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284: JUDAS PRIEST's Sin After Sin | Discography Review
8 Plays7 months ago
Continuing our review of JUDAS PRIEST's entire discography with Sin After Sin!
#judaspriest #sinaftersin #classicmetal #heavymetal #robhalford #kkdowning #glenntipton #ianhill
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Transcript
Introduction to Judas Priest's 'Sin After Sin'
00:00:00
Speaker
Tonight on podcast them down Judas priests sin after sin Heavy metal rules all that punk shit sucks. It doesn't belong in this world. It belongs on fucking Mars, man What the hell is punk shit?
00:00:18
Speaker
The circles and the dicks. Yeah. Hail, Metal Nation, it is I,
Transition from Gull Records to CBS
00:00:25
Speaker
Tim. This is Podcast Them Down. That's Matt and Doug, and we are continuing our review of the entire Judas Brace discography, which is going to go on at this rate for many, many years. Yep. We are still in the 70s with Sin After Sin. All right. See, I'm trying to turn the intro into, like,
00:00:48
Speaker
a early 2000s, late 90s, hot talk radio station. I think it's good. It's smart because you get the copyright strike out of the way. And then we don't have to worry about the rest of the episode. No, it's fair use. Oh. Oh. We'll do it live. Fuck it. Yeah. No, it's fair use. It's fair use. And what are they going to do? Demonetize us?
00:01:13
Speaker
All right. All right. Let's see, where we left off was they were touring. Judas Priest was touring for whatever that album was called, Sad Wings of Destiny. So 1977.
00:01:34
Speaker
They released, Judas Priest released, uh, Rockarolla and Sad Wings of Destiny on that small label that they were never satisfied with, Gull Records. They grew dissatisfied with what they saw as a lack of financial support from their record company. You know, cause, cause they gave them what, like, was it 2000 pounds to record each of the first two albums, something like that? Yeah, it was nothing.
00:02:03
Speaker
Their previous album, Sad Wings of Destiny, caught the attention of CBS Records. And with the help of new manager David Hemmings, the band signed up with CBS CBS and received 60,000 pounds for the follow-up album, which was to draw its title phrase Sin After Sin from the lyrics to the song genocide from the Sad Wings album. Okay.
00:02:29
Speaker
The move to CBS required breaking their contract with Gull. Oh, well, I'm sure that won't bite them in the ass at any point.
Recording and Production Challenges
00:02:39
Speaker
Well, what happened was Gull got all the rights to the recordings, at least for the first two albums and all related recordings. So that's why they've been reissued over and over and over again, because it's the only thing bringing in money at Gull, apparently.
00:02:58
Speaker
Yeah, and I was amused to see the first Judas Priest Best Of came out before this album was released. Wait, really? Was that the, oh shit, what was it called? Well, it was Hero Hero. Hero Hero. That was like the 80s version, yeah. But now there's a 75 with like Japanese style artwork. Interesting. Where did they stick prelude in there?
00:03:27
Speaker
All right. Well, if you didn't get that joke, you have to go back and listen to the last two. Lazy, lazy jerks. Go ahead. We'll be here. All right. So now that you're back, they started recording in January 1977 at the Who's Ramport Studios in the Battersea District of London. OK. See, that would have been a better concept album for that band.
00:03:57
Speaker
What was it? The London Conspiracy 1977. That would have been better. It was like a big picture of Battersea. See, that's a callback to something that might not have aired yet. That might be a callback to the future. Alright. The studio experiences, while with Gull, were less than satisfying.
00:04:20
Speaker
in particular during the mixing of Rock and Rolla, and they were initially quite keen to produce Sin after Sin themselves. CBS, however, insisted on an experienced producer. Roger Glover was suggested and the band agreed. But after one session, the band fired Glover, informing him that they would continue on their own. So he's there for one day and they're like, you're fired. We really want to produce this ourselves. They're like, get the fuck out of here.
00:04:51
Speaker
After a few weeks of struggling with unsatisfactory recordings, the band recalled Glover and the session began anew with only six allotted days remaining. They had 30 times the budget for this album. They fired the producer and then they're like,
00:05:14
Speaker
Oh shit,
First Airplay with 'Diamonds and Rust'
00:05:15
Speaker
we need it. We need the producer. We can't do this ourselves. That is really metal. I hope they give it with six days left. I hope there's like a comic moment where they were like, we don't need that fucking guy. And then like a week later, they're like, we need that fucking guy. Like, and they don't even realize like they're just repeating themselves. And I realized I'm going to give us a producer. This is bullshit. You know, you're just going to have to live with my blurriness because anything I do to fix it won't work.
