Albums Ranked: Judas Priest

Judas Priest are perhaps the most quintessential Heavy Metal band. They helped define both the image and the sound while influencing generations to come. They began in a time where heavy metal was practically non-existent with only a few other bands carrying the flag for the emerging genre. Over the years they have continued to carry that flag and represent Heavy Metal in it purist form.

(Bonus Albums)
No longer in Judas Priest, K.K. Downing carries with him the spirit of the band in his own KK’s Priest. Along side Halford’s replacement Tim “Ripper” Owens, continues what I would consider a piece of the Judas Priest legacy. Although I wont factor KK’s Priest’s band ranking with Judas Priest’s, I think this is a fitting place to rank his albums along side his former band. Also the Priest albums which Ripper appeared on their best, but in KK’s Priest Ripper gets some deserved redemption with better ranked albums.

How this works; Songs are rated on a 5 star rating with each star having a value that is averaged together for the album rating.  Average album rating will equal the band’s rating

1 star=0, I hate it!  The world would be better off without this.

2 stars=25,  I don’t like it but it could be worse

3 stars= 50, decent song but not special

4 stars=75, good song but is missing something that might make it amazing

5 stars=100,  Amazing!

Live albums, demos, cover albums and EP’s are not included.

Note: Popular doesn’t mean great and importance doesn’t mean it’s good either.  A chart topping song only means it is watered down enough for a mainstream audience.

#19

Point of Entry - 67.5%

This album is surrounded by some great metal albums making this one an odd duck. It’s a half and half Traditional Heavy Metal and Hard Rock album. Although it comes in last in my list it isn’t with out some great and classic Priest songs, but much of the album is forgettable.

The Good - The album opens with “Heading Out to the Highway” which is a classic. It also has “Desert Plains” which is another great song.

The Bad - Nothing gets less than three stars on the album, but there are quite a few that do.

#18

Demolition - 69.23%

The second album featuring Ripper on vocals, released in 2001, this album is a disappointment for sure. There are good elements throughout the album but rarely does a single song pull together to give us something great. The album suffers greatly from industrial elements, weird sounds, and random noise sprinkled through out the songs. Maybe this was the guys in Priest trying to coax Halford back. Halford had released his industrial album with Two a few years earlier, and the guys in Priest could have been thinking… “ we can be industrial too”. Similar to how Priest became way more groove metal after Halford did albums with Fight. Unlike the Fight albums though, I’d still put Demolition above Voyeurs. Despite this album being ranked higher than Point of Entry, I think I’m more likely to listen to that one. At least its a shorter album.

The Good - Despite all the problems with the album, “One on One”, “Hell is Home” and “Feed on Me” manage to get five stars.

The Bad - Songs like “Machine Man”, “Bloodsuckers”, “Metal Messiah” and even the strait up industrial metal “Subterfuge” all have great elements but poor song writing keeps the songs from being great. The bad song writing on this album can be attributed to random noise and sounds added to most of the songs which take away from them, awesome parts combined with parts less so, and occasionally terrible lyrics with such lines as “you have loser tattooed on your face”. I didn’t give any song less than three stars, but perhaps I was to generous. Generally what would be bad songs have redeeming parts and most songs are not consistently good.

#17

Turbo - 69.444%

Well this will surprise many of you as this is considered their worst album often. This album has some electronic stuff going on similar to some of the popular ZZ Top Albums of the 80’s as some synthesizers. It is also a bit glam or arena rock sounding on about half of the album. Overall though this album isn’t as bad a some fans would make it out to be. I think the synths and the more poppy feel gave a bad impression to fans who’s introduction might have been the previous Defenders of the Faith and Screaming for Vengeance and who missed Point of Entry and never stuck around for Demolition.

The Good - Opening and closing tracks “Turbo Lover”, “Relentless” are both great. “Out in the Cold” is also very good one even considering it gives a bit of Foreigner vibes.

