Killing Machine

I consider going from "Stained Class" to "Killing Machine" very similarly to going from Sabbath's "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" to "Sabotage." Every bit of progression that the former built up and worked so hard on dissolved and degraded entirely. "Killing Machine" marks the first time Priest kept the exact same lineup for two albums in a row. It would also be the last album for Les Binks. While "Stained Class" blazed ahead and provided an amazing display of skill and brilliant songwriting, "Killing Machine" retains none of that and focuses on short bland tracks that only have small bursts of magnificence interspersed. For my money, "Killing Machine" is positively the worst album of 70's Judas Priest.

The first radical difference anyone would notice is that there are only four songs on "Killing Machine" that touch 4 minutes. Considering "Burnin' Up" is pretty much silent for the first 7 seconds, I'd even go on to say only 3 tracks are over 4 minutes. On "Stained Class" there were only two songs UNDER 4 minutes. Now, this isn't to say that a song needs to be on the longer side to be good, but at the same time, it's extremely hard for a song to have much substance at shorter lengths. It's even harder for an ALBUM to have substance if all of the tracks that make it up are like this. To add to that, two tracks don't even hit 3 minutes, and another two just BARELY touch the 3 minute mark. There was little hope for this album when it's written that way. Not only that, but where drummer Les Binks was so creative and brilliant on "Stained Class," he's simply holding the line on this record. I'm not sure if he phoned it in because he knew he didn't want to stick around or if he was asked to pull it back, but he's a shell of what he was on the previous record.

We'll start with the shortest song "Hell Bent for Leather" as an example. It's actually one of the better songs across the record. It has a pretty grooving riff and a catchy chorus that balances a good intensity from Halford with catchy guitar hooks. But it goes nowhere. It marches in, teases you with the promise of a solid track, and prances right back out. It's almost hard for me to call this a 'song' because there's so little going on with it. What it brings is good, but I equate it to going to a restaurant and the meal being nothing but bread. Even if the bread is REALLY good, it will leave you unsatisfied when that's all there is. The title track is very similar in that regard. I absolutely love the suave and 'dangerous' atmosphere the song brings to the table. It's a pretty unique feel to a song and musically starts to tell a great story. But the song also goes absolutely nowhere. The first half of the song just feels like it's building up to a strong and powerful transition until another part. It BEGS to have something different to expand on it. However, after a good, but extremely short solo, the song returns to what it has been doing from the start and then ends. It's one of the most unsatisfying songs I've ever heard. There should be more. This should be better. It's inexcusable and borderline lazy to me for them to almost abandon ship on writing this song properly.

I find "Take on the World" to be almost a precursor for "British Steel." Stylistically, there's so much about this song that is similar to a lot of content on "British Steel." Sadly, that doesn't mean it's good Again, I think it's a stretch to even consider this a 'song.' "Take on the World" is nothing more than a chant. No depth. No substance. We're just wasting run-time on this album with a mediocre chant of a 'song.' There would be nothing lost to the world if this track never existed. Besides that, the closer "Evil Fantasies" is pretty much the worst this album has to offer. A dull, bored, lazy riff is all over this song while Halford just almost comically sings over it. He tries to be super theatrical and dramatic, but it's eye-roll worthy. It's four minutes of the same generic stomping beat and bored guitar part while Halford does everything within his power to save it. Not only does "Evil Fantasies" have no substance, but the little bit it provides is awful as well.

The opener "Delivering the Goods" is a little bit more of your traditional Judas Priest song. It's certainly not bad, but could have been better. It's heavier and has a solid groove to get the blood pumping. The chorus has a great Halford swag and is quite catchy. But very quickly, the flaws that show up all over the album don't escape this song. It doesn't have any solid progression or depth to it. It's verse-chorus, verse-chorus, solo, verse-chorus. It's generic in the laziest way possible. The bottom line is that this song is fun, but it should be better. It's fair to expect more from Priest at this point. The previously touched on "Burnin' Up" is the other more faithful Judas Priest track on the album, and it's about the same level of quality. It has a bit more of an ebb and flow to it that makes it hit a little bit harder, but there isn't that much depth to the riffing. There's just a little bit more progression and actual songwriting involved on this track that makes it passable. For this album, "Burnin' Up" is one of the more solid tracks. For Judas Priest's history? It's middle of the road at best.

