Judas Priest's Reviews

Hell Bent For Leather

Judas Priest's fifth album is a powerful effort!

In 1978, after releasing the Stained Class album, they released another one that same year: Hell Bent For Leather. As another reviewer stated it was called "Killing Machine" in England but the United States wanted a less violent title (odd, considering they released Iron Maiden's Killers album here without a title change.) How does Hell Bent measure up? Read on and find out:

-Delivering The Goods: Mid-tempo hard rocker that's got a good classic rock feel to it. Excellent guitar solo. A

-Rock Forever: Mid-tempo hard rocker with a Diamond Head sound to it. This one really makes you wonder just how many bands based themselves off of JP. A

-Evening Star: Lighter track similar instrumentally to early Def Leppard. These experimental styles make this one of the band's most powerful tracks to date. A+

-Hell Bent For Leather: America's title track is a powerful but brief. The vocal-reliant chorus is the high point. A

-Take On The World: JP's first arena rock anthem proves to be among the best of its kind. A

-Burning Up: Hard rocker with guitars similar to Foreigner and Bad Company. Another excellent fusion of classic rock and heavy metal. A

-The Green Manalishi: Epic hard rocker in which JPs guitarists play some of their best melodies and riffs. A

-Killing Machine: England's title track is a generic hard rocker that proves to be the album's weak point, though it's by no means bad. A-

-Running Wild: Hard rocker displaying some of JPs finest riffs to date. VERY powerful track. A+

-Before The Dawn: Slower acoustic track with an occasional electric riff. One of the few JP tracks that never gets heavy or fast, this is without question their best ballad to this point. A+

-Evil Fantasies: Slow-mid tempo hard rocker using elements of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. These borrowed elements prove to be excellent. A

BONUS TRACKS

-Fight For Your Life: Mid-tempo hard rocker featuring excellent riffs and some of Halford's finest vocals. A

-Riding On The Wind (Live): Halford's higher pitched voice goes well with the excellent drum sequence and guitar riffs that back him up. A studio version of this track would not exist until 1982's Screaming For Vengeance. A

Though an excellent album, it fails to top Stained Class. However it's better than the three albums that came before that. The next one, British Steel, is where they would find true commercial success.

Buy this album on Amazon at $10.99