Label: Columbia Records
Release date: September 3, 1990
Production: Judas Priest & Chris Tsangarides
Album length: 46:03 min
Genre: Heavy Metal
Rating: 10/10
This is one of those special albums in heavy metal! The metal bible! Whenever metalheads mention its name, everyone around gives a little shudder of awe, but also a rush of pure joy that they get to share the sounds of the fantastic magic “Painkiller” serves up. Most important of all, every factor behind this album’s creation clicked together in the perfect way. The original idea hitting exactly the goal it was aiming for.
“Painkiller” kicks off with a bang, with the revving of the double bass pedal, the new ingredient in the new face of Judas Priest. So what makes “Painkiller” so special in all this? Judas Priest showed that it was still possible to top the crushing sound of their previous record. This new face and sound would have been impossible without bringing new drummer Scott Travis into the band. Scott Travis came from Racer X (he still plays in them today), and his new technique was hugely important in developing the newest and heaviest Judas Priest sound up to that point. What’s most thrilling about the record is right there in the title track, whose main riff is tuned down a half step, something Judas Priest steered clear of on earlier records. That lifts “Painkiller” onto a completely different level compared to the whole Judas Priest legacy. Like it fell in from another galaxy. With “Painkiller,” Judas Priest cut their tie with the seventies for good. All the earlier records carried a whiff of the rock’n’roll that Judas Priest had in their expression from the very beginning, even if it was only the faintest breeze blowing through the band’s vibes. That’s why “Painkiller” was so incredibly successful, and it still is today! Successful because it unites all the old fans, who always admired the band’s remarkable sense and feel for songwriting, finely dosed and balanced with melody and an aggressive attitude, and the younger metalheads of a new generation, raised on the sounds of thrash, who by nature always demanded brutal, fastest, loudest, in short raw power. “Painkiller” brings together every one of those attributes. That’s why this album doesn’t have a single weak spot.
The opening title track wins you over right away. It’s an upgrade in destructiveness with an extra dose of metalized, vampire-reborn attitude from the new Judas Priest, while a wicked, sinister “feel” lurks in the background the whole way through, strongly present. What’s fascinating is that the song is actually fairly complex in its construction and technically flawless, yet it slips into your ears with incredible ease, where we can revel without limit in all the metal shine it has to offer.
The record is special also because whenever the guys lean into brutal waters (most obviously in the title track, All Guns Blazing and Metal Meltdown), Rob Halford keeps adding an equal measure of melody to the songs with his vocals. The songs where the balance tips more clearly toward melody are Night Crawler, A Touch Of Evil with its excellent keyboard arrangements, and Between The Hammer & The Anvil. The last two are the atmospheric peaks of the album. But it’s hard to single out highlights, since every track is polished to the max and radiates the incredible magic Priest were able to conjure up, like the seasoned old tomcats they were. So every fan can set their own criteria for where the peaks are.
One of the most beautifully shaped riffs is surely the one in Leather Rebel. Here the torpedo-barrage of the double bass pedal laid over the guitar rampage creates an especially strong contrast. The album bursts with mighty intensity and dynamics. The fifth track, Metal Meltdown, is yet another rhapsody from both guitarists, full of lead breaks and all sorts of juicy guitar flourishes. The more aggressive Priest get, the more fervently Halford screams. But his vocal line, however crushingly crazed it gets, always keeps an exceptional melodic quality throughout the record. Halford never screeches recklessly, he’s completely immersed the whole time and adapts to the mood of each moment within every single song.
The first bonus track on this remaster is the never-before-released, fantastic metal ballad Living Bad Dreams, packed with emotional charge. The second bonus is a “live” version of Leather Rebel. I have to admit Rob’s singing on it isn’t the most convincing, especially in the chorus, which hints that the man was no longer breathing in sync with the rest of the band.
Priest roar like never before. This album is their monument and their jewel, the one that shines with the greatest intensity of all the albums in the Judas Priest crown. And after all these years, it’s an album that’s still incredibly inspiring for younger metal bands. Where Judas Priest started and what they wrapped up 21 years later with the famous “Painkiller.” It’s sad that this was the last record made with metal icon Rob Halford. Judas Priest will never sound like this again.
But generally speaking, even with Rob gone from the band, its purpose through all the years of its existence was never to copy itself. Judas Priest always strove for constant positive change, eternal perfection and building on what they’d achieved. That’s their ace in the hole, which let them always stand tall and survive on their recognizable and ever-true path. Deep Purple would say: “Listen, Learn And Read On!” And with Judas Priest it’s no different. “Fighting on with dignity, in life and death we deal, the power and the majesty, amidst the blood and steel.” Some of the verses from One Shot At Glory can be read as Rob’s personal requiem for the band, e.g. this one: “Fate stands before me, words have all been said!” or “Destiny calls me (new challenges on life’s road), one night of fire (all the burning faith he put into the band), One Shot At Glory (all his work, which, as the product of that strong faith, materialized in the band over the years)”. While a new day was rising over the horizon, one of the band’s epics had just come to a triumphant and final close. The era of the “classic” Judas Priest was complete.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik, 2002
Track list:
1. Painkiller
2. Hell Patrol
3. All Guns Blazing
4. Leather Rebel
5. Metal Meltdown
6. Night Crawler
7. Between The Hammer & The Anvil
8. A Touch Of Evil
9. Battle Hymn
10. One Shot At Glory
bonus tracks on the 2002 remastered reissue:
11. Living Bad Dreams
12. Leather Rebel (Live)
Lineup:
Rob Halford – vocals
K.K Downing – guitar
Glenn Tipton – guitar
Ian Hill – bass guitar
Scott Travis – drums
