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Trollheart · 10-06-2015, 05:29 AM

Sin after sin (1977)

“You have to get on a major record label if you want to survive in this business. Gull ain't gonna do shit for you.” This is the kind of advice Priest were getting from family, friends and colleagues, and it makes sense, particularly in light of how badly their record label had promoted their first two albums and how, consequently, they had both bombed, leaving the boys' future very much in doubt. Thinking about giving up if they didn't hit it big soon, Priest came to the notice of record giant CBS. With the explosion of punk rock across England and stretching further, and the NWOBHM just about ready to break over an unsuspecting country, Judas Priest's brand of aggressive, hard and uncompromising hard rock/heavy metal sound, embryonic on this album but soon to become their signature sound and the template for dozens of bands who would follow them, told CBS that this was a band they should invest in. And they did. Signing a cheque for £65,000 --- surely more money than any of the band members had ever seen to date, or even dreamed of --- they sent Priest into the studio with Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover producing, to work on their third album overall, but in reality their rebirth and a new debut.

You can see a change from the very first notes: there's more purpose, more drive and more hope in Priest. They know they're with a major label and can look forward to supporting large acts such as Foreigner, Led Zeppelin and REO Speedwagon before getting to headline themselves, and it's like a huge weight has been lifted off their collective shoulders. “Sinner” kicks the album off, and it's like they've hit restart and begun again, with the first two albums bad memories they've left behind as they press forward and face a far brighter future. The vocal delivery of Halford is developing into its own sound as he leaves the Plant influence behind, mostly, and they've ditched the idea of keyboards and piano, as Glenn Tipton now concentrates on guitar only, supporting K.K. Downing to give Judas Priest their own identity as they follow Thin Lizzy in the idea of the twin guitar attack, a formula that would work most famously for Iron Maiden a year or two later.

Great solos here and the song seems better constructed all round, though again it's something of a gamble as it does clock up almost seven minutes for an opening track; seems a little overlong to me but they fill it up well. If going with an almost-seven-minute track as an opener was a gamble though, surely that pales compared to thier cover of a Joan Baez song! In truth, “Diamonds and rust” had been recorded by them before, but only appears as a bonus track on the debut. It did give them their first airplay though, and they do a very good version with it; I can hear a lot of what Gary Moore would later adopt as his guitar sound here. This song does sound a little more AOR to me though, but then “Starbreaker” is a down-and-dirty grinding rocker with a menacing vocal from Halford, the sort of thing he should have been doing, in my opinion, on “The Ripper”.

“Last rose of summer” has very much Country overtones, and it's I guess the first real Priest ballad, showing that Halford can tone it down when needed and also displaying the virtuosity of both the guitarists. Good percussion on it too. It does get terribly repetitive at the end, so again too long but a decent song. That Country feel persists a little into the next track, “Let us prey/Call for the priest” which opens on a ringing guitar line then a sort of chant from Halford as he sings ”Call for the priest/ I'm dying!” Guitar is very Brian May here, but then it kicks off and the tempo racks right up as the song jumps up a level. Some great riffing here and a screaming solo that, while relatively short, kicks you right in the teeth.

A bit slower but no less heavy, “Raw deal” is driven on a biting guitar riff from Downing, and uses what may be the first instance of a “downer” lyric in a metal song, when Halford yells ”I hate my life!”, (which at that point, prior to their coming success, perhaps he did) something a lot of the extreme metal bands who would follow in the coming decades would latch onto, to say nothing of punk rock. Good hook in the song, very catchy for a metal track, and showing us what Halford can really do when he cuts loose --- a style Bruce Dickinson would copy --- then we're back in ballad territory, with, I have to say, a guitar line that sounds like it was almost lifted note-for-note two years later by Maiden for “Strange world”. Hmm. “Here come the tears” again showcases the gentler, more controlled aspect of Rob's voice and the introspective side of Downing's fretwork, and I guess you'd have to expect that the idea of putting two ballads on what would have been seen as their relaunch album was a calculated ploy to pull in the more casual listener, not to mention the ladies.

The song ends however on a big booming roll of thunder and takes us into the album closer, which I know from my exploration of Slayer last year, as they covered “Dissident aggressor” on one of their albums. It's a chugalong boogie rocker, a stuttering, military beat driving the melody and Halford really lets loose on the vocals while Downing just goes wild on the guitar. It's a powerful closer and sets their stall out for what was to come in the next few years, as they went from strength to strength and began to tighten their grip on the emerging heavy metal market as the NWOBHM buffeted the shores of Britain.

TRACKLISTING AND RATINGS

1. Sinner
2. Diamonds and rust
3. Starbreaker
4. Last rose of summer
5. Let us prey/Call the priest
6. Raw deal
7. Here come the tears
8. Dissident aggressor

You can certainly hear the winds of change blowing through this album, though at times the band seems unsure as to what direction to go, with some progressive rock influences still evident, trappings that would soon be dropped altogether, and two ballads, something Judas Priest, like Iron Maiden, would not become known for. The switch to a pure guitar/guitar/drums/bass/vocal approach seems to work here, though Tipton did to my mind some fine work on the piano and on the keyboards too. But all of this is in the past now; Judas Priest are looking towards the horizon and the previous two albums are far in the distance, something they no longer wish to be associated with, even today.

And who can blame them, with albums of this quality to demonstrate their prowess?

