Hasn't it been more or less conclusively determined that Sad Wings is labeled incorrectly and the side with Prelude/Tyrant is Side 1? Or did I just imagine that? IMO, it makes way more sense that way.
I used to have Rocka Rolla on RCA LP, it's long gone and I don't regret dumping it. Sad Wings of Destiny I still have on RCA LP and it's one of my favorites. They haven't found their sound, to me that would happen with their best album Stained Class. But it's a great hard rock/ metal album with no commercial compromise. Many shades of Black Sabbath (esp Vol 4), Deep Purple, even Yes in an odd way, but the future of metal is also here and it rewards repeat listening. Great heavy ballads and rockers, Victim of Changes is still one of my top 5 Priest songs. Listening right now on a sad Transluxe CD I got for free and even that can't drain the power.
Sad Wings is a great album! The cover is also one of their best. Tyrant. Genocide, Victim Of Changes, Ripper, Dreamer Deceiver>Deceiver - tremendous work. Classic work of music that deserves a place in the top 500 albums of all time.
If only they had a better cover for Rock a Rolla I feel it's misrepresented. This one is right on the money. Halford is a force of nature here. Almost inhuman. What can be said one of great metal albums. I like how Bear breaks down the tunes I'm way to lazy for that **** so I appreciate it. Could Ian be better then he let's on ? They will kill him for the root later on.
Sad Wings was my introduction to JP, about in 1978 I think. Made some new friends at college who were into hard rock/metal like I was but I was a loner in that sense in that the friends I grew up with were more progheads. Those new friends turned me onto many bands which I had only ever heard not much by or others like Priest which I had never even heard of at all. I bought a used cutout version of Sad Wings and was incredulous at hearing music like this, such power. Bought Sin After Sin brand new a few days later. Thought it was good but a pale shadow of Sad Wings. Took me awhile to find RockaRolla, might have had to order it mail order (I 4get). I loved it and still do, including the cool original cover art. I dig the primitive vibes of it, echoes of what was to come with Sad Wings. I was even able to play RR for my proghead friends without them making me take it off the record player (not so with Sad Wings, too metal for them).
I listened to Sad Wings of Destiny (such a beautiful cover) yesterday, for maybe the 3rd time in my life, and I really liked it a lot, in fact, I think I loved it! It rocked!! It was a US Janus 70s pressing and it sounded very VERY good to these aging ears. Especially as I´d just finished spinning Rocka Rolla (US Gull) which sound great until I heard SWOD, a quantum leap up in production, sonics, songwriting, soloing, and Robś Vocal Histronics. Unleashed In The East is MY Beast, my gateway into The Priest, and so the live versions will always be my faves, but I dug this whole album, through and through!! Sad Wings IS Sum seriously kick ass rock and roll...
I was looking forward to this thread but didn't find it until now. Too tired now, will be back with belated comments. The "Hero hero" is the version of the first two LPs that I've seen most often in these parts. Whenever I hear the word hero I think "hero hero".
My US version (Ovation Records) of Sad Wings has Side 1 on the vinyl labeled with Victim of Changes as the first song. I believe it is mislabelled. The back cover shows Prelude to be the first song on the album. I feel it makes more sense (to me) and Dreamer/Deceiver feels like the most climactic way to end the album. When I rip cds I label them to play in that sequence.
Rocka Rolla It's interesting...certainly a band in its embryonic stage. I have to say I didn't appreciate Never Satisfied until I heard this live Halford version: I also really like the remix done for the Hero, Hero compilation: https://youtu.be/hFTWieSUtyI
Sad Wings of Destiny One of the more interesting things I've heard is that side 1 & 2 are flipped...so the album should start with Prelude and end with Deceiver. What can you say? This is a masterpiece no matter the running order. Certainly Victim of Changes has earned a place on the wall as one of the greatest songs ever written and performed.
It does fit the cartoon metal cover art of the 1980s JP albums, but I don't think it's a great fit for the contents either.
It's my favorite Judas Priest album ever, and likely a top 20 album by anyone ever of any genre or decade. Lots of great songs and a fantastic gothic vibe.
I love this song. I also think the solo is KK. Not only because it sounds like his style but because he co-wrote it.
Thx to this thread I just listened to a CBS original CD of Stained Glass that I bought used a year or so ago (yeah I know it is Class, not Glass, only found that out thx to this forum a few years ago, but I've always known it as Glass - like the Oakland Raiders, or San Diego Chargers...hard to change something burned in my brain). Another masterpriest, er masterpiece. Hard to pick SG er I mean SC over Sad Wings but think I prefer it mostly just for the song Beyond the Realms of Death. Kind of a coin flip between two masterpriests.
I don't know if they ever commented on it but the general consensus on the interwebs is that the album should start with Prelude. I'd think if they meant to kick off side two with it they would have called it Interlude.
Would you happen to know if it fades out with Rob singing the chorus or if it includes the first minute of the ‘Winter’ suite tacked onto the end? My cd of ‘Hero, Hero’ has a remixed 3.50 minute ‘Rocka Rolla’ but my early 90’s Japan cd of the debut has it at 3.00 minutes so I’m interested in the Line Records version.
