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.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Deviance Deathcore
ASHES INTO BLOOD
Buy this album from MMA partners
Equilibrium Atmospheric Sludge Metal
BESRA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tension Between Rot And Genesis Sludge Metal
ANTHESIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Recycle Brain Crust Punk
C.P.G
Buy this album from MMA partners
Cartography Of The Mind Deathcore
TETHERED
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Besra – Unsullied (Music Video)
BESRA
Bosh66· 10 hours ago
Tethered - Breathe (Official Video)
TETHERED
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - Walking The Blade (OFFICIAL VISUALIZER)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - The Negative (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - Drowning feat. Taylor Barber (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed