Hell Bent for Leather
While the title of this 1979 release perfectly fits the band's increasing S&M-inspired; leather-and-chains imagery, it's a mature and fairly sharp thematic departure from its largely death-obsessed predecessor,Stained Class. While the Priest could have easily fallen into the same stultifying goth clichés as forebears likeBlack Sabbath, they expanded both their musical range and lyrical focus here, shrewdly burnishing the album's commercial potential in the bargain. Kicking off with the upbeat "Delivering the Goods" and theSkynyrd-worthy arena boogie of "Rock Forever," the band blasts through material that's as wide asSin After Sin's, but better focused. There are expected metal clichés--a big rock ballad ("Before the Dawn") and some expected bad-ass posturing (the title track and "Killing Machine")--but even the band's occasional bowing to gothic expectations is informed with a sense of surprise and adventure, as witnessed by their cover of the disturbing Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac track "The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Horn)." That much of this album's tack became inspiration--and then cliché--for the widespread metal revolution that Judas Priest helped foster is only testament to their enduring legacy. This digitally remastered edition features expanded artwork, new commentary by the band, and complete lyrics, as well as the bonus tracks "Fight for You Life" (a studio outtake later incorporated into "Rock Hard, Ride Free") and a manic live version "Riding on the Wind."--Jerry McCulley