Review Summary: Both overrated and underrated, British Steel is just another great mainstream-era Priest album. Nothing more, nothing less.
1980 gave birth to one of the most famous and popular Judas Priest albums:
British Steel. The band itself is particularly proud of the album, calling it one of their best ever. Listeners, however, have been divided into two main camps: those who view the album as a metal classic, and the others, who think it is horribly overrated. The debate about the quality of the album is caused by, among other reasons, the simplistic approach Priest went with at the time, continuing the trend set by 1979’s
Killing Machine. British Steel contains many mainstream hooks, simple riffs and song structures, which is also the reason it was so appealing to the greater audience (read: non-head bangers), resulting in the band’s real breakthrough. The line-up had changed by the time, with Les Binks quitting because of disagreement regarding the new mainstream approach. He was replaced by who would become Judas Priest’s longest-lasting drummer: Dave Holland.
British Steel’s Judas Priest was:
- Robert John Arthur Halford ~ Vocals
- Kenneth Downing Jr. ~ Lead Guitar
- Glenn Raymond Tipton ~ Lead Guitar
- Ian Frank Hill ~ Bass Guitar
- David Holland ~ Drums
Holland seems an ideal replacement, fitting in nicely with the approach the band had just decided to take. His beats are simplistic, and yet have a nice groove to them, providing a very solid rhythm section for the band together with Hill. Downing and Tipton’s riffs have reached maximum simplicity by this time, a feature of the album that tends to make it rather bland compared to others, but fits in nicely with the style. As for Halford, also he has not gone unchanged in his vocal style. Known for possessing quite the vocal range, he chooses to sing in a lower register than ever before for the entirety of the album, and has also completely dropped screaming, something Priest fans may be not too fond of.
What Priest’s sixth certainly has, is catchiness. The atmosphere is set right away with opener
Rapid Fire (
Breaking the Law for Americans though), with its infectious riffs and lyrics, which Halford delivers exceedingly well:
Quote:
Pounding the world like a battering ram
Forging the furnace for the final grand slam
Chopping away at the source, soon the course will be done
Leaving a trail of destruction that’s second to none
Hammering anvils, straining muscle and might
Shattering blows, crashing browbeating fright
Fast devastating and desolisating the curse
Blasting the cannons of truth through each man of this earth
|
Metal Gods,
Breaking the Law,
You Don’t Have to be Old to be Wise and
Living after Midnight continue this in the same fashion, with especially the latter three having real sing-along choruses. These songs are the selling points of British Steel, and are where its appeal lies. If you don’t like these songs, don’t expect much of the album.
The catchiness unfortunately can’t keep up for the full album.
Grinder,
The Rage (despite having a rather cool bass intro) and
Steeler are good songs on their own, but come across as rather bland after a few listens.
United is the only real letdown, being just a repetition of Killing Machine’s
Take on the World, while not quite as terrible as that song. Unlike the stinkers on its predecessor though, these songs do work with the rest of the album. Killing Machine had more great songs, British Steel is more consistent and has a better album flow. The standouts here are also better than Killing Machine’s, which had no damn fantastic songs apart from a real great cover.
British Steel is, when you look at it carefully, just a continuation of Priest’s mainstream sound pioneered by Killing Machine. The catchy songs are a real treat, while the remainder may become rather bland in the long run. It is no metal classic. It is not that bad either. In fact, the overall experience makes quite a pleasant one.. Don’t let critics of the album restrain you from getting it, as it will be a fine addition to your collection. Just don’t expect the metallic miracles others are promising either.
+ The standouts are all damn catchy and great songs
+ One of the more consistent Priest albums
- The simplistic approach may be getting too simplistic after a while
- While they work with the rest of the album, some song are nothing special
Recommended tracks:
Breaking the Law
Metal Gods
Rapid Fire
You Don’t Have to be Old to be Wise
