Every Judas Priest Albums Ranked Worst To Best
3. Killing Machine / Hell Bent For Leather
A precursor to the seminal British Steel, the album was named Killing Machine in its native UK and thereafter Hell Bent For Leather for US release. As such, this record is where the band fully embraced their ‘studs and leather’ fashion image.
This change in fashion choice is largely credited to the band attempting to appeal to the musical landscape of 1978, itself an era dominated by the British Punk and New Wave scenes. Despite this apparent compromise, a departure from the more lofty, fantasy-fuelled atmosphere of previous Priest efforts turned out to be the very thing the band needed to streamline their immaculate sound.
Running Wild and Burnin’ Up are chunky screamers of tracks and the band’s cover of The Green Manalishi by Fleetwood Mac brought some much-appreciated diversity to the setlist. If you’ve been lucky enough to see Judas Priest live, you’ll be well aware of Rob Halford’s iconic stage entrance astride a Harley Davidson motorcycle; Hell Bent For Leather was the album that started this quintessential tradition.