Judas Priest Song Ranking

[nick_z]

Yep, this was fun to follow (I didn't comment that much, but I was index following  ), thank you for doing it!

Makes you realize how many great songs JP have, really. I don't necessarily think of them as being among my very favorites (not entirely sold on the over the top heavy METOL aesthetics all the time  ), but there is a reason why they are in the very upper echelon of metal bands. So many classics.

I'm with MirrorMask on Breaking the Law...it is my favorite of the big 3 hits...I definitely prefer it over Living After Midnight. I mean it is, too, very simple, but the riff is actually fantastic. And when they reprise it and the drums come back pounding, well, that's a top JP moment for me.

Without thinking too much, The Sentinel might take the top spot for me, with Beyond the Realms of Death following to represent the moodier, more dramatic side of their sound. Painkiller, Victim of Changes and The Ripper would likely make my top 10 too, but I have to think a bit more about that.

[Stadler]

I don't agree with all of it, but except for Painkiller, there's not a lot to argue with on that top 10.   I think Painkiller is sort of over-rated.  Maybe that's a me problem, because I sort of started phasing out of Priest at that point, and my impression (which still stands) that Iron Maiden is the real deal and Priest was sort of more cartoonish started to take shape. But VoC, The Sentinel, Electric Eye, BTROD, and Out In The Cold are all top shelf Priest tunes and would likely be in my Top 10.

[pg1067]

I lost track of this thread for a while

10.) Bloodstone – Definitely an underrated song on a stacked album, but I wouldn't have it as the #2 song on the album.  I'd at least rank Fever and Take These Chains Off ahead of it (along with Hellion/Electric Eye and YGATC and maybe the title track).

9.) Out In The Cold – I just don't get this song being anywhere near a top 10.  The most I can say about it is that it's better than most of the rest of Turbo.  An absolute dud of a way to start a concert.

8.) The Ripper – Absolutely love it (although, as is the case with just about every song on the album, I like the Unleashed in the East version better).  Not sure I'd have it in my top 10, though.

7.) Living After Midnight – It's FAR superior to Breaking the Law, but it falls well short of the best song on Point of Entry.  That distinction belongs to Desert Plains.

6.) Steeler – Criminally underrated song and easily the best song on British Steel.

5.) Beyond The Realms of Death – Outstanding song and easily the best song on the overrated Stained Class album.

4.) The Hellion/Electric Eye – Such a beast of a song.  Not entirely sure it's the #1 song on the album, but it's no worse than a close second.
 
3.) The Sentinel – I don't entirely know what my top 10 would look like, but I'm 99% sure The Sentinel would be my #1 song.  The third verse/bridge is some of the best stuff any straight-up metal band ever recorded.

2.) Victim of Changes – An absolute tour de force.  I heard it for the first time in May 1984 (my second concert ever), and I was completely unfamiliar with it.  I was totally blown away.

1.) Painkiller – You know...this song is revered for a lot of good reasons (and is one of the very few metal songs to be based in the Locrian mode), but I've never loved it as much as most Priest fans.  Granted, it's really good, but I'd probably rank at least 2 and maybe 3 songs from the album ahead of it.

Great stuff, Pappy!

[MirrorMask]

10.) Bloodstone – Screaming for Vengeance Love the lick at the beginning. Very delicious. It turns into the main riff beautifully. Rob’s vocals during the verse are great but then he lets loose on the chorus. Impossible not to sing along with. Holland has a good groove going too. Such a fun ending to the song. 

9.) Out In The Cold – Turbo My favorite song of their synth era. While the intro sounds incredibly dated now it still works. It’s still awesome. Such an amazing start to the Turbo tour live shows. Then the drums kick in and the beautiful song is underway. Can feel Rob’s emotions seeping through your speakers. One of the best lyrics he’s written. For sure the best love related lyric. Verse, Chorus, solo. They nail it all here. Maybe their most underrated song that I can’t believe I got to hear live a few years ago. 

8.) The Ripper – Sad Wings of Destiny. We all know that beginning lick. Incredible. You hear that you know you in for a SHAAAOOOOOOCK. Somehow a heavy metal song transplants you perfectly into the foggy streets of 1800’s London following Jack the Ripper as he murders. Ugggghhh that bridge. The buildup. Storytelling with guitars and drums. They back so much classic stuff in such a short song. Love the build ups and how they bring it back down and build it back up. Classic. 

7.) Living After Midnight – British Steel For me easily the best of the big 3 hits. The iconic drum intro. The iconic riff. Arguably the easiest song to sing along with for the crowd. Arguments are made that they are too mainstream. Too commercial. I wasn’t alive in 1980 but I think the song, songs if you include YGATC, BTL, brought the mainstream, commerialness to them they weren’t writing to the mainstream. They made this music mainstream because of these songs. As for the song itself. We all know it. You either love it or are sick of it by now so nothing I can say can change that lol. 

6.) Steeler – British Steel WTF is this doing this high I imagine many are asking. I’ve seen many bands live. I’ve heard many different songs. Heard this one for the first time in 2009. Lucky enough to hear it twice more since. To this day it’s my favorite live song from any band. Those last two minutes with the dueling riffs and solos. Nothing has topped the feelings I get experiencing that. Not to discredit all of the song that becomes before that. It’s some of the finest heavy metal you’ll hear. Nothing on British Steel touches the furiosity of this song. 

