkiller” (a few years later it would be covered by Death, showing just how metal it really was). Songs like “One Shot at Glory”, “Leather Rebel” and “Night Crawler” also help to carry the album. But it’s hard to overlook stuff like “Metal Meltdown” which feels more like metal-by-numbers.
Still it’s impressive to see Priest be this aggressive given that their a band who has always stayed closer to the hard rock side of metal, rather than the more grinding metal side. All in all Painkiller shows that a band whose heyday is waning can still be innovative and put out a damn good album.
Painkiller
One Shot at Glory
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