Judas Priest

  After the failed experiment of Turbo, Judas Priest toned down the synths and returned to the basics, delivering a straight-ahead, much more typical Priest album with Ram It Down. The band's fan base was still devoted enough to consistently push each new album past the platinum sales mark, and perhaps that's part of the reason Ram It Down generally sounds like it's on autopilot. While there are some well-constructed songs, they tend toward the generic, and the songwriting is pretty lackluster overall, with the up-tempo title track easily standing out as the best tune here. And even though Ram It Down backed away from the territory explored on Turbo, much of the album still has a too-polished, mechanical-sounding production, especially the drums. Lyrically, Ram It Down is firmly entrenched in adolescent theatrics that lack the personality or toughness of Priest's best anthems, which ? coupled with the lack of much truly memorable music ? makes the record sound cynical and insincere, the lowest point in the Rob Halford era. Further debits are given for the cover of "Johnny B. Goode." 


Ram It Down

Blood Red Skies

Heavy Metal

Love Zone (Live)

Come and Get It

Love Zone

Hard as Iron

Blood Red Skies (Live)

I'm a Rocker (Album Version)

I'm a Rocker

Johnny B. Goode

Love You to Death

Monsters of Rock (Album Version)

Night Comes Down (Live)

Bloodstone (Live)

Monsters of Rock

Johnny B. Goode (Album Version)

Come and Get It (Album Version)

Ozzy Osbourne

War Pigs (Charity Version)

Rocka Rolla (Explicit)

身着黑色皮革與金屬飾品便是英國重金屬天王猶大牧師隊（Judas Priest）帶給金屬樂迷的強烈感官印象，其剛猛無比的外表就如同他們的音樂一般，力道十足且不流於造作，是搖滾界的不朽傳奇！在他們30年的辛苦經營之下，猶大牧師樂隊的精神早已烙印在每位金屬子民的心中。

猶大牧師樂隊這支來自英國的金屬樂隊，在1970年於伯明罕成立，當時是由吉他手KK·唐寧（K.K.Downing）和貝司手伊安·希爾（Ian Hill）這兩個同校好友，以及另外找來的主唱阿蘭·阿特金斯（AlanAtkins）和鼓手約翰·伊里斯（John Ellis）所組成。

後來在主唱羅伯·哈福德（Rob Halford）加入後，好不容易才與英國當地的一家小公司簽下合約，而且樂隊又再得到一員猛將———吉他手格蘭·泰普頓（Glenn Tipton），犀利無匹的雙吉他就此成為樂團後來的招牌之一。但是首張專輯並沒有引起太大的回應。幸好到了第二張專輯《哀傷命運之翼》（Sad Wings Of Destiny）時，引起主流大廠牌CBS的注意，慧眼識英雄地將猶大牧師樂隊簽了下來，並且在1977年發行了專輯《罪後罪》（Sin After Sin），從此樂隊的音樂事業便一飛沖天。

1976年Sad Wings Of Destiny（命運悲傷之翼）發行了。由於是由一個小地下公司發行的，這給樂隊帶來了很大的壓力，因為公司不能給他們提供任何支持。實際上他們還得靠白天工作來完成演出。
　　
Sad Wings Of Destiny是於1975年12月在倫敦的Morgan錄音室錄製的，1976年3月發行。儘管公司沒有為他們提供資金，他們還是在英國進行了廣泛的演出。在這困難的時候樂隊成員都緊緊地團結在一起，最終國際大公司CBSColumbia提供給他們一筆資金。多年以後，這張專輯被譽為樂隊最偉大的作品之一( I think it's the best)，和之後發行的Stain Class並駕齊驅。

回首過去三十年來，猶大牧師樂隊在重金屬方面的影響與貢獻絕非一言兩語可以道盡，不論未來還有甚麼樣的音樂類型出現，始終堅持純正重金屬走向的猶大牧師樂隊，必定是搖滾樂史上璀璨耀眼的一頁。

The groundbreaking Sad Wings of Destiny was the first great Judas Priest album, simultaneously taking the entire heavy metal genre to new depths of darkness and new heights of technical precision and musicality. Sad Wings of Destiny sounded like little else on the metal scene in 1976 it was heavy and chillingly bleak, in an almost unrelenting way that hadn't been seen since Black Sabbath's heyday, but its arrangements were much more intricately crafted, its sonic textures more varied, its grooves tight and menacing, yet tinged with a gothic elegance under the raging torrent of guitar riffs. Just as importantly, the more prog rock-influenced sections of Rocka Rolla have been brought under control, with the extended pieces displaying a newfound focus and direction, as well as complexity. Perhaps the only flaw lies in the album's pacing, which drags down some of the momentum toward the second half by keeping the slower pieces too close together (an effect not helped by the less-than-melodic rocker Genocide). However, virtually every other aspect of the album points to a stunning artistic leap forward. The opener, Victim of Changes, was an instant metal classic, with Rob Halford delivering an electrifying performance; elsewhere, shorter songs like The Ripper and Deceiver come on like lightning-quick sneak attacks, ending before you know what's hit you. There are also two delicate, prog-style ballads, Dreamer Deceiver and the piano-based Epitaph, demonstrating a compelling emotional range. Although neither as commercially successful nor as technically flashy as subsequent releases, Sad Wings of Destiny was an important milestone in the eventual development of the progressive metal subgenre, and established a standard of excellence to which Judas Priest would adhere through the remainder of the '70s. 


Ram It Down

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Ram It Down

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