Judas Priest Album: “British Steel”

ahhhhhhhh yesssss one the best metal albums ever .its true sometimes the classic bands are better. this is a excellent cd .old priest as well as metal classics "breaking the law" "grinder" "living after midnight" and countless bands have tried to cover grinder but no one does it like priest ..they are the best metal band ever.hail j.p they rule.get this true metal fans this is a album one has to have to call themselves a metal freak....outta here.

British Steel was my first Judas Priest album, which I bought on casette back in junior high. Thinking back now, I can't remember what turned me onto it. Maybe it was the "Breaking the Law" music video I saw on Beavis and Butthead, but it's not important now. I listen to everything from Marilyn Manson to Cannibal Corpse and British Steel is still one of my top ten favorite metal albums.

It's not bone-crushing heavy, no. It's not that kind of music. I wouldn't call it "pop metal" but it's not lyrically deep or technically complicated. I would relate it most closely to ACDC's Back in Black. It's just real catchy, fun, and good.

It's more than just good melodies. There's a certain punch to it, and I think it's in the delivery. The mid-tempo song like Grinder and Metal Gods get a real good groove going and then just keep it up. It's something about Rob singing those short staccato syllables over the beat. Some of the tracks like Living After Midnight and Don't Have To Be Old To Be Wise have more of a rock 'n' roll feel to them rather than what I think of as metal, but still rock none the less. And of course Rapid Fire is here as the obligatory fast tempo priest screamer with the banshee wail at the end. The Rage, while it does seem out of place on this album (as another reviewer pointed out) with its moody, brooding, sludgey feel and decidedly darker lyrics, becomes one of the album's best tracks with repeated listens. This song always gave me the most colorful mental imagery, though admittedly partly because of misheard lyrics (like early Ozzy, I find rob's voice sometimes garbles itself).

The big picture is that British Steel is a very solid (not one mediocre track to be heard) and fairly diverse collection of classic metal that's best heard while shouting along in one's car on the highway.

THE BAND: Rob Halford (vocals), Glenn Tipton (guitars), K.K. Downing (guitars), Ian Hill (bass), Dave Holland (drums & percussion).

THE DISC: (1980) 9 songs originally clocking in at approximately 36 minutes. This newly digitally remastered edition (2001) contains 2 bonus tracks extending the listen to approximately 45 minutes. Included with the disc is a 6-page booklet containing band photos, song titles, credits and lyrics. Recorded at Trident Studios in Tittenhurst Park (Ascot, England - home to John Lennon and Ringo Starr back in the 70's and 80's). All songs written by Halford, Tipton and Downing. Label - Columbia/Sony.

COMMENTS: "British Steel" is one of those landmark albums - a defining moment in British heavy metal history. Perhaps even on a larger scale than that... heavy metal history (on Earth) - period! Classic songs, 2 big hits ("Living After Midnight" and "Breaking The Law"), dueling heavy metal guitars with melody. The original 9 songs featured no filler - "British Steel" was one of those albums that you could easily listen to without skipping a song. In my opinion, Halford/Tipton/Downing's writing and musicianship were never better than on this album. Judas Priest may have been as good on "Screaming For Vengeance" or "Hell Bent For Leather", but not better. "Steel" has some roaring songs - "Rapid Fire" (my personal favorite of theirs), "The Rage", "Grinder", and the 2 hits mentioned above. The song "Rapid Fire" contains some great lyrics that really portray the feel of the album... "Pounding the world like a battering ram... Fast devastating and desolisating the curse... Leaving a trail of destruction that's second to none" - not to mention Dave Holland's holier than thou drumming on the toughest album cut. "Steel" also featured a 3rd and smaller hit with "United". Slower and melodic heavy tunes - "Metal Gods", "You Don't Have To Be Old To Be Wise" and "Steeler". Bonus tracks - the British anthem "Red, White And Blue" is painful to get through and should have been left off. The live version of "Grinder" is worthy to be included here. I remain one of those skeptics about bonus/extra tracks... I look forward to listening to them, but if they suck, I feel it really downgrades the disc. If an old album absolutely rocks, I often times think why mess with a classic (even if there's plenty of room left on the disc - timewise). "British Steel" is a classic and it belongs on the loftiest of perches... right up there with Britain's other fine exports of the early 80's - like Iron Maiden's "Number Of The Beast", Ozzy's "Blizzard Of Ozz" and Def Leppard's "Pyromania". An easy 5-star review.

This album is extremely good and just about as metal as music can get. Who could possibly criticise an album with classic songs such as 'Grinder', 'Breakin the law', 'Living after midnight' and 'Rapid fire'

Judas Preist ruled then and they still rule now.

This album may be old and the recording methods may not do as much justice to the songs as the methods used today but this is still an extremely fine example of TRUE BRITTISH HEAVY METAL!

Thus album deserves a place in your collection, order it today!

Ok, here's the deal with "British Steel." When I bought it, I liked Priest but they were nowhere near close to my favorite group of all time (which they have been for some time now). I bought this very CD, the 1990 original pressing, so I heard it the way it is meant to sound (i.e., not the remastered version). But the album tracks really failed to grab me then. After a few forced listens (i.e., trying to like it) I gave up on this album and sold the disc.

Some time later I couldn't walk away from a good deal on "Painkiller" which I then loved in its entirety as an album. Priest was back in my life. "Vengeance" was soon acquired, and then that pretty much opened the floodgates. Over a year later I reacquired "British Steel" (the original again - which is the item that this review is posted under), since by then I had the rest of the group's classic catalog, so I needed it for completeness' sake.

And I discovered with amazement, on the first listen of my second ownership of it, that "British Steel" is, in fact, one of the group's best albums.

Standard listening equipment: car audio - JVC KD-S680 mated to a 1990 fully restored JBL sound system (3-way + 2-way speakers, amp), the entire system original (Lincoln Mark VII) except for the head unit; home audio - Yamaha RX-V1300 AV receiver, Acoustic Research 3-way speakers (circa 1990 as well, also restored to the original condition).

.......It may well be that I now appreciate "British Steel" (1980) more because in the context of Priest's catalog it forms a sort of a vantage point. On the one hand, knowing "Stained Class" and "Hell Bent" (both 1978 albums, "Hell Bent" released stateside in 1979) you can clearly see the ways in which those two predecessors shaped it and how "British Steel" really merges the best features from both albums into a new sound. Thus "Living After Midnight" continues in the hard rock tradition of the "Hell Bent" album and "United" is another stadium chant in the vein of "Take On The World." But the remainder of "British Steel" is pure heavy metal! And that's where this album sounds more like "Stained Class" than "Hell Bent," only that sound has now widened and become immediate (some have described it as a sellout; not this reviewer).

On the other hand, it was only after having listened to the albums that followed that I appreciated "You Don't Have To Be Old To Be Wise" - in fact it became my favorite song on "British Steel." This (foolishly dismissed as childish by allmusic) was the first of those trademark "I'll live my life my way" Priest songs, followed later by such classics as "Heading Out To The Highway," "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" (do people even listen to the words ever???), "Rock Hard Ride Free"... you get the point. Sure, the subject matter was more than hinted at in "Running Wild" but "You Don't Have To Be Old" does not just state the objective, it presents a lengthy diatribe directed against "being programmed" and having "ties" in life. This, lyrically more immediate, song then illuminates the meaning of "Grinder" behind whose legendary riff hides a message along much the same lines - Rob's "inclined to wander off the beaten track," holds "a license for self-reliance on this earth" and has "no use for routine" (represented by the Grinder). Whoa - this is hardly some childish rebellion babble! I would call it a fairly well-stated philosophy (especially coming from a bunch of guys who lived what they preached). And then you listen to "Living After Midnight" in light of that message and the whole thing kind of falls into place all of a sudden, doesn't it.

"British Steel", then, is a remarkably cohesive album. Priest's message is on display for the first time with relentless focus and consistency, spanning the full range of ruminations both profound and silly. But all of that would surely fall on deaf ears had the music been anything short of brilliant. Luckily - brilliant is the word - the timeless classics here range from the elegantly menacing "Grinder" to the anthemic stompers "Living After Midnight" and "United", to finally the driving, empowering, uplifting freedom and self-reliance anthems "You Don't Have To Be Old" and the epic closer "Steeler". Oh, yeah, and then there's that "Breaking The Law" song. "Rapid Fire," "Metal Gods" and "The Rage" are all excellent compositions as well. There is not a wasted second here.

Folks, this is one of the greatest albums of all time. That being said, please do your ears a favor and get the original CD while you still can, those are the best and sound amazing. Discover and enjoy!