Louder Than an Atom Bomb (Painkiller - Judas Priest)

Member Name: Frankingsteins

Product:	Painkiller - Judas Priest
Date:	07/06/06 (166 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quintessential, genre-defining metal

Disadvantages: The usual daft lyrics; won't appeal to casual listeneners

The Painkiller is an intergalactic cyborg warrior. Faster than a laser bullet, he rides the Metal Monster, its buzzsaw wheels wreaking vengeance against those who… well, that’s not entirely clear. But no matter; this is the ultimate heavy metal album. I don’t use that word lightly.

After the horrible disco-disgrace of ‘Turbo’ in 1986, Priest attempted to reclaim their status as Metal Gods with their last album of the decade, the poorly received ‘Ram it Down.’ A tracklist composed of self-aggrandising song titles such as ‘Heavy Metal’ and ‘Monster of Rock’ didn’t deceive fans, who saw through the band’s attempts to reclaim their former heaviness and reduce (but for some reason, retain) those damn guitar synthesisers and synthetic drum beats. Iron Maiden’s back-to-basics regression was a disappointment, and Metallica were beginning to lose the plot. Mankind was on its knees, pleading for a saviour from the skies.

Then came 1990’s ‘Painkiller.’ The decade that saw the decline of the finest metal bands of the eighties somehow spawned this powerful, relentless, hard-hitting metal classic, one of the most definitive albums of metal, British or otherwise. Painkiller’s aggressive sound is perhaps a deterrent to those who appreciated their classic heavy metal pioneering of the late seventies and early eighties, but it restored strength and credibility to the band at the time they most needed it, the popularity of British steel waning in the face of American thrash.

Painkiller is a landmark album for European metal, taking influence from the so-called ‘speed metal’ developed by Germany’s Helloween, themselves heavily influenced by Priest and their contemporaries, and combining its velocity with the long-standing excellence of the (now-classic) K. K. Downing and Glenn Tipton dual guitar assault. Newcomer Scott Travis on drums has remained in the band to this day, and his mark on this album contributes to its original sound; as testament to his input, the first track opens with an extended drum intro.

21st century bands such as Primal Fear owe their fundamental sound entirely to Painkiller, while the Birmingham-born heavy metal sound they developed alongside Black Sabbath is inescapably present throughout modern metal, internationally. Although Rob Halford was to leave the band for the next decade, Priest continued to develop the hard edge of Painkiller for their two albums with vocalist Tim ‘The Ripper’ Owens (now in Iced Earth), but ‘Jugulator’ and ‘Demolition’ would turn out to be nothing but weak imitators of this metal classic. Loud ones nevertheless.


Judas Priest, ‘Painkiller’ (Columbia, 1990)

1. Painkiller
2. Hell Patrol
3. All Guns Blazing
4. Leather Rebel
5. Metal Meltdown
6. Night Crawler
7. Between the Hammer and the Anvil
8. A Touch of Evil
9. Battle Hymn
10. One Shot at Glory
11. Living Bad Dreams (bonus on CD re-issue)


Despite a couple of mediocre songs, Painkiller is as close to perfection as metal albums get, without needing to resort to fancy touches such as a thematic concept. The intensity of the recognisable title track continues for most of the album, slipping up intentionally only for the more commercial-sounding ‘A Touch of Evil’ and its successors, the brief interlude ‘Battle Hymn’ (sadly not a Manowar cover) and the anthemic ‘One Shot at Glory.’ This latter section of the album is most reminiscent of Priest’s earlier big-seller ‘British Steel’ ten years earlier, in its emphasis on rousing sing-along-friendly choruses and the distinct eighties radio rock angle of ‘A Touch of Evil’ that’s reminiscent of Michael Jackson in places.

Despite these concessions to popular taste, the roaring guitars and slamming drums dominate the album, most present on the intense and memorable offerings ‘Painkiller,’ ‘Night Crawler’ and ‘All Guns Blazing,’ the latter especially memorable for Halford’s bold, screaming introduction. These fast and heavy tracks set the tone for the band’s original music to the present day, songs such as ‘Hellrider’ on their latest album ‘Angel of Retribution’ being nothing more than re-hashes of this style. As for the rest of the album, the (ever-so-slightly) slower ‘Hell Patrol,’ ‘Metal Meltdown’ and ‘Between the Hammer and the Anvil’ suffer slightly in comparison, failing to impress alongside these monsters of rock.

Despite being nominated for a Grammy award in 1991, for the admittedly obscure category of Best Metal Performance, Painkiller isn’t immediately accessible in the style of ‘British Steel’ or (shudder) ‘Turbo,’ but it’s widely regarded among metal fans as the band’s finest offering. Painkiller is loud, powerful music that dares to stand proud as heavy metal in an era when thrash and death metal were wowing the kids with pointless aggression and mindless shock lyrics. Sure, lyrics and image still aren’t Priest’s strong point, this album featuring a song titled ‘Leather Rebel’ and the album cover struggling to depict their latest fictional space avenger, but this is music where any real sense of meaning to what’s being screeched is irrelevant in the face of such powerful vocals. I’m struggling to find faults with this album, aren’t I? There are some, don’t worry.

Painkiller is certainly repetitive, and doesn’t sound as immediately impressive in 2006 as it would have done in 1990. Roughly half of the album bobs along on the strength of the tracks that precede and follow. The album glorifies violence, which is a bad thing, right? Rob Halford’s bald. Forget it – Painkiller is an excellent album.

So why listen to Painkiller, if it’s not all about the volume? Tipton and Downing’s guitars had finally reached a point in which their roaring grooves perfectly compliment Halford’s rousing falsetto in ‘Hell Patrol,’ and provide the perfect yelling backdrop for his inhuman screeches on the title track. Plunging into short bursts of guitar solo at impossible-to-predict tangents and extending songs into near-jam sessions as they draw to explosive conclusions, Priest’s guitars would never (to date) be as impressive again.

To hear Halford tackle the seemingly incompatible vocal duties of ‘Painkiller’ (undoubtedly the finest track here) and ‘A Touch of Evil,’ or to be honest, most of the album that isn’t the first track. To witness a song beginning with atmospheric rainfall that doesn’t descend into a ballad. To hear the illegally catchy chorus riff of ‘Metal Meltdown.’ To relate to the story of the ‘Leather Rebel.’

These are the reasons to listen to Painkiller - one of the essential albums of metal.

Summary: Judas Priest's 12th studio album (1990)