Sin After Sin is Judas Priest's 3rd album, and the one where they really began to shape their sound of the future. As for me personally, once I acquired Hell Bent For Leather as an impressionable 14 year old, I went about looking for all the Priest I could find. Sin After Sin was readily available and may have been the second one I heard by the band (either this or Stained Class, I can't remember for certain). So it's an album that's part of my DNA at this point. But going back to 1979 on that first exposure, Sin After Sin was a bit lesser in the metal crunch department than what I'd hoped at the time. But of course I didn't realize that I was sitting on the metal revolution. With an historical lens, Judas Priest were way ahead of the pack in 1977 - branching far off mainstream hard rock, and beginning to hone what ultimately became known as "the riff". They were also beginning to trim off the prog tendencies of Sad Wings of Destiny. Blessed with one of the most perfect vocalists in history in Rob Halford, Judas Priest slowly but surely began to cultivate a cult audience that lasts until this day. 'Sinner', 'Let Us Prey / Call For the Priest', and 'Raw Deal' each took the idea of revolving the songwriting around the almighty riff. The truly groundbreaking moment, though, comes at the end with the jaw dropping 'Dissident Aggressor', arguably the heaviest and fastest track recorded to tape up to that time. The beginning of power metal and even thrash. As for the other tracks, Priest's cover of Joan Baez's 'Diamonds and Rust' was a fan favorite and concert staple for years. 'Starbreaker' is a solid mid album hard rocker, and 'Here Comes the Tears' is a strong power ballad, one that sets up the smashing 'Dissident Aggressor' perfectly. Only 'Last Rose of Summer' hasn't aged well, a dull ballad that doesn't play to any of Judas Priest's strengths. Overall Sin After Sin is a must own for fans of the band, and ranks among their top releases.
Ownership: LP: 1977 Columbia. Single sleeve. Local trade credit acquisition in 2021. The copy I bought as a teenager was released after obtaining the CD (not the one below). It was pretty worn out, so no major loss, and this copy is fantastic. Also - I wonder if Game of Thrones didn't get the idea for the House of Black and White from this album cover?
CD: 2001 Columbia Legacy. Jewel case release with lyrics and a short history of the album itself. Features two bonus tracks - one is a great cover of Gun's 'Race With the Devil', a good choice for a band like Priest. Apparently they played it live quite a bit back in those days. The other is 'Jawbreaker' from Defenders of the Faith which came out in 1984. Not sure why they mixed and matched eras like this, as I'm sure they could have pulled a live version of something more topical.
1979 (first listen); 10//05; 12//12; 7/27/22 (review / new entry)
No comments:
Post a Comment