i came up with this question after listening a lot to 70s priest and i discovered that all(except for rocka rolla, which i haven't listened to) are quite brilliant! i didn't include unleashed in the east obviously cuz it's a live album.
a short 2 cents on each of the albums:
-rocka rolla: haven't listened to it.
-sad wings: now here's a lil bit of real metal. kind of depressive album, lyricswise, but the music will get you over, since tyrant, genocide, the ripper, victim of changes are headbanging delights and then there's dreamer deceiver/deceiver which is a really good moody song. 9/10
-sin after sin: slightly heavier than sad wings, with the thrashy intro to diamonds and rust, and what i believe to be the first thrash metal song, dissident agressor. sinner also deserves mentioning, and the two good ballads: here come the tears and last rose of summer. 9/10
-stained class: heavier still but less consistent, we get a sample of what would become iron maiden in the title track, and the album intro of exciter is a moment of pure thrashiness, and we have beyond the realms of death, saints in hell as stand-outs. 8/10
-killing machine(hell bent for leather): not heavier than stained class but still a good metal release. not too consistent, with rock forever, hell bent, killing machine, running wild and evil fantasies as the good songs. 8/10.
so for me it's a tie between sad wings and sin after sin, and i choose sad wings, because of the "ahead of it's day" factor.
and you?

Definitely Sin After Sin , it contains one of the best heavy metal song ever written - Sinner

Nice thread...I was actually thinking of making this myself. My favorite Judas Priest album from the 70's is Sad Wings of Destiny. It's actually tied with Screaming for Vengeance for my all time favorite Priest album. The opening track, Victim of Changes, is one of my favorite songs, and really highlights their songwriting skills. I also really enjoy the last two tracks that link together....it kinda reminds me of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.

I cant choose
I like all albums, I acn not think witch are betetr and witch not but for me, those period of Judas Preist are special and lile ''oldies'' and I like all

heh - i did the exact same poll in version 2 of the site

i would like to make the point i always make in polls where there is a 'cant decide' option.. and that is there is no point in it! you are doing the poll to find which album people like best, so a 'cant decide' option just defeats the point..

right then.
i dont know who i voted for before, i think it was the same as i am voting this time - and that is for 'Sin After Sin'
all these albums are brilliant and may be some of the best stuff the band has done
'Sin After Sin' just pushes further forward the sound they made on 'Sad Wings Of Destiny' and onwards in the creation of heavy metal as we know it today

i am rather surprised noone has voted for 'Killing Machine' but it should get some votes soon..
its all nicley even otherwise

I think that the best Heavy Metal album of all time is Sad Wings Of Destiny. After this album Heavy Metal was born. Sabbath was sort of doomy, but Priest gave with this album a real sound to Heavy Metal.

"Sin After Sin" is very good album

Well I must say it's quite close between Sad Wings of Destiny and Stained Class. But I'll have to go with Stained Class. In my opinion, this was the album where they really started to develop the more unique and original sound. This is a very influential album, very fast... but of course, the production of the album is probably the only flaw that people might see in the album. Sin After Sin was a great album also but I think Stained Class refined it.

Sin after sin, i have to say. The sheer grooviness in this album amazes me, which sheer amazing songs like the god that is Call for the Priest, and lovely diamonds and rust.
also i have fallen in love with the bridge part of raw deal "i'm going, no loss" i can't stop singing it whenever i have the chance, catchy shits.
I havn't listened to sad wings of destiny in a while, and wouldn;t mind buying it ( i used to download, for shame) but i can get through all this album, while with sad wings i used to skip the songs like epitaph etc, but who knows, it;s been a while.
Hmmm, old man sitting there.....

Sad Wings Of Destiny Best 70s Judas Priest album [my choice].There is no big deal to describe the album.
Just Excellent and Awesome!!!..Feel the music of the legengady Judas Priest's 2nd album.They've made every song blessed with melody effect.
In this album, Rob has the fresh rookie vocal..Which sounds very good..He really have a good vocal techniques.

