I've got to weigh in on this one. Someone mentioned (2 people, actually) Rob's more "tough guy" vocals, do you mean, um... "rough guy" vocals, perhaps? First Freddie, then Rob... ugh. Not to be a spoiler or anything to all you who've jumped the fence, watch out that you actually clear the thing and don't get your family jewels smashed. (I hope you don't understand what that's all about, but if you do, and didn't know, what a shame, eh?) But it's REALLY all about the music, right? So, let's get to...

I was a giant fan of "Hell Bent For Leather" and "Unleashed..." (To wit: "...never turn your back on the ripper!" Indeed. Further, I could name a dozen JP songs with similar sentiments, but I digress. However, I must say, I am not an "unabashed" Priest fan any longer, it just don't seem right somehow, nor am I a big Pete Townshend fan, either, or William S. Burroughs, who was the first to use the "rough boys" terminology, as far as I know, he ruined a lot of great prose with some sick twisted stuff, but I digress further...) Anyway, remember the days when good, clean (dirty, in reality) rock and roll meant "wine, WOMEN, and song"? Those days are long gone... I just can't express how much Rob ruined it for me.

Anyway, the CD is dated, yes, but DOES contain some great songs and has a great overall vibe to it. Some of Priest's earlier stuff suffered from poor recording and/or mixing and/or production, "Sin After Sin" comes to mind, and although "Stained Class" was better, "Hell Bent" is where they really started to shine overall production wise. Given all that, if I had to grab 3 Priest CDs off the top of my head (I don't usually keep them there, but anyway...) I'd probably choose "Hell Bent For Leather", "Unleashed In The East" and "British Steel" because I think these are the 3 most instantly memorable CDs and the first two are probably Priest's best, and "British Steel" does have a lot of catchy "heavy metal" (I don't like '80s "heavy metal" at all by the way, at least until you get to G 'N' R, don't know if they're considered heavy metal or good ol' rock and roll, and I thought Metallica's [Lars has sure ruined a good thing, selfish, 'e is] "And Justice For All" is pretty decent) tunes on it, some good, upbeat stuff, some more "serious" rocking stuff and I kinda get a kick out of "United", but I wonder (nowadays) what that meant to Rob at the time he wrote it! I'd give it a 3.5, but I'm going to round down, since I think overall that there were many other hard rock bands who were more succesful at about the same time period (mid-to-late '70s UFO and Scorpions, and early-to-mid '70s Black Sabbath, to name three), mostly because they had the rock AND roll (as Keith Richards would say), instead of just the heavy grind (though "Hell Bent" had a good spirit to it). What did Rob mean by "Delivering The Goods"? Eeuuwww, nevermind, just listen to the music... three stars. "Unleashed In The East" was their pinnacle, as "Strangers In The Night" was for UFO and "Tokyo Tapes" for Scorpions. As Ozzie would say, "Halford wears boots, you gotta believe me...!"  "Stained Class", a good name for the band's bio. I gotta give it to Rob, though (What? Did I just say that? Outrageous!), he had a great set of vocal cords. Wonder what he gargled with before going onstage? The abuse, the punishment, that throat must have endured... So not only has the Roman Catholic clergy redifined the meaning of "priest" (as in "Watch out for the priest!"), so has Rob Halford! I knew there was a religious tie-in there somewhere, and you thought it was all about "the Devil". Are you sure? (Better be...) 'Nuf said (more, then [sic] enough).
I've got to weigh in on this one. Someone mentioned (2 people, actually) Rob's more "tough guy" vocals, do you mean, um... "rough guy" vocals, perhaps? First Freddie, then Rob... ugh. Not to be a spoiler or anything to all you who've jumped the fence, watch out that you actually clear the thing and don't get your family jewels smashed. (I hope you don't understand what that's all about, but if you do, and didn't know, what a shame, eh? ) But it's REALLY all about the music, right? So, let's get to... I was a giant fan of "Hell Bent For Leather" and "Unleashed... " (To wit: "... never turn your back on the ripper! " Indeed. Further, I could name a dozen JP songs with similar sentiments, but I digress. However, I must say, I am not an "unabashed" Priest fan any longer, it just don't seem right somehow, nor am I a big Pete Townshend fan, either, or William S. Burroughs, who was the first to use the "rough boys" terminology, as far as I know, he ruined a lot of great prose with some sick twisted stuff, but I digress further... ) Anyway, remember the days when good, clean (dirty, in reality) rock and roll meant "wine, WOMEN, and song"? Those days are long gone... I just can't express how much Rob ruined it for me. Anyway, the CD is dated, yes, but DOES contain some great songs and has a great overall vibe to it. Some of Priest's earlier stuff suffered from poor recording and/or mixing and/or production, "Sin After Sin" comes to mind, and although "Stained Class" was better, "Hell Bent" is where they really started to shine overall production wise. Given all that, if I had to grab 3 Priest CDs off the top of my head (I don't usually keep them there, but anyway... ) I'd probably choose "Hell Bent For Leather", "Unleashed In The East" and "British Steel" because I think these are the 3 most instantly memorable CDs and the first two are probably Priest's best, and "British Steel" does have a lot of catchy "heavy metal" (I don't like '80s "heavy metal" at all by the way, at least until you get to G 'N' R, don't know if they're considered heavy metal or good ol' rock and roll, and I thought Metallica's [Lars has sure ruined a good thing, selfish, 'e is] "And Justice For All" is pretty decent) tunes on it, some good, upbeat stuff, some more "serious" rocking stuff and I kinda get a kick out of "United", but I wonder (nowadays) what that meant to Rob at the time he wrote it! I'd give it a 3. 5, but I'm going to round down, since I think overall that there were many other hard rock bands who were more succesful at about the same time period (mid-to-late '70s UFO and Scorpions, and early-to-mid '70s Black Sabbath, to name three), mostly because they had the rock AND roll (as Keith Richards would say), instead of just the heavy grind (though "Hell Bent" had a good spirit to it). What did Rob mean by "Delivering The Goods"? Eeuuwww, nevermind, just listen to the music... three stars. "Unleashed In The East" was their pinnacle, as "Strangers In The Night" was for UFO and "Tokyo Tapes" for Scorpions. As Ozzie would say, "Halford wears boots, you gotta believe me... ! "  "Stained Class", a good name for the band's bio. I gotta give it to Rob, though (What? Did I just say that? Outrageous! ), he had a great set of vocal cords. Wonder what he gargled with before going onstage? The abuse, the punishment, that throat must have endured... So not only has the Roman Catholic clergy redifined the meaning of "priest" (as in "Watch out for the priest! "), so has Rob Halford! I knew there was a religious tie-in there somewhere, and you thought it was all about "the Devil". Are you sure? (Better be... ) 'Nuf said (more, then [sic] enough).