JUDAS PRIEST — Sin After Sin (review)

JUDAS PRIEST — Sin After Sin album cover Album · 1977 · Heavy Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Vim Fuego
Judas Priest’s career has been built around cheesy but well-meaning anthems, short on substance but laden with leather-clad heavy metal appeal. With this in mind, ‘Sin After Sin’ seems like an oddity, and a relic of an age long since passed. And that’s exactly what it is.

By modern standards, the production values of this album seem quaint and understated. The guitars lack bite, and the drums are somewhat leaden. Luckily, Rob Halford’s clarion call voice shines through the murk. The subject matter of the songs seems somewhat grey and despondent. Song titles like “Last Rose Of Summer”, “Here Come The Tears”, and “Call For The Priest/Raw Deal” might not seem out of place on a goth album. At the time this album was recorded, Judas Priest had plenty to be gloomy about, because heavy metal was apparently on its last legs. In 1977, spiked hair, ripped jeans and safety pins were sweeping aside musical pre-requisites like an ability to play an instrument, hold a tune or write a song. Punk was the answer to the question of where rock should head, which must have been a pretty dumb question if punk was the best answer. Bands like Judas Priest and their ilk were destined for extinction, a supposed dead end branch of rock’s evolution.

Like the mammalians of the time of the great dinosaur extinction 65 million years ago, Judas Priest adapted and survived. First off, “Sinner” is the earliest example of those unforgettable anthems. It has the strongest riff on the album and a memorable refrain, with Halford unleashing a helium fuelled falsetto. “Diamonds And Rust” electrified Joan Baez’s folk standard, but surprisingly, it’s completely indistinguishable from Priest’s own material.

“Last Rose Of Summer” and “Here Come The Tears” are ballads which might have seemed more at home on an Elton John record in the 70s, except for the odd power chord. “Let Us Prey” lives up to the album’s gloomy image with its intro, but then rocks off with double kick drums, dual guitar harmonies and a truckload of riffs.

“Dissident Aggressor” is a case of saving the best ‘til last. The heavy, driving main riff is accompanied by thunderous drumming from session drummer Simon Phillips. Rob Halford let rip, with his soaring multi-tracked vocals. The six-string duo of Glenn Tipton and KK Downing also had a licence to shred in what is a short, sharp punch to close the album.

Despite the flat production, ‘Sin After Sin’ is oddly compelling. Crank the volume and all the studio induced problems disappear. Ultimately, ‘Sin After Sin’ doesn’t have the instant appeal of later classic albums like ‘British Steel’, ‘Killing Machine’, or ‘Screaming For Vengeance’, but is a far more thoughtful album, with more substance.
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