Judas Priest's Reviews
Painkiller (Average Rating: 8.64 out of 10)
Fast and hard Priest metal. (Rated this album with 8 out of 10)
Reviewed by
yih_dzelonh
from ER
Painkiller is probably Judas Priest's hardest and fastest heavy metal album. A few songs (most notably "Leather Rebel" and "Metal Meltdown") are so fast-tempo to the extent that I they would almost classify them as speed metal, but like the other songs, they're still melodic. The style of heavy metal of this album is very reminiscent of the fastest, catchiest, and best music of Megadeth, Iron Maiden, and especially Iced Earth. Priest definitely sounds revitalized on this CD. Halford's voice never sounded better, Scott Travis's drumming is very fast and impeccable, and Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing on nearly every track come up with some awesome lead guitar solos. My favorite two tracks are definitely "Painkiller" and "Hell Patrol." Painkiller isn't quite perfect. There isn't a whole lot of diversity from song to song, either from a tempo or a melodic standpoint. Also, I don't like this version of the song "Touch Of Evil" as much as the '98 MELTDOWN LIVE's version. Though, I'm generally a fan of keyboard and atmospheric enhancement effects in rock and heavy metal, I don't really care for the Dracula-like organ accompaniment which is employed in Painkiller's version. The effects serve to make the song somewhat spooky but in a slightly cheesy way. '98 Meltdown Live's version substitutes guitars for the keyboards and in this particular instance, it sounds a lot better because of that. A lot of reviewers have stated that Painkiller's lyrics are cheesy and straight from a comic book. The lyrics don't come across cheesy to me; in fact, I like them a lot. While they may not have the profound mysterious and sophisticated cryptic quality of Iron Maiden's, they're a perfect match for this type of music and are no lamer or more fantasy-themed than that of most other bands of this genre. I love the lyrics and think they're cool. Though it's not flawless and probably not the very best Judas Priest production, Painkiller, nonetheless is one of their best albums ever and certain comparable the hardest and best melodic music of similar metal bands. This timeless British band can rock!
Buy this album on Amazon at $10.99
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