"Before the Dawn" is definitely the best standout track from "Killing Machine." It might be Priest's best pure ballad. Halford hits all of the emotions you need, and where on older albums, it was always a bit unfitting, this song fits right in on this album and makes it shine. This song is actually just what the album needed to give it some substance. "Evening Star" is also very upfront with what it's going for. While most of this record should have more depth to it and ends up as a massive let down, "Evening Star" does exactly what it needs to. It has an addictive chorus, and while there's nothing intrinsically special about it besides Halford's awesome high notes that make the chorus so memorable, I appreciate its honesty for lack of a better word. It's very clear that this song is a short and sweet little rocker of a track that isn't meant to have more to it than meets the eye. Again, while far from a Judas Priest highlight, it might be the only track on this record that leaves me wholly satisfied and not disappointed.

"Killing Machine" was an album that was outclassed in every conceivable way by what came before it the day it was released. Priest were trend setters prior to this record. This time, they just got in line. The bottom line is the subpar, borderline lazy songwriting almost makes the record dead on arrival. It's not even like you can try to defend this album by saying "Well, they were going in a more commercial direction" like you can on some albums that are soon to come. This record is still too 'heavy' to be a commercially driven record, but it has the level of songwriting depth as a pop album. I call "Killing Machine" the Judas Priest 'sampler' album. It's just small samplings of appetizers that, while enjoyable, leaves you entirely empty without a 'main course' to follow it. Judas Priest absolutely has far worse albums in their discography than "Killing Machine," but this one might just be the biggest slap in the face. There is truly just no excuse why this one wasn't better than it is.

Killing Machine has some notable differences respecting the predecessor one as the lyrics tend to be simpler and more direct, in the style of Rocka Rolla and on the other hand, Halford moves away from so many high-pitched tones compared to Stained Class. Now, in keeping with a darker and denser overall atmosphere, Rob's throat shakes like keeper's chains offering more seasoned, dirtier records in keeping with an insisting distortion production.

"Delivering The Goods" flags up an omnipresent guitar, not only because of the high-pitched riffs at the beginning but also for the endless galactic dotted, which gives way to a quasi-stopped tempo between instruments at the end when the chorus explodes thanks to Rob's scream. "Rock Forever" is fresher and lighter, perhaps it lacks altogether but it's a more punchy number, the one that will come in the 80s as it's still covered with a blazing guitar layer. This lack of forcefulness comes to the fore in "Evening Star", which has its moments and the chorus is a bit kindergarten playground-like by today's standards.

Hell Bent For Leather is pure heavy metal signed up by Tipton with a steady beat and a super catchy brutal bass line. Take On The World highlights its depth with those rhythms that rivet your steel soul as the choruses come up as pure elixir. Burnin 'Up comes out of nowhere and immediately engulfs you, squeezes you and knocks down Rob's intimidating setting. Title track Killing Machine is catchy and has a mysterious sound where the axes rapport themselves to sharing the chords.

How does Rob's voice convey the lyrics and passion? Running Wild transmits magic and good vibes, one of the most proto-heavy songs for the rhythm and instrumental ideas at that time. Before The Dawn is the “perpetual” acoustic ballad made for our vocalist to show off. This album ends with dignity with Evil Fantasies, which highlights the huge drumming as the guitars disperse chords in a slow tempo like few others.

You can smell the atmosphere the 80s shows off on here. Killing Machine is the natural evolution of a band looking for glory. Like any album by these British musicians, this one was also important in its own way, being in Judas' career an interesting episode of high voltage, rawness and shadow of their own dose, with the occasional famous bomb (Delivering The Goods, Hell Bent For Leather, Running Wild) and memorable moments of emotion (Before The Dawn, the Evening Star and Burnin 'Up), without forgetting the brief commercial numbers (Evening Star and Take On The World) contrasted with the caustic essence of an intimate vintage where Hard Rock was devilish (Killing Machine, Evil Fantasies). In the visual and cultural component, let's not forget the historical importance that this album brings with the birth of the leather age in metal.

