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Yes indeed, today’s a review of Judas Priest’s classic 1980 release, British Steel. I have to admit that when I was growing up, I wasn’t the biggest Priest fan. Like a lot of bands my parents listened to, they played the snot about them. Maybe not 24/7, but enough that I would hear songs rattling in my heads for days. Bands like AC/DC, and singers like Ozzy Osbourne, I didn’t manage to enjoy them until recent years, and Judas Priest definitely belongs to this group. Now there are many albums of their’s that I enjoy, some of which are older, and othesr new. Before I get to them, I wanna get to one that’s a favorite of fans, and with that said, let’s look at their 1980 classic, British Steel!
Background
Coming off of Killing Machine/Hell Bent For Leather, Judas Priest brought back the commercial sound that they established in their previous album, but there were some relatively big differences with British Steel. They partially abandoned some of the darker lyrical choices from previous albums, the songs were written only by the current band members of that time, and they used analog recordings of smashing milk bottles, billiard cues, and trays of cutlery, thanks to the lack of Digital Sampling. British Steel was released on April 14, 1980 to universal applause among fans & critics. On May 11, 2010, the album was released to celebrate it’s 30th anniversary. Included with this addition was a DVD and CD of a live show that was recorded in late 2009, as part of a anniversary tour for the album.
Basic Description
Deserves every bit of praise it gets!
Although British Steel has a more commercial feel than Judas Priest’s previous album, what it gets in more mainstream vibes, it puts out some of the most well-crafted Heavy Metal songs of all time. Each individual tune had a lot of love & care put into them: the instrumentation is top notch, the vocals are superb (Rob Halford’s trademark screech is used to full effect when it shows up), and the overall mood that the album creates is definitely a metal mood. Although there are some weak points, British Steel is an otherwise fantastic album. One in which metal heads should listen to a couple times, if not outright buy the album.
Best Songs
There’s a two-way tie for best songs off of British Steel. Not only are they the best, but they also happen to be my favorites as well!
The first is the album’s opening tune, Rapid Fire. The standout feature of this song is the speed: the guitars & drums play along at a rate that you’d expect someone to slip up, but this isn’t the case. They’re played fast to be sure, but they also happened to be playing steadily as well. Halford singing is equally impressive, as he’s singing pretty fast, but not quite as fast as the instruments that are being played. Simply put, Rapid Fire is the kind of song that you listen to when you’re breaking the speed limit as you’re driving on down the road.
Rapid Fire
The other hit off of this album is Rapid Fire’s diametric opposite, Metal Gods. I don’t mean opposite in terms of quality, cause this song is equally as good as the previously mentioned tune. The instrumentation is great, as well as the vocals. What makes this Rapid Fire’s opposite is it’s speed. Metal Gods is played much more rhythmically, almost to the point when it feels like a church chant. Adding to this rhythm is when the chorus kicks in, as the vocals become almost droning in nature. You’ll definitely feel a bit of whiplash when you transition from Rapid Fire to this little ditty!
Metal Gods
I must give an honorable mention to the song You Don’t Have To Be Old To Be Wise before I move on. This isn’t necessarily a horrible song by any means: the instrumentation is played well enough, and Mr. Halford brings his patented screech to the table at one point. I just feel that the previously mentioned articles are a little dated sounding than most of the other songs on British Steel. What I really like is the message of this song: simply put, it’s basically stated that you don’t have to be an old person to be a smart person. Sometimes, a little ambition & drive can make you a clever individual, and I can definitely get behind this message!
You Don't Have To Be Old To Be Wise
Worst Songs
Oooooooh Boy! Where to begin....
First off, I’ll talk about two songs that are outright duds! Right off the bat we have United, an incredibly weak piece of music. Of all the songs on this album, this one sounds the most dated Although this plays about as slows as Metal Gods did, it doesn’t have the drive that the previously mention song has. On top of that, there a big patriotic “Us vs Them” mentality going on as the song plays. It gets annoying rather quickly, and you’ll probably watch to chuck the album in a flaming garbage can. Another patriotic style song is the incredibly cheesy Red, White & Blue, which can only be found on the reissue of British Steel. Again, this is about as patriotic as United was, and has about as many problems, I give this song a little length of rope, since said cheesy factor gets to me sometimes. Still not a great song, but nothing unbearable.....which is where we get to the other bad songs on this album, and where things get a little personal.
United
Red, White & Blue
Like I said earlier, I wasn’t a big fan of Judas Priest growing up. With my parents playing them somewhat frequently, it was really hard to get into them. Of the songs that they played, Breaking The Law & Living After Midnight were the ones I heard the most. Even to this day, I still can’t bring myself to like these two songs. I feel that they’re both the same: generic instrumentation, weak singing, and incredibly commercial. Out of these two, I am willing to give Breaking the Law a chance from time to time. It’s just as generic as Living After Midnight, but at least there’s some variation with the instrumentation. There’s at least some variation with the singing, and there’s at least some form of drive. Again, not my favorite song by a long shot, but I’m willing to give it a try when it’s on the radio.
Breaking the Law
Living After Midnight
Overall Impression & Rating
Like I said earlier, British Steel deserves every bit of praise it gets. There are certainly some shortcomings, but they done completely take away how good this album is. This album was definitely at the spearhead of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, which crashed onto our shores and definitely left it’s mark. If you’re curious about Judas Priest, of if you just want to add a classic to your metal collection, then pickup British Steel while you can!
British Steel gets a 8.5 out of 10
See you soon!
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