The Bad - Aside for a warning for anyone who hates synths and glam, again, this isn’t as bad as its reputation. The only song I gave less than three stars was “Rock You All Around the World”. It starts out fine enough, but the chorus is terrible and gets repeated an excessive amount.

#16

Rocka Rolla - 70%

Judas Priest’s first album is lighter than most and has a lot of Progressive Rock / Progressive Hard Rock, and even some Hard Blues Rock and Psychedelic elements. There are some Early Heavy Metal tracks as well with songs like the title track “Rocka Rolla” and “Cheater”. This album has glints of what Priest would become if you listen hard enough, but for the most part this album is the most different from anything else they every released. This album has most of its tracks as 4 stars. It may have less 5 stars compared to the lower ranked albums, but it also has less 3 stars and averages here. Further, It was an odd choice to split the tracks the way they did and some of the releases combine them in different ways than the original release. There are a few shorter songs that are built off of similar riffs and themes. Had the short tracks that share riffing “Winter” and “Deep Freeze” been combined I would score this album as 69.444% tied with Turbo. In that case I would most likely put Turbo above this one.

The Good - The best song on this album for me is “Run of the Mill” which is one of the Progressive Hard Rock songs of the album. Halford sounds amazing on it!

The Bad - “Winter Retreat” is one of the few times I give Priest a 2 stars. The track is mostly guitar noise only to end with a soft and short Pink Floyd sounding section which is barely a song at all although to does lead nicely into “Cheater” which is good song.

#15

Killing Machine - 70%

Although tied with Rocka Rolla, this album wins out as it has more 5 star tracks overall despite also having more 3 stars. If you are American like myself you might be confused here as Killing Machine was released as Hellbent for Leather which also came with the inclusion of the fantastic Fleetwood Mac cover, “The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)” which for me pushes the American version up a bit more in this list with 72.72%. Overall Killing Machine isn’t as good as either of the albums before or after, but it isn’t with out some great and classic Priest songs

The Good - The American title track “Hellbent For Leather” is a top Priest song for sure. The opening tracks, “Delivering the Goods” and “Running Wild” are also both great songs.

The Bad - “Take on the World” is again one of the few times I give any Priest song only 2 stars, but I really don’t care for this one. Halford sounds great in the verses, but I really don’t like the chorus and the guitars are basically backing instruments in this song.

#14

Ram it Down - 72.5

This album musically feels like a bridge from the previous Turbo to the following Painkiller. It is very 80s in production. It has energy and aggression that was lacking from Turbo, but still isn’t firing on all cylinders. Much like many Priest albums it’s a mix of great songs with more forgettable ones.

The Good - The album opens strong with the title track “Ram it Down” with is an up-tempo metal great. Midway through the album we get “Hard as Iron” and “Blood Red Skies”. “Hard as Iron” is a fantastic song that would have been right at home on the following Painkiller album. I would actually consider it a Power Metal song (although I wouldn’t consider Priest a power metal band in the slightest). “Blood Red Skies” is an absolutely fantastic song that sounds epic, classic, and fresh. Aside from the electronic elements it is a song that could fit in easily with either their late 70’s albums, or more recent few. I would rank Halford’s performance on this song as one of his bests.

The Bad - Nothing on this album gets lest than 3 stars. I’m generally not a fan of songs with lyrics about being rock or metal and this one has a few of those with songs like “Heavy Metal”, “I’m a Rocker”, and “Monsters of Rock”. I’m also a fan of old rock ‘n’ roll especially Chuck Berry. Originally when I heard the Priest version of “Johnny B. Goode” I wasn’t a fan, but it has grown on me a bit over the years.

#13

Jugulator - 77.5%

After Halford left Priest it wasn’t for another five years that Priest released their next album with Ripper on vocals. In that time period Pantera became one of the most influential metal bands of the time. Priest toured with them in the early 90’s and Halford said they had an influence on the band. That influence was obvious with the release of Jugulator, a full blown Groove Metal album.

