Stained Class is my favourite priest album... Sad Wings Of Destiny, Painkiller, Sin After Sin & Hellbent For Leather (Killing Machine) are all up there too but Stained Class is just the perfect Priest album.... and it has my 2 all time fave prist song son there... The Sentinel & Beyond The Realms of Death

Stained Class and Sad Wings of Destiny are easily my favourite albums as well.

Sad Wings of Destiny is perhaps one of the greatest set of songs that compliment each other so well. I used to hate "Epitaph" but now I sometimes listen to that song on repeat when it comes on. Since there has been enough praise of songs like "Deciever" and "Dreamer/Deciever", "Island of Dominaton" is probably my favourite song on the album with its bombastic introduction and rocking main riff. Oddly enough, I really hate "Victim of changes" nowadays but not enough to skip it.

Stained Class is essentially Sad Wings of Destiny pt II by a band that is more aware of themselves and the scene around them. "Exciter" and "Invaders" are great speed metal numbers that I would rank above "Painkiller" if it wasn't for the latter's solo section (a solo section that has been branded into my memory and made me want to play guitar... I wonder if I can even play it). "Savage" is one of my favourite songs, as I am a big sucker for noble savage themes and Halford's voice is full of righteous venom on the track. On the same note, I find "Beyond the Realms of Death" to be on a higher pedestal than most metal songs can ever reach and serve as a litmus test for all songs in the genre, much like "Die Young" by Sabbath. Everything about that song (and the aforementioned Sabbath track) screams metal from its themes of societal angst and freedom to the heroic but mournful chorus. Hearing Halford scream "Beyond the Realms of Deaaathh!" after the solo section and final verse is probably one of the most chilling musical experiences I have ever heard.

Painkiller for me. Best songwriting, best vocals, best solos. Granted you can't really compare it with their 70's material. They're just so different. SWOD is my favorite from that era. Lots of feeling on that one, and it's pretty much the epitome of consistency. As for Sin After Sin, half of it is phenomenal, the other half kinda mediocre.

I can't get into 70's Priest as much as some other people. The songs are all good, but the tiny production the sucks all the power out of them, which is a shame. The Unleashed In The East versions of the songs are great though, as are the live versions on Halford's Live Insurrection.

Favorite Priest album is Painkiller. Fast, great riffs, solos, and vocals, great everything, no need to try to go in depth since there's nothing deep about the album.

Stained Class. Can't go wrong with any of those songs. Probably has the best cover song ever.

tinny or tiny?

I'd go for British Steel. I really enjoy most of the songs and thus I find it their most enjoyable album.

Obviously Angel of Retribution. It combines all that which makes earlier works so great with being the new, updated, more mature Judas Priest. Oh, and "Angel" is one of the most incredible ballads I've ever heard.

Painkiller! Christ its impossible to not speed when it comes on in the car. Nearly every song on the album is awesome (except for Metal Meltdown) and Halford's vocals are perfect throughout. Not to mention the guitars

Second best would be Screaming for Vengeance. Suprised not too many people have listed this one so far. Has a lot of my favorite songs such as Screaming for Vengeance, Riding on the Wind, Take These Chains, You've Got Another Thing Coming and Electric fucking Eye!

Looota love for Stained Class. I'm surprised, yet approve!

Yeah, Stained Class is undoubtedly the favorite for me, almost without comparison. Sad Wings of Destiny is a close second if I play it starting with Prelude and ending with Deceiver. Still, the production and completely relentless nature of Stained Class puts it over the top for me. That guitar tone might be my all time favorite.

edit: I guess I'm just a fiend for their 70s material. I listen to Sin after Sin just as much as the aforementioned two easily. It has some quirks and you've got to have a stomach for their softer side (I honestly love Last Rose of Summer) but man...there are some chargers on that album. Dissident Aggressor might as well be fucking death metal for the year it came out. Call for the Priest, Sinner and Starbreaker all get the blood pumping heavy. Raw Deal has that nasty groove to it, totally gives off sleazy bar vibes.

If my house was on fire I'd grab my Manilla Road collection and then all my 70s Priest stuff without a moments hesitation.

Tiny, thin, weak, whatever. Is the term tiny production not one that's used often?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciECUVrklZc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrdYEJuHPOU
Seriously though, just compare the two. The live version benefits so much from the beefed up guitar tone.

You've officially blown my mind. I figured you were talking about anything/everything from the 70s besides Stained Class! That is one of the greatest guitar tones I've ever heard. I definitely think the studio version sounds better than the live one you've linked to. I don't mean to sound condescending but you've heard Stained Class on CD or vinyl right, not just youtube or poorly ripped copies? I'm sure you have. I guess that's the joy of perception...

