Judas Priest - Hell Bent for Leather (1978)

That Judas Priest could follow up a masterpiece like Stained Class with another great album so quickly was nothing short of a miracle, so I can probably forgive this 1978 successor if it does possess a marginally higher ratio of filler to the truly captivating material. By this time they had proven to be one of the most productive and consistent acts in the hard rock spectrum, destroying peers like Black Sabbath who were starting to dive in quality around this time, and continuing to expand the number of unforgettable songs they could fuse into their existing live sets by at least 3-4 on this very disc. For once, also, we Americans didn't get the short end of the stick: we got the version with the better title, not to mention the Fleetwood Mac cover. Yeah, yeah, fuck you, across-the-ponders.

I kid, of course, but though Killing Machine was a decent and extreme cliche for a metal record in the 70s, Hell Bent for Leather is simply put one of the best album brands I've ever seen among the tens of thousands in memory. However, either is a fitting label for the amount of aggression Priest have put into this record, the primary characteristic which differentiates it from its direct predecessor. Stylistically, there's not much of a gulf between the two, but the chords hit a lot harder, the heavier songs seem a lot more gnarly and vicious. One of the reasons for this is Halford's delivery, which on a tune like "Hell Bent for Leather" or "Take On the World" was downright nasty as he focused more on placing a gritty, barbaric edge to his lower and mid ranged. In fact, the screams don't really define his presence on this album like they did on Stained Class: truly, they still existed, but there is admittedly more variety in general with this album. Not that the vocals are better, necessarily, but it's good to know that Rob had no intention of discontinuing his growth.

I always caught a vibe of an almost science fiction, apocalyptic undercurrent to this record which likely stems from the tapping/effects used in tunes like "Burnin 'Up" or the title track, but really the album seems to travel all over the place. "Take on the World" could be viewed as a progenitor to the whole Manowar, muscle metal trend, since lyrically and musically the New Yorkers have spent over half their career simulating it (even the vocals seem like they had a huge influence on Joey DeMaio). The anthem-esque shouts of the vocal harmonies, the simple cadence of the war drums, and the simple chord structure. They do a huge Zeppelin groove in "Evil Fantasies", an almost KISS-like swagger to "Killing Machine", and a further, bluesy boogie to "Rock Forever" with wild, almost conversational vocals in the verse that burst into incredible screams and chorus harmonies. There's even a straight up, psychedelic/prog rock ballad in "Before the Dawn", which while admittedly is one of the least interesting or impressive on the album, shows that they've still got that same dynamic range they did years earlier on the debut.

But none of those songs are the best here, and in fact a number of them settle into the 'above average' range which ensured you wouldn't be seeing them on a whole lotta set lists. There are four in particular which shine brighter than the remainder. "Delivering the Goods" flexes a little of Glenn Tipton's whammy wanking and tapping as it drives from a memorable, saturated blues metal lick into a total bad ass (though obvious) chorus. "Running Wild" is a prototype power/heavy metal song that even bands like Iron Maiden would emulate (in the central riff), not to mention that, like "Exciter" on the previous album, would transfer over to provide the musical inspiration and moniker of another legendary metal outfit. "Evening Star" has a gorgeous intro with clean guitars that sounds like something The Cult would pull, but explodes into a friendly but truly catchy chorus. And last but not least, one of the finest rock-to-metal transformations in history in the band's cover of "Green Manalishi (with the Two-Pronged Crown)", so good that I feel it surpasses the original Fleetwood Mac version. Pure, mid-gait fuel injection rock & roll under a wailin', bluesy salsa with Les Binks riding that hi-hat for all it's worth.

Ultimately, this is not the crown jewel in the Judas Priest legacy, but it's got enough value that I still find myself listening decades down the line, even through its entirety. The pacing of the record is pretty sweet, but there are only a few points at which it creates that same level of breathless exhilaration that I felt from Sin After Sin or Stained Class. The lyrics are marginally more generic, creating a biker/party atmosphere that lacks the same depth, and it almost seems as if they were providing a blue collar alternative to their more heady material. That said, when it does shine, we're talking 'greatest hits' good for the songs I mentioned in that last 'graph, and the iconic cover image and status as the Les Binks 'swansong' with Priest ensure that it belongs in your collection alongside the more refined ambitions of its elder '78 sibling.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10] (dreams crash one by one to the ground)

http://www.judaspriest.com/

Judas Priest - Stained Class (1978)

Stained Class was the third masterful album in the 1976-1984 'hot streak' of what is indisputably one of England's most exciting bands of the period. Excluding Point of Entry, each of the individual records the band released was overflowing with songwriting envied the world over, and though there were clear 'hits' among the batch, even here, it's the sort of experience you can still sit through today, 30+ years later and enjoy from beginning to end with painfully few hurdles between them. The cover is iconic, rather artsy for its day and age (even compared to the three previous albums) and for some reason always reminds me of wacky sci-fi pinball machines. And I LOVE wacky sci-fi pinball machines, so you know where this is going...