Released in 1978 under the name of "Killing Machine" for the European market, Hell Bent marked the beginning of a new era for the band. It said goodbye to what became a well-established sound, as well as to the spectacular and complex music that influenced much of the metal that would start its road a few years later. Instead, the band released an album that resulted much more simple and with less musical merits than any other previous release. The British metallers relied on a mainstream-oriented musical foundation that gradually drove away many of the most loyal fanatics of the band while reaching another type of listeners who found this sound catchy and innovative.

Unfortunately, in an aim of achieving popularity, the band traded almost all their unique heaviness and ambitious songwriting work for a more basic and straightforward sound that in general terms resulted disappointing, and their memorable moments are not as much as in their previous releases. That is, the band stopped being the dark outrageous juggernaut that ruled the metal scene in the past and turned into a commercial act that was just following the trends that the stadium rock bands established back then. Furthermore, the mixing work somehow affected the heaviness of the songs since instruments like the drums sounded softer and even synthesized, and the drumming work done by Dave Holland was far from the impressive one featured on previous albums. And although the guitar playing here is still effective, it is not engaging nor attractive, mostly due to the short length of the songs that did not allow more room for insane solos and extended guitar riffs.

The remarkable moments on the album include the opening track which is somehow similar to "Invaders" from the previous album, the title-track which is the heaviest and fastest song here, and "Running Wild" and its riffs that are an exception to the above regardless of the short duration of the same. The British metallers provided the numbers with good average riffs and impressive paces, and the latter is the obvious live hit from the band. Of course, and they will improve its sound in the live album released in the same year, which is wilder and even faster. On the other hand, the ballads are boring, and they are not as good as "Beyond the Realms of Death". However, the ballads outweighed its limits when they had the great idea when they composed their version of "We Will Rock You", that is, "Take on the World". In general terms, the number is dull, and the most worrying part is the fact of this being a cheering up number. Even William Wallace would fall asleep on his horse after listening to the song.

In summarized accounts, the album not only represented a relevant step-down from its predecessor but the beginning of a slow and torturing creative death that the band would suffer at the moment they decided to make all those changes in their sound and imagery. Unfortunately, the band neglected to see the negative impact from a futurist perspective, since the productive business they created was working when all is said and done, but suddenly, it fell, and the loyal fanatics were even more disappointed. Nonetheless, the album is still good in a few ways, starting with the title, which fortunately, is not "Point of Entry" or "Turbo". Leaving that aside, the album is still worthy-listening due to few numbers, which provided some influence for the way forward.

I don't know, maybe I'm the only one that hears this. But the first time I heard Burnin Up, I heard Issac Hayes; specifically South Park's Chef era Issac Hayes. "We've got to make love, the time is right." I always wanted to make one of those South Park animation style videos where the kids come up to Chef and complain about their usual problems, and then Chef goes "Aw children, let me sing you a little song, it might clear things up.... 'You stitch me up good and you cut me down.'"

I wouldn't even bring this up if that track was an anomaly of Hell Bent For Leather, but then the end of the album brings us Evil Fantasies, which sounds like an Arethra Franklin heavy metal makeover track if I've ever heard one. Especially with the way Halford sings the vocals. Has he ever made a pitch like that with his vocals since then? There were bits of this sass floating around Sad Wings, Sin After Sin and Stained Class, but it just explodes on this particular track. It gives him (and Priest by extension) a sense of that rootsy Memphis soul that you never hear in metal.

A third example of this is none other than Killing Machine, which has a groove almost too ballsy and funky. Of course trying to claim that disco was having an influence on Priest, especially in 1979 would be the ultimate insulting accusation of selling out, so its best to claim that chemtrails of it had been slipped into the pounding metal foundries Priest claim influenced them so much. Special credit has to be given to Les Binks for this song as well as the other two examples. This idea that he wasn't able to cut it is ridiculous when he's able to lay down grooves like this (dear lord is this song where groove metal was born?).

In any case, despite being considered a part of the first era of Priest, Killing Machine/Hell Bent For Leather would be where Priest finally found their groove and every album they would make afterwords would be based off of. The album has more than enough of your Priest-style heavy metal to go around. Running Wild, Hell Bent For Leather, Delivering The Goods, Green Manilishi and Rock Forever are all killer riff based classics with the 'speed of the heavy kind.' Special mention has to go to Hell Bent For Leather for being 3 minutes of shredding brilliance courtesy on Glenn Tipton all by himself. It's remarkable that such a song becoming a statement for the band features no input from Rob at all even though there's also a subtle nod to Rob's sexuality.