00:05:45
Speaker
I just thought I was really drunk. I have sin after sin going on while I'm saying all this, so it's piped into my ears. Mine too. You'll never guess what song I'm on. We'll talk about this later. Is it the Allman Brothers song? Yes.
00:06:06
Speaker
It was also during this period that the band parted ways with drummer Alan Moore, feeling that his technique was too limited for their evolving sound. Assassin drummer Simon Phillips was brought in to finish the sessions. The album includes a cover of the Joan Baez song, Diamonds and Rust, which we talked about a bit before. A decision which was encouraged by Glover in the interest of adding a track with commercial potential.
Album Release and Cover Art
00:06:34
Speaker
It's like, you guys are making a great art record, but we got to sell this thing. OK, OK. Indeed, Diamonds and Rest was the first song by Judas Priest to receive radio airplay, and Baez herself reportedly enjoyed the cover. Hey, it worked. This was the band's second attempt to cover the track, and the earlier version from the Gull Records area was only released in 1978 on the compilation album The Best of Judas Priest. Hey, there you go.
00:07:02
Speaker
And as a bonus track on the 1987 reissue of Rock'n'Rolla, which is what I have. Yeah, I think that was the version I was listening to. Apple Music too. Yeah, so it was recorded January 1977. I already said that. Released April 8th, 1977. Okay. Album length, 40 minutes, 36 seconds.
00:07:30
Speaker
Roger Glover, Judas Priest produced it. This says it's on Columbia Records, which it's like CBS is the Columbia Broadcasting System. I understand it's the same company, but they say CBS and Columbia, which is it? It's Columbia. All right. So the lineup. Hang on, I'm looking for something.
00:08:00
Speaker
I wanted to have this. There it is. I need to make this a different color. All right. Okay. On vocals. Rob Halford. KK Downing on guitars. Glenn Tipton on guitars. Piano on here come the tears. Arrangements on diamonds and rust. And organ on let us pray. Ian Hill on bass and Simon Phillips on drums and percussion. Credited as special thanks too.
00:08:29
Speaker
Okay. And then... That's more than their keyboardists get. And then Wikipedia lists additional musicians. Okay. But those were later recording sessions. It's not the album. Roger Glover, by the way, was the Deep Purple bassist? Yeah. Yep.
00:08:50
Speaker
And, yeah, so he produced it along with Judas Priest, engineered by Mark Dodson, who did Sin after Sin, Defenders of the Faith, and he did stuff for Udo, Accept, Anthrax, Metal Church, Prong, and more. Same artist, Rajla Zaybo,
00:09:13
Speaker
They all learn how to pronounce that well. Yeah, this guy is actually, he did two of their most iconic covers and he's just a CBS records like... Just some guy. Like he just works for a CBS. But this is a Egyptianate mausoleum in a London cemetery. Okay, okay. By a relatively famous guy.
00:09:43
Speaker
from the 1880s or no, like early 1900s. 1898?
Track-by-Track Breakdown Begins
00:09:49
Speaker
Could be. All the pieces fit. It is not in a, uh, into its lake though. And there's not the weird lady with the high heels and then swamp thing. Like I don't, I think they added that. Man, nothing cool ever happens. Okay. So.
00:10:14
Speaker
You wanna do the tracklist? Yeah. Yeah, let's go through the song. All right, it opens side one with Sinner. All right, so before we even start anything, KK, for KK's priest, let's jump forward to now. He keeps referring to himself as the Sinner, right? So like sermons of the Sinner,
00:10:42
Speaker
What's the other album? Anyway, Sin After, no, The Sinner Rides Again or something? Yeah, something like that. Well, the writers credited on Sinner are Rob Halford and Glem Tipton, not K.K. Downing. Wait, wait. I thought this was like the whole prequel to his whole fucking gimmick.
00:11:00
Speaker
Yeah, that's what I thought. I thought, like, he... I thought he wrote The Sinner, so, like, this is my identity. This is, like, reaching back into priest's history. I am The Sinner! I wrote the... No! He didn't even have any writing credits in. What? Yeah, so it's just further proof that KK is out of his mind. But... But the band is good. Oh, and by the way, they're playing here on Tuesday.
00:11:27
Speaker
Oh, nice. But it's like $50. Oh, that's not nice. And compared to Judas Priest, cheapest tickets I could find so far are $172. That's three KK Downing tickets. I still don't want to take the KK Downing. That does seem about right though. Yeah. There's no like LA guns or something opening. Yeah, LA guns and some other band.
