(Rated this album with 8 out of 10) Reviewed by
richard recchia
from HI, NY
JUDAS PRIEST got their career off to a very good start with ROCKA ROLLA. This album doesn't rock as hard as their later al- bums and the tempos aren't that fast and the lyrics aren't too evil, but this is still a great album. It may be the only JP ALBUM I can fall asleep to! ROB HALFORD is in great voice throughout the entire album, especially on the slow, progressive rock song RUN OF THE MILL, which features some rare synthesizer playing by GLENN TIPTON and is only one of two songs here on which he gets a songwriting credit. It's my favorite tune on the album! The WINTER medley finds K.K. DOWNING experimenting with guitar feedback and definitely has some good moments in it. CHEATER is probably the heaviest tune here and musically it's an indicator of where they would go on their next album. It also has ROB HALFORD blowing on the harmonica! DYING TO MEET YOU is also more like their later, sinister stuff! CAVIAR AND METHS is a short, but mellow and pleasant instrumental, while NEVER SATIS- FIED is a nice crunchy hard rocker. There's not really even one bad song here, unless you count their first version of DIAMONDS AND RUST. I think they got better at doing this song each time they did it! ROCKA ROLLA is way cool!
