Judas Priest – 1982 Tour Special
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I’ve been a Judas Priest fan for over two decades. But not until a few nights ago, while listening to Screaming for Vengeance for the umpteenth time, did it strike me why I really love the Priest. Of course, their music sounds good and makes me go, “Fuck yeah”. But that’s just my prerequisite for liking any metal. It takes more to push me into obsessive fandom, the state of songs-on-repeat, ridiculous merch buys, and Internet nerding out that has frustrated many a spouse. The magic of Priest? They appeal to the American in me.
On one hand, that’s a “duh” proposition. Metal combines American (blues, rock ‘n’ roll) and European (classical music, fine arts) sensibilities. Judas Priest epitomized that, starting out bluesy but eventually, as Anthrax’ Scott Ian put it, doing away with the “last shards of blues” in heavy metal, with 1980’s British Steel. That’s sort of hyperbole, though; Point of Entry (1981) carried a healthy dose of blues, though the 1988 cover of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” was less salubrious.
On the other hand, no other metal band has “sold American” (to flip the old Walmart catchphrase) as interestingly as the Priest. The band’s signature stage prop, the Harley-Davidson motorcyle, is an American iconic symbol. Rob Halford moved to Phoenix, Arizona, in the ’80s and also acquired residency in San Diego, of all places. Most importantly, Judas Priest perfected “highway metal”: throbbing rockers that plated Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild” in hot rod chrome. That’s hot rod in every sense; Halford sold sex (“Living after Midnight”, “Eat Me Alive”, etc.) and sold it well. (Contrast with, say, Accept, who came across as charmingly galumphing.) I bet Halford’s midrange purr lit up more loins than straight men would admit. That angle of Priest didn’t sell me on them, but it helped make me prefer them over contemporaries Iron Maiden. Maiden were too classy and European to appeal to my crotch.
Screaming for Vengeance is where Priest grabbed America by the balls. (See this interview with Halford.) A big factor was hit single “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’”, which eventually reached Gold status. (Screaming for Vengeance reached Double Platinum status, making it Judas Priest’s best-selling album.) The World Vengeance Tour hit America twice, with Iron Maiden as support (!) on the 1982 leg. Priest and Maiden together at Madison Square Garden: holy fuck!
All this success was well-deserved. Screaming for Vengeance was a big step up from before in terms of songwriting, production values, and scope. Even the weaker songs were memorable. The love songs (“(Take These) Chains”, “Pain and Pleasure”, “Fever”) were a little limp, but the burners were scorching. “Bloodstone” has the textbook ’80s metal guitar sound. The high-octane title track could be considered a precursor to “Painkiller”. And “The Hellion/Electric Eye” remains the best intro/first real song combo in metal history.
I’m not a “wish I lived in the past” person, especially when it comes to ’80s metal. The hair was bad, Reagan was President, and did sex education even exist? But Screaming for Vengeance makes me yearn for that heavy metal parking lot (that was 1986, but you get my point). If I had been older, I would have heard “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” on the radio. I would have driven from Smalltown, USA to Big Coliseum to see this British Invasion. My dead-end friends would have come with. We would have pre-gamed it and drunk too much. I would have made a play for Lisa/Mary/Karen/Kimberly/Susan (the five most popular female baby names of 1965) and struck out big-time.
And I would have bought a t-shirt. Worn it till it was rags. Worn the vinyl out till it was dust. Carried the memory to my grave with a smile. Judas Priest, 1982. May you keep me young always.
. . .
BUY SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE
. . .
“FEVER” SLAYS, DUDE!
I love “Chains,” too! (But great post!)
Yeah, this is one of the greatest albums ever.
This is why I am here. So blame this album for having to put up with me.
I saw them on this tour in Greensboro, N.C., in January, 1983. Had to drive 6 hours to the show! From what I remember, the show was actually pretty under-attended. I got the t-shirt (and wore it to rags), and met Rob Halford in our hotel lobby. Thanks for helping me relive that memory!
I don’t know how big a step up the songwriting on this album is overall from the earlier classics (a number of which I think are more consistent), but “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” is one of the best rock n’ roll songs ever written. Priest obviously knew that, as they basically tried to write it a second time on _Defenders_ with “Some Heads Are Gonna Roll.”
Great anniversary review. Sorry about your luck with Lisa /Mary / Karen /Kimberley /Susan.
