(Rated this album with 10 out of 10) Reviewed by
richard recchia
from HI, NY
This is a very intelligent heavy metal album! It's only downfall may be it's production. The other person who reviewed this album heard some KANSAS and QUEEN influences here. Did we listen to the same album, for I hear not one bit of those two bands here, tho' I DO hear a big BLACK SABBATH influence, especi- ally on the heavy metal classic,"Sinner". This is one of my all- time favorite JP songs ever!IT KICKS, MAN!!! "Diamonds And Rust" is an absolutely brilliant Joan Baez cover, sung with tons of emotion by Rob Halford. "Starbreaker" is a very catchy hard rock number, with some great drumming by Simon Philips, who also does an outstanding job on the very fast paced,"Let us Prey" and the album's high octane rocker,"Dissident Aggressor". Both of these last two songs feature some blistering hot guitar work by Tipton and Downing and also sport some very memorable guitar riffs and licks, if there is a difference! I'm also quite fond of the ballad "Here Come The Tears", featuring some more emotion- al singing from Halford. I just picked up the remastered version of this album and it's nice to finally have the lyrics to these songs, especially "Raw Deal", which I've never understood and even with the help of a lyric sheet, still don't understand! I must say, I'm surprised at how strong the bonus studio track "Race with the devil" is! This is a killer hard rock song, with some very exciting lead guitar playing!! I,m going to guess that this song was recorded during the sessions for HELL BENT FOR LEATHER,for the vocal intro sounds like the beginning of SAVAGE from STAINED CLASS and the guitar and drums at the intro sound like the beginning of the title track for HELL BENT. GREAT ALBUM!!
