Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Judas Priest
Label: Columbia Records
Release: 1990
Length: 54:38
This is one of those special albums in heavy metal! The metal bible! Whenever metalheads mention its name, everyone around shudders with a touch of awe, and at the same time with a surge of immense joy that they get to share the sounds of the fantastic magic “Painkiller” delivers. Most important of all, the factors behind this album came together in the ideal way. The original idea hits exactly the mark it was aiming for.
“Painkiller” opens with a bang, courtesy of the revving double bass pedal, the new ingredient in the new face of Judas Priest. Why should “Painkiller” be anything special in all this? Because Judas Priest showed it’s still possible to top the crushing sound of the 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 heaviest Judas Priest sound up to that point. What’s really startling about the record is right there in the title track, whose main riff is tuned a half step down, something Judas Priest steered clear of on earlier records. That lifts “Painkiller” onto a completely different level compared to the rest of the Judas Priest legacy. It’s like it fell out of another galaxy. With “Painkiller,” Judas Priest cut their ties with the seventies for good. Every earlier record carried a whiff of rock’n’roll, which Judas Priest had had in their expression since day one, even if it was only the faintest breeze drifting out through the band’s vibes. That’s why “Painkiller” was so incredibly successful, and still is today! It succeeds in bringing together all the old fans, who always admired the band’s remarkable sense and feel for composing music, finely dosed and balanced with melody and an aggressive attitude, and the younger metalheads of the new generation, raised on the sounds of thrash, who by nature always demanded brutal, fastest, loudest, in short raw power. “Painkiller” combines absolutely every one of those attributes. That’s why this album doesn’t have a single weak spot.
The title track that opens the record wins you over right away. It’s a step up in destructiveness and an extra dose of the metallized, vampiric attitude of the new Judas Priest, while at the same time offering a wicked “feel” in the background that’s strongly present all the way through. What’s also fascinating is that the song is actually built pretty intricately and is technically flawless, yet it slides into your ears with incredible ease, where we can revel without limits in all the metal splendor it has to offer.
The record is also special because whenever the guys lean into brutal waters (most obviously in the title track, All Guns Blazing and Metal Meltdown), Rob Halford keeps pulling his weight with his vocals, making sure the songs get an equal measure of melody. 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 extraordinary magic Priest were able to conjure up like the seasoned old cats they are. So every fan can set their own criteria for where the peaks are.
One of the most beautifully crafted riffs is surely the one in Leather Rebel. Here the torpedoing 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 kinds of juicy guitar embellishments. The more aggressive Priest get, the more fervently Halford screams too. But his line, however crushingly frenzied it gets, always keeps an exceptional melodic quality throughout the record. Halford doesn’t just yell recklessly; he’s fully immersed the whole time and adapts to the mood of every single song.
The first bonus track on this remaster is the never-released, fantastic metal ballad Living Bad Dreams, full of emotional charge. The second bonus is a “live” version of Leather Rebel. I have to admit Rob’s singing in it isn’t the most convincing, especially in the chorus, which hints that the man was no longer breathing as one 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 records in the Judas Priest crown. And after all these years, it’s still incredibly inspiring for younger metal bands. Where Judas Priest started and what they spelled out 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 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 up the sleeve, the thing that let them keep standing and surviving on their recognizable and always right path. Deep Purple would say: “Listen, Learn And Read On!” And in the case of Judas Priest there’s no difference. “Fighting on with dignity, in life and death we deal, the power and the majesty, amidst the blood and steel.” Some of the lines from One Shot At Glory can be read as Rob’s personal requiem to the band, like this one: “Fate stands before me, words have all been said!” or “Destiny calls me (new challenges on life’s path), one night of fire (all the burning faith he put into the band), One Shot At Glory (all his work, which, as a 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 fulfilled.
Lineup
Rob Halford – vocals
K.K Downing – guitar
Glenn Tipton – guitar
Ian Hill – bass
Scott Travis – drums
Production
Judas Priest & Chris Tsangarides
Tracklist
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 EDITION
11. Living Bad Dreams
12. Leather Rebel (Live)
Album length: 55:02
