Every Judas Priest Albums Ranked Worst To Best
5. Defenders Of The Faith
“Rising from darkness where Hell hath no mercy and the screams for vengeance echo on forever. Only those who keep the faith shall escape the wrath of the Metallian ... Master of all metal.”
With a quote like that on your album’s cover, you know you’re in for a treat.
Defenders Of The Faith was not a huge departure from the established Priest ‘Sound’ and followed much of the same blueprint that made 1982’s Screaming For Vengeance such a success (we’ll get there). Here the band’s particular brand of ballad-tinged, up-tempo Stadium Metal was at its most refined. Lovebites, Freewheel Burning and The Sentinal all track highly on Priest tracks fans feel are underappreciated.
Despite the album feeling craftsman-like to a fault, the record never feels like the band are resting on their laurels. A vital and exciting album for its time, Defenders Of The Faith courted its own controversies with explicit reverences to kink and S&M sexual proclivities. An almost laughable criticism in this day and age and one that almost makes this album almost more beloved in retrospect.