Unpopular opinion but I think Before the dawn was the best song on Hell Bent for leather. KK's solo on Before the dawn was so beautiful that it always gives me goosebumps.
I was only 10yrs old when KILLING MACHINE was released. However, it was called HELL BENT FOR LEATHER. I'm from a small village called Shungopavi in Second Mesa Arizona the Hopi reservation. There's nothing out here but I was already listening to classic rock and later hard rock. When I first heard this album, it blew me away and I just had to become a musician. My most favorite song is EVENING ⭐ STAR, ...WHY? Because it reminds me of my brothers who aren't with us anymore and every time I look into the night sky, I just know their stars are SHINING DOWN ON ME. Went to see JUDAS PRIEST in concert during their DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH tour in Phoenix Arizona at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. TURBO tour at the Firebird Lake in Arizona. One of the most excellent shows I've ever seen. 🤘👉METAL GODS👈🤘 MAY THE GREAT SPIRIT BE WITH YOU ALL ALWAYS MY BROTHERS
Killing Machine (Hell Bent for Leather) was the very first Judas Priest album I had ever bought back in 1978. I had been looking for a new metal album and had never heard of Judas Priest before (I know...shocking!). As soon as I saw the album cover I KNEW that I had to have it. I had no idea if it was good or bad, but that cover blew me away. Thank God it was an amazing album and it started me on the path to becoming a life long Judas Priest fan!
I was 16 when British Steel came out and at the time I was a big hard rock fan. Hard rock like Ted Nugent, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Rainbow, Rush, etc but there always seemed to be something I hadn’t discovered yet. I loved Nugent because of the aggression. Then I heard Rapid Fire. It changed my life. Skipping school one day over at my friend Angelo’s house I started to delve into his record collection. And there is Stained Class. We were new acquaintances but I asked him to borrow it and when I first heard Exciter. I couldn’t believe my ears. At that point those few months introduced me to the music I still love today. I started to listen to metal night and WNHU radio on Saturday nights and discovered not only more JP but Iron maiden as well. One of the first songs my new band learned was Breaking The Law. Despite having a singer who was more in the Jim Morrison style we tackled Green Manalishi and Running Wild from HBFL. That album was pivotal in all our lives as it was easily listenable and playable as a band. I prefer all of those studio versions to the live stuff. Never really liked Unleashed in the East. Stained Class is still my favorite though.
The most import thing about Killing Machine (Hell Bent for Leather) is the fact that its tour spawned an epic live album. Unleashed In The East converted more Judas Priest fans than all others combined.
That's accurate. Priest were the best metal band on the planet at that time. HBFL and UITE confirmed that. ULINE Should have been a double album. Even with the EP they left off songs like Dissident Agrressor
Unleashed In The Studio. Always feel cheated listening to that album coz Rob re did his vocals in the studio. Whether he had a cold at the time or it was a bad recording is disputed.
Killing Machine always came across as a concept album to me. From the cover to the content & themes, it feels like it's all from the perspective of a cold blooded, contract killer. A sort of "American Psycho" for the working class. I remember sitting in my bed when I was 13 and listening to this whole album over and over and just staring at the picture on the LP. This album is from another world.
Yes! It feels like a character concept throughout most of the songs. Like, the character in Killing Machine, is the same as in Hell Bent for Leather and Running Wild.
My favorite thing to do lately is when I’m jamming on guitar, I put on unleashed in the east and I listen to hell bent for leather and star breaker back to back and feel like I’m really there with priest in Japan. That live album is def one of the best ever
@@shredhed572 Sabbath created the genre, but were still very much rooted in blues. By the time of Killing Machine, Priest had pretty much gotten rid of the blues in their music and had made metal, well, metal. It had become a distinct genre thanks to them.
Before Screaming for Vengeance, I always viewed this album as the definitive heavy metal album. I still view it as THE definitive turning point in Judas Priest history. I see British Steel as the follow-up act. I think it is remarkable how little Halford takes his voice up high on this -- he shows he is capable of kicking butt in any vocal range. Best song: Burnin' Up. I own the US vinyl -- have since 1980.
KM and Stained Class are on my top 10 list with the best music albums ever released. It is awesome that finally someone finally extensively mentioned those. Burning up is my favorite track I think. Rock for ever has one of the coolest riffs ever written.
My first album I bought with my own money, in 1980, I was 12 or 13 at the time. When I listened to it with headphones at the record shop (remember that there were record shops and that you could test listen to albums?) I was totally blown away right from the intro of Delivering the Goods... I don't really remember why I picked this album to listen to, but it sure was a defining moment for me. It is still one of my all time favourites, not only by Priest, but by any band!
