Judas Priest's Reviews
Painkiller (Average Rating: 8.64 out of 10)
A Fitting End To An Era (Rated this album with 8 out of 10)
Reviewed by
birddogger5150
from Roseville, MN USA
I was very disappointed in this album when it first came out. Priest had remained one of my favorites, but I suppose I was looking for them to bust out and become a really big name with huge radio hits, which they had attempted and failed with "Turbo" (considered by many to be their worst album, but one of my favs by far). ... It has since become one of my favorites. If you can completely tune out the cartoonish lyrics and song titles, it is a great slab of metal, an excellent recapturing of the band's past glories, and an appropriate swan song to the Rob Halford era . It is not without its duds, in fact I think the lead-off single "Painkiller" has a pretty weak chorus after building up with great drums and guitars. "Metal Meltdown" is only marginally better, don't know why that one was selected for "Metal Works '73-'93". Everything else sounds great, Halford's voice is pristine as always, and the production by newcomer Chris Tsangarides adds a new dimension after so many years with Tom Allom at the board. Recommended cuts -"A Touch of Evil" (basically a reworking of "Night Comes Down" from "Defenders"), "One Shot At Glory", "Between The Hammer & The Anvil", "All Guns Blazing", and "Hell Patrol". As for the bonus tracks, "Living Bad Dreams" is a typical brooding Priest ballad that's too good a song to have been left lying in a vault all these years. The live version of "Leather Rebel" is excellent, and makes you wonder why more live tracks from the "Painkiller" album weren't released on the remasters instead of darn near every song from "Screaming For Vengeance" and "Defenders of the Faith".
Buy this album on Amazon at $10.99
|
