Over a week ago, I talked about Wizards Of The Coast’s collaboration with The Trevor Project in the form of Pride Across The Multiverse (Read here for details). That is a pretty cool thing for a big company to do, but there’s more than one way to spread around some color! Sometimes, Heavy Metal has been a surprising paintbrush when it comes to spreading around the rainbow of the LGBTQ community, and the frontman of the legendary Judas Priest is the greatest artist in this regard. Himself a member of the LGBTQ community, he’s always held up the torches of Heavy Metal & Gay Rights aloft, and whether intentionally or not, Judas Priest released an album that is seemingly made for those who live among the rainbow. So let’s not waste anymore time, and take a look at my review for Judas Priest’s final album of the 80s, Ram It Down. Colors baby!
Background
The years 1986 to 1988 were interesting & dark for Judas Priest. Rob Halford’s lifestyle was chaotic at this point, as his drug addiction was out of control, but that would pale in comparison to seeing his boyfriend flat-out kill himself right in front of him in his own home, and he himself would try to take his own life not long after. Fortunately, he would get his life back on track, purging himself of drugs and forsaking alcohol, resulting in him going on his first sober world tour in a decade. During this, the band wanted to try to put out a double-album release. Titled Twin Turbos, one record would have more commercial sounding & feeling tracks, while the other record would contain the heavier tunes. Columbia Records ditched this idea, and opted to release both CDs on their own. One would be Turbo (Potentially more on that later this year), and the other would be the album I’m talking about today, Ram It Down. Released on the 17th of May, 1988, there were 4 songs that were actually written for the original product. Ram It Down, Hard As Iron, Love You To Death, and Monsters Of Rock would ultimately wind up on this release.
Commercially, Ram It Down actually did a fine job. It wound up at no. 31 on the Billboard 200 charts in the United States, and in July of 1988 it would earn gold certification for shipments of over 500,000 copies, and in 2001 it would have a re-issue with 2 bonus tracks. Not bad if you ask me. Ironically, critical reaction was actually fairly negative, with the arguments that Judas Priest failed to produce anything new, and the song-writing was inferior to prior records.
Basic Description
Gay as hell......but metal as hell!
Okay, that description is somewhat misleading. Make no mistake: the energy of the rainbow is very evident on this album. Whether intentionally or not, Rob Halford seems to be planting the seeds of him coming out of the closet just a few short years later with this record, as there is more than one song that maybe has some gay undertones to the lyrics. Even if this wasn’t the case, there are more than enough coincidences that connect this album to the rainbow, so to speak.
But putting that aside, what about the music itself? Well, Ram It Down might be one of Judas Priest’s heaviest albums of the 1980s! In comparison to the safer vibes of Turbo, this album is considerably more brutal & heavy. The instrumentation is hard hitting, Rob Halford’s singing cuts like a knife through butter, and the overall package is just a considerably more meaty feast when put right next to the more commercial nature of their last album. It’s somewhat ironic I say that, but I’ll get to why in a bit.
Best Track
There’s a bevy of badass songs on this album, but the title track is just a monster! Right away you’re treated to one of Rob Halford’s patented shrieks, which immediately afterwards tears into a thunderstorm of guitars, bass, & drums, and it never lets up throughout it’s entire run time. Of course, there’s the lyrics. On the surface, it’s about a bunch of people getting together for a badass race through the city, complete with equally badass metal. If you decide to dig a little bit into the subtext, then there are more than enough connections to the LGBTQ community to not be coincidental. It’s all the more hilarious when some homophobic metalheads bitch about gay people “Infiltrating” their music, when rainbows have always been within metal.....if you listen just right.
Ram It Down
Of course, I gotta talk about the two other tracks that have gay undertones also! Like the title track of this album, there is great instrumentation, as well as top notch vocal work from Rob Halford. As with the above song, these two tunes have some obvious gay undertones. Hard As Iron is basically a song about BDSM with threads of rainbows sewn into it’s fabric, while Come And Get It.....I don’t think I even need to explain that one!
Hard As Iron
Come And Get It
Worst Track
Like I said earlier, Ram It Down wasn’t supposed to be it’s own record. It was originally meant to share the spotlight with Turbo under the dual-album concept of Twin Turbos. Turbo was going to feature Heavy Metal/Hard Rock that was more melodic & commercial, while Ram It Down had less synth in it, and was considerably heavier. While both albums are fine on their own (I confess that Turbo is somewhat of a guilty pleasure), it obvious that these two were meant to be together, as there’s just something missing if you listen to just one album or the other. One album is Yin & the other is Yang, and they’re both separated from each other.
Other
If you’re curious about listening to this album, click on the link below:
Ram It Down
Overall Impression & Rating
Ram It Down definitely isn’t for everybody. You had one extreme with the more commercially oriented Turbo, and you have the other hand with this release, which is definitely a much heavier record. Personally, I love exceptionally heavy albums, and as such I love this one. It’s got an issue or two for sure, but if you can get past them, then you’re in for a treat!
Ram It Down gets an 7.5 to 8 out of 10.
And that was my review for Judas Priest’s concluding album of the 1980s. Ram It Down may not be one of the band’s most amazing releases, but it’s definitely one that still has some oomph to it. Hardcore fans will definitely devour it, but it’s definitely an album that is meant for the curious. So with that, June is near us, and I’ve got what may very well be my most experimental Summer Festival to date in the works. See you soon!
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