Search - Judas Priest :: Sad Wings of Destiny

Classic, and Greatly Underrated Heavy Metal \m/

Iggyb387 | New York | 09/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first time I heard this Judas Priest album, the only Judas Priest albums I knew were Painkiller, Screaming For Vengeance and British Steel, Priest's heavier and more popular. Upon first my listen to this album, I was pleasantly surprised to hear a sound closer to hard rock, reminescent of Deep Purple and "Paranoid"-era Black Sabbath. This album soon became my favorite in Priest's discography. So, without further ado, here's my review.



In 1974 Judas Priest released their debut album "Rocka Rolla". This album faced poor sales and public reception. This was mostly due to producer Rodger Bain having too much say in the production of that album. The sound quality simply sucked. And many Judas Priest songs that later became stage classics, such as "The Ripper" and "Tyrant" were left out. In 1975, Judas Priest changed things around by hiring a new producer and taking part in the production. The end result, a 39 minute long masterpiece. And now for the obligatory song-by-song breakdown.



1. Victim Of Changes- This song became an instant stage classic for Judas Priest. Rob Halford delivers an almost inhuman vocal performance. And Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing deliver some blistering guitar solos. This and Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" are commonly regarded as the two representative songs of metal. Oddly enough, "Victim of Changes" is infact a medley of "Whiskey Woman" a song that was already a Judas Priest classic (different band, same name) and "Red Light Lady", a song by Rob Halford's former band Hiroshima. The vocals, lyrics and instruments are nearly perfect in this classic. 10/10



2. The Ripper- Another Judas Priest stage classic. The haunting opening riff will be stuck in your head for weeks. The lyrics talk of "Jack the Ripper" (well, obviously). The vocal performance by Halford is perfect as always. Simply amazing song in general. 9/10



3. Dreamer Deceiver- This is my personal favorite song from the album. An beautiful ballad with some amazing singing by Rob Halford, followed by one of Priest's best guitar solos, and ending with a haunting scream by Rob Halford. Lyrically, this song is only second to Victim Of Changes. The album in general is one of few Priest albums with good lyrics. This is a song that I can listen to all day long. However, this song is not the most popular of Priest songs, for no possible reason that I can think of. An underrated masterpiece. 10/10



4. Dreamer Deceiver- The slow ballad of Dreamer Deceiver kick into high gear. Yet another stunning vocal performance by Rob Halford (surprise surprise). One of the fastest songs on the entire album. Not as great as its predecessor but still a good song. 8/10



5. Prelude- This one might catch the casual Judas Priest listener off guard. This is a completely instrumental track featuring a horn with some piano accompaniment. A good segue into the next track. 7/10



6. Tyrant- This is one of the heavier songs on the album. Usually a fan favorite but I am not a huge fan of it. Love the vocals and lyrics though. 8/10



7. Genocide- Another one of the heavier songs on this album. It borders thrash metal. This features an insane guitar riff that you will be humming for quite a while after listening to this song. One of the best vocal performances on the album, including some multi channel vocals "Slice to the left! Slice to the right! None to retaliate! None will fight!" similar to "Dissident Aggressor" on the album "Sin After Sin". Much better than "Tyrant", even though few will agree with me on this. 9/10



8. Epitath- Another surprise upon first listen. Judas Priest drops the electric guitars and drums for a beautiful albeit "schmaltzy" piano ballad with some great thought-provoking lyrics. And it makes a perfect segue into the next track. 9/10



9. Island Of Domination- Ah, this is one of the Judas Priest track with serious and obvious double entendres. Starting with a great scream by Rob Halford and featuring some, dare I say, funky guitar riffs through out this song is probably the most fun to listen to on this album. And Halford's shrieks, as well as high pitch screams, are almost godly. 10/10



An influentual and very underrated Heavy Metal classic."

Yes this is the master forget all the rest snapper gull Line

I am the famous Ralph Buttawitz | USA | 06/24/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
I don't know how the Japanese did it but they got the master the real master and now you hear all the detail that I remember so well 25 years ago when I heard the lp's mainly the picture disc and the rca vinyl. This is the one"