Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Judas Priest
Label: Columbia Records
Released: 1993
Rating: 4.5/5
Well, if we’ve been playing around with studio releases, let me spice it all up with this compilation, which more or less wraps up the classic Halford era of Judas Priest. It’s a fantastic cross-section of everything Judas Priest were through their evolution and what they became with the album “Painkiller” (1990), which closes out that period and is in many ways the band’s creative peak. In 1993 Halford officially left the band, which made the release of this chronological record all the more fitting.
“Metal Works ’73 – ’93” is a collection of songs from all over the map. It shows a young, hungry band brimming with enthusiasm and creative energy through the seventies, and then the classic Judas Priest of the eighties, when they squeezed out every last drop of their creativity. With this compilation, Judas Priest pulled a clever move. They shuffled the tracks together in a refined and very tasteful way, so they don’t follow chronological order. That got Judas Priest the high level of dynamics they were after, and the result is that listening to this compilation leaves a special impression. The impression of a brand-new album, almost. The jumps in dynamics across both discs are seriously exciting, and the contrasts they pull off fit together and flow into each other fluidly.
Even though the title of this compilation spans twenty years, you have to subtract the first 4 years of the band’s existence. Because of copyright problems, the band was forced to ignore material from its first two studio albums, “Rocka Rolla” (1974) and “Sad Wings Of Destiny” (1976), so none of it made it onto this compilation. On that front, let’s hope we finally get decent remasters of both albums someday (Snapper Music recently put both out in digipacks, but you can’t order them anywhere in Slovenia, so all that’s left is trusting online orders) and that songs from both albums get included on some future Judas Priest compilation.
The material that is here, as already said, apart from that beauty flaw I just mentioned, captures the spirit, faith and mission of the band across that period in the best way possible. Personally, I miss the tracks Sentinel and Starbreaker. Otherwise, going by the number of tracks, the albums that come out on top are probably the two mightiest JP records, “Screaming For Vengeance” (1982) and “Painkiller”, which is the only right call for a cross-section of this particular stretch of the band’s career. I’m attaching the complete track list from both discs. I think the chosen titles of “thunderous echo” speak plainly enough for themselves about who and what we’re dealing with, so I’ll leave the final verdict on the compilation to you:
As you’ve noticed yourselves, the new double remaster (2002) contains no bonus tracks. Personally, I think Priest could have added a third CD (as a bonus) with the B-sides of the released singles. I have in mind the compilation “Priest, Live & Rare” (CBS Records, 1996), released only in Japan. Anyway, sometimes it’s best to leave the integrity of material meant for preservation and remaster retouching well alone. So all that’s new on this double anthology CD is that the tracks are remastered. If you already own all of the band’s remastered studio albums, there’s no need to bother with this compilation. It’s only interesting for the hardest of hardcore JP fans and for every new JP metal lover, whom I warmly recommend to start their adventure into the kingdom of Judas Priest with this compilation.
Lineup
Rob Halford – vocals
Glenn Tipton – guitar
K.K. Downing – guitar
Ian Hill – bass guitar
Simon Phillips – drums: 7th on CD 1 and 13th on CD 2
Les Binks – drums: 3rd, 8th, 9th, 11th, 14th (all CD 1) and 3rd on CD 2
Scott Travis – drums: 4th, 17th (both CD 1) and 10th, 15th (both CD 2)
Dave Holland – drums: all other tracks
Track list
CD 1:
1. The Hellion
2. Electric Eye
3. Victim Of Changes – (live)
4. Painkiller
5. Eat Me Alive
6. Devil’s Child
7. Dissident Aggressor
8. Delivering The Goods
9. Exciter
10. Breaking The Law
11. Hell Bent For Leather
12. Blood Red Skies
13. Metal Gods
14. Before The Dawn
15. Turbo Lover
16. Ram It Down
17. Metal Meltdown
CD 2:
1. Screaming For Vengeance
2. You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’
3. Beyond The Realms Of Death
4. Solar Angels
5. Bloodstone
6. Desert Plains
7. Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days
8. Heading Out To The Highway – (live)
9. Living After Midnight
10. A Touch Of Evil
11. The Rage
12. Night Comes Down
13. Sinner
14. Freewheel Burning
15. Night Crawler
