Judas Priest's Reviews
Hell Bent For Leather (Average Rating: 8.06 out of 10)
Most underrated record (Rated this album with 8 out of 10)
Reviewed by
sdbaker70
from Phoenix, Arizona United States
'Hell Bent for Leather' (a/k/a 'Killing Machine' outside the U.S.) has a special place in my heart and is a bit of an oddity in the Priest catalogue. First of all, unlike its predecessor studio record ('Stained Class' (1978), released less than a year prior) and its successor ('British Steel' (1980)), this is more of a hard rock record (as opposed to heavy metal) - both lyrically and instrumentally, as the longest tune clocks in at less than 5 minutes. Furthermore, of all of Rob Halford's vocal performances on record, 'Hell Bent for Leather' stands out the most, as his voice is much lower and more menacing. For what it is, however, it is a fantastic and often overlooked record if, for no other reason, because it spawned the undeniable Priest classics - the cover of the Peter Green tune, "The Green Manalishi", and the title track - both of which have remained permanent fixtures in their live shows. (FYI: For those of us who were living in 1978, "Take On the World" was a minor hit, if not a little bit derivative of Queen's "We Will Rock You".)The extra tracks on this remaster (as with many of the other Priest remasters) do not bear any contextual connection to 'Hell Bent for Leather'. The live version of "Riding on the Wind" from the 1983 US Festival is a great tune, but sounds a bit out of place when mixed away from "Electric Eye". The studio cut, "Fight for Your Life", is a true outtake from 1982 to 1983 that eventually became the much better song "Rock Hard Ride Free" on 'Defenders of the Faith' (1984).
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