Judas Priest: Painkiller (Colored Vinyl, Saw Shaped) Vinyl 10" (Record Store Day)

this is judas priest 1990 release. the last album that rob halford sang on before he left the band. painkiller and leather rebel and all the other songs are judas priest at their finest! every bit as good as british steel and screaming for vengeance. one of the top 50 metal albums of all time.

The title is a bold statement, but in my humble opinion it is true. No album in the realm of metal is better than this one. Rob Halford's voice is at its absolute peak (and he was 40 years old when this album was recorded!), the guitar-work is absolutely phenomenal, and the drumming is simply mind-blowing. There is literally not a bad song on this album, hell there isn't even a good song, they're all beyond fantastic. It's simply pure perfection .The title track is probably the most iconic metal song ever recorded, I would say it's the pure definition of heavy metal. Hell Patrol and All Guns Blazing are just pure anthems of metal, Metal Meltdown is fast and thrashy as hell, and Leather Rebel is just such a fun song to listen to with it's rebellious spirit. A Touch of Evil is easily one of the best songs the band ever made, it has such a mysterious and evil vibe to it that you can't help but just bask in. The high notes that Rob hit towards the bridge to this song are simply mind-blowing. And then of course you have the epics Between the Hammer and the Anvil and Battle Hymn/One Shot at Glory, the latter song being my personal favorite Priest song. Overall, if you want to start someone out in the world of metal, or if you somehow haven't heard this album before, get this. It will seriously change your life.

If you are a metal listener, you absolutely need to get this album! Honestly the bands best work and it really shows.

It is a great CD

En producto llegó en buen estado.

No surprise here. As people have said, this is Judas Priest's hardest, fastest rocker. Very fun.

