Review Summary: Though it is not my personal favorite from the Judas Priest catalog, these metal masters provide some essential Judas Priest songs and successfully refresh their sound in Hell Bent For Leather to create another great, very desirable record.
Hell Bent For Leather by Judas Priest- Review
Hell Bent For Leather Personnel:
Rob Halford- Vocals
Glenn Tipton- Guitar
K.K. Downing- Guitar
Ian Hill- Bass
Les Binks- Drums
British metal icons Judas Priest have gone through a number of phases in their career. After their rather unimpressive first record, Rocka Rolla, the band began traveling down a dark, progressive path in the latter half of the 1970s with their groundbreaking sophomore album, Sad Wings of Destiny. The 1980s ushered in a more commercialized era for Judas Priest, with the band producing successful albums such as British Steel and Screaming For Vengeance. To kick off the 1990s, Priest went extra-heavy with the classic Painkiller. After a less successful period with Tim Owens in the rest of the ‘90s and early 2000s, original singer Rob Halford returned to produce the band’s comeback, Angel of Retribution, and Priest is currently experimenting with epic, symphonic metal with their new album Nostradamus. Of course, there is always a transition between all of these phases, and in the case of the dark 1970s era and commercialized 1980s era, the transition comes in the form of the 1979 album Hell Bent For Leather.
Stained Class, the Judas Priest record preceding Hell Bent For Leather, was all about gloomy, morbid lyrics and crushing riffs, as it led Priest further down the progressive path they were on. But this time around, Judas Priest decided to take a few steps back on this path and put in place a more commercialized sound in lieu of a darker one. Hell Bent for Leather welcomes casual listeners with catchy riffs, choruses, drumbeats, and mostly upbeat lyrics. That being said, this album merely began Priest’s ventures in the mainstream. The album’s successor, British Steel, was much more radio-friendly and commercialized, and Hell Bent For Leather contains a few themes and moments reminiscent of the band’s earlier work. Hell Bent For Leather is very accessible to casual listeners, but I think it should also be satisfactory to fans of Judas Priest albums like Sad Wings of Destiny, Sin After Sin, and Stained Class.
Rob Halford has always been at the top in the world of heavy metal singers, and he proves why in this album with some spot-on, tremendous vocals. Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing’s guitar riffs drive many of the songs. The drumbeats of Les Binks avoid being generic and can actually get pretty catchy. Ian Hill’s basslines, though, are rather boring. Now, the songs themselves are usually three-minute, energetic, riff-driven rockers, which is a huge help in preventing boredom. The vast majority of lyrics deal with night life- late-night concerts, parties, romances etc. There is nothing notably poignant about these songs lyrically. In fact, the lyrics can sometimes even feel cheesy or corny, but that sort of adds a charm to the record (After all, this is Judas Priest). Plus, the lyrics are at least explicable, and they make for the perfect songs to enliven yourself with. There are plenty of outstanding numbers on this LP, though the record does suffer a bit from inconsistency. Occasional misses stop Hell Bent For Leather from becoming a classic. That being said, this LP is a very strong addition to Priest’s discography.
For me, the record does not really start to heat up until the second track, “Rock Forever”. With a classic riff introduced at the beginning of the song, “Rock Forever” shows off what the album is all about. The classic title track is definitely deserves its popularity in the Priest fandom. Yet another great riff is combined with a memorable chorus and a well-done solo in “Hell Bent for Leather”. “Burnin’ Up” is the ideal song for partygoers to, ugh, “make love” to, even if it is sort of awkward considering lead singer Rob Halford’s sexual preferences. Then there’s Judas Priest’s exceptional cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Green Manalishi (With the Two-pronged Crown)”, my personal favorite off the album and arguably Judas Priest’s greatest cover ever. “Killing Machine”, the title track for the UK version, follows the story of a hit man as it produces yet another awesome guitar riff. “Running Wild” continues with the album’s common theme of late-night partying and hypes listeners up while doing so. “Before the Dawn” fills its position of the calm, romantic song nicely, and “Evil Fantasies” is a consistent closer with the preceding great tracks. There is a bounty of quality material on Hell Bent For Leather.
Unfortunately, there are some throwaway tracks in here: Despite a beguiling chorus, opener “Delivering the Goods” lacks flare for me personally. “Evening Star” feels repitive and unimpressive, and the drumbeat of “Take on the World” does not excuse its incredibly tacky lyrics. On second thought, “Delivering the Goods” and “Take on the World” do have some redeeming qualities that might keep them from being throwaways for some, but I don’t think they measure up to the highlights on the record. That being said, Hell Bent For Leather has sufficient content to make it an LP even without these tracks anyway, so the weak songs on the album don’t seem worth fussing over too much.
It is worth noting that like all Judas Priest albums, the Hell Bent For Leather CD reissue is remastered and contains two bonus tracks- one previously unreleased song and one song live. This time around, the unreleased song is “Fight For Your Life”, whose drumbeat alone makes it worth checking out. The live performance this time around is “Riding on the Wind”- a bit odd considering the studio version is not included on the Hell Bent For Leather album, rather Screaming For Vengeance- but whatever. It is still nice to hear the sound of a cheering crowd from your headphones either way.
Overall, Hell Bent For Leather is not perfect, nor is it quite untouchable, but it is another great record from a great metal band. Despite a more commercialized sound, I would recommend this accessible-yet-heavy album for everyone, unless of course you are a die-hard fan of Priest’s early work that absolutely despises the band now for experimenting with their sound a bit. See you next time!
Pros:
-An accessible record
-Riffs and energy drive the songs
-Contains some essential Judas Priest numbers
Cons:
-Boring basslines
-Occasional inconsistency
-Commercialized sound might repel some super fans of Priest’s earlier work
Recommended Tracks:
“Rock Forever”, “Hell Bent For Leather, “The Green Manalishi (With the Two-pronged Crown)”
4/5
