Unknown Soldier

Overview
Before the release of British Steel an album often regarded as the band’s most famous and certainly most commercial outing, the band had already started to move gradually in that direction on their previous studio release two years earlier with 1978’s Killing Machine. So after a trio of dark, lyrically disturbing and potent metal albums that reached their full climax on Stained Class (reviewed higher up on this year’s list despite being the earlier release of the two, but it was certainly the stronger) The band would therefore on Killing Machine, adopt a far greater radio-friendly sound on some of the tracks, which were strongly aimed at the US market. But of course the band were not willing to totally neglect their darker side and the band’s infamous subject matter still finds its way onto most of the album’s songs! The album title Killing Machine, would also be re-titled Hell Bent for Leather in the USA, due to the fact that the name Killing Machine was seen as too disturbing in the US market. Killing Machine would be an album far more commercial than any previous Judas Priest album to date and it would also be the album that would usher in the ‘leather and studs’ image of the band, an image that would of course be largely centred around lead vocalist Rob Halford. So depending on your point of view, this ‘leather and studs’ image could be seen as giving metal a greater macho appeal to its multitude of metal acolytes out there, or equally it could be seen as providing metal with a more negative ‘camp image’ that would go onto plague Judas Priest and metal throughout much of the 1980s! Years later Rob Halford’s sexuality would of course explain the ‘leather and studs’ persona and in hindsight it would see him as one of the most flamboyant of lead vocalists by the end of the decade, a decade which of course saw flamboyance in fellow vocalists like then-old boy Freddie Mercury and newbie David Lee Roth. So with all this in mind, Hell Bent for Leather was actually quite an appropriate name, even more so than the far more menacing Killing Machine! Killing Machine as an album though, certainly showed how importantly the band saw commercial appeal not just for themselves but for the metal genre as a whole, as they had surely witnessed the commercial monster that was known as Kiss and thus thought about seeking out a wider appeal for themselves. Killing Machine is quite simply an album that predates the commercial metal trend of the 1980s by a couple of years, but still holds true to the values of metal.

Rob Halford- Vocals
K.K Downing- Guitar
Glenn Tipton- Guitar
Ian Hill- Bass
Les Binks- Drums

Production- Judas Priest

Album
Delivering the Goods- A straightforward opening rocker that would be typical of a lot of future songs by the band, especially with its stripped down sound. Rock Forever- The typical steady second track that was now being employed by the band, which focused largely on a steadier but still at times frantic pace. A quality cut that now has all the hallmarks of the band’s sound and would be one of the singles from the album. Evening Star- With its subtle and atmospheric start, the song soon emerges into one of the album’s most commercial efforts and best known songs. Hell Bent for Leather- One of the most frenzied tracks on the album with its speed metal approach and it focuses on metal’s obsession with motorbikes and speed, a subject area that Saxon would take to their hearts. Take on the World- The band were certainly taking the cue from Queen here, with one of those dreaded anthemic metal songs that the band would compose every so often and which would plague the metal genre in the 1980s. Burnin’ Up- A lurid tale about S&M that is excellently reaccounted by Rob Halford and it’s one of the best tracks on the album to boot as well. The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)- Judas Priest were one of the great metal bands when it came to choosing their cover songs and here they do an excellent metallic cover of the Peter Green Fleetwood Mac version of the song. Killing Machine- The title track is a mid-paced heavier track, that adds real power to the latter part of the album. Running Wild- The band pick up the speed again, with a song about living the frantic nightlife and I reckon German power metal band Running Wild, may well have got their band name from this song. Before the Dawn- A sullen ballad that harks back to the earlier days of the band and it’s an accomplished song as well. Evil Fantasies- One of the few bluesy efforts by the band, which is surprising considering how the band had stripped the blues from much of their sound and the song is another track about S&M.

Verdict
After the mean and complex playing on the legendary Stained Class album, our heavy Brummies decided to strip things back a bit and head into the aforementioned commercial direction and all the rewards that came with with it. Despite this move though, the band didn’t take their foot of the accelerator that much and overall they gave the listener a more stripped back sound in places and focused on more primal guitar leads, rather than the complexities that had been more dominant on Stained Class. This different approach can be heard from the word go on the album opener “Delivering the Goods” which is a good example of this new approach. The album also has some great medium-paced cuts like the excellent “Rock Forever” and also sees the dark tales of the Stained Class album, being replaced by lurid tales that focus around S&M themes, and these can be heard on songs like the excellent “Burnin’ Up” and “Evil Fantasies” then there are tales of hitmen on the actual title track “Killing Machine”. But of course the main focus of this album must surely be on the band’s two highly commercial efforts and on one the band succeed in great style with “Evening Star” but on the other they fail with “Take on the World” which is a commercial anthemic metal track, that really just lets the band down and was really best left to a band like Queen. But the heart and soul of the album, is surely the band’s speedier and heavier efforts such as the US title track “Hell Bent for Leather” and the often forgotten “Running Wild” along with the heavy cover of “The Green Manalishi”. The cover of “The Green Manalishi” is done in the most metal way possible, and it’s a cover that would encourage the likes of the future Melvins and Corrosion of Conformity to also cover the song and finally there is the heavy album closer in “Evil Fantasies” with its excellent metal vocal display. Killing Machine was the perfect prelude for the pivotal British Steel album now just a few years off and whilst not quite being as excellent as that album, Killing Machine is still a great album that is also one of the very first albums to truly usher in a style of metal, that would soon be coined ‘pop metal’ in the 1980s. Both this album and the prior Stained Class serve as a fantastic example, of how a band in the same year were able to pull out not just two great metal albums, but even more impressively two metal albums that are quite distinct in both their make-up and feel. Again the Glenn Tipton and K.K Downing partnership is stellar, with Glenn Tipton writing some of the strongest material on the album.

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