Even though there are some great songs on it, like Diamonds And Rust (not even their own song), Sinner, Here Comes The Tears & Dissident Aggressor, I find the rest very weak! Not one of my fav Priest LPs, but like Rocka Rolla, enough songs made my Rip from LP to Cassette!
Sin After Sin Sin After Sin - Wikipedia Sinner Opens with a fairly standard sounding E-A alternation in blues fashion but heavy as hell with a metal rhythm. Some full chords give it a dare I say….poppier sound. Yikes. A quick pre chours leads to the chorus and has a tinge of Sabbath with what I call stab chord that Priest made into a metal standard…..comes from War Pigs. The verse returns at 1:16 and the chorus follows. A long bridge follows with some thematic guitar…a rise out then a fine guitar break. An interlude enters at 3:09…yeah the guys are still having fun with prog structures. An OK interlude I guess with Tipton getting his nasty tone on. Rob comes in at 4:15 amongst the psychedelic swirl of guitars. Another bridge follows and then another guitar break which leads to the final rousing chorus. Could the song be edited down and still kick? IMO yes but who am I to say? Diamonds and Rust A great cover but you may ask what is it about the music of the song that attracted the guys to cover it? My guess is that since the song is modal at its root and is a perfect basis for a metal treatment. Just my two cents. The chorus at the end is an awesome change to the original and shows off how to not just cover a song verbatim but to make it your own….as much as you can. Starbreaker A cool F sharp riff that is bluesy starts it off. The verse is a fine one with some killer turnarounds. The chorus is trademark Priest with its simplicity. The bridge shows off the band’s chops, and the guys play in unison. A KK guitar solo follows that is double tracked and harmonized by KK. The verse returns and the chorus is repeated closing the song. Rob starts to call to the heavens in the fade out. An OK song. Last Rose of Summer A fairly good Hendrix inspired simple guitar arrangement with Jimi like suspensions and chords using an almost country series of chords. Phase shifter on the guitar. Some nice chords…major 7ths and 9ths stuff like that. Not typical for them but once again shows off Tipton’s vast influences and understanding of harmony and extended chords. The Metal God shows off his ability to get mellow. The chorus goes on and on however bringing the song to a close after what…..two minutes? I smell filler. Let Us Prey/Call for the Priest The guitars are tuned down a half step on this song…..maybe a first? You tell me. Anyway, the chords that follow all sound a half step lower. The song opens with Let Us Prey and the guys do a fine job giving us a religious sounding fanfare like opening….with choir type vocals and the guitars sounding like an organ with Angelic upper voices. Pretty damn cool. Call for the Priest follows with a quick riff and pace. Some rhythmic twists and turns. At 3:10 the intro of Let Us Prey returns and is treated a little harder. The verse follows and then at 4:20 the guitar slingers trade licks with some brutal touches. A theme in tandem follows that leads back to the final verse and chorus. The riff repeats with Rob cutting loose leading to an echo guitar goodbye. An interesting song. Raw Deal A cool riff in A kicks it off with a tinge of boogie. The verse expectedly goes to E and the song shifts between A and E. Some hints at key changes before a fine solo from Tipton. The final verse returns after a transition with twists and turns. Good thing because the rest of the song is by the numbers I-IV. The coda uses the totally predictable sounding ascending chords found in too many songs. Well, it comes to a gradual stop that…..well I better stop here. Here Come the Tears A somber sounding E minor-based series of chords opens this tune. The verse stays in E minor with a couple of chords and Rob sounds laid back but convincing. The chorus gets loud and sounds too predictable for me. The guitar solo has that Claptonesque “Woman” sound and milks it for all its worth. At 3:46 Rob adds some tear your heart out vocalizations before the song comes to an end that will blow you up…..literally. Dissident Aggressor A gradually rising E riff with some guitar effects running for their lives opens the song. Halford comes in with a killer harmony that makes you wonder if his vocal cords survived…..they did. The open E string riff is down and dirty and hard as nails…one for the books. The chorus stays with a good thing and does a little riff variation. The guitar solo at 1:50 goes to A….predictable and used a lot by the guys but when you have drums that sound like that, so what. A little Sabbath sounding. Anyway, the verse returns and Rob’s voice travels across you head leading to an amazing ending. IMO, the album is spotty, but the great stuff is ground-breaking. Not a perfect album in anyway but darn it maybe Simon Philips is. He handles the crazy rhythmic changes with such panache and power that the songs get elevated as a whole. Groundbreaking as well. Some more vocabulary words added to the term Heavy Metal arise from this album. A couple of the songs start to really show off the guys brilliant use of unusual chords under and over the open strings. Fourths and Sixths and modal stuff used along with them which becomes the tools in all metal to follow.