00:11:56
Speaker
Oh, Seven Spires, I think. That'll come up again on another episode, but either has aired or will air. OK. It'll make sense. It'll all make sense one of these days. All right, Sinner. So Sinner is getting closer to the classic Judas Priest sound. OK. You know, like you can hear the whole.
00:12:21
Speaker
You can hear the whole progression of Judas Priest getting heavier and medaller. However, there's something that bugs me about the guitar tone on this album, because it's a lot darker than the previous two albums.
00:12:48
Speaker
and it took it took several listens to kind of get used to because if you listen to it straight back to back with sad wings of destiny now maybe i have a remaster or something it was just like oh they've neutered the guitars you know there's no edge to them yeah i think this is a roger glover a bit probably yeah well then i also find it weird that he turned down the bass so much yes the bass was too loud on the first two albums but
00:13:16
Speaker
Like, you overcompensated. Drums are getting fancier. Well, and that like, this drummer, you know, didn't quite invent, but certainly one of the earliest examples of double kick drumming and heavy metal. And he's, and he's only been, he has a page of metal archives, but he's only been in like three albums or something ever. Obviously it was like a, you know, a session jazz drummer.
00:13:44
Speaker
Oh, that? I didn't know that. Yeah, he was like a really young jazz guy and he's done a lot of progressive rock and only a couple of other metal records on like a session basis. Meanwhile, like Dissident Aggressor, which we'll talk about, I mean, just the drum technique here is very significant for later on.
00:14:10
Speaker
All right, next song, Diamonds and Rust. And as you mentioned in our rock and roll episode, this is the version that people are familiar with. And I don't know, I kind of prefer the other one that didn't get released. It's a good cover. Yeah, I do prefer this version, but there are certain things I can't exactly quantify.
00:14:40
Speaker
There's some doubled up vocals in that first one that worked pretty well. They're both good. Yeah. But yeah.
00:14:52
Speaker
I mean, I don't know if they did so much on this song, but they're also playing with stereo and stuff. So listening to it in headphones like I did, they're like switching back and forth between channels. It's the 70s now, so we have to prove that we recorded stereo. So we have to do like the I'm over here now thing.
00:15:16
Speaker
Yeah, probably talked about this last episode, but what they did to the original song is very good because it's of course about Joan Baez and Bob Dylan and their tumultuous relationship so that Priest was able to simplify and kind of depersonalize it in a way that
00:15:34
Speaker
really works for them is impressive. And I pitched about this last time, but the rock version is good. I don't really like the priest acoustic version because it's drifting too close to the original song, which they simplified too much for it to work at that level.
00:15:52
Speaker
and it just but both of these opening tracks like are nice driving proto heavy metal track like you know I was using the evolution comparison before and listening to these two tracks I'm like this is a fucking you know like dinosaur now now as we'll discover it's not because it still has to give birth to a to wet
00:16:16
Speaker
uh eggs that need to be in the water and uh they don't have like a leathery outer covering uh and actually we'll get to that one and if the if the temperature goes below 75 it just kills over dead but just on first inspection you're like this is a fucking ravenous beast
00:16:35
Speaker
And quite literally, I mean, the lyrics, I think there's this narrative that Priest did sort of very smart records in the 70s, and maybe they are, but these lyrics would work on Painkiller. I mean, this is a monster song. Yeah. Well, sorry, Peter Brady.
00:16:55
Speaker
Well, that brings us to Starbreaker, which may or may not be about flying to other planets and fucking. So it continues this driving classic Judas Priest until they make it sound like a kiss song with a bunch of weird clapping. It does sound like a kiss song. This album in general has like, this is the kiss song. This is the queen song. This is the Almond Brothers song for some reason.
00:17:23
Speaker
Yeah. So like, yeah, Starbreaker is fantastic. I would be immediately improved if they got rid of the clapping. Which they do in the, uh, uh, unleashed in the East version. Excellent. I was driving around Washington, DC with my windows down in the rain, just pumping Starbreaker. It was great.
00:17:45
Speaker
Also, I want to point out for that song over the fade out, there are some amazing lead vocals. And if you're listening at the proper volume, you're going to hear them. But if you're not listening at the proper volume, they're easy to miss. So, you know, turn it up. And as has already been alluded to, this is a very horny album. That's true.