Personal favourite is “Electric Eye” — love that song! Great album, one that I discovered far too late, but better late than never.
I mean, I love the underground, fucked up shit as much as anyone but if you don’t crack an ear-to-ear grin every damn time “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” comes on you just might be an asshole. Speaking of, this was definitely a gateway album as it’s one of the first metal albums I ever owned.
I enjoyed this piece, Alan.
I’m gonna have to be ‘that guy’, though. For me, Priest fell off a cliff from legendary to great following Stained Class. The first 4 LPs are much more classy and European, to use your description of Maiden. They’re weirder, more technical, more intricate, smarter, and have a greater prog influence then Priest would ever exhibit again.
The post Stained Class through Ram It Down albums are catchier and arguably faster and heavier than the first 4 albums. However, the songs give up the goods in the backseat, as it were, on the first date. The twentieth listen won’t reveal anything that the first listen didn’t already reveal.
Blasphemer!
I’m more apt to throw on something from British Steel up to Defenders of the Faith because they offer such a specific thing. Earlier Priest is all that you describe, but I find myself less in the mood for those records when I wanna hear some classic Priest. Different flavors of steel.
Funny that you mention the “specific thing” part, because that’s a condensed version of why I gravitate towards the first 4 JP albums.
This being metal and all, Judas Priest is one of the few bands where preferring the weird and heavy stuff will get you berated and/or shouted down in favor of the catchy and more popular releases.
Yeah, I grew up on 80’s Priest, tuned out by Turbo, and actually had to go back to the first 4 albums to appreciate them again.
That said…there’s a live radio broadcast of Priest’s ‘84 Long Beach gig that absolutely slays. They were truly live ‘Metal Gods’ at that point in time, and Bob was a stage man par none (the official live album after Turbo is awful). One must imagine that both Axl and Perry Farrell saw that tour and took notes (my nose says Perry totally cribbed his delayed Vox from either Half or Sister Eldritch or both).
“The twentieth listen won’t reveal anything that the first listen didn’t already reveal.” – I have to completely disagree with that.
While the earlier Priest records are, indeed, all of those things you state, “Hell Bent for Leather” through “Defenders of the Faith” contain a veritable smorgasbord of completely incomprehensible pop influences that, in many ways, make them as unique as the first four. The disco influence in “Burning Up” and “Killing Machine,” the reggae/funk intro to “The Rage,” the gothic-Siouxie pre-chorus on “Some Heads Are Gonna Roll,” the dark elctro-pop of “Night Comes Down,” the bizarre new wave turns on “Turning Circles,” even the baffling AOR experiment on “Evening Star”….all these things are much more illogical and bizarre than merely being a prog-Rush/Crimson/Sabbath high-tech killing machine.
They are all very subtle too. One doesn’t necessarily think of this period of Priest as the “disco-new wave-Kraftwerk” phase of Priest, but that’s EXACTLY what it is. Plus, Dave Holland, berated as much as he is, may have inadvertently invented industrial metal with his playing during this period of the band. What other group had such a rigid, mechanistic, precise, clockwork drummer?
And then there’s “Desert Plains.” UTTERLY UNFUCKWITHABLE.
I think you are proving my point with most of these examples. The disco influence in Burning Up and Killing Machine are obvious. The intro to The Rage isn’t subtle, and it’s tacked on as well. Night Comes Down is a pretty clear play for the big rock/AOR audience. Admittedly, I missed those influences in Turning Circles and Some Heads.
I also can’t help but feel like those examples are a bit cherry picked.
As for they they incorporated those influences, you can claim it was because they were being artistic and experimental. I tend to think that they were making plays for mainstream appeal by incorporating other popular genres. So to me, they aren’t illogical or bizarre at all.
I don’t agree that Dave Holland invented industrial metal with his playing style. If he did, it was accidental, not intentional and experimental.
Agreed on Desert Plains.
My vision of reality is far more fun than yours!
I should add as well that these are new conclusions. I’ve done a 180° or maybe a 270° in my views in my mid-40s, which is saying something since I’ve been living with those first ten albums for the past quarter century. For what it’s worth.
Yes, your vision is more fun than mine!
The Number of the Beast
Fear of the Dark
The Final Frontier
Killers
Sad Wings of Destiny
British Steal
Screaming for Vengeance
Defenders of the Faith
Turbo
Ram It Down
Painkiller
God Damn!!!
What the fuck?
ha! oops. through in some maiden there. i got excited.
Nice piece, and a great record! Of the Priest’s 80’s output I always thought myself to be a British Steel kinda guy, but it’s Screaming… that I always reach for. Love it!
This and Defenders are my favorite Priest releases. When this album came out, I had never heard anything like it. A lot of the pieces were in place on their earlier albums and many of those older songs still hold up great, but the way everything came together on Screaming was unexpected and utterly distinctive.
This is one of the few albums I bought as an LP when it came out, later replaced with a cassette, eventually got on CD, and then purchased digitally. And while I don’t listen to it very often anymore, I’ve never burned out on it.
Sometimes I wish I were a closeted homosexual just so “Chains” could somehow mean more to me than it already does. Over the years, that “weak” track has grown to be one of my very favorites. See also: “Changes” by Black Sabbath.
I’m replying to you with this, but not to call you out. Take these chains is apparently not a JP original. It was written by a songwriter named Bob Halligan Jr., who’s also been credit for songs by Cher, Kiss, etc.
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/bob-halligan-mn0000053033/credits
I know it wasn’t written by Halford, but it weren’t Halligan wailing that shit with all that emotion now was it?
True, Halford was the one wailing the track. I was semi-implying that maybe Halford’s performance was fueled by him being a great performer, not because he wrote the song as a love anthem for gay men. Then again, his performance very well could have been fueled by his personal life.
Mostly though I was pointing out that “Chains” is considered one of the weaker tracks, but that’s not really JP’s fault, other than choosing to include it rather than something else.
Who you callin’ gay?!
great post, i saw the show at Madison Square Garden with Maiden opening, i was 12, blew my mind! i still think ‘Defenders…’ was a better record overall, but this was a very special record, and turned on a whole generation, definitely a ‘gateway’ record!!
“I bet Halford’s midrange purr lit up more loins than straight men would admit. That angle of Priest didn’t sell me on them, but it helped make me prefer them over contemporaries Iron Maiden. Maiden were too classy and European to appeal to my crotch.”
You call out the straight man. Deny you are one of them. Then you contradict your denial. Please explain.
Mis, weird writ’n f’sure. But, attrk’d our attention. Please explaine.
I’m a latecomer to the Priest party. Actually, I only started listening to them like one year ago, and I’m over 30! It’s perhaps because I was a teenager during the 90s, and it was the no-Halford period. Or maybe I found their rythm section too stiff, where Maiden had very nuanced and expressive bass & drums patterns.
Anyway, I saw them last year at Hellfest, and it pushed me to dig up the back catalogue, and listen to the records chronologically. And that’s what made me a fan: you can hear the way they shaped the definitive heavy metal sound more than any other band. And as I listened to those records more and more, they seemed less monolithic, and more “emotional” than a lot of bands that were influenced by them, even under this stiffness that first turned me off.
Saints in Hell, off Stained Class shatters the monolith for me. I think Priest was more godly before they became Metal Gods.
http://poetry-of-subculture.blogspot.com/2012/05/saints-in-hell-is-perfect-heavy-metal.html
Exactly. Thanks.
This is the album that got me into Heavy Metal – I was in Eighth Grade when I heard “You Got Another Thing …” and I grew up fast!
Prior to this I was putzing around doing the “Safety Dance” while singin’ “Abra … Abracadabra”!!!
And, although you weren’t sure how you felt about it, you really loved “In a Big Country” by Big Country when it came on too.
The British waves ruled the waves.
Yup, my 7th grade ears resonate with that combo on the FM dial.
I prefer Priest’s 70s stuff…Sad Wings through to Hell Bent for Leather (or Killing Machine for those of you over the pond) are classics. The 80s stuff is variable for me. Defenders and British Steel are both great, I find SfV over-rated apart from a few tracks whilst Point of Entry, Turbo and Ram it Down are throwaway. Although they redeemed themselves and then some with Painkiller in 1990.
Truth be told I was always more of a Maiden fan…and thrashed my way through the 80s.
I would like to remark one sentence: “Maiden were too classy and European to appeal to my crotch.”
These few words express what great legendary bands are all about: originality.
Both Priest and Maiden, being British and contemporary, somehow managed to sound differently despite sharing so many fundamental elements in their music.
Great post!