Fun Fact: This was not the original Harley song. Tyrant was. Go listen to some bootlegs from the British Steel and Point of Entry tours. Hell Bent For Leather was played near the beginning of the set, but no Harley. The Harley would come out for the final song, which was usually Tyrant. Honestly its better that way, the metal Tyrant causing suffering from his motorcycle carries a lot more character than just a bike coming out during a song about a bike. But that's just my opinion, whatever that's worth.

The final notable song is Before The Dawn, which is a straight up acoustic number. It's not as good of a ballad as Beyond The Realms of Death or Dreamer Deceiver (what is), but it's a solid atmospheric tune that lulls you back down for the final funky assault of Evil Fantasies. I'm kind of annoyed this was never played live, especially since they would often play Diamonds & Rust as an acoustic number as it was originally concieved. It's like motherfucker, the reason your version of Diamonds & Rust was notable was because you made it heavy! If you want to bring the live vibe down, just use what you already have!

In conclusion, I'm not sure British Steel would have been as successful without this album (and Stained Class as well as Unleashed In the East) laying down the foundations. If the record company had put as much money into promoting this album as they had Priest's other 80s albums it might have been just as big if not bigger. It's not for nothing that this album still carries quite a few live staples. Essential Priest, and strangely underrated to boot.


Recommended Tracks:
Hell Bent For Leather
Evil Fantasies
Running Wild

Shifting your style to something more commercial and accessible isn't necessarily a bad thing. I mean, some bands should simply never go down that route, but for others, adopting an accessible sound and basic song structure can reveal some good qualities that weren't present before. It's a slippery slope, because going too far down that route can cause a band to forget about what originally made them great and alienate their core audience. However, when you remain tasteful with that marketability, you get a true classic. Case and point; Hell Bent for Leather. Yes, I'm calling it by its American name, you limey. If you disregard the censoring motives behind the title, then you have yourself what the Priest's mindset was. Balls-out, no fucks given, leading the pack on a movement that's about to emerge. Judas Priest were trail blazers with this release and have defined what 80's heavy metal was going to be.

Even if you loved Judas Priest's earlier output and all of its prog-laden, acoustic guitars introducing incessant, sappy ballads, you have to understand that the band had to have changed. They probably would've suffocated from sniffing their own farts all the time. While I absolutely adore albums like Stained Class and Sin After Sin, I would've hated to have seen the band go further down the prog rock path. Especially since bands like Motörhead and Saxon were beginning to overtake them in the heaviness department. That's why it was a good idea to throw all of that pretentious songwriting and crank up the god damn distortion.

Speaking of which, my god that guitar tone is beautiful. What Stained Class suffered from was a squeaky clean guitar tone which downplayed the ferocity of otherwise amazing tracks like Exciter or Saints in Hell. The Priest actually incorporated heaviness into their sound to make this shit heavy metal. Songs like Hell Bent for Leather and Delivering the Goods are serviced with that all too important heavy riff. Those riffs really do make it to your head and do not let go. Another benefit from being more commercially viable as well as the lyricism. Gone are the days of quasi-intellectual lyrics quivered by Rob Halford's youthful tenor. Commence the age of badass themes like street racing, chicks, gang-related violence, bounty hunting...uh, S&M and lovers separated...well, that was more homoerotic then I remember.

For all of the excellence that this album produces, it does have its moments of outright awfulness. The power ballads really take their toll on this album. Don't get me wrong, Judas Priest have written some great power ballads. But for ever Beyond the Realms of Death and A Touch of Evil, you have your fair share of pure melodrama like Before the Dawn and Evening Star. God, those songs can suck a basketball throw a drinking straw, they're that bad. Not even Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing's guitar chemistry can save them. And to think, that these power ballads would fester in their terribleness on every Judas Priest album for the next ten years. Another issue with this album is Rob Halford's vocals. Not in general, he still gives an astonishing performance. However, on tracks like Evil Fantasies, he turns into fucking cookie monster with his gruff vocals. I don't know why either. He's demonstrated that he's a developed a sandpaper-rough snarl on this album. It's like he was trying to deliver something vicious, but didn't want to scream the lyrics since that wouldn't match the guitars. So, he did the 70's version of a death growl, but my God, does he come off as goofy as hell. Admittedly, this vocal concern is a rather minor issue and doesn't bog down the quality of the album.