The Good - “Cathedral Spires” is an amazing song. It is one of Rippers best performances ever. Priest never have played any of the Ripper era songs after the return of Halford, but if they ever did I would want it to be “Cathedra Spires”. It is certainly the best song they did in that era. “Bullet Train”, “Blood Stained”, and “Burn in Hell” are also all great.

The Bad - The absolutely worst thing about this album are the lyrics. It isn’t that Priest hasn’t had plenty of bad cliché lyrics in the past, but this album tries to have tougher vibe and the lyrics often come across as disingenuous in that regard. It feels that Priest is trying to be something it’s not and it feels forced. With better lyrics I think that it would actually be a much better album. Instead it feels cringe. “Dead Meat” and Death Row” are both good examples of this.

#12

Stained Class - 80.55%

Stained Class is a bit of a classic because of a few of the songs on it, but overall many of the songs are more forgettable. I would call them bad songs, just let note worthy in a library of greats from Priest.

The Good - “Exciter” although not the first Speed Metal song even for Priest, it is among the earliest and I imagine would have completely blown anyone away when first hearing it as it still does today. The Spooky Tooth cover, “Better by You, Better Than Me” would eventually have a lot of controversy around it, which brought it a lot of attention for reasons other than it being a great song. “Beyond the Realms of Death” is a masterpiece from Priest you are likely to find many people rank it among their best songs; it is certainly a five star track.

The Bad - “White Heat, Red Hot” is the only track I give less than four stars and even it’s not bad. This is a good album even if many tracks are less memorable overall.

#11

Firepower - 80.769%

For some reason this album never stuck with me the way any other Priest album has despite it being a solid album. I know a lot of people who give this one high praise, but it just hasn’t been as memorable to me. With that said, It’s a fine mid tier album which is perhaps why it isn’t so memorable. It’s neither terrible or amazing but still a solid metal album none the less.

The Good - Some of the great tracks from this one are “Never the Hero”, “Traitors Gate”, and “No Surrender”. With that said I couldn’t even begin to remember them even though I listened to them in the past couple hours. Great songs while hearing them but they don’t stick with me.

The Bad - “Flame Thrower” is the only track I gave less than 4 stars. The main issue with this album for me is the songs just aren’t memorable to me. It’s certainly not a bad album though which is somewhat good it’s not remembered as a bad album either. I remember Turbo better, but for it mostly being one of the worst Priest albums.

#10

Invincible Shield - 84.09%

At the time of making this list, Invincible Shield is the newest album and a quite good one at that. I enjoyed this one quite a bit. To give some context around 82% is the average for every album I have so far ranked. So for the previous album both chronologically and on this list being below 82% and this one being above it and my opinion of it feeling dramatically higher, that would be why.

The Good - This album opens strong with “Panic Attack”, “The Serpent King”, and “Invincible Shield” all being fantastic songs. I’d also add “As God Is My Witness”, “Trail By Fire”, and “Giants in the Sky” to the list of great songs from this album.

The Bad - Nothing bad on this album; “Crown of Horns was the only track I gave less than four stars”.

#9

Sad Wings of Destiny - 84.375%

This albums is an absolute classic. Priest’s second moved away from the more rock sound of their first album and established them as a heavy metal band. As with many of the 70’s era Priest albums the production is a bit dated, but the songs are timeless. Despite this not being higher on the list I would consider it an essential album from any metal head and Priest fan.

The Good - The album opens with “Victim of Changes” which although written before Halford joined the band, it became a show case for his vocal range. The album continues with “The Ripper” which as become another classic Priest song. “Dreamer Deceiver” is perhaps one of Halfords best performances which again show cases his versatility in range. It transitions perfectly into “Deceiver” which is another amazing track from Priest. The album closes with “Island of Domination”, another great song.

The Bad - Although the first half of the album is absolute masterful, the flip side is lacking in comparison with the exception of the mentioned closing track.