Sad Wings of Destiny. I mean, I consider this the first true heavy metal record. It's such a revolutionary album, and not only that, but it's pretty much a masterpiece. There is not a song on the album that I don't enjoy, none. Along with Stained Class, and Unleashed in the East, these three are the finest Priest records.

Stained Class easily. Among my top ten all time albums.

Unleashed in the East, easily! I enjoy listening to it more than all of their studio albums, and I view it as heavy metal at its best. The overdubs don't bother me at all.

Screaming is my favorite by far. I mean it's probably the most catchy thing ever made.

I own the Koch remasters for Sad wings of destiny and Rocka Rolla... I would say theyre quite powerful in terms of production and mixing. Perhaps give that version a try if you have not.

My first post here might as well be about the first album that got me into metal: Sad Wings of Destiny. I second all of the reasons given so far.

My friend loaned me the cassette and had to talk me into giving it a chance. Before that, all I would listen to was hair band hard rock (i.e. Dokken, RATT, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, etc.).

I think the moment I fell in love with it was, during the first listen, second song: the Ripper -- right from the start of the song:

"You're in for suprise, you're in for a shoaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAK!"

I was totally *blown away* by Halford's instant vocal shift and intense power, even at the highest ranges. Plus, singing about something historical? (I love history.) Totally amazed.

Then Dreamer Deceiver / Deceiver hit me right afterwards and the one-two punch cemented a love forever. This was the album that, at age 15, taught me that music and songwriting can be more than "sounds good, kind of fun to listen to, mostly talks about chicks and partying." That it could be a fully emotional and even thought-provoking experience.

I don't listen to my Priest albums a lot anymore, but when I do, it's always Sad Wings or Stained Class.

it's tinny mate
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/tinny

Well, he couldn't even spell "thrash" so we shouldn't expect much from him.

Fuck that's bad... don't know where my head was on that one... been listening to priest for the best part of 20 years too... it's been a while since I listened to a whole priest album actually... got all of their albums (except Jugulator & Demolition) on the iPod and just hit shuffle when I listen to them...

A tinny production for a tiny mind????

i see what you did there, got tiny teddy beards on the brain aye ha ha
i didn't mean to poke any kind of fun at that dude up there if anyone is wondering.

rob halford had a beard for a while

Sad Wings of Destiny is about as classic an old Metal LP as you can get. There's just about everything one might like: a pounding bass line, fantastic, varied rhythms, and an unprocessed, straight-forward tone. Halford's vocals soar above the rhythms and the solos pierce through at the right moments. Plus, the entire LP must be listened to from start to finish. It definitely does not fit with our current iPOD generation. And I love it for that.

Painkiller is an amazing second act for the band. After years of trying to find themselves again following the hit CDs Screaming for Vengeance and Defenders of the Faith, they hit upon the more speed-metal, double-bass formula that became Painkiller. And it really worked. Unfortunately, it was also the only CD of its kind. The band broke up and didn't really come back together until years later.

For me, it's Sad Wings. Many, MANY other great moments for Judas Priest. But Sad Wings of Destiny is a singular accomplishment. A true classic.

Plus, come on. BEST COVER ART EVER.

I actually meant tiny, as in synonymous with very small. Thought that it was a standard term used in describing weak production. Guess not. Oh well, it's tinny then.

I want to say DOTF, but the album is ridiculously front-loaded. Jawbreaker and The Sentinel are two of my favorite Priest songs.

I'd say I listen to Painkiller most of all.

Mine would have to be Defenders Of The Faith for sure, but Painkiller is a close second.

Oh, it's 'PainKiller'. Pain fucking Killer, hands down. Well, that's the short answer.

For the long answer, I feel compelled to clarify what is exactly implied by "favorite" here, and in doing so, I might inspire a few people to reconsider their own "vote" (I have two particular choices in mind, roughly the two predominant ones so far in this thread, incidentally: 'Sad Wings of Destiny', cos it's just the right thing for a wise, knowledgeable, credible metalhead to say, and 'PainKiller', because oh my gawd it's such a nooby thing to say). By "your favorite", here, I understand and I mean "whichever you genuinely enjoy the most and/or the most often as a listener, regardless of other considerations", as opposed to "the one with the utmost historical relevance and/or which proved to be the most influential or otherwise instrumental in (heavy/power/speed) metal's development", and as separated from "the one which you think is arguably the best in and of itself and/or you'd honestly give the highest overall rating". That's three different things after all, and in my case they'd be 'PainKiller'; a tie between 'Sad Wings' and 'Stained Class'; and a tie between 'PainKiller' and 'Stained Class', respectively.