It's often considered to have a 'cleaner' production than its predecessors, a point which I don't exactly debate, but frankly I thought albums like Rocka Rolla and Sad Wings of Destiny sounded great, so all I really heard was that it felt like a more developed set of songs. Rob Halford was starting to grow more and more into his screams, the strut of Ian Hill's bass was a sound anchor to the generally higher pitched guitar line, the bluesy and reined in distortion of the rhythm guitars was very clear while retaining a full body, and Les Binks' steady and polished pounding was pretty intense for the time, if not incredibly adventurous. This album actually had quite a number of moments where the band returned to some of the groovy rocking of the debut, with the Led Zeppelin/Cream feel of the licks, but even here they strike it rich by executing an unflinching sense for catchiness and an atmosphere and aesthetic that places it in the arcades, roller rinks and high schools of the late 70s. In fact, while it might seem a strange observation, I think this was a pretty cool record even for disenfranchised disco fanatics to find shelter in.

There is just so much you could say about "Exciter" alone, but it's only the first track on the album. Rob's chorus has the ability to burn itself straight into your memory, and the shuffling pace of the rhythm guitars in the verse provides one of the more memorable. Lots of little nuances here, like the 'bow to your knees...' break which Venom would later adapt rhythmically into one of their own famous lines. Or the epic transition of the bridge (around 2:00) where they transform it into a near rock opera with the layered harmony. Or the dual melodies deeper in the track which spawned a million impersonators in power metal with their classical rhythmic configuration. The leads are great, not a lick wasted, and it's simply one of the best fucking songs this band has ever written, fairly advanced and progressive when paired up against even the better songs off Sin After Sin or Sad Wings...

Fortunately, the album has a far deeper roster. No one is warming the bench this time out, whether he or she prefers the searing wails over the driving hard blues of "White Heat, Red Hot", the iron grooves and shrill seasonings of "Saints in Hell" which feels like a track Sabbath might have written and passed off to Priest since they know the Birmingham gods could do it much better. The panning of those chords in the bridge is so testosterone inducing epic that you could probably plug in a car battery and some Dr. Emmett Brown pseudo-science and transport yourself back to any major conflict in history. "Savage" makes you want to beat back smilodons with a giant mammoth-bone maul, and then of course you've got "Beyond the Realms of Death" with its glimmering acoustic intro and driving mid-paced metal eruption that I often use as a meter to determine who can or can not be my friend. They also pull out another of their classy covers here with a version of Spooky Tooth's "Better By You, Better Than Me" (from the previous decade) which is so bad ass sexy that members of the opposite (or sometimes, the same) gender will immediately begin gyrating and stripping.

I haven't yet mentioned "Invaders", or "Heroes End", each of which could serve as an alternate energy source for Western civilization once the petrol wells run dry. Stained Class is so saturated in greatness that it almost begins to feel claustrophobic, and there isn't a song written for this which can't turn back the dials of time to a point at which the emerging metal genre felt so fresh, inventive, and lethal. The leads blaze with a bluesy abandon into your subconscious, and Rob's sharp-edged pitch is not something he refrains from using to its fullest here. How many power, trad or speed metal singers do you hear lately that have even a minute fraction of this guy's immediate distinction? Brilliant, slicing harmonies everywhere. The lyrics here also reached a new plateau of restless imagery and relevance, proving that the infant extremity of this genre had the potential for a literary, not pedestrian message. Frankly, I would not have thought it possible that Sin After Sin could be trumped in such a short span of time, but for Judas Priest that took only about a year. Perhaps not a 100% flawless record, there may be a note or two that I scoff at or a riff that sinks below the rest, but nonetheless an essential, timeless experience which is mandatory for anyone who dares call him/herself 'metal'.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.75/10] (faithless continuum, into the abyss)

http://www.judaspriest.com/

Halloween (1978)

I'm going to preface this review by stating that I'm not really a slasher fan. Or perhaps I should clarify: I'm not really a fan of the 'big three' slasher franchises which have corroded the arteries of moviegoers and horror-hos for the past 30 years. Nightmare on Elm Street is irredeemable tripe in its entirety, and while I thought the very first Friday the 13th film had some potential, the franchise's transformation into masked-stabbing-by numbers became an increasing chore to experience. And then, there is Halloween, John Carpenter's legendary film which birthed a thousand copycats, most of which I find just as void of thrills and entertainment as the original...