According to the tracklist notes on the Line records Hero Hero CD that I have (Line records LIDCD 10.0004P) the remixed tracks are these: ROCK A ROLLA ONE FOR THE ROAD DYING TO MEET YOU NEVER SATISFIED WINTER DEEP FREEZE WINTER RETREAT CHEATER RUN OF THE MILL CAVIAR AND METHS Sorry but I cannot recall what the differences are with the originals. This link has some of info about the Hero Hero different releases: JUDAS PRIEST INFO PAGES - HERO, HERO
Sin After Sin As @Rose River Bear said, this is a spotty album...but a great sounding album. The top tracks for me are Sinner, Diamonds and Rust and Dissident Aggressor. These are just stunning tunes that hold up today as the classics they are. Here Come The Tears is good but so overwrought I feel like Dame Shirley Bassey is going to pop out of the speakers. For some reason Starbreaker never clicked for me, though I know it was a popular one. The band of the same name did a cover I prefer to the original.
I love this album so not spotty for me anyway. Tears is dramatic for sure and the way it transitions into Aggressor is breathtaking imo. Simon is excellent here.
I can't believe that Tears is the song getting the most attention early on, but here's my take: Yes, it's dramatic - but I expect that and I actually don't consider it overdone. 1. Rob is an operatic styled vocalist. The only other one on the scale in the genre at this time is Ronnie James Dio. I love what they can do. 2. Rob had a theater background, which means a dramatic reading of the lyrics should not be surprising. 3. The lyrics are sad and I appreciate that Rob didn't phone it in here - he went for it. I was moved and it felt authentic.
Took the words right out of my mouth. Nothing but Love from me for the whole slab. Great cover and I have a white label promo that is one of my most beloved records.
I think it's the lyrics - they seem sad but upon further investigation, they're kind of angry! Most JP fans have likely never heard the original, but Joan was a great singer at this time and had a strong vibrato and three-octave vocal range. As a gifted singer, Rob was probably impressed with her performance and wanted to see if he could do it justice. I imagine that he sold the band on it.
Good points. I sold it short with the modal comment. IIRC, they were all knocked out about the song. I can't remember where I read their comments on how it came about for them to cover it.
I just finished Rob Halfords Confess autobiography - apparently the label boss at Gull suggested they cover Diamonds And Rust.
Sorry for the tech crap but it really is just a fancy way of saying the song is more complex musically than country, simple folk and blues.
ROCKA ROLLA: Not a bad album, but not that good either. They were much too young as a band to have found their own sound yet, although it was obviously rooted in Sabbath and Purple, and the few good songs on it exemplify that. I like the title track except for the ridiculous but hilarious call-and-response guitar solo. It almost seems to mock the rest of the song. "Run of the Mill" is also a classic although they seem to have been trying to write their own "Child in Time." It's easy to imagine they don't get signed to CBS, and die a footnote with two below-cult status albums on the Gull label. Thank God for the CBS deal because it was their later catalog that made their second album, SAD WINGS OF DESTINY the classic that it later became. SAD WINGS OF DESTINY: Beginning to end great material that really elevated itself to classic Priest when played live. Still, the bland production is part of the record's charm... even though it's one of the worst stereo mixes I've ever heard. One bad speaker will take out most of the vocals and turn it into an instrumental album. My favorite Priest song ever is on this one: "Dreamer Deceiver."
