Judas Priest Album: “Stained Class [Bonus Tracks]”

The title of this review might sound a bit much, but let me explain my theory. In my view, heavy metal is a distinct creature from hard rock. Prior to this album, there were plenty of hard rock bands playing and producing excellent, timeless music, including Sabbath, Rainbow, Deep Purple, Zepplin, Motorhead, etc. The above bands played very heavy music, but I have to stop short of calling it "metal" as we know it. The elements of the blues were still very much in evidence in these bands albums, and in my opinion it is the elimination of the blues sound that gave birth to metal. This is not to say that all hard rock bands are equal, nor do I mean to equate Foreigner with Deep Purple. It is the delivery and subject matter that has always distinguished a groundbreaking band (Black Sabbath) and a record company darling like Aerosmith.

Of course, I do not mean to rip on the predecessors of Priest; far from it. I completely worship Black Sabbath, I think they are the greatest band of all time. But the signifigance of Stained Class lies in the straight ahead, classically influenced style of the band, using choppy power chords almost exclusively combined with vocals which make a strong effort to be operatic (however, instead of opera, what came out of Halford was a unique and disturbing vocal style. Halford gives the most unique performance of his career here, I've never heard anything quite like his vocals on this album). The blues sound that they experimented with previously is completely absent, and gives rise to something altogether new - heavy metal!

Stained Class is difficult to describe, and can be difficult to get into because it is actually a very strange album. I have listened to it hundreds of times and I still hear it in a different way every time. This is a misunderstood masterpiece in the best possible way. Judas Priest ushered in a new style of music that has endured ever since.

To me, Stained Class may be the last of its kind. I love all Priest (At least with Halford), but I think that Stained Class was the last time that Priest were so serious (well Exciter isn't 100 percent serious), so dark, so epic and intense. Also, I think it is Priest's heaviest album before Painkiller (Especially for the time). There is not one song that is filler, there is not even one second on this album that is wasted. The jazzy, progressive influenced Les Binks (who departed one record and one live album after this) would be greatly missed and replaced by the far more pedestrian Dave Holland (though he was great on Priest...Live), also contributes riffs and ideas to one of the greatest epic ballads of all time, Beyond the Realms of Death.

We begin with Exciter, which like Painkiller after it, flaunts their new drummer's amazing double bass skills. I would defy anyone to find songs that were played this fast for this time (other than say, Motorhead or others, BUT then again maybe not) and also as intense. Congratulations Priest, you just invented speed metal!

White Heat, Red Hot is just as the title says, a 70's metal (beyond proto-metal at this point) firestorm of hot riffage, and vocal intensity.

Better By You, Better than Me is another classic, its a cover, but I sincerly think that Priest made it their own (in the same way that Led Zeppelin made their (uncredited) cover of Jake Holmes' Dazed and Confused their own).

Stained Class continues the onslaught of METAL intensity, and its just another example of Halford's progressively genius lyric writing. Halford's lyrics cut much deeper (in my opinion) back then, whether he was contemplating the meaning of life, doing some type of social commentary, or even discussing a mythological beast, he wrote about it all back then!

Invader is another classic, and Saints in Hell makes its doomier prescence known. Savage is lyrically similar to the later Iron Maiden song "Run to the Hills", and Beyond the Realms of Death and Heroes End end the album in intense precision.

To me, this is one of the essential metal albums. It defines "thinking man's metal" even before the term was invented (and before "heavy metal" itself was a widespread term), and is the forerunner to nearly every progressive, epic or power metal band that came later. Its all there, contained within these grooves, or now laser etchings.

Priest to me would get more and more mainstream after this release, and even though thats not bad, I still think this had more of an impact in the history of metal than some of the later albums.

Pretty much all the songs are heavy and somewhat fast on this album (other than the ballad) and it doesn't let up. Its almost like Priest's version of Deep Purple's In Rock, or their Master of Reality.

In 1978 when disco and punk were unescapable and doom metal was declining Judas Priest were unknowingly raising the bar to unseen levels. This is the third of the famous trilogy of Sad Wings of Destiny, Sin After Sin, and Stained Class. This album was not a chart monster or a grammy winner, so why do people listen to it today? Because nothing else matched its power or intensity back then, it was and is true metal done the right way. This was the only thing that matched the heyday of Black Sabbath.

1. Exciter 10/10 the best introduction to a Priest album, just perfect from the drum intro to the solo to the dual harmony, just perfect.

2. White Heat, Red Hot 10/10 equally as awesome as exciter Halford is one of a kind and the solo is amazing.

3. Better By You Better Than Me 9/10 a cover, more rock than metal but still it's great song.

4. Stained Class 10/10 the title track, highly underrated this is speed metal Halford shows why he is a metal god and the solo is in human.

5. Invader 10/10 an intro that is out of this world, while it is not as good as the previous song it is still good, very strong.

6. Saints in Hell 6/10 I don't understand the fascination with this song, it doesn't have a solo, the lyrics are at some places very cheesey and it is too long. this is overrated.

7. Savage 8/10 a great song a great message

8. Beyond the Realms of Death 20/10 The best Priest song ever, and the best metal ballad ever. Halford shows why he is the best in metal. Tipton with his soulful and powerful bluesy solo and Downing with his fast and mighty wah laced solo. Godly. There would be no Fade to Black without this song.

9. Heroes End 10/10 pays tribute to Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix with awesome solos how is that not good.

The bonus tracks are alright. Stained Class is my favorite Priest album and enjoy reccomending it to you, so get it now!

This is the first heavy metal record ever in my opinion. Even though Black Sabbath wrote some of the first heavy metal songs, they were mostly a hard rock band. You cannot be a metalhead without respecting/owning Stained Class. It influenced tons of other metal bands: Death, Iced Earth, Metallica, Anthrax and Pantera just to name a few.

As for the quality of the music, it's top notch NWOBHM. The bass drumming on here is fast and powerful. Also, there is also plenty of dual soloing courtesy of K.K. Downing and Glen Tipton.

1. Exciter - 5/5

2. White Heat, Red Hot - 5/5

3. Better By You, Better Than Me - 4.5/5

4. Stained Class - 5/5

5. Invader - 3.5/5

6. Saints In Hell - 4.5/5

7. Savage - 4/5

8. Beyond The Realms Of Death - 5/5

9. Heroes End - 4/5

From the pentultimate heavy metal band, you might be suprised that the first three records (1974-1977) were not your typical "heavy metal". However, it was the fourth record,'Stained Class' (1978), added a big dose of distorted guitars and a lot of the lyrical mythology associated with metal music. The only exception is the seemingly pop-ish Spooky Tooth cover, "Better By You Better Than Me", although the song has taken on a sinister life of its own as it was the subject matter of a lawsuit in the late 1980s where the parents of two teens alleged that it contained a subliminal message ("Do It!") that caused their children to commit suicide. Perhaps that is why this song (long out of the live repetoire by the last 1980s) was, almost defiantly, added back to the 1990 tour setlist - as reflected in the live version included here. (FYI: Another song from that 1990 LA show, "Leather Rebel", is included in the 'Painkiller' remaster.)

The other extra track, "Fire Down Below", is an outtake from the 'Ram It Down' sessions (1987) that is actually one of the better studio songs added on this remasters series. The quality of this and the live cover tune means that THIS reissue is worthy of 4 stars.