'PainKiller' is the only—I repeat: only—album by Judas Priest I absolutely love to listen to from start to finish, front to back, and I truly and totally enjoy as an "album as a whole". There are moments I don't really enjoy or even outright dislike on any other JP album, no matter how great and numerous the highlights. When I play 'PainKiller', even though one of the best and most iconic metal songs ever opens it, I'm hooked and I want every damn last piece of awesomeness one after the other until it's finished and then I can start it again. The experience I'm getting from this album is a flawless, restless, magnificent one. "PainKiller" is a monster, "Hell Patrol" is a diva, "All Guns Blazing" is a beast, "Leather Rebel" is a bomb, "Metal Meltdown" is fine, "Night Crawler" is a masterpiece, "Between the Hammer and the Anvil" is a gem, "A Touch of Evil" is a wonder, and "Battle Hymn/One Shot at Glory" is an accomplishment. There's no "laaalaaa-aaa Defeeeeeendaaa-laaaa-laa-laaaaa", here; no jazzy piano-vocals lullaby; no fucking obscure cover song in the middle; no generic rock number; no funking fucky wanna make love on da dance-floor cos you gimme fever baby; no killjoy of any kind. That's not to say I don't love plenty of songs off of their other albums, some individual songs I prefer to any song off of 'PainKiller', even (most of which are found on 'Saints in... I mean, 'Stained Class'). But at the end of the day, yeah, the one I find myself coming back to time and time again, he is the 'PainKiller'. This. Is. The. PainKiller!


Wow, really?! Crazy news, man.

Painkiller, the most vicious and evil they've done.

ha ha what can i say, until then i didn't know

Picking just one or two is very hard, so I'll have to divide this into decades:

'70s albums: A tie between "Sad Wings of Destiny" and "Stained Class". I guess I will have to go with "SWOD". It's a revolutionary Metal album, and most of the songs are classics. "Stained Class" obviously was a very influential album as well, but I'll have to go with "SWOD"

'80s albums: "Defenders of the Faith". By far the most consistent Priest album of the '80s. Great production and great songs. The only songs I would consider to be slightly weak would be "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll" and the title track

'90s albums: "Painkiller"! No competition whatsoever here, even though I think "Jugulator" is a good album. Scott Travis' drumming is rock-solid, the guitar playing is amazing and so is Rob's vocal performance. And the guitar tone is fuckin' LETHAL!

'00s albums: "Angel of Retribution". I like both "Angel of Retribution" and "Nostradamus", but "Angel of Retribution" has the edge on "Nostradamus" IMO. "Angel of Retribution" is a very varied album, and "Lochness" is a very nice venture into Doom Metal territory

Never been a big fan of Judas Priest if I'm honest, but I'd say Screaming For Vengeance, Painkiller and British Steel. This Best Judas Priest Album list gets it pretty much spot on.

@WaitingForTheTide: Real... errr, never mind.

Easily Sad Wings of Destiny. I would probably put that in my top 10 or 15 albums of all time and its my favorite traditional heavy metal album. Just phenomenal songwriting throughout and every song is quite unique. Halford's voice is stunning and the dueling guitars are excellent throughout. I really like the production and the way the sound weaves back and forth on stereo.

By and large, Sin After Sin is just as good and arguably better. The guitar work on "Sinner" is just astounding. However, "Last Rose of Summer" is a really lame song. If they had replaced that track with another good cut of metal, or even a solid piano ballad, the album would have been much better.

Start to finish, Painkiller is my second favorite Priest album.

Not really a fan of new Judas Priest, so I'd say Stained Glass or Sad Wings of Destiny. I just love every single Song off of Stained Glass, and almost every Song off of Sad Wings (except for Epitaph -_-).
British Steel is the most disappointing one imho, with little to no memorable songs. Bash me for it, but same goes for Painkiller. Except for Painkiller, which is an awesome Song

That's a fake account, right?

Well, it seems quite odd that someone would realize 'British Steel' is weak and inconsistent and yet not how solid 'PainKiller' is, but whatever floats your boat, I guess. However, someone claiming to know and love a very famous album and in the same sentence giving reasonable proof that they likely just heard about it for the first time 5 minutes ago...

Is this bizarro world? British Steel of course! A turning point in metal.

I admit, I have not heard this one. What's it like, can anyone tell me? Is it anything Like British Bronze or Kainpiller, or is it more in the style of Exuberant Wings of Fate?

'Stained Class'. All it took for that album to be my favorite was 'Beyond the Realms of Death'. What a fucking powerful song.

'Painkiller' comes in second, and then probably 'Defenders of the Faith'.