By the Power of Judas Priest...I SUMMON TOWNSMAN MWALL!

10/31/07 | by Mr. Moderator

Townsman, please explain to me why, based on the random samplings I've heard of Judas Priest's music since their late-70s prime, they have always struck me as the best of the second-generation, barely blues-based Heavy Metal bands. Last night I was watching a VH-1 documentary on the making of their breakthrough album, British Steel, I think it's called. I remembered a lot of those songs, and the album tracks had their merits too, even while I sniggered through the more Spinal Tap elements. This morning, while eating breakfast and catching some pre-work tube, VH-1 broadcast some cheesy response to Billy Idol called "Turbo Lover". Even that song was better than the second-generation heavy metal (and Hair Metal) competition. You know more about this band than I do. Please explain what I'm feeling. Thanks.

5 comments » •

5 comments

Comment from: mwall [Member]

They're the most structured, pop, nuanced, and even original band of that particular context. If you'll accept the overly broad frame of reference, they're clearly more Beatles than Stones--which is relatively rare in metal, as you know.

Every time they dumbed it down, they sold even more records, of course.

10/31/07 @ 23:52

Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]

Yes, this sounds about right. Thanks.

This being said, and this verifying my belief that they're the best second-generation heavy metal band, what does this really say about the genre and, more broadly, about music?

10/31/07 @ 23:59

Comment from: mwall [Member]

I'd never seen that "Turbo Lover" video, by the way. It's funny, actually, and pretty consciously so, I think. Their late 80s albums really scrape the bottom of the barrel though, with only one or two bearable songs.

I don't have much clue about what it says about anything larger; they were a great antidote to the church music I grew up with, and my parents were mystified by my interest in a way that was quite satisfying at 15. The early records had a lot of appeal for someone who'd grown up reading Poe and Lovecraft, I suppose.

11/01/07 @ 00:11

Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]

Good stuff, Mwall. I was kidding a bit about the greater meaning, but I'm glad I got a broader perspective out of you. In listening to that British Steel stuff, I realized that Judas Priest speaks to more broad musical values than I would have suspected.

11/01/07 @ 01:04

Comment from: mwall [Member]

They've got plenty of pop hooks, I think. Of the big-time drama metal sort often, but still.

11/01/07 @ 11:26

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