You read that right. I don't like Halloween. It's a formulaic, predictable piece of film that neither stirs my emotions, ever makes me feel remotely threatened or scared, and never seems to get any more interesting no matter how many second chances I spend with it. Oh, I can appreciate certain elements at play here. In particular, I think John Carpenter did a wonderful job with the synthesizer score, which deserves all its place in horror history as one of the finest in the genre. I like some of his direction choices...some of the film techniques. Like the first-person views, the massive up-front panning shots of Haddonfield's middle America suburb setting. The chance to see the breasts of almost everyone Michael....

*Spoilers and punkin' seeds*

Yeah, but as far as the actual plot, acting and script are concerned? This must be one of the most blase films to ever achieve such an unbelievable cult status. Little Michael Myers murders his sister in cold blood, after we get a nice glimpse of her cleavage of course. No real explanation, the kid is just dead inside. So he gets put away for 15 years, and breaks out, while Dr. Sam Loomis is straight on his heels. So he goes back to his old neighborhood, picks a few teenage girls who he thinks will reveal their tits before he stabs them or strangles them, and gets to work. Man, can Michael pick them! Because two of his three targets do indeed reveal their shapely bon bons before gettin' their dues. But no, not Laurie, she's the smart one, fights back and manages to turn the tide. Or does she? Roll the credits.

Sound like a preposterously basic plot? Because it really is, and in no way is the film gruesome or frightening in the slightest. The titular 'Halloween' is represented only by the fact that it's that time of year in Haddonfield, and there are pumpkins everywhere (and a cool movie poster). It does work in Myers' favor of course that no one questions this creep whose driving or stalking around in the open, during the daytime, because hell, on Halloween even grown ups are allowed to be murderous psychos trespassing and hanging out where they shouldn't be. But really, I'd actually forgive all of these strange little inconsistencies if the film could scare me, but like most of the Friday the 13th sequels, the deaths are all too predictable, and there is not a twist in sight (they attempt a few in the Halloween sequels).

I like Donald Pleasance in general. He was cool in The Great Escape and You Only Live Twice, and he's just pretty average here. Having a 'foil' for the psycho killer is an interesting choice, but it becomes a bit redundant in the subsequent entries to the franchise. Also, this was the film debut for Jamie Lee Curtis, her first 'screen queen' role predating The Fog or Prom Night, but she's really nothing special here either. The teen friends all feel phony. They're basically here to smoke up, be naughty with boys and take their shirt offs so they can be stabbed, so I think the award for 'best role' here would have to go to Nick Castle, who stalks around silently as Michael Myers for $25/day on set and manages to grunt a bit and add a fraction of atmospheric eeriness. He's no Kane Hodder or Gunnar Hansen, but he gets the job done.

Unfortunately, the movie comes across too clean and unsurprising to really resonate with me, and while it's certainly a progenitor for the slasher genre, it was nowhere near as good as those few predecessors it had, like Black Christmas or excellent Texas Chainsaw Massacre (which is admittedly the fourth largest of the useless franchises, but at least built upon a phenomenally fucked up first chapter). I realize it's a pretty old film for its style, but I am four years older and it never even freaked me out as a child.

Needless to say, I'm not popular at parties when it comes to slasher discussions, but I can't help but feel that this is one of those films that is so highly loved and accepted due to its premise alone and what it represented, rather than the actual quality of its less than gripping suspense. And considering just how great other Carpenter films are (The Thing, They Live, Big Trouble in Little China), I can't help but feel that this is just a wee bit overrated...and by a wee bit I mean massively. I don't 'hate' Halloween, it has its strong points (the music and camera style), and it blows Nightmare on Elm Street away, but its premise and 'thrills' are flatline average at best.

Verdict: Indifference [5.5/10]