10 Hard Rock Songs That Almost Killed Great Albums

There's a certain era of Judas Priest's music that could be considered pretty much flawless. After having a hard time finding their feet, their embrace of the heavy metal tag and look helped define what this music would look like going forward. While British Steel may still stand as their crowning achievement, time has not been kind to every one of the tracks.

On the surface, United is actually a great mission statement for heavy metal itself, with Rob Halford raising a flag for all of the outcasts of the world to come together under the unholy mantle of metal. For a band like Priest, this song is almost a guaranteed ace in the hole, so why doesn't this one seem to work? Well...normally it just comes down to the tempo and drive of the track.

At the best of times, Priest were always known to be a band that could blow out your eardrums with thick riffs and some of the fastest hymns of doom ever conceived, so to see them grind to a halt like this feels almost like they are backpedaling. Also, any Judas Priest hit that doesn't have a good section for Rob Halford to let his shrieking pipes loose does trigger some alarm bells for most metal fans. Though the message is phenomenal, United is the one track on British Steel that could have benefited from just a little bit more time in the rehearsal room.