00:18:11
Speaker
Well, except for the next song, Last Rose of Summer. This is a song that gave me the longest lasting rager of my life. I love this song. I thought I bumped my MP3 player. Sorry, my hi-res audio player. I miscalled it an MP3 player. But you're soon. That was all a flutter.
00:18:36
Speaker
No, it's actually a Sony Walkman and I can refer you to the episode. Oh, I know. I'm well aware. So, um,
00:18:45
Speaker
Yeah, is this the Allman Brothers song? This is just like, what the, this like... I wrote, what is this? I feel like it is somehow the music of the mid 70s distilled and like concentrated into like a single milliliter. And you can just like put this in water and you will have the 70s. Yeah, so I said,
00:19:16
Speaker
I think that chord choices are weird. They're not bad. They're just weird. They're perhaps too heady, or they're interesting choices, but they don't go anywhere. The song is too long. Disagree. And if you start listening to the lyrics. It really gets in your head that way.
00:19:40
Speaker
Well, it's because they just repeat that chorus too many times. But they also say, are they explaining seasons to an alien?
00:19:53
Speaker
And then I wrote, what is this marimba nonsense? It sounds like it's more out of place than the Green Day equivalent of the song, which would be Last Ride In on Nimrod, which also has a marimba.
Diving into 'Let Us Pray/Call for the Priest'
00:20:12
Speaker
See, okay, so you're describing these like they're bad things. So first of all, like, it's kind of like a rock song with... Wait, wait, wait. I brought up a punk band. I brought up a punk band. Heaven that rules. All that punk shit sucks. It doesn't belong in this world. It belongs on fucking Mars, man. What the hell is punk shit? That's what the Starbreaker was thinking.
00:20:36
Speaker
So, okay, it starts off with like this weird like country influenced rock song, and hence the Allman Brothers. But then they're, they're just unnecessarily do like acid rocky sustains. So it's like, da, da, da, bro. And like, what the fuck is that? And then they have like the bah, bah, wah, wah, like weird chord progression, which they punctuate with a glockenspiel. It's like, last rose of summer, da, da, dung, what?
00:21:06
Speaker
I'm like, this is amazing. It's so good. It's so good. And then the fade out like last about a week. Yeah, it's like it's a five minute song, but it has a four minute fade out. It's great. All right. So wait, I lost. I wanted to look up real quick who wrote that.
00:21:33
Speaker
Last rose this summer, the same people who, the same pair who wrote Sinner, Halford and Tipton. I think KK has probably complained about being cut out of this record. Yeah, possibly. Well, he has writing credits on Starbreaker, so I hope he didn't come up with the clapping. And two songs on the backside here.
00:21:57
Speaker
Yeah, so all that was side one, and then side two starts with let us pray slash call for the priest. However, on my on my mp3 player, sorry, my Sony Walkman Hi-Res audio player. By the way, I tend to do things at 44 or 16. Okay. Because I'm ripping the CD.
00:22:25
Speaker
I don't believe in 9624 from a vinyl rip because there's just too much, there's too many variables. If I were to rip my own vinyl, that is. If I had a clean room,
00:22:40
Speaker
and could vibrationally isolate my turntable, then it'd be worth it. Don't you mean when you have a clean room? When I have a clean room, I will update my flak rips to 96.24. Yes. Why stop at 96? Maybe 192. To put that in my studio blueprint. All right.
00:23:05
Speaker
But yeah, on my Sony Walkman Hi-Res audio player, it puts Call for the Priest before raw deal instead of next to Let Us Pray. And I can't really tell where that division is.
00:23:25
Speaker
The so what is called for the priest? That's my question. I thought it was the titular. I thought that was like the titular song is the introduction and call to the priest is the song. But it's a reversed on some versions and they corrected it in 2001. But it wouldn't surprise me if that was uncorrected in future releases. I okay.
00:23:54
Speaker
It's meant to be. I think Metal Archives has it right. Well, no, it has it combined at 614. But let us praise the first part and then call the priest is the second. Okay, okay. Well, this song, whatever you want to call it, is this is like, it sounds like
00:24:15
Speaker
The one riff that every new wave of British heavy metal band has taken and used ad nauseam. It's like the blues scale or the pentatonic. They got the double stops with the inverted power chords. Yeah, this little thing is just very new wave of British heavy metal. And this is the first track where I noticed the double kick as well.
00:24:46
Speaker
Yeah, it's certainly... It might have been before, but this is where it first jumps out at me. Well, and the lyrics are very... Well, the pressure's too much. You know, I peaked last night. Yeah, you did. Got to get me a quick release. City's standing on my shoulders. My body's going piece by piece. You know what I want and I know where to get it.
