British Steel - Judas Priest (1980)

It was April 1980, an astounding month in a defining year for metal. Week 1: Saxon release their second album Wheels of Steel which has since gone platinum and contains fan favourites in ‘Wheels of Steel’ and ‘747 (Strangers in the Night)’. Week 3: Iron Maiden release their eponymous debut album and British Steel is set upon public ears and solidifies Judas Priest’s legendary status. Week 4: Black Sabbath’s Heaven and Hell, the band’s first album without Ozzy Osbourne, hits the UK market and eventually peaks at 9 in the UK charts. A week in metal that defined years to come as Saxon and Iron Maiden became pioneers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) movement, and they have Black Sabbath and Judas Priest to thank for that.

Judas Priest hail from West Bromwich and formed in 1969 but with a completely different line-up. After years of gigging and paying their dues, they got their moment to shine with their debut album Rocka Rolla in 1974 that, all things considered, flattered to deceive. Subsequent albums picked up the pace and moved for a heavier sound, namely ‘Exciter’ off Stained Class and ‘Hell Bent for Leather’ from 1978’s Killing Machine. However, these heavier songs still have prominent roots in the blues and albums centred around a couple of heavy tracks juxtaposed with rock ballads – ‘Beyond the Realms of Death’ potentially being their most popular. The song showed improvements in song-writing and indeed the harnessing of their signature mix of Rob Halford’s soaring vocals and the duelling guitars from K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton. Something that British Steel had a very healthy dose of.

British Steel was released on April 14th, 1980 and has remained in the argument as one of the greatest metal albums ever. The album builds on the commercial sound that the band had begun to establish on Killing Machine; this commercialisation led the band away from their prominent bluesy roots and towards a polished and accessible metal style.

Tracks on the album like ‘You Don’t Have to Be Old to Be Wise’ and ‘Living After Midnight’ are perfect examples of this accessibility and hone. The former, along with the track ‘Grinder’, showcase an obvious influence by AC/DC – tracks have a slower BPM and a chugging riff reminiscent of ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’.

It was admitted by vocalist Rob Halford that there is an obvious influence by AC/DC as a result of their joint European tour in 1979, but despite this influence, the songs still feel original. The quality of the guitar production also shines through on these tracks, British Steel resonates this massive guitar sound, an essential in 80s metal where the music became all about the guitar (Def Leppard’s Hysteria and Van Halen spring to mind). The album opener ‘Rapid Fire’ is a perfect example of Priest’s development from blues to heavy metal. It took the thrashy elements fans love from tracks like ‘Dissident Aggressor’ but cleaned up the production, moved the guitars to the forefront and simplified the drums, made them tight but not flashy. This track can be used as a precursor for Bay Area thrash metal, it is just a shame Lars Ulrich did not take more notice of how to play your drums in time.

Stand out tracks for me are ‘Living After Midnight’ and ‘Rapid Fire’. A special mention must be given to ‘Breaking the Law’ though and for the same reasons that ‘Living After Midnight’ is a standout track. These two tracks epitomise British Steel as they take the metal elements that everyone loves about Judas Priest but makes them accessible.

By this I mean the tracks were radio-friendly and had a catchiness to them, they were heavy enough the Priest fans would not be disappointed but also not too heavy that a wider audience would be put off. That and the fact that ‘Breaking the Law’ has one of the most instantly recognisable riffs of all time. ‘Rapid Fire’, as I afore mention, has influenced thrash metal, and believe it is the perfect opening track to this album. It opens the album with a bang and sets a precedent for the rest of the album that the other nine songs (with the potential exception of ‘Red, White & Blue’) uphold.

British Steel is a very influenced album that takes elements from AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin but puts all the influence to good use. Judas Priest has taken what they like and made a sound of their own and have used that to better the world of metal. British Steel is a quintessential metal album and will, in my eyes, forever be upheld as one of the greats. It deserves to sit high up in history along with Black Sabbath’s Paranoid, Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast and Metallica’s Master of Puppets as albums that changed metal.