When Hell Bent for Leather came out I was 16 and already had Sin After Sin, Sad Wings and Stained Class. I remember loving it yet obviously noticing the pop overtones(chorus of Evening Star and Take on the World). Stained Class was the heaviest music at the time and imo their best album ever so as much as I love and appreciate Hell Bent it was in a sense a disappointment as I wanted them to get even heavier vs getting more polished and commercial. I got see them live on that tour in Chicago at the Intl Amphiteatre May of '79 opening for UFO. Fantastic show, I got up pretty close and took some great shots with a 35mm camera and yes, Les Binks was playing drums!!!!. That tour obviously gave us Unleashed in the East! Delivering the Goods, Rock Forever, Hell bent, Burnin' Up, Running Wild, Killing Machine are some awesome, classic Priest tracks
Thanks MP, great work on one of my favorite Judas Priest LPs. Know wonder Rob HALFORD is happy to come on your channel and be interviewed. In 1979 I was lamenting the fact to an acquaintance that I couldn't find the a heavy enough sound in the hard rock bands of the time. He said have you heard of Judas Priest. I replied (typically) "Who's he?" He then put on 'Burning Up' from 'Killing Machine'. That was it.... I went out the next day and ordered 'Killing Machine'. I then ordered an LP each pay day until I had all of JP's LPs available at that time. My favorite JP period is from 'Stained Glass' to 'Point of Entry'. Still a big priest fan....Always grateful to that guy for putting on 'Burning Up'.
My first Priest gig was Killing Machine tour at the Birmingham Odeon 🇬🇧 just brilliant, support band was Marseille, check them out, good band NWOBHM ✌️✌️
Yeah, the tapping thing on Hell Bent for Leather, He started tapping later, not during and after recording. I know this. I saw him play it live without tapping. I took note later on when he started tapping. Don't forget VH78 had just came out in Feb of that year. He probably didn't even know who EVH was. Lol. And Glenn was also already using HB pups on his black strat , so Ed wasn't the first guy to do this. Ah, reminiscing the Golden age of Heavy Metal. After sabbath but before NWOBHM. On that note, when the new wave hit in the early 80s it actually was a good thing for Priest. It made them up their game even higher than it already was , with SFV. The mixing on that album WOW My band was over the day I got it We all heard it at the same time. On Electric Eye, when that E5 started riffin we ALL just went WHOA!! The tone of that album is devastating The HBFL album I always thought sounded like their earlier stuff - the way it was mixed I'm pretty sure on stained class Glenn used a rangemaster(treble booster), but I don't hear it on HBFL album. Btw Deliverin the Goods has my fave solo from Glenn on this album. His technical skill with the Pentatonic scale is mind blowing, although the song HBFL is arguably in my top 5 best songs. HBFL Grinder Metal Gods Electric Eye Turbo But that's just my list. What are you alls top 5?
I think what makes judas priest so special is how the have their sound and they had to experiment in a sense as they were pushing the boundaries of what Heavy metal was and back then could be.
"Hellbent for Leather" is most definitely my favorite Judas Priest album. It's all killer, no filler. It is unapologetically metal, yet it embraced the street-level grit of punk, so it's easy to see how this album helped to light the fuse for the NWOBHM.
As a young Priesthead, this one, British Steel, and Sad Wings of Destiny were my favorites. The entire Priest discography up to Screaming for Vengeance provided background music for my D&D games (1979-1984) but Sad Wings, Rocka Rolla, and Hell Bent for Leather were the Priest albums I listened to while painting miniatures or designing dungeons.
@2:30 - 🤘🏼🤘🏼 *I know it hardly matters; but, there are videos right here on UA-cam of Ace Frehley (Kiss) & Neil Schon (Journey) doing the trilling/tapping technique years before Eddie VanHalen. (not to take anything away from Eddie's contribution) Cheers!* 🤘🏼🤘🏼
It was also their first album with a strong production and a genuine distorted heavy metal guitar tone (the guitar tone on their previous albums was significantly cleaner and less distorted).
It's great how this album (and Screaming for vengeance) are the albums that sound like what you'd expect Judas Priest to sound like while all the other albums also sound like Judas Priest. This album just sounds like it has been written and recorded while wearing the tightest leather pants they could find in their closet \m/
never knew it was originally named Killing Machine. Hell Bent For Leather is a special album for me and hopefully also everyone within one hundred yards of my pickup when im listening to it (CD).
The album is listed as Killing Machine world wide. Only in the US was it changed to "Hell Bent For Leather' because of the Cleveland Elementary School Shootings in San Diego in Jan 79. Such is their hysteria over gun crime. The Boomtown Rats' I Don't Like Mondays was a reference to this incident which left a school principal and a custodian dead. Brenda Spencer who was 16 at the time got life and is still incarcerated to this day age 59.
Love all 70s Priest albums. It was one classic after another. To pick just one favorite from Hell Bent For Leather is tough. Have to go with Running Wild. Such a quick burst of aggression. Love it. And the version on Unleashed in the East is phenomenal. All hail the Priest!!!!!
Rob voice started to mature here , More full , more darker and tougher tone is his voice than the more juvenile flamboyant operatic bits of the previous records .
I saw The Priest in concert for the 1st time on that tour.They played my hometown of Santa Cruz California @ the civic auditorium,sold out show of 3000 headbangers.Went on to see them dozens of times over the years,my favorite band.
Arguably, the first LP Priest released that America REALLY grasped onto. It set the stage for Screaming for Vengeance to punch us all in the face. Fav cut? "Delivering the Goods" for me...