Themes in 'Raw Deal'
00:25:14
Speaker
All right. If anything, the priest seems to be some kind of role-playing thing. Oh, cool. I need to get copies that have all the lyrics printed.
00:25:37
Speaker
You know, because again, I am listening. I'm not streaming this nonsense. Right. We know. Right. Because I need all the bits. So I want a physical something to read the lyrics and the tablet doesn't count. All right. Next one. Raw deal.
00:25:57
Speaker
So, Halford either fucks or gets fucked on the famous Fire Island in New York. Either real or a fantasy and somehow nobody noticed. Them steel and leather guys were fooling with the denim dudes. A couple of cops playing rough stuff, New York Fire Island.
00:26:25
Speaker
Oh shit, he was gay? What? I had no idea. I moseyed up to the counter and the tender came a-grinnin'. I slapped a smile off his face and scowled Gimme a bourbon. Is that supposed to rhyme? He kind of makes it. Probably doesn't his delivery, yeah.
00:26:49
Speaker
Well, all the heavy bodies ducking, stealing, eager for some action, the scene screwed me up. I saw such contact. Anyway, I'm done. Oh, no. Then the big boys saw me.
00:27:05
Speaker
Can I get you reading these lyrics as my ringtone? Sex was like a hurricane had ravaged and shattered. I was barely holding on to his flying body symphony. Jesus. I don't understand the hurricane line though.
00:27:23
Speaker
I guess I dream in pictures, not colors. The true free expression I demand is human rights, right? I hate my life. I am an actor. I feel like those were leftover lyrics from something else because it's about him going to a gay bar and picking up a dude and then it takes his random
00:27:51
Speaker
Political left turn. Well, I said as a closeted game I Agree out. Yeah, but I Feel like that should be its own song or Mix it into the story better cuz like so he goes from that Hey
00:28:16
Speaker
Well, he's having the sexual experience, and it's very human, and then that makes him feel, why do I feel guilty? Why am I forced to not be myself? Yeah, yeah. I want you to feel like yourself, Rob Halford. I do think his sexuality is a bit of an open secret, as I understand. Yeah, I wasn't there.
00:28:41
Speaker
in the coastal areas you know Los Angeles to San Francisco but like you can't be more clear like how dense our metal heads. Well you know we should we should be a little more if you think all of music
00:29:00
Speaker
at this point like Elton John like there's just people just making obviously gay songs that every the village people yeah like you're right like and and the the the duality was part of the appeal to everyone it's like Liberace in the 50s like everyone knew what this is about but
00:29:22
Speaker
I think you're giving them too much credit. I think people are that fucking stupid. No, I think it's both. There's people in Arkansas going, yeah, I'll rock that song, raw deal. I'm an actor too. And then he shows up on the MTV interview.
00:29:42
Speaker
saying things about Rob Halford, you know, like in the 90s when he comes out. I have no idea. But Tim, I feel like... Maybe they thought the protagonist was a woman and that's... Yeah, yeah, he's singing from a woman's footage. That still doesn't work, because the denim dudes and the leather, what was it? She's turned on by men. I'm the big boys. But Tim, I feel like it's exactly the same thing, like,
00:30:09
Speaker
There were the people who knew what was going on. And then there were the people who were like, I like to rage against the machine before they got all political. Like, that's what this is. But I feel like I can't think of any Judas Priest fan who wouldn't have known. I jump his bones. Yeah, yeah.
'Here Come the Tears' Analysis
00:30:33
Speaker
For those who don't know, the preceding question was, what would you do if Rob Halford walked by right now? I jump his pants. I jump his pants. I jump his pants. The other thing is she was wearing the bandana, which Halford does too. Oh, yeah. It all depends on the city or the region, what that means. But yeah, that presumably meant something to Halford.
00:31:01
Speaker
She bought more than she bargained for. So, all right, so back to the music and not just the lyrics. That song is like, it's oddly mid tempo. Yeah. Which they don't do too much. And I think they were trying to make it sound like sleazy. Yeah. It's like a street fight music.
00:31:30
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's it's odd for Judas Priest. It's a good song. It's a great and like, even though it kind of has this like, yeah, driving habithy vibe vibe. And again, new wave of British heavy metal as well, like kind of mixed in as well.
00:31:45
Speaker
A bit of rockerola bluesiness is back. But there's like screamy vocals and things. It's an interesting, this is like another like weird amphibian, like, oh, it's a dinosaur. I'm like, well, now it's swimming and it's been down there for a long time.
