Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Judas Priest
Label: Columbia Records
Released: 1978
Duration: 54:10
Rating: 3.5/5
Aha, so Priest suddenly shifted into a “higher” gear, and with “Stained Class” (1978) they finally defined the outlines of their trade and their mission. Their essence was revealed. Heavy metal. From start to finish. Two classics saw the light of day here: Exciter and Beyond The Realms Of Death. Besides 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 album “Spokey Two”, 1969), which supposedly carried truly “spooky” lyrics. Singing about those was allegedly the reason the band got hauled into court in the US state of Nevada (where else), because those “cursed” lyrics supposedly drove two young men to attempt suicide. One of them actually managed to take his own life, 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 this clerical accusation in court. Better By You, Better Than Me is also here, as a bonus track on this remaster, in an excellent live version.
The evenly matched guitar duo has improved even more! Fantastically embellished solos split across several lead breaks, punchy, aggressive riffing laced with brilliantly fluid and polished transitions, melodic twin-guitar harmonies in thirds – compared to the previous albums, it all sounds “unleashed” at an even higher level. Les Binks proved to be an excellent solution, and Judas Priest could finally catch their breath for a while when it came to lineup stability. Les completely replaced Simon Phillips, and his strengths, besides the contrastingly full drumming under the riffs, were witty, colorful fills played with extreme finesse and sometimes an incredible amount of softness (Better By You, Better Than Me). The guitars, with an always lively, kicking rhythm line, and the uniquely expressive Rob Halford on vocals, whose aggression got more expressive from record to record, sparked with the band’s fantastic working chemistry. Judas Priest were getting louder and louder, the riffs growing from record to record and getting ever bigger. Priest made an enormous leap in the quality of their songwriting. Despite all the punch, most of the songs are still built in fairly complex ways (several different riffs), radiating the band members’ tremendous enthusiasm and musical perfection 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 between “Turbo” (1986) and “Ram It Down” (1988), even though the booklet claims it was recorded “during the earlier years of our career”. On “Stained Class” you simply won’t find a ballad that’s a ballad in the 100% sense of the word, which was a hallmark of all three previous records.
Everything slower and acoustic on “Stained Class” is masterfully woven into the more intricately conceived Beyond The Realms Of Death, whose dynamics surge stormily through a good seven minutes and where Rob’s talent for building dramatic tension especially shines. In that respect, Beyond The Realms Of Death has remained one of the mightiest Judas Priest classics to this day.
A year earlier, with “Sin After Sin”, Judas Priest had already leaned heavily toward hinting at original sin in their lyrics. “Stained Class” now stares death straight in the face through the eye sockets of a skull, and back then lyrics like that could genuinely put a spell on a less grounded person. In that respect, Judas Priest really did sign a contract with the devil himself! They became utterly shocking in every way, and that was exactly what drew people to them, because 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!
Lineup
Rob Halford – vocals
K.K. Downing – guitar
Glenn Tipton – guitar
Ian Hill – bass guitar
Les Binks – drums
Production
Dennis MacKay
Tracklist
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)
Album length: 54:18
