Label: Columbia Records
Release date: February 10, 1978
Production: Dennis MacKay
Album length: 43.40 min
Genre: Heavy Metal
Rating: 9.0 / 10
Well, well, the Priest suddenly shifted into “high gear” and with “Stained Class” (1978) finally nailed down the outlines of their trade and their mission. Their essence was laid bare. Heavy metal. From start to finish. This is where two classics saw the light of day: Exciter and Beyond The Realms Of Death. Next to those two, we absolutely have to mention the fantastic cover of Spokey’s Tooth, Better By You, Better Than Me (from the Spokey’s Tooth record “Spokey Two”, 1969), which supposedly carried truly “spooky” lyrics. Singing them was reportedly the reason the band was dragged into court in the US state of Nevada (where else), because those “cursed” lines allegedly drove two young men to attempt suicide. One of them succeeded in killing himself, while the other, who suffered horrific injuries, was barely saved, but only for a few months, until the poor guy breathed his last from a drug overdose. Judas Priest successfully fended off those preachy accusations in court. Better By You, Better Than Me is also here, as a bonus track on this remaster, in an excellent live version.
The twin-guitar duo of equals just kept getting better! Fantastically ornate solos split into several lead breaks, punchy, aggressive riffing laced with brilliantly fluid, polished transitions, melodic twin harmonies in thirds, all of it sounds “dusted off” and taken to an even higher level compared to the previous albums. Les Binks proved to be an excellent solution, and Judas Priest could finally breathe easy for a while on the lineup stability front. Les completely replaced Simon Phillips, and his strengths, besides the contrastingly full drumming under the riffs, were witty, colorful fills played extremely tastefully and at times with an incredible amount of softness (Better By You, Better Than Me). The guitars, with an ever-lively, kicking rhythm line, and the uniquely expressive Rob Halford on vocals, whose aggression got more pronounced from record to record, sparkled thanks to the band’s fantastic working chemistry. Judas Priest were getting louder and louder, the riffs kept growing from album to album and getting bigger. The Priest made a huge leap in the quality of their songwriting. Despite all the punch, most of the songs are still more intricately built (several different riffs), radiating the enormous enthusiasm and musical perfection of the band’s members in that period.
On the 2001 remaster we get a bit more “balladry” with the bonus track Fire Burns Below, which, in its production and its use of a drum machine, sounds like it was lifted from the era of “Turbo” (1986) or “Ram It Down” (1988), even though the booklet says it was recorded “during the earlier years of our career”. Because on “Stained Class” you simply won’t find a ballad that’s a ballad in the 100% sense of the word, which was a trademark of all three previous records.
Everything slower and acoustic on “Stained Class” is masterfully woven into the more intricately conceived composition Beyond The Realms Of Death, whose dynamics surge stormily for a good seven minutes and where Rob’s talent for building drama really shines. In that respect, Beyond The Realms Of Death remains one of the mightiest Judas Priest classics to this day.
A year earlier, with “Sin Afer Sin”, Judas Priest had already leaned hard into hinting at original sin in their lyrics. “Stained Class” now stares death dead in the face, straight through the eye sockets of the skull, and back in the day lyrics like that could genuinely cast a spell over a less grounded soul. On that front, Judas Priest truly signed a deal with the devil himself! They became outrageously shocking in everything, and that’s exactly what drew folks to them, since they provocatively did things that, by the “norms of civilized society”, were (and still are) loudly forbidden. “Stained Class” is an album that, after more than 25 years, still crushes as fresh as if it had been recorded yesterday!
author: Aleš Podbrežnik, March 2002
Track list:
1. Exciter
2. White Heat, Red Hot
3. Better By You, Better Than Me
4. Stained Class
5. Invader
6. Saints In Hell
7. Savage
8. Beyond The Relms Of Death
9. Heroes End
BONUS TRACKS ON THE 2001 REMASTERED EDITION:
10. Fire Burns Below
11. Better By Your, Better Than Me (Live)
Lineup:
Rob Halford – vocals
K.K. Downing – guitar
Glenn Tipton – guitar
Ian Hill – bass
Les Binks – drums
