Judas Priest - Painkiller

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Music reviews of Painkiller

Music Review: Judas Priest in their One Shot At Glory
Rating: 5 Stars

Kicking off is the incredible title track in which sheer intense drumming and powerful vocals grab hold of you and don't let go until the end. Next is the unique midpaced, yet underrated Hell Patrol. All Guns Blazing is the one track on here that I would say is a bit cheezy, but even still, Glenn and K.K.'s wild guitar playing still gives the song some strength. Leather Rebel is the album's machine-gun totting anthem, in the veins of the much earlier Hell Bent For Leather and Breaking The Law. Its live counterpart is less than stellar though, and shows that Halford's enthusiasm for the band is wearing thin. Metal Meltdown is the fastest song on there, resembling a darker version of their previous album's title track. Night Crawler and A Touch Of Evil are Painkiller's two haunting tracks: the latter slow, and the former resembling The Sentinel. BTHATA is solid, midpaced 80s thrash, with the greatest guitar tapping section in a heavy metal song. The album's strongest and most productional track, Battle Hymn/One Shot At Glory is an underrated Priest classic, with Glenn and K.K.'s guitar shredding abilities set on maximum. Living Bad Dreams is Painkiller's single studio cut ballad, which should have stayed in the album even though it's a break in the all-out metal assault.

Following the album's large-scale world tour, Halford quit the band in 1992 and started a solo career, which showed mixed results until his heavy metal return album Resurrection(2000). The remaining band was in stand-by, hiding from the fans for seven years until they found a replacement, Tim "Ripper" Owens and released Jugulator(1997). Unfortunately, this changed the band forever and fans lamented its new death metal, grunge sound.

So how does this album fare? Well, it's far removed from their earlier, more successful days, but at the same time, much different than Turbo or Ram It Down. Though Priest was no longer influencing popular metal, you have to wonder if this album really had some historical significance, because a whole lot of neo-classical power metal bands (and even Halford's Resurrection and Crucible albums) borrow HEAVILY from Painkiller. Hmm. Musically, it resembles old Metallica but with non-inspired lyrics. I noticed that many reviewers hated this album just because of "cheezy" lyrics. They may not be poetry in motion, but Halford sings them like no one else can. Just as I had mentioned before in my Ram It Down review, songs don't have to have good lyrics to simply rock, and rocking is what this album does very well. I heartily recommend Painkiller, as its a worthy addition to top off the Priest discography. Come in open minded, and you will not be disappointed. Get ready because Judas Priest will rock your world one last time. And as they say, its better to burn out than to fade away...

Description of Painkiller

Alternative Rock CDs

• Music > Styles
• Hard Rock & Metal
• Pop
• Rock