Excellent slice of metal, it took me a while to appreciate Judas Priest when I was younger & the older I got the more I enjoyed and got into them!
The whole album is excellent and full of headbanging riffs and superb musicical interplay accompanied by Robb Halfords brilliant vocal performance throughout, a must have album for any metal fan.
Unfortunately i cant sing for shit but I always try & do the title song at karaoke bar with some friends & after a few beers haha

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 07.03.2012 at 17:07

Written by BloodTears on 07.03.2012 at 17:05

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 07.03.2012 at 17:04

The single most overrated album in the history of metal. And my God it sounds immensely outdated and tired and forced nowadays.

I'm just happy you gave it a 7

It's not bad, just immensely overrated. Even at the time it wasn't as good as people nowadays make it out to be. Clearly they wnated to sound heavy because that was the trend at the time. They jumped the Pantera bandwagon.

Taste is of course subjective, so people don't necessarily rate music the same way. For instance I consider Blackwater Park the most overrated album in the history of metal and I know most people in here would disagree. So if Painkiller sounds outdated, forced and tired to your ears, it's perfectly okay, because it's your taste. However, the argument that Priest jumped the Pantera bandwagon must be a joke. Pantera were universally unknown until Cowboys From Hell, which was their breakthrough (nobody was interested at all in their previous albums). If you are talking about the ''Power Metal'' album, it's Pantera who are replicating Priest and Phil is trying really hard to sound like Halford (which is impossible of course and he sounds fucking awful, although the music is not bad). Cowboys From Hell came out the same year as Painkiller and there is nothing to compare between the two musically, (qualitywise too, but as I already said taste is subjective). At the time, Pantera were being brutally bashed by the metal circles for replicating Metallica (unjustifiably I think), but I never heard anyone comparing Priest to Pantera. Also when Painkiller came out, everyone was shocked at how brilliant it was, it's not nowadays that people make it out to be great. There was no internet at the time, but all metal magazines and fanzines were raving about it. I don't know whether you listened to metal back then, but if you did, your comments about this album are really surprising to say the least.

Written by nikarg on 09.09.2016 at 19:48

lots of text

He probably means that they jumped the Pantera bandwagon in the sense that they were trying to become more popular by making heavier music, because that's how Pantera became popular.

Written by nikarg on 09.09.2016 at 19:48


I don't know whether you listened to metal back then...

I have been listening to metal since 1979.

When I said jumping the Pantera bandwagon I meant them wanting to sound heavier due to the fact a band such as Pantera got popular with the heavy sound, not that Priest sounds like Pantera, because that comparison would be totally ridiculous.

Quote:
I have been listening to metal since 1979.

When I said jumping the Pantera bandwagon I meant them wanting to sound heavier due to the fact a band such as Pantera got popular with the heavy sound, not that Priest sounds like Pantera, because that comparison would be totally ridiculous.

Got your point now, I thought you meant that Priest tried to sound like Pantera. Since you started listening to metal 9 years earlier than me (lucky you! ), I guess all the other points I made must ring a few bells. And by the way, I didn't mean to sound offensive and I hope I didn't.

Written by nikarg on 09.09.2016 at 21:01




Got your point now, I thought you meant that Priest tried to sound like Pantera. Since you started listening to metal 9 years earlier than me (lucky you! ), I guess all the other points I made must ring a few bells. And by the way, I didn't mean to sound offensive and I hope I didn't.

You didn't come across offensive at all. So, no probs.
As for your other points. It depends on where you were and what mags I read, I guess. I myself wrote for Meltdown Metal Magazine at the time and there it was received well by about half the writers and not good at all by the rest. And that's how it was received all over the Netherlands by mags and fanzines.
But Judas Priest did have Pantera (and also Annihilator) opening for them on their Painkiller tour in 1991.

Quote:
You didn't come across offensive at all. So, no probs.
As for your other points. It depends on where you were and what mags I read, I guess. I myself wrote for Meltdown Metal Magazine at the time and there it was received well by about half the writers and not good at all by the rest. And that's how it was received all over the Netherlands by mags and fanzines.
But Judas Priest did have Pantera (and also Annihilator) opening for them on their Painkiller tour in 1991.

I am afraid that in Greece we only had Metal Hammer and a few local fanzines at the time. The way that we found out about music back then seems almost paleolithic today. I wasn't even interested in Judas Priest up until then, because I was mainly into thrash (it was the '80s after all), but when i came across Painkiller it really blew my mind.

Couldn't disagree more with this album sounding forced.
In Painkiller they don't sound like a hard rock band anymore, which makes it less outdated than the former (and nonetheless great) albums.
For sure one of the best metal album in history!

Written by BlackMetalDay on 20.06.2017 at 15:59

Couldn't disagree more with this album sounding forced.
In Painkiller they don't sound like a hard rock band anymore, which makes it less outdated than the former (and nonetheless great) albums.
For sure one of the best metal album in history!

You know an album being forced is a bad thing. I think you're thinking that forced means something along the lines of heavy, when it really means the band is trying to do something really hard but are failing

Written by Guest on 22.06.2017 at 14:31

You know an album being forced is a bad thing. I think you're thinking that forced means something along the lines of heavy, when it really means the band is trying to do something really hard but are failing

No, I understood correctly what 'forced' meant, and I'm sticking with what I've said in my above comment

Yes, double negation

I actually like this album a lot it seems.