When you mentioned about British bands wanting to make it big in America, that would have been a good time to insert a bit of the video for "Hello America" by Def Leppard. And yes, a video about Metal fashions could be interesting.
I found this record along with some Kiss, Alice C. etc. at my Dad's who i visited every weekend as a young kid. This has been my favorite Priest ever since. Such precision, such groove.. this video does a great job breaking down the reasons why its a classic, manythnx 🤘
This album and its songs influenced the whole hard rock/metal genre. James Guthrie did an outstanding job here. Imho it was the very first "metal" sounding album despite its nearly rap and rocky elements. The sound here is huge and meaty and exactly here we can talk about the sound we were familiar with in the golden 80's. With a pinch of exaggeration we can say back in the 70's you could hear literally every note a bass player hit but it was definitely not that case in the 80's. It was such a huge progress the whole sound recording process made in comparison to Stained Class back in the 1978 and for me this one sounds still fresh and relevant like it did back in 1978 in Europe (1979 in US for that matter). Its unbelievable both albums were released within one year and their sound is so different. And the album cover art? My fav song is probably Take on the World. Its cover art is a pure evil art. Love it
I love your content Metal Pilgrim. I sit here in a beautiful place on Vancouver Island. I can't begin to imagine what you, your beautiful country and people are going through. My thoughts and strong spirits to you my metal brothers and sisters 🌺
Omg you are so right about tapping. The first time I saw tapping was electric eye live in 1981. It’s totally possible that two people did then same things independently of each other at the same time. You are the first one to ever acknowledge this
Killing Machine trully marked a departure form the more extended songs of previous albums, cutting all the "fat" and making shorter, more punchy songs with much more attitude wich embraced the new look of leather of the Band. It Also marked a period of the band where they jumped to a more mainstream band wich was perfected with British Steel and later backfired with a way too mainstream album, Point of Entry. However, in 1978 Priest really made a difference and made the NWOBHM changue their curse and head for a new direction, talk about influence. Was also the first album where Ian embraced the more straight forward place in the band he had with his bass. I´d said other than Hell Bent for Leather, Delivering the goods is another great song, with Rock Forever and Take on the world.
There is no easy way to answer this, it changes often. The songs are really versatile, and instead of going in these, sometimes elaborate journeys within one song, they streamlined and went with one theme per song, and embraced a more traditional song structure as well, but you know this and pointed to them yourself. I think it was a ballsy move, and everything on this album, in retrospect, was firing on all cylinders!
"I've been whipped by Rob Halford" LOL Just the latest in a long series of clues/jokes that only people who were "in the know" would get, before he finally uncloseted himself years later.
My favorite songs from this album are Running Wild and Green Manalishi (the first Judas Priest album I ever bought was Unleashed In The East and it had both of those songs on it. Green Manalishi was also the first Priest song I ever heard, even though I later found out it was a cover), but I also really dig Rock Forever and Burning Up because they're fairly obscure songs that have a different feel from most Priest songs. They're more uptempo bluesy hard rock than metal.
Judas Priest always had good songwriting, that set them apart from bands who just tried to play fast or intricate. that might please a musician, but most people want something they'll be humming later. JP was better at that than their peers.
I got Killing Machine in the early 80s. At that time bands like Metallica were making a huge impression so to me Killing Machine sounded too tame. I think that may be an unfair comparison but I was really blown away by Metallica (esp Ride the Lightning). My favourite song on Killing Machine was Burning Up. Looking at it now I think it was an important album for Judas Priest and a great stepping stone for their later albums.
Ah, now as far as the Judas Priest "signature sound" is concerned, I thought "Stained Class" was the defining moment. But "Killing Machine" introduced an important element: motorcycles, and motorcycle uniforms, with plenty of metal-studded leather. This wrote the rules of "how to look like a Heavy Metal band" for a loooong time.
As much as I loved British Steel and the following albums, I have always regretted the loss of pre-British Steel Priest. I just found it to be far more creative, expansive, without boundaries. Regardless, one of the greatest bands ever.
I know it as Hell Bent for Leather growing up in NYC in the mid 80s. Didn't even know the album's original name is Killing Machine until decades later.
Ok you’ve acknowledged the greatness of Unleashed in the East-so we can look forward to an episode about it, right? You’re not going to skip it because it’s not a studio album, are you?
You bring up numerous good points. When I first heard it in '85, I really didn't know much about the background info. I just knew that I liked HBFL better than any other JP album. Still do. Also, Binks is my favorite Priest drummer after Travis.
Please do make a metalhead fashion video! I would absolutely love to see you explain it. Its been ages since anybody who knew what they were talking about did one
great vid! and um, to answer the poll, favorite song off it would be Green Manalishi - but if it has to be from Killing Machine, then its Hell Bent for Leather, duh
Speaking as someone who was around at the time: The "eyes of the world" were not concentrating on punk. Punk rock got a lot of press - most of it bad - but punk records didn't sell for shit, and so record labels began dropping punk artists almost as quickly as they picked them up. Aside from Tom Snyder's Tomorrow show and a handful of punk guests on Saturday Night Live, it wasn't until MTV began promoting the "punk-lite" image and sound of New Wave in the early 80s that punk rock was anything other than a niche phenomenon embraced by critics, dismissed by labels, abhorred by moral crusaders, persecuted by police, and (outside of a handful of hot spots like London and L.A.) near-completely ignored by the record-buying public. The stuff that dominated mainstream music culture in the late 70s was disco, alongside the fist-pumping arena rock of artists like Bob Segar, Boston, Meat Loaf, and Queen.
