Tag: Diamonds And Rust

Judas Priest – ‘Hero, Hero’ (1981) – Album Review (The Complete Albums Collection Series)

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Judas Priest originally was signed to Gull Records for their first two albums. They moved on from them and when Priest started getting big in 1980 with ‘British Steel’ and before their next album in 1981 ‘Point of Entry’, the label decided to capitalize on that rise in popularity and released a greatest hits compilation called ‘Hero, Hero’. The songs on the compilation were from both ‘Rocka Rolla’ (1974) and ‘Sad Wings of Destiny’ (1976). Actually it was all of ‘Rocka Rolla’ and only 6 songs from ‘Sad Wings’. What made it interesting though was that the songs from ‘Rocka Rolla’ had been remixed in 1981 by Rodger Bain and so was the song ‘Diamonds and Rust’.

The compilation I have on CD is a re-issue under the Koch Records label. What makes it different is that the songs from ‘Rocka Rolla’ are not the remixed songs. They are actually the original versions from the album. So, it is not quite as collectible as the original 1981 issue. However, the “Diamonds and Rust” song is still the remixed I believe. Instead of doing the songs in order from the original albums, they have altered the listing a little. The band is Rob Halford, K.K. Downing, Glenn Tipton and Ian Hill. There are two drummers since they changed so frequently. You get John Hinch and Alan Moore.

The opener is “Prelude” which is an instrumental opening and actually has no correlation to the next track “Tyrant”. It is done in a baroque style with piano and a lot of tom tom drums. There is some guitar, but not much worth noting. It really seems completely unnecessary and very skippable. “Tyrant” opens with a killer riff and explodes with full on energy. This is the Priest I was always expecting. Hard, heavy and full on metal bleeding from its soul. Halford’s vocals are spot on and I love the layered on vocals of his in the chorus. The guitar work between Downing and Tipton is what it is all about. They way those two play-off each other is unbeatable. I could listen to those two battle all day.

“Rocka Rolla” is more upbeat and has several little solos by Downing and Tipton does the outro. It even has some harmonica played by Halford. Another blues track, but more upbeat and rocking then the opener and another great track.

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Judas Priest – ‘Sin After Sin’ (1977) – Album Review (The Complete Albums Collection Series)

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After the band’s second album, “Sad Wings of Destiny”, they were growing tired of their relationship with their current label Gull. They were discouraged at the cheapness of the label and the lack of funds they were receiving. And who can blame them. The band jumped ship and wound up with the first major label contract with CBS. All was right with the world.

We still had the same bandmates of Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing and Ian Hill. The only difference was the drummer, yet again! This seems to be a huge trend with the band. They can’t keep a drummer. It is Spinal Tap in reality. During the recording of the album, the band was unhappy with current drummer, Alan Moore, so they fired him. The band picked up session drummer Simon Phillips to finish recording the album. Now, Simon didn’t want to be a full fledge member so they had to replace him as they needed a drummer for the tour. They wound up with Les Binks to handle those duties. We will see if Les winds up recording the next album.

Since the band was with a bigger label, they actually got a big name for producer. Well, he maybe wasn’t a big name as a producer, but he was a big name bass player for a little band called Deep Purple. They hired the services of Roger Glover to help produce along with Judas Priest. The band was all set. In January 1977, they went in to the studio and after one session with Glover, they fired him. Oh my!! The band finished recording the album on their own, well….not exactly. They struggled a lot so Glover was asked back to finish the album. The album was released on April 8, 1977 and would see the album go Gold. It was the first of eleven straight albums to go Gold for the band! Judas Priest were on their way to stardom.

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