00:32:05
Speaker
Well, I got to say, I'm so appreciative of us doing this because this is one of those albums where you remember two or three songs, but it's like then you got Stained Class next, you have Sad Bigs Destiny before, and I sort of remember weird 70s stuff, but you listen to this four or five times, it just unlocks. Every song on this record is great. Yeah, except for Last Words of Summer, especially Last Words of Summer. Yeah, especially.
00:32:29
Speaker
All right, next. Here come the tears. From the title, I was expecting to hate this, but I think this is a better ballad, obviously, than Last Roads of Summer. This is heavy. It starts, like, I bet this works with modern guitar tones. I don't think it works as well with the guitar tone on the album, but it starts like super quiet.
00:32:56
Speaker
Is this the first, like, melancholic metal ballad? It might be. Like, this is definitely like, I feel like another, like, genre defining cut, like, and they weren't kind of like, I don't think they set out to define a genre doing this, but it just sort of became like, this is how you do a heavy metal ballad.
00:33:23
Speaker
And I do think this era of Priest is kind of influential on, you know, gothic doom metal and all in a way that is underappreciated. Simply because there's so many there, even on this record, there's a lot of very fast stuff, but the slow stuff is... If you're a power metal band and you've ever done like a keyboard heavy track, I think you're shot down and fall from grace and have to thank this song for what it is.
00:33:53
Speaker
I am thanking all their songs. You can buy Burning Shadows. CDs at BurningShadows.bandcamp.com. I wrote on here Unusually Do Me. So I think we picked up on the same thing, Doug. The only weird thing about the song is there's an inflection on his voice where he does this like... And this is how I wrote it in my notes.
00:34:20
Speaker
And that's what it is. So that's how people can tell you're an acoustic engineer. And this is also one of those songs that if you have the waveform on your plex amp or music B, it just grows the entire time. The whole song is a crescendo and it literally ends with an explosion.
Impact of 'Dissident Aggressor'
00:34:50
Speaker
Yup. Yeah. They were, they repeated all guns blazing and it just builds and builds. It's like, it might be my favorite song. All guns blazing. Such a good song. I know I'm jumping ahead to painkiller here, but I love that it's about nothing and everything. It's great. All right. Metal images.
00:35:10
Speaker
But I also love like the undercourses come in. It's like a fucking train that you see coming at you and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And like, when is the train going to hit me? And this is like. Well, to your point, Tim, this is the definition of thoughtful dynamic range in composition, performance and engineering and in mastering. Yeah.
00:35:39
Speaker
Yeah, if only they had more gain on the guitars. But it was 1977. That wasn't, you know, it hadn't been established as the only practice you could do. I just, I love how repetitive on some level this song and Last Rose of Summer are, but you hear them three or four times? No, they are in that length. All right, and then closing out, side two.
00:36:05
Speaker
Dissident Aggressor. Fuck yes. Now, when I saw this on the track list, I was like, wait, didn't Slayer cover that? No, that was Aggressive Perfector. Ah, okay. But yeah, Dissident Aggressor is like, like Priest has arrived. Thrash, yeah. And there's, I love the vocal trade offs between Halford and Halford.
00:36:36
Speaker
You know, I don't even know the words. There's like a bajillion high notes in here. But I think the lyrics are about...
00:36:49
Speaker
Well, it's about a character named Berwyn, and it seems to be a wall. So I'm assuming something on one side of the border or the other. And the lyrics, well, it's stab, ball, punch, crawl, hooks to my brain or well-winsed. Yeah, I mean, there's like 50 words here. Again, kind of glimpsed into the future of metal and probably painkiller in the pre-side. Yeah.
00:37:19
Speaker
This, I believe is my favorite song by far on the record. And they would eventually win a Grammy in 2008. For this? Best metal performance for a live version of Dissonant Aggressor. Hell yes. I would love to see the live version of this because I want to see Halford do those like two octave jumps. That's easy to do in the studio.
00:37:48
Speaker
Speaking of live stuff, Judas Priest's YouTube channel has stuff from Live Vengeance 82 where they do live versions of Sinner and Diamonds and Rust and
00:38:04
Speaker
You can just imagine, definitely by 1982, but these songs, you know, it's one of those things where maybe they didn't capture it as well in the studio as it happens on stage, but I highly recommend you check out The Sinner from Live Vengeance 82, because it's so powerful. I think, like,
00:38:33
Speaker
Unleashed in the East is like the coda or whatever. It's like the capstone of the early metal. The metal you see evolving because they do take a lot of these songs and perform them much more metal on that record. They strip out the prog, speed some of them up, drumming more pronounced.