I couldn't agree more. the first half of the 80s and also Painkiller were very solid, but 70s era Priest was their pinnacle and SC and KM are their best albums 🤘
Well, I'm gonna aim the crunch where it's bound to do most damage to your head and say... Killing Machine is my favorite song on the first Priest album I had. After i also got Unleashed In The East, I also picked up Stained Class, Sad Wings, Rocks Rolla and Sin After Sin in that order... And wore the grooves out.
My friend saw them on the Point Of Entry U.S. tour when the shows were still smaller. He saw KK and Rob outside the venue and asked about what happened to Les. They said jokingly, "He's probably in some English jail"
AFAIK, Priest never played Burnin Up live in concert. We have the beginning teaser for the intro to Exciter on Unleashed in the East but that’s about it. I’ve looked at the set lists from this time and have listened to quite a few bootleg live recordings, no Burnin Up. Thing is, that is a great song. I think it would translate well if played live.
I’d love to see your reaction to the new Metal Piano Music’s channel of their Judas Priest songs. They just released a piano arrangement of The Sentinel and I cannot stop playing it 😍❤️😍
More pop. I love their even early stuff. Love their super early. Cant stand painkiller type stuff. Ram it down on was nothing but msn that super early stuff is amazing
Have to completely disagree with a couple points. Sin After Sin introduced shorter more melodic songs that were a bit less heavy looking for more commercial acceptance . Stained Glass went back to the more complete songs and dark gothic lyricism. Then when this album came out it went back to less gothic and more melodic “ commercial” style. But you are not wrong this was a very important transition album with things they did here stylistically coming together extremely well on their next album British Steel
Other than Turbo, Nostradamus, and Rocka Rolla, is there a bad Judas Priest album? Fav song on (It's Hell Bent for Leather for me), it's Green Manalishi.
This is the first album I ever bought so for me it’s the most important because it created the context from which I would hear everything else by them.
This album is almost my favorite priest album in fact it was my fave until point of entry started receiving bad reviews so for support reasons i choose point of entry but im a closet fan of hell bent for leather/killing machine its truely the best preist album. There you go rob i came out of the closet!
*What is your favourite song from Killing Machine and why?*
Probably delivering the goods. It’s just such banger!
The title track, Killing Machine, is definitely my favourite. It's just got so much attitude
Unpopular opinion but I think Before the dawn was the best song on Hell Bent for leather. KK's solo on Before the dawn was so beautiful that it always gives me goosebumps.
Running Wild: straightfotward heavy metal song without solo BUT it rocks so much!!!
Yeah! Fashion and Metal is one of the reasons that I miss those incredibile dayz!
I was only 10yrs old when KILLING MACHINE was released. However, it was called HELL BENT FOR LEATHER. I'm from a small village called Shungopavi in Second Mesa Arizona the Hopi reservation. There's nothing out here but I was already listening to classic rock and later hard rock. When I first heard this album, it blew me away and I just had to become a musician. My most favorite song is EVENING ⭐ STAR, ...WHY? Because it reminds me of my brothers who aren't with us anymore and every time I look into the night sky, I just know their stars are SHINING DOWN ON ME.
Went to see JUDAS PRIEST in concert during their DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH tour in Phoenix Arizona at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. TURBO tour at the Firebird Lake in Arizona. One of the most excellent shows I've ever seen.
🤘👉METAL GODS👈🤘
MAY THE GREAT SPIRIT BE WITH YOU ALL ALWAYS MY BROTHERS
Killing Machine (Hell Bent for Leather) was the very first Judas Priest album I had ever bought back in 1978. I had been looking for a new metal album and had never heard of Judas Priest before (I know...shocking!). As soon as I saw the album cover I KNEW that I had to have it. I had no idea if it was good or bad, but that cover blew me away. Thank God it was an amazing album and it started me on the path to becoming a life long Judas Priest fan!
That’s awesome!
I went through a similar experience, but in 1987
That was me with Screaming For Vengeance, and then I worked my way backwards. I still remember the thrill of opening and playing each album.
I was 16 when British Steel came out and at the time I was a big hard rock fan. Hard rock like Ted Nugent, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Rainbow, Rush, etc but there always seemed to be something I hadn’t discovered yet. I loved Nugent because of the aggression. Then I heard Rapid Fire. It changed my life. Skipping school one day over at my friend Angelo’s house I started to delve into his record collection. And there is Stained Class. We were new acquaintances but I asked him to borrow it and when I first heard Exciter. I couldn’t believe my ears. At that point those few months introduced me to the music I still love today. I started to listen to metal night and WNHU radio on Saturday nights and discovered not only more JP but Iron maiden as well. One of the first songs my new band learned was Breaking The Law. Despite having a singer who was more in the Jim Morrison style we tackled Green Manalishi and Running Wild from HBFL. That album was pivotal in all our lives as it was easily listenable and playable as a band. I prefer all of those studio versions to the live stuff. Never really liked Unleashed in the East. Stained Class is still my favorite though.
