Killing Machine | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 1978 [1] | |||
Recorded | August 1978 [2] | |||
Studio |
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Genre | Heavy metal | |||
Length | 35:06 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer |
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Judas Priest chronology | ||||
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Alternative US cover | ||||
Singles from Killing Machine | ||||
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Killing Machine is the fifth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest,released in November 1978 by Columbia Records. The album pushed the band towards a more commercial style while still featuring the dark lyrical themes of their previous albums. At about the same time,the band members adopted their now-famous "leather-and-studs [ broken anchor ]" fashion image,inspired by Rob Halford's interest in leather culture. It is the band's last studio album to feature drummer Les Binks.
The album was retitled Hell Bent for Leather for its US release on 28 February 1979. [5] Singer Rob Halford simply said that their US-label found Killing Machine too much of a heavy statement to use,and suggested the alternative title to the band. It was feared that the ‘murderous implications’of the original title would be too much for the larger record retailers to want to put the LP on its racks. [6] Both album titles are drawn from the titles of songs on the album with "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)",an early Fleetwood Mac cover,being added to the US release.
The album was also pressed in red vinyl in the UK.
With Killing Machine,Judas Priest began moving to a more accessible,commercial format that abandoned the complex,fantasy-themed songs of their previous three albums. While this album still had dark undertones,it was more grounded in realism. This was reflected in their change of stage costumes from flowing Gothic robes to leather,but was also a reaction to the rising punk and new wave movements. K. K. Downing had expressed doubts about the new wave of British heavy metal stating "everybody was totally dedicated to having their own show,their own images". Priest were part of the influence on the NWOBHM,but not part of it. The band's new,simpler sound was the result of several factors,amongst them being a desire to compete with the energy and speed of punk rock,the need to produce songs that were easier to perform live,and the wish to appeal more to American audiences. [7] Tracks such as "Burnin' Up" and "Evil Fantasies" are replete with S&M themes while "Running Wild" is about late-night partying and "Before the Dawn" a depressing ballad. "Hell Bent for Leather" reflected their newly adopted leather costumes as well as Rob Halford's soon-to-be-trademark entrances on stage riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
The single "Take On the World" was an attempt at producing a stadium shoutalong tune in the mould of Queen's "We Will Rock You",and was also covered by new wave band The Human League on their 1980 tour. [8] The song's influence endures :in 2021,the band Spoon released the single "Wild",which samples its drum patterns from "Take On the World." The record was released as a 7-inch single and was backed with a remix by Dennis Bovell which features the same drum pattern. [9]
"Hell Bent For Leather" and a cover version of the Fleetwood Mac song "The Green Manalishi" were the two songs from Killing Machine which became standard parts of the band's live setlist,with the other songs being performed rarely ("Evil Fantasies","Running Wild","Rock Forever and "Take On the World") or not at all. "Running Wild" and "Delivering The Goods" became regulars on the Firepower tour setlists in 2018 after not being played since 1980,and the title track returned to the band's setlists at a show in Paris in January 2019 after being absent for 40 years. [10]
The lyrics on the album were simplified somewhat in comparison with the band's previous albums,adapted into a more mainstream arena rock format,but the instrumentation retains the band's characteristic aggressiveness with heavier guitar riffing and elements of Blues influence returning on some songs. The album is certified gold by the RIAA.
The album was remastered in 2001,with two bonus tracks added (three in the UK). The bonus track "Fight for Your Life" was the "original" version of Judas Priest's "Rock Hard Ride Free" from their Defenders of the Faith album. "The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)" is considered a bonus track on the UK remaster,but a regular track on the U.S. version.
In 2010,audiophile label Audio Fidelity released a limited-edition 24-karat gold CD of Hell Bent for Leather. Mastering was done by Steve Hoffman. This does not contain the bonus tracks from the 2001 edition.
This is the first Judas Priest album where Glenn Tipton incorporated the guitar technique of tapping into his soloing style,which had been popularized by Eddie Van Halen earlier that year with the release of Van Halen's popular debut album (which incidentally was released the same day as Stained Class ). This can be heard in the solos of "Hell Bent for Leather" and "Killing Machine".