I am going to come across as arrogant here (probably), but I must say that as a songwriter I think I can recognize what "let's do X because we can, not bc we are inspired or actually care" sounds like. And it sounds like Painkiller. It sounds 100% like Painkiller.

Also, understanding music theory and being able to compose and play music IN NO WAY translates to superior taste, that is not my point. Just wanted to make that clear just in case.

The heavist of their stuff and also their best

If this does not make you bang your head and sing along, you my friend are a cuck. if you rate this lower than 9, you are a gay cuck.

Written by Maasai Mara on 02.01.2019 at 22:45

If this does not make you bang your head and sing along, you my friend are a cuck. if you rate this lower than 9, you are a gay cuck.

No need for insults. And i rate this lower than 9 and i do bang my head to it.

Written by JoHn Doe on 02.01.2019 at 23:08


No need for insults. And i rate this lower than 9 and i do bang my head to it.

well on the gay cuck scale, by how much you deviate from 9 that is your gay cuck rating out of 10.

Written by Maasai Mara on 02.01.2019 at 23:18

Written by JoHn Doe on 02.01.2019 at 23:08


No need for insults. And i rate this lower than 9 and i do bang my head to it.

well on the gay cuck scale, by how much you deviate from 9 that is your gay cuck rating out of 10.

You're a newbie, throwing insults at others won't get you anything. Maybe you think you're cool or something, well you are not. People will have different opinions will you insult them all?

Written by JoHn Doe on 02.01.2019 at 23:30

You're a newbie, throwing insults at others won't get you anything. Maybe you think you're cool or something, well you are not. People will have different opinions will you insult them all?

He also posted a troll comment on the Blackwater Park thread, I think it's best we all ignore him from this moment onward until he sobers up or something ;-)

Written by Maasai Mara on 02.01.2019 at 23:18

Written by JoHn Doe on 02.01.2019 at 23:08


No need for insults. And i rate this lower than 9 and i do bang my head to it.

well on the gay cuck scale, by how much you deviate from 9 that is your gay cuck rating out of 10.

So that'll be 3/10 in my case. 6/10 is no blasphemous act but a generous rating if you just can't stand Halford's ridiculously high pitched voice. On the other hand it's a classic and I'm neither doubting the impact of it nor the quality of some of the contained blockbuster hits.

But don't you think it's kinda hypocritical yelling "gay!" when we are talking about Rob Halford, the epitome of Heavy Metal's gay community?
And why did you delete all traces of Gorgoroth (with Gaahl being the epitome of Black Metal's gay community) in your profile just a couple of minutes ago?

It's no shame questioning your own sexuality, just deal with it.

Written by Starvynth on 03.01.2019 at 00:01


So that'll be 3/10 in my case. 6/10 is no blasphemous act but a generous rating if you just can't stand Halford's ridiculously high pitched voice. On the other hand it's a classic and I'm neither doubting the impact of it nor the quality of some of the contained blockbuster hits.

But don't you think it's kinda hypocritical yelling "gay!" when we are talking about Rob Halford, the epitome of Heavy Metal's gay community?
And why did you delete all traces of Gorgoroth (with Gaahl being the epitome of Black Metal's gay community) in your profile just a couple of minutes ago?

It's no shame questioning your own sexuality, just deal with it.

Halford is gay, Gaahl is gay, you are 3/10 gay. Judas priest rocks, Gorgoroth is amongst my favourite black metal bands, if you are part of a band send me a link to your music. Perhaps i just like bands with gay members.

Written by JoHn Doe on 02.01.2019 at 23:30


You're a newbie, throwing insults at others won't get you anything. Maybe you think you're cool or something, well you are not. People will have different opinions will you insult them all?

just the ones who rate this lower than 9.

Written by Maasai Mara on 03.01.2019 at 00:28

Written by Starvynth on 03.01.2019 at 00:01

[...]
It's no shame questioning your own sexuality, just deal with it.

Halford is gay, Gaahl is gay, you are 3/10 gay.

Pheew, thanks for your approval. I was afraid it would be more than 30%, though.

Written by Maasai Mara on 03.01.2019 at 00:28

Judas priest rocks, Gorgoroth is amongst my favourite black metal bands, if you are part of a band send me a link to your music. Perhaps i just like bands with gay members.

Here we go. I am the tattooed bald guy.

Written by Maasai Mara on 03.01.2019 at 00:29

Written by JoHn Doe on 02.01.2019 at 23:30


You're a newbie, throwing insults at others won't get you anything. Maybe you think you're cool or something, well you are not. People will have different opinions will you insult them all?

just the ones who rate this lower than 9.

Thank you, god bless

Omg someone using gay as an insult. do you live in the middle ages?

Btw this album is a 6/10 at most.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 03.01.2019 at 02:29

Omg someone using gay as an insult. do you live in the middle ages?

Not even necessary to be in the middle ages, still plenty of places today where it is considered an insult and probably an acceptable reason to kill someone



On topic, it's a good album with many catchy tunes but wears off after some time. Bombastic but still good. There are older albums I'd rather listen to.

Touch of evil alone is enough to make this album a 10/10. Classic.

Crazy how 30 years later no heavy metal album even came close.

Written by RaduP on 03.09.2020 at 15:14

Crazy how 30 years later no heavy metal album even came close.

Agreed. I can't name a single other purely heavy metal album that I enjoy nearly as much as this.