Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Judas Priest
Label: Snapper Records
Release: 1974
Duration: 42:04
This record has very little of what we think of as classic Judas Priest. The band leaned toward cliché rock’n’roll and stuck dutifully to its bluesy influences. The album opens with One For The Road. A hard-hitting riff paired with the first verse, “Where would you be without music”, is an early prophecy that something big is on the way. You can tell on the record that the band members weren’t living in the same musical galaxy yet. Rob Halford didn’t come up with anything especially impressive for the chorus of One For The Road, so it fizzles out pretty lukewarm, and the same goes for Never Satisfied. There’s a lot of holding back in the drums too, all the way through the record.
The title track Rocka Rolla is a whole different story: an open, driving rhythm and a great chorus with that fired-up line “rocka roller woman for a rocka roller man” make for a real leap up to the next level. It’s the first time the band makes it clear there are two guitarists in the lineup, as they layer expressive three-part harmonies into the song. Winter is a short intro, its main motif sitting on a slow, rolling rhythm that hints at a flirtation with early Black Sabbath. Winter, Deep Freeze and Winter Retreat make up a kind of trilogy, and the transitions between them are so featureless that you have to glance at your CD player’s display to notice when one track has slid into the next. They show the band’s experimental side, with Priest calming the whole record down, and in Winter Retreat they fade out almost like some early Pink Floyd. Cheater is a new adventure toward proper hard rock: a simple riff, an expressive Rob Halford with his unmistakable voice, plus harmonica. Run Of The Mill is a meditative little adventure where Priest steer nicely through a gentler pre-chorus that tips over into a punchier, Sabbath-style riff, Halford’s insanely high screams save the song, and with Rob front and center the band manages to hit the stratosphere right at the end of the track.
Production-wise, Rocka Rolla sounds pretty shabby, with the clarity of the guitars suffering most. The basic rhythm riffing and the melodic lines over it often eat up each other’s sonic space way too obviously, and there’s also plenty of noise across the whole record. The backing vocal lines got buried quite a bit in the production too. When it comes to command of the guitars, Priest were without doubt ahead of the studio technology of the day. Glenn and K.K. knew right away what they wanted, and that mattered during the band’s first uncertain steps, when you still couldn’t hear in the music that all the guys were on the same side of the rock history they were writing.
Dying To Meet You is marked by duality. The first part is more flower power oriented, while Judas Priest fire up the engines in the second half and deliver an excellent hard rock finish. Surprisingly, it’s the prehistoric, raw version of Diamonds And Rust (a Joan Baez cover) that contains elements Judas Priest would later cling to even harder and polish to the max.
“Rocka Rolla” doesn’t have any unique standout qualities that would put it among the classics of the seventies. You have to wonder whether it would ever have seen the light of day on a medium like the CD if Judas Priest hadn’t become musical giants. The album is hugely important for the band, and of course for the most devoted fans, while there’s no reason why your classic lover of distorted sounds would miss it in their collection. Still, the album radiates extraordinary courage, hunger and, to a degree, a faith that was only getting stronger. The guys knew what they wanted, which shows above all in the work of both guitars and in Ian Hill’s excellent, confident melodic bass playing. “Rocka Rolla” is an album that can serve as nice ambient decor for an evening of munching chips and playing a round of strip poker, though I doubt any of you is studying this one under a microscope.
Lineup
Rob Halford – vocals
K.K. Downing – guitar
Glenn Tipton – guitar
Ian Hill – bass guitar
John Hinch – drums
Production
Rodger Bain
Track list
1. One For The Road
2. Rocka Rolla
3. Winter
4. Deep Freeze
5. Winter Retreat
6. Cheater
7. Never Satisfied
8. Run Of The Mill
9. Dying To Meet You
10. Caviar And Meths
11. Diamonds And Rust*
* bonus track on 2003 remastered edition
Album length: 42:03