Before I review this, I would like to say that the sender from Texas did a good job shipping this to me. The case looks good, the art is mostly in tact (except for some dents on the side), and most importantly the disk works. This is especially appreciated since most stores in my area are shut down thanks to the C-virus. Now to talk about the album it self. HISTORY: In the late 80s, The Metal Gods where in a rough spot in their history. Despite the 1986 Turbo Album being a hit that went platinum, not every fan was on board with it and some mailed outraged reviews to magazines like Rolling Stone to bash the album. Judas Priest reacted to this and made a grittier and heavier album called Ram It Down ...Which did even worse. But considering that the band by that point where a mess, the results where not that surprising. Glen and Kevin were at each others throats, Rob was going insane, and Their drummer was getting too interested in his students then on the band (if you know what I mean). Luckily, The band realized that they needed a kick in the ass to truly have a return to form. So the first thing they did was get rid of Dave Holland and replace him with a more competent drummer named Scott Travis (he's no Less Binks, but he'll do) and they hired a producer named Chris Tsangarides, who had experience with band's more ambitious sound in the mid 70s. After three months of recording and a big delay due to a court case that I will not talk about. Painkiller was released in September of 1990 to a very glowing reception, with Touch of Evil being a top 30 hit and the title track being nominated for a Grammy. But the sales were surprisingly worse the it's predecessor. Ram it Down was certified gold two months after release, Yet Painkiller was certified gold four months after it's release. The Band was still declining in popularity in the early 90s and two years later, Rob Halford would leave the band which caused the band to break up for a few years Until Tim Owens came along. Today though, this album is a crap-ton more popular. How popular is it? When BangerTV did an essential albums poll for best Judas Priest Album. Painkiller got the most votes by far. https://youtu.be/4nrJcUcaTQ4?t=837 Now for the songs themselves and what I think of the album. Track 1: Painkiller -What can I say about this song? it's a classic metal song about a hero that rises during Armageddon. Rob's voice sounds fresh again despite being in his late 30s, and the drumming really breaths new life into this song. It does a great job of setting the template of Priest truly re-inventing themselves. Track 2: Hell Patrol -This is a song about operation desert storm from the Emmy's prospective. It's got great harmony and it'sall around great wartime music. Track 3: All Guns Blazing - This track sounds a lot like Eat Me Alive from Defenders of the Faith. except this time, it's about war instead of sex. Still the way Rob Sings, "Twisting the strangle grip, wont give no mercy" really makes the song stand out. Track 4: Leather Rebel -This song is ok, It's got impressive drumming and it's supper heavy. But there is something about it that feels a bit weak and tired though, and the generic lyrics are pretty bland to boot. This is much better as background noise you play when playing a computer game like Quake 3. Track 5: Metal Meltdown -This song has a cool intro (it's like a sinister version of eruption), but this one is also a pretty weak track. Again, there's something about the main song it self that feels bland. And the corny lyrics really don't help. I don't know about you, but "poetry" like... "Here comes the metal meltdown, run for your lives. Can't stop the metal meltdown, no one survives" feel pretty childish and generic when compared to something like "Fools! ...Self-destruct can not take the crown! Dreams!! ...Crushed one by one to the ground!" or "You don't know what it's like, you don't have a clue. If you did you'd find yourselves... DOING THE SAME THING TOO!!!" Yeah, by this point of the album I was like "ok, this album is starting to get boring now". Track 6: Night Crawler -Now this song is an awesome song about a monster on the loose. It's like a heavier and faster version of The Ripper. And the Lyrics do a good job of invoking fear into you, especially at 3:29. Now THIS is more like it. Also, what's also interesting is that even the synthesizers are pretty bad ass in this song. Yes, that's right. One of the most beloved Metal albums of all time has synthesizers in it. And there's another song coming up that has even more of them. But this is for me is the best track on the album. Track 7: Between the Hammer and The Anvil This song is ...good. Yeah, it's just a good song about a resistance. It has good vocals by Rob, solid and epic atmosphere, good harmony, and really good guitar riffs from Kevin and Glen. But there's something about it that just doesn't seem to really stand out. It's like what they were really doing here is just testing there new sound with this song. Track 8: Touch of Evil -the other hit song on this album. This song is about temptation for something you know you shouldn't have or do, something that I'm sure people trying to get sober from drug abuse or simply on a diet can really relate to this song's subject. This is the least heavy song on the album and is flooded with syntonizer's (It's that synth heavy song I was talking about earlier). It's almost like a warped version of a Poison song. I should by all accounts hate this song, but I actually don't. I think this is one of the best songs here, it's pretty great in fact. I know some will consider that blasphemy, but that's just what I think. Track 9: Battle Hym -this song is basically trying to be what the Hellion from Screaming for Vengeance was, but no where near as epic. It's just an attempt to end this album the same way Screaming for Vengeance started. Track: 10 -This is the finally track about reflecting on war, and it's ..good. just good. Just like Hammer and the Anvil it's got it where it counts. But again, it feels like more of a jamming session experiment with the bands sound then a truly ambitious song. The only difference though is that it has an impressively long twin guitar solo by Glen and Kevin, and there are even some synthesizers during the chorus. So again, it's a good song, but again it feels like it's not going the extra mile with the song writing. OVER ALL THOUGHTS- Is this an essential classic album for your collection if your a Judas Priest fan like me? Yes. Is this one of the finest metal albums of the 90s? yes But that's not saying much since this album's only competition is the 90s outings of Alice in Chains, the 90s outings of Pantera, those two Megadeath albums, and Ozzy Osbourne's No More Tears album (though that album does tend to lean into hair metal territory in a few areas). Is it Judas Priest's masterpiece like all the youngsters on BangerTV claimed? No way. I will say that it is certainly in their top ten, but I don't think it's even in their top 5. I seriously don't think it's in the same league as something like Sad Wings of Destiny or Defenders of the Faith. So yeah, it's a worthy addition to their catalog and one of their high points. But I also think it's a little over-rated. 10 out of 10? No. I'd say it's more like a... 8.5 out of 10, or an 8.75 out of 10. It's still a really good addition to their discography, and it is the return to form the band needed at the time. After all, I bought the original 1990 release over the remastered version for a reason. Happy 30th anniversary Painkiller. May evil continue to go under deadly wheels for many years to come.

Great album. Arrives new and sealed. Packaged well. The track listing is great and they are a strong band. We really like them.

Heavy-metal eerste klas , super goede muziek , prachtige kwaliteit.

Excelente!!! Vinil em 180 gramas. Perfeito! É um clássico! Virou template pra tudo que foi feito no Heavy Metal após seu lançamento. Um dos melhores álbuns da maior banda de Heavy Metal de todos os tempos!