The most import thing about Killing Machine (Hell Bent for Leather) is the fact that its tour spawned an epic live album. Unleashed In The East converted more Judas Priest fans than all others combined.
That's accurate. Priest were the best metal band on the planet at that time. HBFL and UITE confirmed that. ULINE Should have been a double album. Even with the EP they left off songs like Dissident Agrressor
Tyrant on UITE
KILLLEERRR!!!!!!
Something about live vs studio
Live is always better
You are correct, give any non Priest fan 'Unleashed in the East' and shazam- convert.
Unleashed In The Studio. Always feel cheated listening to that album coz Rob re did his vocals in the studio. Whether he had a cold at the time or it was a bad recording is disputed.
Unleashed only has vocal overdubs, so if the music is still live, it's still way more authentic than Kiss Alive!
Killing Machine always came across as a concept album to me. From the cover to the content & themes, it feels like it's all from the perspective of a cold blooded, contract killer. A sort of "American Psycho" for the working class. I remember sitting in my bed when I was 13 and listening to this whole album over and over and just staring at the picture on the LP. This album is from another world.
Yes! It feels like a character concept throughout most of the songs. Like, the character in Killing Machine, is the same as in Hell Bent for Leather and Running Wild.
Well I ve never thought about Killing Machine album this way, but you are right. That topics show it obviously. Thanks
My favorite thing to do lately is when I’m jamming on guitar, I put on unleashed in the east and I listen to hell bent for leather and star breaker back to back and feel like I’m really there with priest in Japan. That live album is def one of the best ever
*You're absolutely right! That album is perfect!*
Priest invented 80s metal 2 years before the decade happened
Haha that might be the best way to put it
I've always said Priest invented modern metal.
After sabbath priest took it up 3 notches
I'll buy that
@@shredhed572 Sabbath created the genre, but were still very much rooted in blues. By the time of Killing Machine, Priest had pretty much gotten rid of the blues in their music and had made metal, well, metal. It had become a distinct genre thanks to them.
Also Van Halen on their 1st album and Motorhead with "Overkill."
Before Screaming for Vengeance, I always viewed this album as the definitive heavy metal album. I still view it as THE definitive turning point in Judas Priest history. I see British Steel as the follow-up act. I think it is remarkable how little Halford takes his voice up high on this -- he shows he is capable of kicking butt in any vocal range. Best song: Burnin' Up. I own the US vinyl -- have since 1980.
Burnin up, I totally agree!!
KM and Stained Class are on my top 10 list with the best music albums ever released. It is awesome that finally someone finally extensively mentioned those. Burning up is my favorite track I think. Rock for ever has one of the coolest riffs ever written.
Funk with speed Rock n Opera.
My first album I bought with my own money, in 1980, I was 12 or 13 at the time. When I listened to it with headphones at the record shop (remember that there were record shops and that you could test listen to albums?) I was totally blown away right from the intro of Delivering the Goods... I don't really remember why I picked this album to listen to, but it sure was a defining moment for me.
It is still one of my all time favourites, not only by Priest, but by any band!
When Hell Bent for Leather came out I was 16 and already had Sin After Sin, Sad Wings and Stained Class. I remember loving it yet obviously noticing the pop overtones(chorus of Evening Star and Take on the World). Stained Class was the heaviest music at the time and imo their best album ever so as much as I love and appreciate Hell Bent it was in a sense a disappointment as I wanted them to get even heavier vs getting more polished and commercial. I got see them live on that tour in Chicago at the Intl Amphiteatre May of '79 opening for UFO. Fantastic show, I got up pretty close and took some great shots with a 35mm camera and yes, Les Binks was playing drums!!!!. That tour obviously gave us Unleashed in the East! Delivering the Goods, Rock Forever, Hell bent, Burnin' Up, Running Wild, Killing Machine are some awesome, classic Priest tracks
My favorite song from the Hell Bent For Leather album is, Running Wild!!!
Thanks MP, great work on one of my favorite Judas Priest LPs. Know wonder Rob HALFORD is happy to come on your channel and be interviewed. In 1979 I was lamenting the fact to an acquaintance that I couldn't find the a heavy enough sound in the hard rock bands of the time. He said have you heard of Judas Priest. I replied (typically) "Who's he?" He then put on 'Burning Up' from 'Killing Machine'. That was it.... I went out the next day and ordered 'Killing Machine'. I then ordered an LP each pay day until I had all of JP's LPs available at that time. My favorite JP period is from 'Stained Glass' to 'Point of Entry'. Still a big priest fan....Always grateful to that guy for putting on 'Burning Up'.
JP's look and sound absolutely gelled on this album. This was when they hit their stride.
...and others followed ;)
My first Priest gig was Killing Machine tour at the Birmingham Odeon 🇬🇧 just brilliant, support band was Marseille, check them out, good band NWOBHM ✌️✌️
Yeah, the tapping thing on Hell Bent for Leather,
He started tapping later, not during and after recording.