This is also the final studio album for drummer Les Binks who had joined the band in early 1977 in time for the Sin After Sin tour;he is credited with helping develop the traditional Priest percussive sound. Binks was dropped and replaced by drummer Dave Holland after the 1979 tour because of a financial disagreement where the band's manager Mike Dolan wanted Binks to "waive his fees" for performing on the platinum-selling 1979 live album Unleashed in the East . [11]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [12] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [13] |
In 2005,Killing Machine was ranked number 321 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock &Metal Albums of All Time. [14] This album,as well as subsequent albums by the band,have somewhat divided fans,with some[ who? ] preferring the complexity and darkness of the early albums,while others[ who? ] prefer the more mainstream and polished later albums.
The song "Hell Bent for Leather" is featured in Ari Gold's 2008 film Adventures of Power ,the 2004 episode of the sitcom That '70s Show entitled "Surprise,Surprise" and also featured in 2009 game Guitar Hero:Metallica .[ citation needed ]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Delivering the Goods" | Rob Halford, K. K. Downing, Glenn Tipton | 4:16 |
2. | "Rock Forever" | Halford, Downing, Tipton | 3:19 |
3. | "Evening Star" | Halford, Tipton | 4:06 |
4. | "Hell Bent for Leather" | Tipton | 2:41 |
5. | "Take On the World" | Halford, Tipton | 3:00 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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6. | "Burnin' Up" | Downing, Tipton | 4:07 |
7. | "The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)" (Fleetwood Mac cover; originally exclusive to Hell Bent for Leather, also added to later releases of Killing Machine) | Peter Green | 3:23 |
8. | "Killing Machine" | Tipton | 3:01 |
9. | "Running Wild" | Tipton | 2:58 |
10. | "Before the Dawn" | Halford, Downing, Tipton | 3:23 |
11. | "Evil Fantasies" | Halford, Downing, Tipton | 4:15 |
Total length: | 38:29 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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12. | "Fight for Your Life" (Recorded during the 1982 Screaming for Vengeance sessions[ citation needed ]) | Downing, Halford, Tipton | 4:06 |
13. | "Riding on the Wind" (Live at the US Festival, Devore, California; 29 May 1983) | Downing, Halford, Tipton | 3:16 |
Total length: | 45:51 |
Judas Priest
Production
Chart (1978–1979) | Peak position |
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Japanese Albums (Oricon) [15] | 62 |
UK Albums (OCC) [16] | 32 |
US Billboard 200 [17] | 128 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Canada (Music Canada) [18] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [19] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the pioneers of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) movement, and are cited as a formative influence on various heavy metal subgenres, including speed metal, thrash metal, power metal, and the hard rock/glam metal scene of the 1980s. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in the latter half of the 1970s, the band had struggled with poor record production and a lack of major commercial success until 1980, when their sixth studio album British Steel brought them notable mainstream attention.
Screaming for Vengeance is the eighth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 1 July 1982 by Columbia Records. Considered the band's commercial breakthrough in North America, it has been certified double platinum in the United States and platinum in Canada. Screaming for Vengeance spawned the hit "You've Got Another Thing Comin'", which became one of the band's signature songs and a perennial radio favourite.
Stained Class is the fourth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 10 February 1978 by Columbia Records. It is the first of three Judas Priest albums recorded with drummer Les Binks, as well as the first to feature the band's now well-known logo in the artwork. Musically, Stained Class is considered the album on which the band honed many of the elements of their hard-edged signature sound, dispensing with most of the progressive and blues rock overtones and softer ballads of previous efforts. The album features such notable tracks as "Exciter", considered an early precursor to speed metal and thrash metal, a cover version of "Better by You, Better than Me" by Spooky Tooth – which became the subject of an infamous civil suit in 1990 which alleged the song subliminally influenced two teenaged boys to make a suicide pact – and “Beyond the Realms of Death”, which is considered one of the band’s greatest songs by many fans and frequently included in the band’s live setlists.