Overall, I thoroughly recommend this album. It's a classic for a reason and it serves as a great example for how being more accessible can be a good thing. Rob Halford has greatly improved his vocals with his freshly developed snarl. Glenn Tipton pens some catchy as hell guitar riffs and chord progressions while also displaying his talent through his dual guitar solos with K.K. Downing. While the power ballads really do affect this album, the highlights soar far higher to even be affected by the shit. Songs like Hell Bent for Leather, Delivering the Goods, The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown),and Running Wild(I think Glenn Tipton needs to talk Adrian Smith about royalties for stealing that riff for The Wicker Man)are in no way ruined by being sided with Evil Fantasies or Evening Star. This album deserves all the praise it gets. Although, I can't really say the same for what's to come.

Bonus: The 2001 remastered, reissue version of this album features two bonus tracks. One, a live version of Riding on the Wind which I'll not be focusing on. The other, a balls to the wall anthem against those that may hinder you known as Fight for Your Life. Apparently, it was the original version of Rock Hard Ride Free and was written during the Screaming for Vengeance sessions. You can tell it was written during that era given Rob Halford's more emphasis on screams. Tonally, it fits well with the album even though it was written in a different era. I guess that's why they threw it on here. I'd recommend getting this version if you can. To be fair, it's a bit slim pickings when it comes to bonus content. However, the shear greatness of Fight For Your Life should serve as the only justification for buying it.

I'm not sure what force lurked in Judas Priest to be able to release two albums in one year, let alone two albums with different sounds from each other. Bemusement at their workaholism aside, Judas Priest's "Killing Machine/ Hell Bent For Leather" ("Hell Bent For Leather" is the title it is given in the states, where it has Fleetwood Mac song "Green Manalishi" as an added track) is a different machine than it's (very immediate) predecessor "Stained Class". Like their previous effort, you have Judas Priest with their own energetic heavy metal sound and a clean production. While I consider myself no expert when it comes to music production, I would argue that this album boasts an even cleaner production than it's immediate predecessor. Not that it's a bad thing, mind you; the guitars have an added crunch in the songs, which counterbalances the otherwise commercial tendencies of this album.

To a certain degree, I wonder if the two albums were released for two different audiences: "Stained Class" for Judas Priest's core fan base up to that point, and "Hell Bent" (I know the American title better) for whoever else would listen. Not that the music is devoid of metal of course, as you have "Delivering the Goods" the roaring opener that immediately catches you as being even more aggressive than "Stained Class", due to the volume on the guitars being turned up and Rob Halford giving his voice a bit of a snarl. The track "Hell Bent For Leather" has a sound that is reminiscent of Ted Nugent's "Stormtroopin", down to the guitar lick in the chorus, and is a celebration of the visual presentation that Priest had carved for themselves. "Take on the World" almost brings Manowar to mind, especially "Die For Metal" and similarly catchy mid-tempo metal anthems. The blues roots of their sound come back in 'Rock Forever" and the Led Zeppelin sounding "Evil Fantasies", but the guitars have enough of a crunch in them to avoid sounding like their previous bluesy material. The commercial elements really come in on the title tracks for both versions of this album, as well as "Evening Star", with it's clean, ballad like intro, and the actual ballad of the album, "Before the Dawn", which, despite a well written guitar solo, doesn't stand up to the musical complexity of "Beyond the Realms of Death" from "Stained Class".

There are two things this album lacks, however, that I felt defined the artistic triumph of "Stained Class". The first is the lack of true high speed rockers, as even the fastest songs on this album seem to be at a comfortable moderate pace compared to "Stained Class". The other is high pitched vocal attack of Rob Halford. Not that he rejects his classic high range entirely, and at certain points he really lets loose the way he does best. On this album, his voice mainly stays a comparatively lower range, with an added bit of the aforementioned snarl to give it a bit of attitude.

All things considered, "Killing Machine/ Hell Bent For Leather" is a solid record by both Priest and traditional heavy metal standards. I would recommend listening to this before the superior "Stained Class", if only because following this up with "Stained Class" would lessen your appreciation for this album as a whole, making it instead something to be compared with their previous work. This was undoubtedly an album made for hard rock and heavy metal fans not yet familiar with the work of Judas Priest, and it is certainly a good way to be introduced to the band. It has its fillers (mostly the straight forward hard rock songs and "Before the Dawn"), but you have to give credit to a band that has the talent to make even fillers sound awesome.