I know this.
I saw him play it live without tapping.
I took note later on when he started tapping.
Don't forget VH78 had just came out in Feb of that year. He probably didn't even know who EVH was. Lol.
And Glenn was also already using HB pups on his black strat , so Ed wasn't the first guy to do this.
Ah, reminiscing the Golden age of Heavy Metal.
After sabbath but before NWOBHM.
On that note, when the new wave hit in the early 80s it actually was a good thing for Priest.
It made them up their game even higher than it already was , with SFV.
The mixing on that album
WOW
My band was over the day I got it
We all heard it at the same time.
On Electric Eye, when that E5 started riffin we ALL just went
WHOA!! The tone of that album is devastating
The HBFL album I always thought sounded like their earlier stuff - the way it was mixed
I'm pretty sure on stained class Glenn used a rangemaster(treble booster), but I don't hear it on HBFL album.
Btw Deliverin the Goods has my fave solo from Glenn on this album.
His technical skill with the Pentatonic scale is mind blowing, although the song HBFL is arguably in my top 5 best songs.
HBFL
Grinder
Metal Gods
Electric Eye
Turbo
But that's just my list.
What are you alls top 5?
I think what makes judas priest so special is how the have their sound and they had to experiment in a sense as they were pushing the boundaries of what Heavy metal was and back then could be.
"Hellbent for Leather" is most definitely my favorite Judas Priest album. It's all killer, no filler. It is unapologetically metal, yet it embraced the street-level grit of punk, so it's easy to see how this album helped to light the fuse for the NWOBHM.
As a young Priesthead, this one, British Steel, and Sad Wings of Destiny were my favorites. The entire Priest discography up to Screaming for Vengeance provided background music for my D&D games (1979-1984) but Sad Wings, Rocka Rolla, and Hell Bent for Leather were the Priest albums I listened to while painting miniatures or designing dungeons.
@2:30 - 🤘🏼🤘🏼 *I know it hardly matters; but, there are videos right here on UA-cam of Ace Frehley (Kiss) & Neil Schon (Journey) doing the trilling/tapping technique years before Eddie VanHalen. (not to take anything away from Eddie's contribution) Cheers!* 🤘🏼🤘🏼
I honestly think that many great guitarists came up with this idea, some possibly on their own ;)
I like Take on the World, Before the dawn and Hell bent for leather. Rob looks very handsome !!!
It was also their first album with a strong production and a genuine distorted heavy metal guitar tone (the guitar tone on their previous albums was significantly cleaner and less distorted).
2.19 LOL!!! Thank you very much for this moment, I just love these episodes
A running wild wicker man ;)
It's great how this album (and Screaming for vengeance) are the albums that sound like what you'd expect Judas Priest to sound like while all the other albums also sound like Judas Priest. This album just sounds like it has been written and recorded while wearing the tightest leather pants they could find in their closet \m/
never knew it was originally named Killing Machine. Hell Bent For Leather is a special album for me and hopefully also everyone within one hundred yards of my pickup when im listening to it (CD).
Hell Bent for Leather in the US, everywhere else it was Killing Machine.
Yup, and the band was really opposed to changing the name for the US market
Delivering the Goods is a bloody rad song!
Delivering The Goods 🤘 Green Manalishi 🤘
🤘❤🇨🇦
The album is listed as Killing Machine world wide. Only in the US was it changed to "Hell Bent For Leather' because of the Cleveland Elementary School Shootings in San Diego in Jan 79. Such is their hysteria over gun crime. The Boomtown Rats' I Don't Like Mondays was a reference to this incident which left a school principal and a custodian dead. Brenda Spencer who was 16 at the time got life and is still incarcerated to this day age 59.
Love all 70s Priest albums. It was one classic after another. To pick just one favorite from Hell Bent For Leather is tough. Have to go with Running Wild. Such a quick burst of aggression. Love it. And the version on Unleashed in the East is phenomenal. All hail the Priest!!!!!
Running Wild- It's the song of my life.
Rob voice started to mature here , More full , more darker and tougher tone is his voice than the more juvenile flamboyant operatic bits of the previous records .
I saw The Priest in concert for the 1st time on that tour.They played my hometown of Santa Cruz California @ the civic auditorium,sold out show of 3000 headbangers.Went on to see them dozens of times over the years,my favorite band.
I was so hyped for this video
Thank you!
Thanks! Hope you enjoy it!
This was the 1st JP CD I've ever bought and it's one of my favourite: so full of killer songs!
Arguably, the first LP Priest released that America REALLY grasped onto. It set the stage for Screaming for Vengeance to punch us all in the face. Fav cut? "Delivering the Goods" for me...
When you mentioned about British bands wanting to make it big in America, that would have been a good time to insert a bit of the video for "Hello America" by Def Leppard.
And yes, a video about Metal fashions could be interesting.