5.) Beyond The Realms of Death – Stained Class Their most beautiful song. Most sorrowful song. Their best lyric. Acoustic guitars with the softer emotional vocals into that heavy chorus so powerful. My favorite Judas Priest solo. Glenn’s finest moment. 

4.) Electric Eye – Screaming For Vengeance. The best intro for any Priest song that flows into that riff we all love. There is no better way to start a Judas Priest concert than this. None. This. Is. Heavy. Metal. Hard to find a better metal moment than the solo coming back into the main riff. Electric Eye deserves to be alongside the big radio hits. 
 
3.) The Sentinel –Defenders of the Faith  Another classic intro. A song that deserves to be a fan favorite from all Priest fans. This is the Apex of their early 80’s songwriting. Everything that had been building since Killing Machine leads to this. No wasted moments. Just pure heavy metal. These top songs are hard to come up with new things to say about them that hasn’t been said. Basically if you don’t like this song you don’t like Judas Priest. 

2.) Victim of Changes – Sad Wings of Destiny You know we’ve reached the top of the Priest mountain when we’ve reached VoC. I’ve made comparisons  to Metallica a few times along the way here. They are my favorite band afterall but I’d argue that VoC is Priest’s MoP. It’ll never be their most well known song. It’ll never have the most plays on radio but every fan of the band knows it’s THE song. That classic duel guitar intro into one of the most crushing riffs every written. The drumming from Alan Moore is masterful. The first half of the song, its well known VoC is two songs fused into one, is a non step head banging journey. In between we have some of the best heavy metal guitar work you’ll ever hear before we settle down for the beauty of Rob’s vocals before the absolute explosion of metal at the end.  I might be burned at the stake for this but as good as this sounds hear and on Unleashed in the East I think VoC has only improved on stage as the years gone by. They are playing it now as good as they ever have. The ending scream is still a show stopper. 

1.) Painkiller – Painkiller The quintessential Judas Priest song. Painkiller has everything that makes Priest one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Scott Travis’ intro that doesn’t let up. The solos from both KK and Glenn, Rob’s at his metal god best. There is no let up on Painkiller. From start to finish it crushes you. After Turbo and Ram it Down Priest came back with a vengeance. There isn’t a weak moment, a weak note, weak riff on the song. Everything is perfection. This is the peak of Priest’s powers.


Well that was fun. Whether you agreed or disagreed where I placed songs I'm glad you read along and commented.

Surprised to see Bloodstone and especially Steeler so high - I must confess I don't even remeber how Steeler sounds like 

Out in the Cold is great, but I probably prefer Turbo and Reckless over it.

Glad to see The Sentinel so high  and of course Beyond the Realms of Death (amazing cover by Blind Guardian) and Victim of Changes deserve to be at the top. I'd probably have Breaking the Law in place of Living After Midnight.

And I agree with Painkiller, their most ferocious song that became a genre-defining tune 

Thanks for the fun and the work Pappy!!!  it was great to follow along and relive the history and discography of one of heavy metal's most important bands!!!

[Mladen]

It was so much fun following the list, man. I'm thrilled my number one ended up at your number three. I can't argue with your number one, though. It's also great to see appreciation for Out in the cold, Bloodstone and Electric eye.

[Dream Team]

Not many bands have a top 5 of that caliber. Nice job! Good call on ranking Steeler this high. Out in the Cold is my wife’s favorite Priest song unless BTRoD has overtaken it. Realms and Painkiller are both flawless and either could be voted greatest metal song. Thanks for doing this write-up.

[jjrock88]

Great job with this Pappy 

[Grappler]

I loved following along with this thread.   

That's a great top 10.  I was never really a fan of Steeler until seeing them play it live last year.  The ending of that song smokes. 

[Stadler]

I loved following along with this thread.   

That's a great top 10.  I was never really a fan of Steeler until seeing them play it live last year.  The ending of that song smokes.

Agreed

[EPICVIEW]

great thread....

[jjrock88]

Out in the Cold was such an odd opener, but I'm a big fan of Priest Live and the video, it just seems to work for the era.  Or maybe it's because that's the shows of the legendary documentary Heavy Metal Parking Lot.  But I did think there are four excellent tracks on Turbo (Turbo Lover, Locked In, Out in the Cold, Reckless).  The rest I've always thought of great 80's rock songs.  I got into Priest late in the game and the first cd I bought from a used cd store was Metal Works, a best of.  Really liked it, so went back and grabbed a random Priest cd, which was Turbo.  From day 1 thought it was a great 80s metal/rock/hair metal album.  Then bought everything else.

[EPICVIEW]

Out in the Cold was such an odd opener, but I'm a big fan of Priest Live and the video, it just seems to work for the era.  Or maybe it's because that's the shows of the legendary documentary Heavy Metal Parking Lot.  But I did think there are four excellent tracks on Turbo (Turbo Lover, Locked In, Out in the Cold, Reckless).  The rest I've always thought of great 80's rock songs.  I got into Priest late in the game and the first cd I bought from a used cd store was Metal Works, a best of.  Really liked it, so went back and grabbed a random Priest cd, which was Turbo.  From day 1 thought it was a great 80s metal/rock/hair metal album.  Then bought everything else.

I enjoyed that song as an opener...

[Pappy]

Cheers everyone. Next time I'm picking a band with only one album and not 50 years worth of music lol.