Streamlined and simplified is the most obvious way to compare this album to the band's previous works, and while I'm usually leery of simplification for sales purposes, this is still quite nice. This is pretty distinct from the albums that came before, and it ushered in a new era for Priest. This was the beginning of their most successful period, but not their best in terms of musical quality.

The most obvious difference is in that of the songs. Prior to this, Priest had a progressive influence that showed up in the way of epics and relatively atmospheric ballads. Gone is Beyond the Realms of Death, Sinner, and Dreamer Deceiver. These are replaced by songs like Evening Star and Before the Dawn. This album brings in much more hard-rock influence. A song such as Killing Machine brings to mind some of Kiss' more grooving numbers, and their first stab at an anthem bears a stinking resemblance to one of Queen's weakest moments, the bane of every sport's fan. Whereas previously Priest were trying to get heavier and faster, here they get much lighter. Delivering the Goods and the other title track are fairly fast, but they both come with a more "fun" vibe than before.

It's worth stating now that I don't view this shift as a complete loss. The two title tracks and Delivering the Goods are the three best songs on here, but the album as a whole isn't as out there and boundary-pushing as the previous albums had been. Priest are still making good music, but there's no sense of awe at the artistry and craftsmanship like their was before. Instead of engineering the future of metal, they're creating a Frankenstein out of 'roided-up parts of AC/DC and Kiss. As my analogy implies, this just isn't as consistent and cohesive as the last three albums had been. It's very fun and catchy, but it lacks what the "S" trilogy had backing up the music.

Halford is still great on this album, though his performance isn't as good as the ones before. He utilizes fewer screams on this album, but he doesn't abandon them completely. What he does abandon is the spectral quality. Halford continued to have great vocals, but he never went for the spectral approach after Stained Class. Binks is an interesting case on this album. This is his other studio album with them, and it's not as good of a performance as previous. His sacking was an interesting circumstance of a band actually wanting a simpler performer, and Holland certainly fit that bill. Delivering the Goods actually has a drum solo at the end of the song. In of itself, it's not particularly interesting or impressive, but it takes on greater meaning in the context of the surroundings. The solo allows you to really feel Binks' frustration at the shift in sound and the restrictions that it imposed on him. It's a shame they didn't go back and get him when they beefed it back up a few years later.

There are a few similarities and even improvements that can be found on here. The production is like that of Stained Class but better. Everything on this album is definitely crisper and louder than that of their previous albums. Yes, this does mean that you can often hear Hill. In particular, he does a nice job on Hell Bent. He doesn't have any fills, but he provides the groove to even that speedier number. The guitar players are in a partial transition from their more epic days into their commercial, but their skill and creativity has lost nothing. For as short as it is, that Hell Bent solo is one of their best. Tipton and Downing both wrote some pretty good stuff, both speedy and groovy. That's actually probably the main appeal of this album. Priest could turn on the groove for a song or two, but this is the first time they attempted for the groove to carry much of the music. On Killing Machine, Green Manalishi, and Burnin' Up, it works exquisitely.

This simplification took away a few of Priest's strong points, and they would forever more write lyrics of this reduced quality, but it was not by any means a total loss. They did increase the hard-rock and grooving portion of their sound, so depending on which of their styles you prefer that's a plus or a minus. Frankly, if you chose to consider it as or compare it to hard-rock it wouldn't diminish this album. The hard-rock of comparable quality in 1978 was almost as rare as the comparable heavy metal. All in all a good outing by Priest, and every fan of early metal or hard-rock should have at least a few of these songs.

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.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

After releasing "Stained Class", Judas Priest decided to put out, in the same year, "Killing Machine" and there are definitely lots of differences between the two. While "Stained Class" relied more on relatively complex song structures and on pure heaviness, "Killing Machine" is a lot more accessible and, at times, even commercial, with shorter (and simpler) tunes. That said, this is definitely the same band, so to speak, that released "Stained Class": Halford's vocals remain incredibly strong, the guitar playing is always excellent and the drumming very strong, even though less intricate. Still, Les Binks delivers a nice performance, adding some new nuances to the songs with his fills and varied beats. He's an excellent drummer and it's a pity he left Judas Priest after this record. Holland, a less original musician, occupied his place then.