I found this record along with some Kiss, Alice C. etc. at my Dad's who i visited every weekend as a young kid. This has been my favorite Priest ever since. Such precision, such groove.. this video does a great job breaking down the reasons why its a classic, manythnx 🤘
This album and its songs influenced the whole hard rock/metal genre. James Guthrie did an outstanding job here. Imho it was the very first "metal" sounding album despite its nearly rap and rocky elements. The sound here is huge and meaty and exactly here we can talk about the sound we were familiar with in the golden 80's. With a pinch of exaggeration we can say back in the 70's you could hear literally every note a bass player hit but it was definitely not that case in the 80's. It was such a huge progress the whole sound recording process made in comparison to Stained Class back in the 1978 and for me this one sounds still fresh and relevant like it did back in 1978 in Europe (1979 in US for that matter). Its unbelievable both albums were released within one year and their sound is so different. And the album cover art? My fav song is probably Take on the World. Its cover art is a pure evil art. Love it
I love your content Metal Pilgrim. I sit here in a beautiful place on Vancouver Island. I can't begin to imagine what you, your beautiful country and people are going through. My thoughts and strong spirits to you my metal brothers and sisters 🌺
Judas Priest is the greatest heavy metal band and Halford is the greatest heavy metal singer in history.
Cause when they see me comin', they know I'm Runnin' Wild!
Omg you are so right about tapping. The first time I saw tapping was electric eye live in 1981. It’s totally possible that two people did then same things independently of each other at the same time. You are the first one to ever acknowledge this
MASTERPIECE!!
Before the Dawn is one of the best songs ever!
Killing Machine trully marked a departure form the more extended songs of previous albums, cutting all the "fat" and making shorter, more punchy songs with much more attitude wich embraced the new look of leather of the Band. It Also marked a period of the band where they jumped to a more mainstream band wich was perfected with British Steel and later backfired with a way too mainstream album, Point of Entry. However, in 1978 Priest really made a difference and made the NWOBHM changue their curse and head for a new direction, talk about influence. Was also the first album where Ian embraced the more straight forward place in the band he had with his bass. I´d said other than Hell Bent for Leather, Delivering the goods is another great song, with Rock Forever and Take on the world.
There is no easy way to answer this, it changes often. The songs are really versatile, and instead of going in these, sometimes elaborate journeys within one song, they streamlined and went with one theme per song, and embraced a more traditional song structure as well, but you know this and pointed to them yourself. I think it was a ballsy move, and everything on this album, in retrospect, was firing on all cylinders!
"I've been whipped by Rob Halford" LOL Just the latest in a long series of clues/jokes that only people who were "in the know" would get, before he finally uncloseted himself years later.
My favorite songs from this album are Running Wild and Green Manalishi (the first Judas Priest album I ever bought was Unleashed In The East and it had both of those songs on it. Green Manalishi was also the first Priest song I ever heard, even though I later found out it was a cover), but I also really dig Rock Forever and Burning Up because they're fairly obscure songs that have a different feel from most Priest songs. They're more uptempo bluesy hard rock than metal.
Judas Priest always had good songwriting, that set them apart from bands who just tried to play fast or intricate. that might please a musician, but most people want something they'll be humming later. JP was better at that than their peers.
I got Killing Machine in the early 80s. At that time bands like Metallica were making a huge impression so to me Killing Machine sounded too tame. I think that may be an unfair comparison but I was really blown away by Metallica (esp Ride the Lightning). My favourite song on Killing Machine was Burning Up. Looking at it now I think it was an important album for Judas Priest and a great stepping stone for their later albums.
burning up,for the intro,30 secs
Ah, now as far as the Judas Priest "signature sound" is concerned, I thought "Stained Class" was the defining moment. But "Killing Machine" introduced an important element: motorcycles, and motorcycle uniforms, with plenty of metal-studded leather. This wrote the rules of "how to look like a Heavy Metal band" for a loooong time.
Keep up the good work... you deserve more subs. 😎 Cheers!!!
Thank you!
As much as I loved British Steel and the following albums, I have always regretted the loss of pre-British Steel Priest. I just found it to be far more creative, expansive, without boundaries. Regardless, one of the greatest bands ever.
It’s a flipping good album! 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻
Hey bro I love your piano arrangement of Before the Dawn!
Heck yeah it is!
❤️
@@matthewbradshaw473 thanks! Glad you enjoy it!
Wow, Quality show. Subscribed. Judas 4ever!
Please do the metal fashion video
Forgot to mention Delivering the Goods. My bad. Amazing song.
take on the world 🤘💃
Truly enjoyable video, well researched, informative and entertaining. dig your style. Thanks! keep up the great work.
Thank you
I know it as Hell Bent for Leather growing up in NYC in the mid 80s. Didn't even know the album's original name is Killing Machine until decades later.
Still my favorite Priest album
A heavy metal fashion video would be very interesting, especially comparing the different subgenres.
LOL! Same thing happened to me the first time I listened to the Wicker Man.
I agree, there is no 'Unleashed in the East' without K#lling Machine. Both crystalized Priest. Everything after sitting on their shoulders. Thank you.
I never caught the similarity between Wicker Man and Running Wild. That is insane!
Ok you’ve acknowledged the greatness of Unleashed in the East-so we can look forward to an episode about it, right? You’re not going to skip it because it’s not a studio album, are you?
