Every Judas Priest Albums Ranked Worst To Best
2. British Steel
Controversially, whilst utterly iconic, your writer believes British Steel is in fact Judas Priest’s second-best album… but it’s a very close second!
Released in 1980, British Steel was Judas Priest at their most fully formed. Doubling down on the slightly more commercial sound of Killing Machine, this seminal record debuted tracks like Living After Midnight, Metal Gods and the immortal Breaking The Law.
Innovative in its own right, British Steel attempted foley sound sampling before the practice became widespread; smashing milk bottles for Breaking The Law and recording rattling cutlery trays for Metal Gods. the slbum was faster, nimbler and more original than its Metal contemporaries but nonetheless refused to compromise on the heaviness.
British Steel transformed the blunt force trauma of Metal at the time into something wire-sharp and elegant. Much the same as an author shortens sentences to heighten tension and excitement, so too did the band; trimming all unnecessaries until only the leanest, hardest most gripping music remained. Melodic and metallic, British Steel jump-started the 80s Heavy Metal era all by itself.