#8.5 (Bonus Album)

KK’s Priest - Sermons of the Sinner - 86.111%

The first album from KK’s Priest ranks higher than both Priest albums before and after it (Firepower and Invincible Shied). It is a mix of speed and traditional metal with an icing of epicness that surpasses everything else on this list with the exception of the last KK album with Priest Nostradamus. Despite not being a “Judas Priest” album, it is certainly worthy to be listed along their side. It is an album that sounds both like a tribute to the greatness of Judas Priest while still offering something fresh.

The Good - “Sermons of the Sinner” is a great title track representing the speed metal sound on the album. “Hail For The Priest” and “Return of the Sentinel” bring the epicness.

The Bad - There are a few songs that aren’t great lyric wise such as “Raise Your Fist” which still gets 4 stars. “Brothers of the Road” wasn’t so lucky and only gets 3 stars. It’s more of a sing along song but the riffing is pretty uninspired or perhaps too inspired given that it is reminiscent of “Born to be Wild” (not that this is the first Priest song to be so).

#8

Sin After Sin - 87.5%

This album marks the last of what I consider the early metal albums from Priest. Like the two before it, it sounds dated compared to everything after, but is still packed with greatness.

The Good - “Let Us Prey/Call for the Priest” should have opened the album. It is an overlooked song from Priest and is what I would call the first true Speed Metal song (although there was Early Speed Metal before this from Deep Purple and Rainbow, if that confuses you check out our Metalution lessons ). “Diamonds and Rust” is a better known song and I would consider a class Priest song and rightfully so. “Hear Come the Tears” if not for the more progressive rock sounding opening portion might be considered a doom metal song. It’s a great song that as a similar vibe as some of Sabbath’s songs from Vol. 4. “Raw Deal” which is more of a hard rock song doesn’t start out so strong, but the last 3rd of of the song is incredible. Closing out the album “Dissident Aggressor” is one of Priests best songs from any period. Famously covered by Slayer, you know you have a great song when such a different band is covering it a decade later. One thing the Slayer version doesn’t have though is Rob Halford, his performance fantastic.

The Bad - “Last Rose of Summer” is the only 3 star song on the album and I actually almost bumped it up to a 3. It’s a light rock song that feels very out of place but I actually like it. Depending on the mood though, this is for sure a song I would skip on some occasions.

#7

Screaming for Vengeance - 87.5%

Another Priest classic. Opening with “The Hellion” into “Electric Eye”, this album has one of the greatest openings of any. When people think of Priest the early 80’s era is probably the one people think of first. It was the time when Priest was really establishing their core sound and this album is as much part of defining it as any other and is a Priest essential.

The Good - As mentioned, the opening tracks “The Hellion” and “Electric Eye” are amazing and set the stage for other metal classics such as “Riding on the Wind”, “Bloodstone”, the title track “Screaming for Vengeance”, the more radio played “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” and the more hard rock album closer “Devil’s Child”

The Bad - My least favorite track and the only one getting less than four stars is the hard rock “Pain and Pleasure”. As with other Priest albums like the previous mentioned Sad Wings album. There is a tendency to stack most the best songs up front and scatter the lesser tracks in the ladder half with a few greats thrown there to keep it going.

#6.5 (Bonus Album)

The Sinner Rides Again - 88.888%

The Second album from KK’s Priest and yet they continue to be both a tribute to the greatness of Judas Priest and still be their own band. Initially I preferred the first album to this one, but upon revisits I give this album a slight edge over the first. The album opens with a barrage of speed metal much like the first one and turns up the epicness even more.

The Good - Songs like “Sons of the Sentinel” and “One More Shot at Glory” both are call backs to some of JP’s best songs while still being amazing songs in their own right. “One More Shot at Glory” is probably my favorite song from either album. “Keeper of the Graves” is also a really good one.

The Bad - This album improves on the lyric problem I complained about on the first. The last track “Wash Away Your Sins” Was the only 3 star track. It’s shame the album closed with the weakest track.