Mit den Neunzigern meine ich nicht die Alben von Priest. Meine Wenigkeit bezieht sich auf die gesamte Musikentwicklung. So einen Meilenstein habe ich seither nicht mehr gesehen. Wobei man doch darüber spekuliern kann, wie sich das Feld gerade um die 2000er entwickelt hat. Nun möchte ich etws zum Album sagen. Es ist möglich, dass eine Person, welche standardgemäß kein Metal hört, eventuell mit dem Album nichts anzufangen vermag. Ob dies zwingend ist, sei dahingestellt. Aus meiner persönlichen Erfahrung kann ich davon berichen, dass ich mit dem Song "Painkiller" ersteinmal nichts anfangen konnte. Andere Stücke von diesem Album kannte ich zu dieser Zeit nicht. Irgendwann bin ich denn auf Priest gekommen. Irgendwie. Es ist einfach geschehen. ;) Ich kann nur sagen, mit der Zeit merkt man wie genial die Songs aufgebaut sind, dass Priest echt geile Riffs hat, und zudem einen durchschalgenden Gesang! Wenn dies einem erst bewusst ist und derjenige dann auf "Painkiller" stößt, wird überwältigt. Zuerst möchte ich etwas über den Titelsong sagen. Er ist wahrscheinlich in meinen Augen, der Metal-Song überhaupt. Ich kenne kein "härteres" Stück. und dabei müssen Tipton und Co. nichteinmal hart tun. Sie sind es einfach. Sie spielen natürlich harten Metal, ohne dabei eine Show zu geben oder zu übertreiben. Wahrscheinlich ist auch das Charismatische an diesem Stück das Besondere. Da spielen einfach fünf richtige Männer, die es nicht nötig haben "auf hart zu tun". Die Riffs sind sowieso genial, genauso wie bei allen anderen Stücken. Besonders hervorgehoben sei das Solo von Tipton. Es macht mindestens 50% des Songs aus. Besonders bemerkenswert ist, dass er allein mit dem d (22. Bund, nur dieser!!!) durch hintereinanderes Seitenziehen mehrere Töne hinbekommt, welche quasi die drei Höhepunkte des Solo darstellen. Das Solo von Downing gibt dem Ganzen noch einen würdigen Abschluss. Der Text ist ebenfalls einfach nur heavy! Das sind richtige Männer! Wie bereits angemerkt, würde ich "Painkiller" als besten Song dieser Platte bezeichnen. Dies hat jedoch nicht zu sagen, dass man enttäuscht weiterhören muss. Mit "Hell Patrol" folgt ein richtiger Kracher. Die Riffs sind hochgenial, der Gesang ebenfalls. Mein persönlich drittliebster Song der Platte. Darauf folgt "All Guns Blazing". Für den Song habe ich etwas länger gebraucht. Aber mit der Zeit erschließt sich, wie genial alle Riffs auf diesem Album sind. (Habe auch bereits alle nachgespielt :) ) Besonders die Gesangsstimme sticht hervor. Hut ab Helford. Mit "Leather Rebel" haben wir einen Song, der sich mir auch erst später erschlossen hat. Wie bereits erwähnt. Tolles Riff. Dies ist mir besonders durch selbiges Spielen gekommen. Den Text finde ich ansprechend. Der Faden reißt nicht ab. Es ist immer noch ein Hochgenuss das Album weiterzuhören. Nun folgt "Metal Meltdown". Bemerkenswertes Solo zu Beginn. Und wie erwähnt, gute Riffs! Besonders zusammen mit Gesang hört sich der Hauptteil gut an! "Night Crawler" zieht sogar wieder etwas hoch wie ich finde. Noch besseres Riff. Schöne Abwechslung im Song. Ruhige und harte Parts. Mit "Between The Hammer And The Anvil" folgt mein zweitliebster Song auf diesr Platte. Die Riffs sind grandios, der Text und Gesang auch. Besonders das Solo sticht hervor. Zweitbestes Solo auf dem Album meiner Meinung nach. Durch einen übergreifenden Part folgt "A Touch Of Evil". Dieser Song lässt es etwas ruhiger angehen. Mit Don Airey an den Keyboards auch mir ein wohlgesonnen Bekannter. ( Ich bin Deep Purple Fan ;) ) Wie immer. Schöne Riffs, toller Gesang. Nun. "Battle Hymn" ist eher als Übergang zu klassifizieren. Und für einen solchen auch ordentlich gelungen! :) Darauf folgt "One Shot At Glory". Wohl der schwächste Song der Platte. Jedoch heißt dies nicht, dass ich diesen schlecht finde. Verhältnismäßig meine ich es. So übel ist er gar nicht. Wenn man ihn mit anderen Priest-Stücken vergleicht, ist er sogar gar nicht mal so schlecht. ;) An sich endet das Album hier. Doch möchte ich noch etwas zu den Bonusstücken sagen. "Living Bad Dreams" ist ebenfalls ein schöner, eher ruhigerer Song. Besonders der Gesang gefällt mir hier. Die Live-Version von Leather Rebel" ist wie die Studioversion top. Im Ganzen finde ich "Painkiller" das beste Metal-Album. Auf Rock allgemein möchte ich mich nicht festlegen. Jedoch spricht einiges dafür. Es ist gleichzeitig auch das beste Priest-Album meiner Meinung nach. Dass sie 1990 noch so etwas zu Stande bringen konnten. Hut ab! Besonders der Gesang von Helford. Eines möchte ich noch sagen: Das ist richtiger Metal! Diese Scheibe ist ein Gott im Vergleich zu dessen, was heutzutage fabriziert wird.

Många bra låtar!

This was the last Rob halford album with the band before he left for over a decade due to a misunderstanding and for me it’s one of the best.Every track is quality and the music and vocals are powerful.If you like Judas Priest this album is a must have.