Moving on, the songs on the record are all quite short, but there's a fascinating diversity here: the tunes are easily distinguishable from each other, which is a plus in my books. The commercial side of Judas Priest is represented here with "Evening Star" and "Take on the World", both hits. "Evening Star" is a little power ballad with an incredibly catchy chorus. That said, it still is an enjoyable song, even though the record contains much better ones. "Take on the World" sounds like "We Will Rock You", albeit stronger (yeah, I've never been a Queen fan anyway). Ironically, those two tracks are the blueprints for many of the songs on "British Steel", an album on which Judas Priest adopted an even more commercial and accessible sound. "Evening Star", particularly, is quite similar to "United", even though the latter is a tad heavier. As for the other tracks, they represent the heavier side of Judas Priest, all straight-forward, energetic heavy metal tunes. "Delivering the Goods" opens the record perfectly, with a nice long drum fill near the end. The cover "The Green Manalishi (and the two-pronged Crown)" is another killer song, with excellent, sing-along vocal melodies. Judas Priest used to release some pretty good covers back in the day ("Diamonds and Rust" on "Sin After Sin", "Johnn"... well, forget it) and this one is no exception (proof: the band still plays it live, nowadays). The highlight of the album is "Hell Bent For Leather" though: one of the best Judas Priest songs ever (that's saying something), together with heavy metal classics such as "Painkiller", "Exciter", "Victim of Changes", "Sinner", "Beyond the Realms of Death", "Rapid Fire", etc. Everything about this song is mind blowing: the solo, the catchy chorus, the main riff, everything.

The catchiness is, finally, the most important characteristic of this album, all the choruses being quite catchy. I remember every one of them, really. So, I like "Killing Machine", and that's quite surprising, since I generally prefer more developed and complex songs (my favourite songs are very long, etc.), but this album is a notable exception to the rule. Straight-forward and simple? Yes. Quite commercial at times? Yes. Weaker than "Stained Class", "Sin After Sin" or "Sad Wings of Destiny"? Yes. Bad? No, definitely not. If you like your metal extremely catchy and straight-forward, yet quite heavy and solid, get this album: I definitely recommend it.

Concluding, two notes: Iron Maiden ripped off the first riff of "Running Wild" (check out "Wicker Man") and the first vocal lines of "Burnin' Up" incredibly sound like something Dave Mustaine would come up with: really, listen to it and tell me that Halford doesn't sound like Dave there!

Best Moments of the CD:
-the solo of "Hell Bent for Leather".

Judas Priest returns after their classic "Stained Class" with a very worthy follow-up album. Killing Machine contains several Priest staples, each of which can actually be found in better form on the 1979 release "Unleashed in the East". The first thing one will notice is the better production than the previous Priest releases. The guitar sound is much heavier than that of Stained Class, and the mix also contains more bass. The faster parts sound fresh and heavy, and the vocals are not too high in the mix (a la Sin after Sin).

Now for the songs themselves. Well, I shall get the bad out of the way first. Before the Dawn is crap, it really goes nowhere, and I don't say this simply because it's a ballad. It's just a crappy ballad, medicore guitar work and minimal drumming. Even Halford sounds strained on this track. With the bad out of the way, the good is very, very easy to focus on. Depending on which version you own, the title track is either Hell Bent for Leather or Killing Machine. Both songs are equally great, with the latter being my favourite on the album.

Hell Bent for Leather is a fast paced number with a heavy as fuck intro, that nicely slides into speedy verses and one of the most catchy choruses this side of Breaking the Law. The solo in the middle is also one of the best that Priest recorded, especially the tapping bit. My only problem with this classic is the length, which only clocks in at a measly 2:39. Killing Machine is a much slower song, but even better due to the subject matter of the lyrics and the evilness of the guitar work. That part at 0:39 (I got a contract...on you!) is an absolute audio orgasm. This combined with rather unorthodox vocal work from Halford (rather low and midpaced) makes for a tremendous song.

