Great Metal Albums of 1981: Judas Priest- Point of Entry

You probably have already noticed that I didn't go to Bloodstock this year and it wasn't because of all the rain. While I would have loved to have seen Megadeath and Saxon on stage, my finances are dictated by other priorities, mainly my trip to the US in October. Enough of that said, onto the "Point of Entry," the 1981 album from metal gods Judas Priest.

Many people have shot down "Point of Entry" over the years and I ask myself if this is fair. One such person even put the album on a par with "Turbo" and to me, that is totally way off base. I will be the first to admit, it is not one of Judas Priest's best albums. What highlights this the most is that it is unfortunately sandwiched between what I think is their two best albums of all time: "British Steel" and "Screaming for Vengeance." I think that most of the other albums would pale significantly when put between those two monuments to metal. Taking them out of the equation and listening to "Point of Entry" on its own, I can safely say that it doesn't totally suck.

"Heading Out on the Highway" is an adequate opener and "Don't Go" does move the party along to the one of the more stronger tracks, "Hot Rockin'." But I'm not too sure about "Turning Circles" and "Desert Plains," maybe another listen is due here. However, the most of the remainder of the album is quite good. I do like the guitars in  "Solar Angels" and "You Say Yes" would be a great song to sing along to when drinking heavily. I'm going to have to try it just to make sure. "All the Way" and "Troubleshooter" are decent songs too but I'm not too sure about the closer. A good closing song should make me feel uplifted and I can't say that "On the Run" does that. Overall though, I think "Point of Entry" is a good album from Judas Priest and there are some of the famous trademark screams from Halford and the solid guitar work of Tipton and Downing. Maybe after the likes of the albums that precede and succeed it, the bar may have been set too high.

Track Listing:

1. Heading Out on the Highway

2. Don't Go

3. Hot Rockin'

4. Turning Circles

5. Desert Plains

6. Solar Angels

7. You Say Yes

8. All the Way

9. Troubleshooter

10. On the Run

[caption id="attachment_1108" align="aligncenter" width="128"] Judas Priest[/caption]

Rob Halford- vocals

Glen Tipton- guitar

KK Downing- guitar

Ian Hill- bass

Dave Holland- drums

 "Point of Entry" isn't the terrible album made out to be. If I were grading it I might be tempted to say it wasn't done at the best of the band's ability and it doesn't stand out from many of the great metal albums that came out in 1981, but it's still good enough to be included among them.

Next post: Saxon- Denim and Leather

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Great Metal Albums of 1980: Judas Priest- British Steel

Someone has already said that there were a lot of great heavy metal albums in 1980 and I wholeheartedly agree. I've covered two of them already (although this takes nothing away from the Sammy Hagar album) but there were more. One of these was "British Steel" by none other than Judas Priest. By 1980, they were finally breaking big and this album was proof of that fact. It was the album that got me into them as I suppose it did many others.

I never fathomed why the US version of "British Steel" put "Breaking the Law" as the opening track. Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic song and I was glad they played it when I saw them live in 2009. Still saying, listening to the original version, I think that "Rapid Fire" is a damn good opener. It gets you in the right frame of mind for listening to the rest of the album. Boy, what a rest of the album it is. "Metal Gods" provides the right bridge between the opener and the aforementioned hit. "Grinder" is an excellent song in its own right with some great guitar work before going into the anthem "United." Of course, after "You Don't Have to be Old to be Wise" is a great lead into my third favourite Priest song of all time, "Living After Midnight." I was slightly disappointed when they didn't play that one back in 09. It leads beautifully to the pen-ultimate "The Rage" before "Steeler" takes it home with style. So with "British Steel," you have nine hard metal bang your head tracks that don't disappoint and leave you reeling in your seat.

Track Listing:

1. Rapid Fire

2. Metal Gods

3. Breaking the Law

4. Grinder

5. United

6. You Don't Have to Be Old to Be Wise

7. Living After Midnight

8. The Rage

9. Steeler

Judas Priest

Robert Halford- vocals

Glen Tipton- guitar

KK Downing- guitar

Ian Hill- bass

Dave Holland- drums

"British Steel" is one cracking album from start to finish. For me, it got me listening to Judas Priest and was yet another stepping stone in my journey to becoming the full fledged metal head that I am today. Many will argue that this is their all time best, I won't argue for it but I definitely won't argue against it.

Next post: Iron Maiden

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London