00:38:59
Speaker
including a sinner and distant aggressor. That's an amazing live album. You can tell the drums have leveled up from this album.
Album Reception and Legacy
00:39:08
Speaker
Well, he was too busy thinking about comic book ideas. That's not his fault. He had stories to tell, including from Hell, a graphic novel about Jack the Ripper. All the pieces connect.
00:39:25
Speaker
We're not even going to remember what we're making. All right. Do you want to guess where this album landed on the UK albums chart? I'm going to guess top 20. I bet still pretty well. 50.
00:39:51
Speaker
Let's go by prices, right rules, which means that Matt, you are wrong. It was 23 so close. It was 23 in the UK. Doug, it didn't even chart in the United States at home. They also faced a somewhat hostile reception or were outright ignored by music press.
00:40:19
Speaker
Which was, at that time, heavily focused on... Punk. Heavy metal rules, all that punk shit sucks. It doesn't belong in this world. It belongs on fucking Mars, man. It belongs on fucking Mars. What the hell is punk shit? Yeah, so punk was huge in the late 70s in Britain because he had all those bands going, we don't want to learn how to play guitar.
00:40:44
Speaker
So when did the Ramones really take off in the U.S.? I want to say later. That was like 80, right? Yeah, like 79, 80. Yeah, so they got ignored by the press. Well, and, you know, there's a populist rant, you know, all the socially unacceptable or undesirable behavior of metal is as or worse in punk, but
00:41:13
Speaker
insert left-wing politics and big city people and you know Rolling Stone the whole world has always been accepting of that and has always been dismissive of metal and fuck that you know it's ridiculous how many what bands are in the rock and roll hall of fame oh god yeah Rolling Stone set uh and how long it's taken for Sabbath uh priest but Metallica like they're starting to get in there but yeah
00:41:44
Speaker
But after like decades of browbeating them into... Oh, you put Dolly Parton in there. Why the hell isn't Judas Priest in there? Yeah. Yeah. Eminem. Yeah. He's not even Rock. What the fuck? All right. Okay. Rock and Roll High School is 1979, which is kind of their cross, like outside of the underground, like I'm a punk kid to like people who aren't into punk know who they are. When was Blitzkrieg Bop? Blitzkrieg...
00:42:14
Speaker
Bob. It doesn't actually matter. Yeah. It belongs on fucking Mars, man. All right. Oh, all right. Sin After Sin was the final Judas Priest album to feature their Gothic cursive font logo. I like how they say that as if it's been on a lot of them. It's been on two of them. So they had two albums with the old English font.
00:42:44
Speaker
The next one will have the font we know and love today. The mausoleum depicted on, I think you already said this. Yep, you did. All right. We can skip that one. Session drummer Simon Phillips. So, oh, they have special thanks to the drummer. Well, he had commitments to another band. So he declined to join Judas Priest as a permanent member as a result
00:43:10
Speaker
Les Binks was hired for the subsequent tour. His band was called, before he was in Judas Priest, Fancy. Well, that's fancy. An acquaintance of producer Glover, Binks was able to play double bass and was one of the few drummers who could replicate Phillips' drum parts live. So that's how Les Binks got involved. So he was their drummer for a while after this.
00:43:38
Speaker
A live tape from their headlining show in Croydon on May 1, 1977 shows that all of the album's songs except one, Last Rose of Summer, were played on the 1977 tour. Raw Deal and Here Come the Tears were only played at headlining shows. We'll get to that, how many times they actually played it. At least according to settlers.fm.
00:44:03
Speaker
They were retired after the tour, so they haven't played Raw Deal or Here Come the Tears since the 70s. Wow. Let Us Pray, Call for the Priest was also played a few times in 78. Sinner and Diamonds and Rust became regulars on future set lists. We talked about this already, but Raw Deal is widely believed to be a gay rights song. Clearly about a dude going to a gay bar.
Touring and Live Performances
00:44:33
Speaker
That is really ambiguous. I don't know. Maybe. With major label support, Sin After Sin marked Judas Priest's first ever opportunity to tour the United States where they served as the opening act for REO Speedwagon and Foreigner. Could you imagine following Judas Priest? That's an amazing... Foreigner comes out and they're like,
00:44:58
Speaker
Hi guys. We're just gonna get off stage now. I find it amazing that any American in the heartland would buy a ticket to see a band called Fortnite. That's a different time.