10-06-2015, 05:29 AM	#2813 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Sin after sin (1977) “You have to get on a major record label if you want to survive in this business. Gull ain't gonna do shit for you.” This is the kind of advice Priest were getting from family, friends and colleagues, and it makes sense, particularly in light of how badly their record label had promoted their first two albums and how, consequently, they had both bombed, leaving the boys' future very much in doubt. Thinking about giving up if they didn't hit it big soon, Priest came to the notice of record giant CBS. With the explosion of punk rock across England and stretching further, and the NWOBHM just about ready to break over an unsuspecting country, Judas Priest's brand of aggressive, hard and uncompromising hard rock/heavy metal sound, embryonic on this album but soon to become their signature sound and the template for dozens of bands who would follow them, told CBS that this was a band they should invest in. And they did. Signing a cheque for £65,000 --- surely more money than any of the band members had ever seen to date, or even dreamed of --- they sent Priest into the studio with Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover producing, to work on their third album overall, but in reality their rebirth and a new debut. You can see a change from the very first notes: there's more purpose, more drive and more hope in Priest. They know they're with a major label and can look forward to supporting large acts such as Foreigner, Led Zeppelin and REO Speedwagon before getting to headline themselves, and it's like a huge weight has been lifted off their collective shoulders. “Sinner” kicks the album off, and it's like they've hit restart and begun again, with the first two albums bad memories they've left behind as they press forward and face a far brighter future. The vocal delivery of Halford is developing into its own sound as he leaves the Plant influence behind, mostly, and they've ditched the idea of keyboards and piano, as Glenn Tipton now concentrates on guitar only, supporting K.K. Downing to give Judas Priest their own identity as they follow Thin Lizzy in the idea of the twin guitar attack, a formula that would work most famously for Iron Maiden a year or two later. Great solos here and the song seems better constructed all round, though again it's something of a gamble as it does clock up almost seven minutes for an opening track; seems a little overlong to me but they fill it up well. If going with an almost-seven-minute track as an opener was a gamble though, surely that pales compared to thier cover of a Joan Baez song! In truth, “Diamonds and rust” had been recorded by them before, but only appears as a bonus track on the debut. It did give them their first airplay though, and they do a very good version with it; I can hear a lot of what Gary Moore would later adopt as his guitar sound here. This song does sound a little more AOR to me though, but then “Starbreaker” is a down-and-dirty grinding rocker with a menacing vocal from Halford, the sort of thing he should have been doing, in my opinion, on “The Ripper”. “Last rose of summer” has very much Country overtones, and it's I guess the first real Priest ballad, showing that Halford can tone it down when needed and also displaying the virtuosity of both the guitarists. Good percussion on it too. It does get terribly repetitive at the end, so again too long but a decent song. That Country feel persists a little into the next track, “Let us prey/Call for the priest” which opens on a ringing guitar line then a sort of chant from Halford as he sings ”Call for the priest/ I'm dying!” Guitar is very Brian May here, but then it kicks off and the tempo racks right up as the song jumps up a level. Some great riffing here and a screaming solo that, while relatively short, kicks you right in the teeth. A bit slower but no less heavy, “Raw deal” is driven on a biting guitar riff from Downing, and uses what may be the first instance of a “downer” lyric in a metal song, when Halford yells ”I hate my life!”, (which at that point, prior to their coming success, perhaps he did) something a lot of the extreme metal bands who would follow in the coming decades would latch onto, to say nothing of punk rock. Good hook in the song, very catchy for a metal track, and showing us what Halford can really do when he cuts loose --- a style Bruce Dickinson would copy --- then we're back in ballad territory, with, I have to say, a guitar line that sounds like it was almost lifted note-for-note two years later by Maiden for “Strange world”. Hmm. “Here come the tears” again showcases the gentler, more controlled aspect of Rob's voice and the introspective side of Downing's fretwork, and I guess you'd have to expect that the idea of putting two ballads on what would have been seen as their relaunch album was a calculated ploy to pull in the more casual listener, not to mention the ladies. The song ends however on a big booming roll of thunder and takes us into the album closer, which I know from my exploration of Slayer last year, as they covered “Dissident aggressor” on one of their albums. It's a chugalong boogie rocker, a stuttering, military beat driving the melody and Halford really lets loose on the vocals while Downing just goes wild on the guitar. It's a powerful closer and sets their stall out for what was to come in the next few years, as they went from strength to strength and began to tighten their grip on the emerging heavy metal market as the NWOBHM buffeted the shores of Britain. TRACKLISTING AND RATINGS 1. Sinner 2. Diamonds and rust 3. Starbreaker 4. Last rose of summer 5. Let us prey/Call the priest 6. Raw deal 7. Here come the tears 8. Dissident aggressor You can certainly hear the winds of change blowing through this album, though at times the band seems unsure as to what direction to go, with some progressive rock influences still evident, trappings that would soon be dropped altogether, and two ballads, something Judas Priest, like Iron Maiden, would not become known for. The switch to a pure guitar/guitar/drums/bass/vocal approach seems to work here, though Tipton did to my mind some fine work on the piano and on the keyboards too. But all of this is in the past now; Judas Priest are looking towards the horizon and the previous two albums are far in the distance, something they no longer wish to be associated with, even today. And who can blame them, with albums of this quality to demonstrate their prowess? __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018