Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Judas Priest
Label: Columbia Records
Released: 1981
Running time: 37:42
Rating: 3/5
After thoroughly forging their steel through “Killing Machine” (1978) and “British Steel” (1980), Judas Priest took a bigger stylistic detour with “Point Of Entry” (1981). I stress “bigger” because everyone back then was expecting and demanding yet another album cut from the “British Steel” cloth, and of all the songs on “Point Of Entry”, the one Judas Priest tie most closely to it in feel, execution, riff and even sound is Hot Rockin’. Instead of raw energy and metal aggression, “Point Of Entry” radiates more hard rock sophistication and sensitivity, especially in songs like Don’t Go, You Say Yes, All The Way or Troubleshooter. This album is far more atmospheric and nowhere near as explosive as its predecessor. Judas Priest don’t sound reckless at every turn here; they dose out their metal racket with a bit more hard rock restraint.
No need to hit the panic button over “Point Of Entry”. We’ve still got the metal killers Heading Out To The Highway, Hot Rockin’ and On The Run, with polished melodies, fluid passages and juicy guitar solos, which are longer again and so, on “Point Of Entry”, generally more expressive than on “British Steel”. The record’s special appeal lies in the high-atmosphere tracks like Turning Circles, and especially in the ambitious works of art Solar Angels and Desert Plains, where the band pulled off a contrasting mood nobody had heard from them before, set between the guitar “darkening” and the drums torpedoing you from all sides. Desert Plains is the romantically tinted, epic peak of the record, and listening to Rob’s emotive vocals in it is always a real treat.
The album is bursting with different emotions. Of course, on first spin it doesn’t slide into your ears as smoothly as “British Steel” or “Killing Machine”, but anyone who gives it a chance will be able to enjoy the remarkable variety of moods, thanks to a stylistically more contrasting set of songs and Halford’s fully immersed, fantastic performance. Halford’s singing can be downright passionate, especially on the tracks with a higher dose of rock’n roll, like Troubleshooter or All The Way. The remaster delivers outstanding sound. Every time I listen to the new version of this album, I’m struck by the incredible difference in sound quality. That goes especially for the drums, which breathe even fuller, their sonic depth now emphasized even more in the band’s sound.
The remaster again comes with two bonus tracks. The first is Thunder Road, with an excellent metalized rock’n roll riff, recorded in 1987 with a drum machine and the same rhythm Judas Priest used for their cover of C. Berry’s Johnny B. Goode (“Ram It Down”, 1988). The second is a “live” version of Desert Plains, which showcases Judas Priest’s incredible onstage explosiveness. The track is played much faster live and really gives you the feeling that Judas Priest want to leave total stage devastation in their wake.
Unlike “British Steel”, “Point Of Entry” radiates greater maturity from the band. That goes for the lyrics too, which are no longer all rebellious rabble-rousing; Halford started dealing mostly with himself in them. With “Point Of Entry”, Judas Priest made an excellent album that’s still firmly loaded with the raw energy of “hell-raising” and in which emotions boil over at every step. “Point Of Entry” was recorded in a studio on the island of Ibiza, so under the hot Spanish sun. The location surely contributed to the special magic this album caught. At the same time there’s a feeling that Judas Priest, at some point, paused for a moment and looked back along the tracks of their turbulent journey. Once the lads had climbed up onto the fields of glory, they felt peace and let out an album of exceptional looseness. Into their new face they brought more complexity and stylistic contrast again, while with Desert Plains, Solar Angels and Heading Out To The Highway they hinted that there were still plenty, plenty of exciting things they planned to pull out of their sleeve.
Line-up
Rob Halford – vocals
K.K Downing – guitar
Glenn Tipton – guitar
Ian Hill – bass guitar
Dave Holland – drums
Production
Judas Priest & Tom Allom
Track list
1. Heading Out To The Highway
2. Don’t Go
3. Hot Rockin’
4. Turning Circles
5. Desert Plains
6. Solar Angels
7. You Say Yes
8. All The Way
9. Troubleshooter
10. On The Run
BONUS TRACKS FROM THE 2001 REMASTERED EDITION:
11. Thunder Road
12. Desert Plains (live)
Album length: 47:56