Sin After Sin - a fantastic album that continues in the vein of Sad Wings. Their 1st album with CBS and they even opened for Led Zeppelin for their 1st live show in the US. Simon Phillips didn't stay with the band and Les Binks was hired for the tour. "Sinner" - what a great song, KK just about rips the whammy bar from his fender on his solo. I love Rob's "Sinner" wails, just a heavy ass tune, Perfect! A classic metal epic/anthem. "Diamonds and Rust" - A Joan Baez tune done right by JP and Rob. Joan is a great story-teller and Rob sings tremendously. Done at a mid-tempo pace. Very haunting. Fine drumming from Simon again makes this piece. I love this version. "Starbreaker" - Simon Phillips - yeah man. "Last Rose Of Summer" - A GREAT piece! No matter that it is a ballad, it is just a fantastic song! Sung heart-wrenchingly by Rob. A great love song that would have been a hit if done by a pop singer. Rob's range is on full display here. "Let Us Prey/Call For The Priest" - I love this tune! The seeds of "Freewheel Burning" and "Screaming for Vengeance" are heard here. Great soloing done by Glenn and KK. Some great wails by Rob! "Raw Deal" - An underrated song. This is Priest at its best! A song about going to a gay bar wasted. Rob sounds mean and animalistic. Great drumming. Nice tempo changes throughout. Fantastic guitar playing from Glenn and KK. Would love to hear live! "Here Come The Tears" - Some fine acoustic guitar and solo from Glenn. Rob once again shines on this tune. Rob cries out for love and you can feel the sorrow and anguish overflow. GREAT SONG. Once again, needs to be put into the live set. "Dissident Aggressor" - A CLASSIC! Heavy metal would never be the same after this. Love the version done by Slayer. Overall, a pure metal masterpiece! Their last album with the original gothic Judas Priest logo. The band's logo and sound become less goth and more streamlined from here on out. If you don't have this you are nothing but a metal poser.
SIN AFTER SIN: Solid first effort for a major label, but not the best production. Roger Glover was probably not the right producer for Priest but nobody knew that at the time, so it's perfectly fine. Rock music was in a very nondescript period in the mid 70s style-wise and image-wise, and Priest weren't sure what kind of band they wanted to be. Still, a much better-sounding album than the first two, but beginning to end doesn't touch SAD WINGS in terms of the actual songs. I enjoy SIN AFTER SIN when I play it which is not very often. "Sinner" is probably KK's definitive moment, "Dissident Aggressor" is also standout KK even if critics took decades to even mention it or the band to even acknowledge it, "Starbreaker" is a highlight, "Last Rose of Summer" is underrated (With the exception of "Before the Dawn," and a few others many decades later, Halford rarely sang in this lower register again), and "Let Us Prey/Call for the Priest" is a good imitation of early Queen but also points toward the band we'd hear on STAINED CLASS. SIN AFTER SIN: 7 on a scale of 1-10.
I picked this album up the day it was released, liked it then, and it's appeal has never wained over the intervening years. In all those repeated listens, I had never noticed the similarity between Call For The Priest and the first couple of Queen records - but, now it's pointed out to me, of course you are absolutely right! Rob Halford has mentioned his regard for Queen more than once - so probably no coincidence. My only quibble with the Sin After Sin record was a disappointment with the production, which has always sounded a little weak to these ears. I always felt that most of the songs should have had a little more 'punch' to them. Nevertheless it remains a firm favourite with me with more breadth of style than some of the work that was to come later.
Sin after sin Not a big favourite, but has some great moments. "Dissident aggressor" is brilliant, comes on like a steam drill. "Here come the tears", takes guts to do something like this but when you do it, go full-on! That's the spirit! "Last rose of summer" is beautiful but the ending drags too long. I really love the original "Diamonds and rust" and don't like the Priest version at all, I find it ironic that Baez's acoustic version is actually much heavier than Priest's gallop. When they did it live even faster, it became but a joke. The following two albums are to me the first real highlight of their career.
Cheers both! Sounds like Rodger Bain really put some work into it. It would seem that the Bain remix is always used on vinyl pressings, which is what I'd be buying anyway, since it's an analogue era record.
Thank-you. You nailed why I adore this one. I mean I would literally fight to get this one to the island.