#6

Defenders of the Faith - 88.888%

The follow up to Screaming For Vengeance is a very similar album of their classic era, but has a slight edge over it. This one was a favorite of mine for a chunk of time being and is another essential Priest album for any metal head. “Heavy Duty” and “Defenders of the Faith” close the album, and are short songs that flow into each other. They might as well being a single song similar to tracks done on Rocka Rolla. This time however, I treated them as one when averaging the score for this album. This is because I would consider “Defenders of the Faith” as more of an album outro than a stand alone song. Otherwise the score would have dropped the album to 85%. I think the best songs on this album are better than the best from Screaming, but I also tend to go back to Screaming more frequently. I can see anyone swapping either album above or below each other and understand both choices.

The Good - This album opens with absolute bangers “Freewheel Burning” and “Jawbreaker”. “Rock Hard, Ride Free” is a more mid tempo classic but still great. “The Sentinel” I would consider one of their greatest songs of any era. “Love Bites” has a different vibe all together, but I still think of it as a great song.

The Bad - Hitting the second half of the album and the energy dies off from the furry of greatness of the songs before it. Nothing in the ladder half gets more than four stars. The last three tracks are three stars and with nothing great following the album might as well be over at this point.

#5

Redeemer of Sous - 90.384%

This album is the first to be releases after the separation between Priest and guitarist KK and the massive amount of negativity toward the album ,despite it be absolutely fantastic, reflects that. Don’t be fooled by a bunch of but hurt retards. this album kicks ass and is among their best. I think it is a good overall reflection of the entirety of their sound while still sounding fresh. There is also a two disk version which although would bring the overall score down slightly, it is also very good.

The Good - “Halls of Valhalla”, and “Sword of Damocles” are among my favorites on this album and are worthy to stand along side the best songs from Priest. Speaking of the best songs from Priest, “Battle Cry” is a fair contender for #1 Priest song. It has the spirit of something from the Painkiller era with the epicness of late era Priest that really shined on the “Nostradamus” album.

The Bad - Even several songs that might seem more bland all have redeeming qualities and for this not a single song gets less than 4 stars (and that includes the bonus disk).

#4

Angel or Retribution - 92.5%

And with the return of the Metal God, Judas Priest could consistently write good songs again. Halford Returns on this album after being gone from the band just over a decade. There’s a lot riding on such an occasion and Priest delivered the goods. Perhaps the occasion may make me more generous with my ratings, but even the more average sounding songs on the album are solid songs which I put at 4 stars. I’d be open to criticism that a coupe should be only 3 stars, but I can’ think of worse priest songs that were given 3 and these tracks are better than those and I don’t do any half stars.

The Good - The album opens with a reminder of why Halford is the metal god with “Judas Rising”. “Hellrider” is an awesome speed metal track. “Demonizer” is kick ass. Typically the lighter songs from Priest are not great (at least since their early days), but “Angel” and “Eulogy” break the mold there. Out of nowhere, the album closes with an 13 and half minutes of the Epic Doom Metal “Loch Ness”, unlike anything from Priest before.

The Bad - Nothing on here got less than 4 stars, however a couple were close to 3 but ultimately I went with 4, those being “Worth Fighting For”, and “Wheels of Fire”.

#3

Nostradamus - 95.3125%

This is the most epic Priest album by far. It is the first attempt at both a concept album and symphonic metal and masterfully done. This is one a lot of classic Priest fans are not a fan of and it’s fair as this is something beyond anything Priest had done in the past. If you are looking classic Priest this isn’t it. This instead is an evolved Priest offering something more. It’s not just a bunch of songs but an epically told story that is musically ambitious and hits on an emotional level that is rare from classic Priest, although was present in the 70’s. This is probably also a problem for some fans as not every metal head are interested in any emotionally stimulating songs.
In many ways this album reminds me of 70’s Priest to a great degree. On the second disc there is a lot of progressive elements which is another thing which hasn’t been present with Priest since the 70’s There are also doom metal elements through the album which was first done with “Loch Ness” on the previous release. This can be heard on the opening “Prophecy”, and “Death”. This being a concept album, there are a lot of interlude tracks that I wouldn’t call full songs on their own, but are every bit essential to fullness of the album. (Some of these tracks are excluded from the score, but if all tracks were counted I bump this up to 96.739%). This like many concept albums is best listened to in totality which will take you nearly 2 hours, but it will be well worth the experience. At the very least I recommend listening to each disc (Act 1 and Act 2) in whole. So, if you are a fan 70’s Priest, concept albums, symphonic metal, epic, and doom metal, then this is the album for you.

