One of the earliest and most important bands in the history of metal, Judas Priest not so much burst as eased on to the scene in and throughout the 1970's, starting with their foundation as a bar band in Birmingham, England in 1969 and culminating in their breakthrough record, British Steel in 1980, which featured mega-hits "Living After Midnight" and "Breaking the Law and also my daughter's favorite Priest song, "You Don't Have to Be Old to Be Wise" (She's a year older than I was when that album was released!) The band stayed at its commercial peak for a few years, which included album gems Point of Entry, Screaming for Vengeance and Defenders of the Faith, and singles "Heading out to the Highway", "You've Got Another Thing Comin'", "Electric Eye" and "Freewheel Burning". As great as their output over those years was, I don't think I'd be that big a fan if it wasn't for their preceding and following phases. In the 70's, they mixed all kinds of styles, covering songs by Joan Baez, Spooky Tooth and Fleetwood Mac, with a pioneering twin guitar sound and, for the time, astounding vocal range and vibrato. Those early years influenced a host of thrash and NWOBHM bands for years that followed. In the 90's, they recruited speed metal band Racer X's drummer, Scott Travis, whose level of technique was well beyond the rest of the band's, and twenty years after their formation, guitarists K.K. Downing and Glen Tipton buckled down and learned advanced lead guitar solo playing - particularly sweep picking - and upped the proficiency level of the band by a wide margin. I've always been really impressed that they took the kind of time and expended the kind of effort that it must have taken to do that so late in their already successful careers, and that's one of the reasons I admire them as much as I do.
I mentioned Judas Priest's transformation over the years, and also their fantastic lead vocalist Rob Halford, who is unquestionably one of the most influential and talented singers in the history of heavy metal. I'm going to give you a taste of both, with one of my favorites from their second album, 1976's Sad Wings of Destiny, "Victim of Changes" followed by one of their best from the first post-Scott Travis addition album, the title track to 1990's Painkiller. Enjoy the classic progressive and the blistering speed metal of this seminal band.
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