JUDAS PRIEST — Ram It Down (review)

JUDAS PRIEST — Ram It Down album cover Album · 1988 · Heavy Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
2/5 ·
SouthSideoftheSky
Hard as iron

After the mostly misguided Turbo, Judas Priest returned to their earlier style with Ram It Down. Indeed, it is hard to believe that this was the follow up to Turbo when it sounds very much like a follow up to Defenders Of The Faith. The title track is up to par with anything from Defenders Of The Faith or Screaming For Vengeance, but the rest is rather uneven ranging from very good to downright awful. The worst mistake is the inclusion of a cover of the Rock 'N' Roll classic Johnny B. Goode! It is a total embarrassment! I'm A Rocker is a similarly misguided song which also is in the traditional Rock 'N' Roll style.

Heavy Metal, Love Zone and Come And Get It are decent songs I suppose, but they add nothing of value to Judas Priest's by this point already vast output of similar songs. These songs sound like bleak copies of those from Defenders Of The Faith. Love You To Death would fit better on an Alice Cooper album!

The best songs come in the middle this time with Hard As Iron and Blood Red Skies being the highlights of the album together with the title track. Hard As Iron has a propulsive rhythm and some very good guitar solos while Blood Red Skies is something of a semi-ballad very much in the style of Out In The Cold from the previous album.

The album closes with Monsters Of Rock, a slow and heavy song. Not bad!

Even though a definitive improvement over Turbo and despite a couple of strong tracks, this album is (like most of Judas Priest's 80's albums) primarily for collectors and fans.
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