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Judas Priest - Killing Machine (Hell Bent For Leather) review



Reviewer:
8.5

788 users:
8.21
Band: Judas Priest
Album: Killing Machine (Hell Bent For Leather)
Release date: October 1978


01. Delivering The Goods
02. Rock Forever
03. Evening Star
04. Hell Bent For Leather
05. Take On The World
06. Burnin' Up
07. The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown) [Fleetwood Mac cover]
08. Killing Machine
09. Running Wild
10. Before The Dawn
11. Evil Fantasies
12. Fight For Your Life [2001 remaster bonus]
13. Riding On The Wind [live] [2001 remaster bonus]

The real 70's classic metal album 'Killing Machine' was recorded in 1978. Judas Priest could celebrate a world success. Back then the sound of metal was a bit different from what we know today, Killing Machine is very much rocking, as the whole 70's era of Judas Priest was. From this album we get several metal classics and many are my personal favorites from Priest.

Starting off with the outstanding 'Delivering The Goods' to 'Hell Bent For Leather', 'Burning Up', 'The Green Manalishi', 'Killing Machine' and 'Running Wild' are all featured on this album. Each song great, impressive and rocking as well as 'Evil Fantasies' and 'Fight For Your Life', which is a bonus track on the remastered album, a different version of 'Rock Hard, Ride Free'. Before The Dawn is a slow, bit depressing ballad, kind of the only quite point on the record. 'Rock Forever', 'Evening Star' and especially 'Take On The World' are very commercial tracks, out of which 'Evening Star' could have made it into an american broadway musical or something. 'Riding On The Wind (live)' is a usual solid performance from one of Priest's world tours.

To me 'Killing Machine' aka 'Hell Bent For Leather' is the 70's highlight of the studio albums in Judas Priest's discography. If you want real classics you should prefer this one to other 70's Priest-albums, though other albums feature one or two great songs, but this one definitely contains the most!

Written by Pierre Tombale | 28.12.2003




Comments

Comments: 11   Visited by: 106 users
25.06.2008 - 02:04
Rating: 10
IronBlackZepp

Great album, I think it deserves a higher rating then 8.5 any day. This is the one that would forshadow Brittish Steal. I kind of prefer Staind Class and Sad Wings though. I think those two are tied for Priests best 70's effort. But this is great too, and of course their is Sin After Sin.
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15.11.2008 - 08:26
Metalbound7

IMO the best Priest album of the 70's (with Sin after Sin of course), it deserve a higher rate than 8.5. i think that the only bad song on the album is Killing Machine, all the other songs are great.
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03.10.2009 - 00:11
Rating: 6
GamlaSonn

Didn't like this at all (the album) was boring imo.. I definitely didn't like massive use of double voice tracks
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26.12.2010 - 19:41
Nyoink

I love every old Priest album 8D Priest beginners should begin from Painkiller or rami it down, but the true value of priest is found in albums like this, stained class, sad wings of destiny, screaming for vengeance etc!
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26.12.2010 - 19:58
Rating: 8
Angelic Storm
Melodious
Ive always seen this album as like a 70's version of "British Steel". lol Although this album has a very 70's vibe and sound which seperates it from that album. There isnt the sheer invention and creative genius on this album as there was on their previous 3 seminal 70's albums. Which is the thing it has most in common with "British Steel". Its a more straight-edge rocking metal vibe, but the songs are almost all very high quality examples of that genre.

"Burnin' Up", "Before The Dawn", and the title track ("Killing Machine") are really underrated Priest classics imo.
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26.12.2010 - 20:50
RavenKing

I like some Priest songs but I've never been a big fan of them overall.
Problem I have with this band is I think all (or at least most) of their albums until "Painkiller" have good metal songs but there is also a lot of hard rock-ish and popmetal-ish fillers. The simple radio-friendly songs are a letdown to me.
The quality is very inconsistent. Apart from "Painkiller", on which I like all songs, the only other album I can listen from start to end is "Defenders Of The Faith". Too many forgettable fillers.
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They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink
They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end
But everybody's only looking out for themselves
And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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30.08.2011 - 14:10
Rating: 7
Ace Frawley
The Spaceman
Agree entirely with what Angelic Storm has said.
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The sun shines over The Fool...
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15.03.2014 - 13:29
Pennywise
Account deleted
Here it went downhill for Priest, the music and lyrics got stupified. Lame Gaymetal which got topped by the even worse succesors (Steel, Entry) and found its evil climax in Ram it Down.
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17.03.2014 - 11:36
Rating: 7
Ace Frawley
The Spaceman
Written by Guest on 15.03.2014 at 13:29

Here it went downhill for Priest, the music and lyrics got stupified. Lame Gaymetal which got topped by the even worse succesors (Steel, Entry) and found its evil climax in Ram it Down.


I gave up after Turbo so never reached the so-called climax on Ram it Down. Their early work makes them one of the greats, in my mind, but shame they went "Lame Gaymetal", as you call it. I suppose Rob was that way inclined. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Great singer.
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The sun shines over The Fool...
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17.03.2014 - 14:24
Pennywise
Account deleted
Written by Ace Frawley on 17.03.2014 at 11:36

Written by Guest on 15.03.2014 at 13:29

Here it went downhill for Priest, the music and lyrics got stupified. Lame Gaymetal which got topped by the even worse succesors (Steel, Entry) and found its evil climax in Ram it Down.


I gave up after Turbo so never reached the so-called climax on Ram it Down. Their early work makes them one of the greats, in my mind, but shame they went "Lame Gaymetal", as you call it. I suppose Rob was that way inclined. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Great singer.


Its Tiptons/Downing fault too (Greed). Their former greatness shined shortly on Screaming for Vegeance and Defenders of The Faith (The Sentinel) but even on the later one half of the tracks were lameshit. Painkiller is the direct succesor of Stained Class, the rest before was mainly a Gay Parade.
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06.09.2017 - 12:56
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Written by Ace Frawley on 30.08.2011 at 14:10

Agree entirely with what Angelic Storm has said.


Disagree, Britishs teel is more less one melody, one speedy sound, one album, like one song album, whit super media success, what probably gave more money to the band as all 70's albums.
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Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
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I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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