Rock Forever is another honourable mention, with a sweet riff carrying the song through the intro and after the chorues. Halford brings in another incredible vocal performance, definitely another catchy Priest classic. And of course, who can forget the Priest live staple The Green Manalishi. Think AC/DC meets Iron Maiden, with Halford on vocals. Nice lyrics too. (Yes, I realize it's a cover).

Get this album, it's high on the list of classic Priest studio albums, with only Painkiller, Vengeance and Destiny beating it out.

In the late 70's I'm sure all the Metal fans were interested to hear what Judas Priest had up their sleeve after the amazing Stained Class, I know I would have been. Released as Hell Bent For Leather in North America, Killing Machine proved that Judas Priest were not going to go away after a couple of solid releases. Killing Machine was largely a release full of varied musical influences and styles that fully experimented with the current (at the time) forms of Rock and Metal music.

The blues and hard rock side of Judas Priest show up a lot more on Killing Machine than it did on Stained Class. Both "Rock Forever" and "Evil Fantasies" are almost more Hard Rock than metal, as is the arena rock, very Queen sounding "Take On The World". This isn't really a bad thing though, "Rock Forever" does have it's moments, including some nice double bass, but overall it's one of the weaker songs on Killing Machine; on the other hand, "Evil Fantasies" is a very underrated Judas Priest song that I find myself liking a lot (I see Danzig being very influenced by this track). The more straight classic Metal tracks of course populate Killing Machine with killer riffs, leads, and melodies... although each of the more straight forward Metal songs still have a slight blues tinge as well as early Speed Metal tendencies. Songs like "Hell Bent For Leather", "Killing Machine", "Riding On The Wind", "Burnin' Up", and "Delivering The Goods" are Judas Priest classics; "Killing Machine" in particular being very underrated. Much like Stained Class, Killing Machine features an amazing cover- this time it's a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "The Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown)" that to this day remains a fan favorite. In the form of "Evening Star" and "Beyond The Dawn" we hear Judas Priest experimenting with softer sounds, with "Beyond The Dawn" being a full-on ballad. The ballad is successful, while "Evening Star" is a weak track in my opinion.

Halford's vocals are further refined on Killing Machine as we hear a lot of different styles; every song is a highlight from that perspective. Everyone else turns out a quality performance, with Les Binks once again laying the groundwork for Speed and Thrash with his drumming. The lyrics are typical Heavy Metal/Hard Rock fair and are a step down from Stained Class.

The remaster contains an excellent song entitled "Fight For Your Life"; how this song did not make it on an actual release is beyond me- it's really good. The live song is the classic "Riding On The Wind". The sound is decent with only slightly awkward sounding vocals (more due to the sound system I think). Overall, Killing Machine has a lot of great Judas Priest classics and is also home to many underrated songs, however, "Rock Forever", "Take On The World", and "Evening Star" are a step down from the rest of their material. At times Killing Machine is more commercial sounding than Stained Class, but the quality of the songs is still high so I'm recommending this to anyone with an interest in classic Metal even though there is dip in quality when compared to Stained Class with certain songs.

This album is no Stained Class - the songs are far simpler, and not nearly as consistent. Also, since it's a studio album from before 1979, I must mention that any song found here and on Priest in the East will sound far better there.

And there are a lot of songs on here that are on there too: six in fact - "Delivering the Goods", "Rock Forever", "Hell Bent for Leather", "Green Manalishi", "Running Wild", and "Evil Fantasies".

On here, Hell Bent for Leather totally rules, as it always does - that little solo in the middle is completely godly. Green Manalishi and Rock Forever are far more fun with the crowd singing along. Delivering the Goods and Running Wild are nice here too. Evil Fantasies is pretty mediocre in the studio, it's about 100x as good live.

As for the songs here but not there: Evening Star is a fun little ballad with a nice sweeping chorus. Burnin' Up is pretty average midpaced Priest with silly lyrics. Take on the World is "We Will Rock You" except not by Queen, and I have always found it horrible. Killing Machine is midpaced Priest and generally well executed and catchy, and Before the Dawn is kinda forgettable.

Overall, it's one of their weaker albums, though it does have its definite highlights. "Hell Bent for Leather" - it really doesn't get much better than this as far as speed metal is concerned, it's a definite canonical example of how to play fast, furious, and right to the point. "Delivering the Goods" is probably the other great song, and "Running Wild" is pretty nifty too - must be to have given the name to such a great speed metal band!