Yes!
I'm sure there's some great stories about that one
It kinda is a studio album vocally 🙈🙈🙈
You bring up numerous good points. When I first heard it in '85, I really didn't know much about the background info. I just knew that I liked HBFL better than any other JP album. Still do. Also, Binks is my favorite Priest drummer after Travis.
I think Hellbent For Killing would also be a nice family friendly title.
That title would have driven the sales up like crazy 😂
Please do make a metalhead fashion video! I would absolutely love to see you explain it. Its been ages since anybody who knew what they were talking about did one
great vid!
and um, to answer the poll, favorite song off it would be Green Manalishi - but if it has to be from Killing Machine, then its Hell Bent for Leather, duh
Seriously awesome show!🙂
Basically Killing Machine was the one that gave identity to Judas Priest, I am glad that this is the 3rd album that I like the most of Judas Priest
Speaking as someone who was around at the time: The "eyes of the world" were not concentrating on punk. Punk rock got a lot of press - most of it bad - but punk records didn't sell for shit, and so record labels began dropping punk artists almost as quickly as they picked them up. Aside from Tom Snyder's Tomorrow show and a handful of punk guests on Saturday Night Live, it wasn't until MTV began promoting the "punk-lite" image and sound of New Wave in the early 80s that punk rock was anything other than a niche phenomenon embraced by critics, dismissed by labels, abhorred by moral crusaders, persecuted by police, and (outside of a handful of hot spots like London and L.A.) near-completely ignored by the record-buying public.
The stuff that dominated mainstream music culture in the late 70s was disco, alongside the fist-pumping arena rock of artists like Bob Segar, Boston, Meat Loaf, and Queen.
Definitely their best, along with Stained Class. Their 70s output is light years better than everything that followed…
Well it is a very problematic statement, but ok Ben
I couldn't agree more. the first half of the 80s and also Painkiller were very solid, but 70s era Priest was their pinnacle and SC and KM are their best albums 🤘
Sin After Sin
Well, I'm gonna aim the crunch where it's bound to do most damage to your head and say...
Killing Machine is my favorite song on the first Priest album I had. After i also got Unleashed In The East, I also picked up Stained Class, Sad Wings, Rocks Rolla and Sin After Sin in that order...
And wore the grooves out.
I’m keen for HM fashion episode!
My friend saw them on the Point Of Entry U.S. tour when the shows were still smaller. He saw KK and Rob outside the venue and asked about what happened to Les. They said jokingly, "He's probably in some English jail"
4 out of my 5 favourite Judas Priest albums were made in the 70s. The last one is Painkiller.
I saw this LP in someone's collection in 80-81 I had to have it !! Great rippn tunes image !!!!!!
AFAIK, Priest never played Burnin Up live in concert. We have the beginning teaser for the intro to Exciter on Unleashed in the East but that’s about it. I’ve looked at the set lists from this time and have listened to quite a few bootleg live recordings, no Burnin Up.
Thing is, that is a great song. I think it would translate well if played live.
I’d love to see your reaction to the new Metal Piano Music’s channel of their Judas Priest songs. They just released a piano arrangement of The Sentinel and I cannot stop playing it 😍❤️😍
PETA wanted them to call the album Hell Bent For Pleather. Hahaha
I would like to see a Metal Fashion video. Especially with Priest, as we can see here, they needed help.
They changed their image then but Screaming for Vengeance is still their best album.
Heavy metal fashion = dressing up as Glenn of the Village People.
Please post a video about the Metal Fashion.
As a kid, I couldn't understand why Slash was on the cover of a Judas Priest album.
... honestly, I still don't
More pop. I love their even early stuff. Love their super early. Cant stand painkiller type stuff. Ram it down on was nothing but msn that super early stuff is amazing
Les Binks looks like Kenny Everett.
Have to completely disagree with a couple points. Sin After Sin introduced shorter more melodic songs that were a bit less heavy looking for more commercial acceptance . Stained Glass went back to the more complete songs and dark gothic lyricism. Then when this album came out it went back to less gothic and more melodic “ commercial” style. But you are not wrong this was a very important transition album with things they did here stylistically coming together extremely well on their next album British Steel
Other than Turbo, Nostradamus, and Rocka Rolla, is there a bad Judas Priest album?
Fav song on (It's Hell Bent for Leather for me), it's Green Manalishi.
Good work Metal Pilgrim!! this channel got an instant sub
Thank you!
I appreciate your knowledge of the judas priest lore.
First Priest I have heard back in around '83. Along with Defenders and Painkiller, top 3 Priest abum, no doubt.
1:39 - actually in the late 70s Punk was ignored by much of the press. DISCO was the big noise of 77-79!
This is the first album I ever bought so for me it’s the most important because it created the context from which I would hear everything else by them.
First ever? Or the the first Judas Priest album?
First ever of any band.
DELIVERING THE GOODS!!!!
This album is almost my favorite priest album in fact it was my fave until point of entry started receiving bad reviews so for support reasons i choose point of entry but im a closet fan of hell bent for leather/killing machine its truely the best preist album. There you go rob i came out of the closet!