The Good - First off I need to say I absolutely love Halford’s voice on this album. He is one of the singers who’s voice has aged like wine. He sounds more operatic than ever. This album is epic and grand in a way Priest has never been before or yet after. I put “Exiled” and “Alone” as some of the best songs every written by Priest. Both are Powerful and Epic. Neither are riff based songs but rather driven by Halford’s delivery and the overall atmosphere. “Alone” is not just one of my favorite Priest songs, but favorite songs ever. “Nostradamus” has some great moments for Halford, in particular the opening vocals, and is one of the very few Power Metal songs from Priest. We even get a chorus in Italian on “Pestilence in Plague” which adds mystery to the album for us that don’t speak it and sounds epic with the backing vocal layer.

The Bad - I mentioned several of the reasons why some fans may not like this album. This is a more sophisticated album for a more sophisticated listener. If that isn’t you then maybe you aren’t ready for this album or maybe never will be. Like I said before, this album is best listened to in whole or at least in halves. So this isn’t really an album you can just throw on anytime and get the full experience.

#2

British Steel - 97.222%

British Steel is as classic as classic Priest gets. It is one of the most essential and classic heavy metal albums of all time and a near perfect album. If someone wanted to know what traditional heavy metal was, and could only listen to a single album, this would be a good choice despite a couple hard rock songs in the mix.

The Good - The album opens with the speed metal “Rapid Fire” setting a tone for a great album. It moves on to the more hard rock “Metal Gods” which is far less intense, but as classic of a Priest song as any and no less great in its own right. Of course there is “Breaking the Law” which is one of the most classic metal songs ever written. “Grinder” is an underrated song with a great drive and riffing for Halford to lay down a gritty performance over. “United” is more of a sing along hard rock track, but is still a great song. “You Don’t Have to Be Old to be Wise” is another great song and a good representation of the classic Priest sound. “The Rage” is a bit on the progressive side and is the most unique on the album, and also probably the most underrated one. The album closes with “Steeler” which is the most upbeat song on the album and great closer for a great album.

The Bad - After the millionth time of hearing “Living After Midnight”, it can be a bit much. It’s the least exciting song on the album but also the one Priest song that nearly every person will recognize. It still gets 4 stars, but it is the song I’m most likely to skip. The cliche nature of the song is what I don’t like about it, but also what makes it so popular.

#1

Painkiller - 100%

Priest had a few sub par albums prior to this one which was at the dawn of a new decade where changing times was leading to end of the 80’s era of metal that many bands did not survive. The music landscape was changing bands that didn’t change with it didn’t do so well. This happened to mostly the more mainstream glam bands where as the more true metal bands tended to adapt. So what does Priest do… well they hire a phenomenal new drummer that double kicked their way into a rebirth. This album is primarily a speed metal album which Priest had only dabbled with over the years. It came out with intensity never before seen from the classic band setting a new standard for heavy metal. As much as British Steel is a traditional heavy metal essential, Painkiller is a speed metal essential. Its sound would very much set a foundation for many speed and power metal bands to follow.

The Good - Everything; It’s a perfect album. Of course “Painkiller” is is a legendary opener with the drumming, vocals, and guitar solos being peak Judas Priest. I’m partial to “Leather Rebel” and “One Shot at Glory”. “Between the Hammer & the Anvil” is another amazing song. It’s a traditional heavy metal song rather than being speed metal, and would sound in place along some of the great songs from Defenders of the Faith.

The Bad - If you don’t like this album then I can’t imagine you like metal much at all. The only bad thing about this album is that it’s so great few albums can live up to such a president.