Unleashed in the East is the first live album by the English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released in September 1979 on Columbia Records. It was recorded live over two nights in Tokyo during their Hell Bent for Leather Tour in February 1979. Upon release Unleashed became the band's best-selling album up to that point, reaching the US Top 100 and the UK Top Ten, eventually the album became one of the five Judas Priest albums to gain a RIAA platinum certification. It is the first Priest album to be produced by Tom Allom who would remain at the helm for the next decade for the band, and the last release to feature drummer Les Binks.
Sad Wings of Destiny is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 26 March 1976 by Gull Records. It is considered the album on which Judas Priest consolidated their sound and image, and songs from it such as "Victim of Changes" and "The Ripper" have since become live standards. It was the band's only album to feature drummer Alan Moore.
Rocka Rolla is the debut studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 6 September 1974 by Gull Records. It was produced by Rodger Bain, who had made a name for himself as the producer of Black Sabbath's first three albums. It is the only album to feature drummer John Hinch.
Sin After Sin is the third studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 8 April 1977 by Columbia Records. Produced by Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover, it was the band's major label debut, their first album for the label, and their only album to feature drummer Simon Phillips, a studio musician who replaced original drummer Alan Moore for the recording sessions.
Priest...Live! is the second live album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, recorded at The Omni, Atlanta, Georgia on 15 June 1986 and the Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas on 27 June 1986, and released in the UK on 1 June 1987.
Demolition is the fourteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, and the first in the decade of the 2000s. It is the second and final studio album to feature Tim "Ripper" Owens on vocals. It is also the only Judas Priest studio album to feature a Parental Advisory label on the album cover due to the songs "Machine Man", "Hell Is Home", and "Metal Messiah" containing profanity.
Metalogy is a four CD + single DVD boxed set released by heavy metal band Judas Priest in 2004. The CDs come in card sleeves and are housed in a faux-leather box, which has studs around the center. The box was re-released in 2008 in a cardboard long-box containing the same 4 CDs as the original release, but not the DVD, which is sold separately. It was re-released for a second time in September 2013 as a hardback mediabook, again without the DVD.
"The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" is a song written by Peter Green and recorded by Fleetwood Mac. It was released as a single in the UK in May 1970 and reached No. 10 on the British charts, a position it occupied for four consecutive weeks, and was the band's last UK top 10 hit until "Tusk" reached No. 6 in 1979. "The Green Manalishi" was the last song Green made with Fleetwood Mac before leaving the band.
The Best of Judas Priest: Living After Midnight is a compilation album of Judas Priest's hits, dating from their 1978 album Killing Machine through Painkiller (1990). This album was released in 1997. In 2009 the album was reported to have sold 564,000 copies in the United States.
James Leslie Binks is a Northern Irish heavy metal drummer. He was the drummer for Judas Priest from 1977 to 1979.
"Living After Midnight" is a song by English heavy metal band Judas Priest. It was originally featured on their 1980 album British Steel, which was their first gold album in the United States selling more than 500,000 copies. The song speaks to the hedonistic, rebellious spirit of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and is among the band's most popular songs.
"Rock Forever" is a song by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, originally released on their 1978 album Killing Machine, and released as the B-side of "Before the Dawn" the same year.
The World Wide Blitz Tour was a 1981 concert tour by English heavy metal band Judas Priest where the band toured in Europe and North America from 13 February to 14 December 1981 in support of the album Point of Entry.
The Epitaph World Tour was a concert tour by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, at the time intended to be the band's farewell tour. The tour commenced in June 2011 and concluded in May 2012. The tour was named after the 6th track from their Sad Wings of Destiny album.
The Fuel for Life Tour was a 1986 concert tour by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, to support their album Turbo.
The Metal Conqueror Tour was a concert tour by English heavy metal band Judas Priest in support of the album Defenders of the Faith. It ran from 20 January until 13 September 1984.
The Painkiller Tour was a concert tour by English heavy metal band Judas Priest which was in support of the album Painkiller. It ran from 18 October 1990 until 15 April 1991.