00:45:15
Speaker
Good point. All right. Though it will take several years and after sin is the first of 11 consecutive Judas priest albums to be certified gold or higher by the RIAA. So this is the first one. Yeah. Cause it's lifetime sales. So it took a while, but it got there. It's a rock and roll. I never, I love that you still don't call it by his real name. Oh, that's his real name, baby.
00:45:45
Speaker
Sin After Sin introduced the combination of the double bass drumming and rapid 16th note bass rhythms combined with rapid 16th note guitar rhythms that would come to define heavy metal in later years, particularly the thrash metal sub genre which emerged in the 80s. The track Dissident Aggressor was an early example of the tempo and aggression which would soon become synonymous with the new wave of British heavy metal.
00:46:13
Speaker
I actually don't agree with that. Other songs sounded more new wave of British heavy metal. Yeah, concur. Alright, live stuff. They've played songs from this album 877 times. Do you want to guess? This is not including Diamonds and Rust. Which song was played the most? Last Rose of Summer.
00:46:42
Speaker
You're saying it like it's going to be a surprise. I would say center. I would say the center. Well, you would both be right. It was the center by more than twice. The next highest one is not dissonant aggressor. It's the next raw deal? Nope. That was only played three times ever. According to setlist.fm. Okay.
00:47:04
Speaker
Starbreaker. Starbreaker. Starbreaker. One more extra time. What was it? Starbreaker. Starbreaker. Starbreaker. You know, they're trying to get the crowd to clap a little. Clap a little. Someone has a cover of that that is pretty good. I think it's our generally. Yes. Yeah, I read that somewhere. I left it off because we're talking about priests, not other people.
00:47:27
Speaker
It was it was some like 90s or 2000s band like in flames or something. I forget. Okay.
00:47:36
Speaker
Yeah, Starbreaker is second, Dissonant Aggressor is third with 106. Then let us pray, call for the priest at 12. Here come the tears at four, raw deal at three, last rose of summer was never played live. Yeah, I spent a lot of time last night looking for a live video of it, much to my chagrin.
00:48:01
Speaker
They are, I think Tim and I saw, they're actually live. They're pulling things out of the catalog. I think when we saw them, they played Saints and Hell for the first time ever on tour. So who knows? Anything's possible. They're bringing back the 70s stuff. Yeah, this Sin After Sin is the 11th most played album that
00:48:30
Speaker
Depends if you want to call covers an album, but setlist.fm does. So that's where your green mana leashes and diamonds and rusts are hiding.
Conclusion and Tease for Next Episode
00:48:43
Speaker
But yeah, this is below the fold. It's at 11. Oh, it's so sad when we get to jugulator and demolition. It's like they barely toured for it.
00:48:59
Speaker
Well, yeah, they only played at most, I think, six songs. And usually it was only like four between the two records. They played pretty long sets, too, typically. Did they do Metal Messiah? No, they didn't. Oh my god, they've never played a live. We got to see if Ripper will get it for us. Got to write them a letter. That's a different episode. That is a different episode. But that is not the next episode, because the next episode is going to be the next year they released Stained Class.
00:49:28
Speaker
Sounds like a stained glass pun. I guess we'll talk about it next time. Oh, is that what it's supposed to be? Well, we'll find out. We'll find out. It's a tease. It's a tease, too. And also, looking to the future, this is the first time they've come close to Maryland. Oh. Oh. So.
00:49:54
Speaker
I mean, we might know people who saw them on tour for Sin After Sin. Where they play Virginia? Pennsylvania is the closest they came. It's Northampton, which is near Allentown. Allentown, for those worldwide. Pretty rock and roll town, yeah. For those listening who don't know the geography of the Eastern United States, Allentown is several hours away. Yep.
00:50:20
Speaker
But it was also the closest place if we wanted to go get some White Castle. That's where we... That is a good stat. Yeah, so... Otherwise, gotta keep going to New York or Ohio or Kentucky. Oh, Kentucky. Yeah, it's a long drive. Okay. Well, until next time, Metal Nation, Stained Class... Stained Class.
00:50:48
Speaker
on the next Judas Priest discography review on podcasting down and keep it metal. And all that punk shit can go to Mars. I wonder if raw deal inspired anyone to go to Fire Island and whether they understood what they saw.
00:51:19
Speaker
Hey, you know what? We got a great big banner that says Timmy Love Judas Priest.