It would be a hard choice between Screaming For Vengeance, British Steel and Rocka Rolla for me...

Sad Wings Of Destiny, one of my favorite Preist albums of all time

Sad Wings...
- best performance from Halford ever.
- really fucking dark, immersive lyrics.
- rad guitar playing, even though the guitar tone is less than perfect.
- the "Dreamer/Deceiver"/"Deceiver" combination is one of the best things I have ever heard.

Written by Hyvaarin on 12.07.2007 at 19:33

Sad Wings...
- best performance from Halford ever.
- really fucking dark, immersive lyrics.
- rad guitar playing, even though the guitar tone is less than perfect.
- the "Dreamer/Deceiver"/"Deceiver" combination is one of the best things I have ever heard.

Oh, yeah, man I fully agree with you in all aspects you have mentioned. "Dreamer Deceiver" is one of my favourite Judas Priest song of all time.

I really cannot decide between Sad Wings of Destiny and Stained Class. I'll go with Stained Class because Beyond the Realms of Death tips it in its favour slightly.

Great topic! Well I like Rocka Rolla as it's a very different release of theirs, But I'll vote for Killing Machine ......Though Stained Class would probably be my 2nd favourite . Their '70's era was awesome, though often overlooked.

Sad wings of destiny is one of the most classic metal albums out there!

I cant decide. Either Sad wings or Stained Class I guess. But then again Sin After Sin and Killing Machene (Hell Bent For Leather) are pretty great to. So its just too hard to pick. Rocka Rolla is the only one that is not to good, its just decent.

Sad Wings wins hands down in my book. One of my top 10 albums of all time probably, and by far my favorite JP album.

The sound of the guitars are a little raw, but the sound of the drums is near perfect in my opinion.

And the lyrics are definitely some of their best.

The Ripper & Victim of Changes especially.

//Rocka Rolla! Hell yeah! that album kicks so much ass even though it really isnt metal. Great album from start to finish//

I've been reppin' Sin After Sin a whole bunch lately. Don't think it quite tops Sad Wings, but it's definitely the second best. Just putting it out there.

STAINED CLASS! I LOVE PRIEST!

Written by 2bearocknnot2rol on 29.08.2008 at 21:15

STAINED CLASS! I LOVE PRIEST!

I'll go with Stained Class as well. We all know the music is incredible on every album but SC shines in song writing. but SWOD can easily be argued for the same reasons.

Sad wings of destiny is a great album, but Sin after Sin has so many classics that my vote goes for it. Besides, Sin after Sin displays a song building followed in Judas albums from the 80´s that i can,t find in Stained Glass, Hell Bent for Leather...

Sin After Sin and Hell Bent For Leather... no words to dscrive them

Sad wings wins for 1 word Tyrant. Best Priest song, and have the ripper on the same album doesn't hurt at all.

This was tough for me to decide, but I came to the conclusion that Sad Wings Of Destiny was the best just look at this line up
1. Prelude
2. Tyrant
3. Genocide
4. Epitaph
5. Island of Domination
6. Victim of Changes
7. The Ripper
8. Dreamer Deceiver
9. Deceiver
Those are all great songs

But it was a hard dicision though. stained class, and sin after sin are my next choices.

FUN FACT: Did you know that Rob Halford hates the album Rocka Rolla.

Written by Deadpool on 20.02.2009 at 00:02

This was tough for me to decide, but I came to the conclusion that Sad Wings Of Destiny was the best just look at this line up
1. Prelude
2. Tyrant
3. Genocide
4. Epitaph
5. Island of Domination
6. Victim of Changes
7. The Ripper
8. Dreamer Deceiver
9. Deceiver
Those are all great songs

But it was a hard dicision though. stained class, and sin after sin are my next choices.

FUN FACT: Did you know that Rob Halford hates the album Rocka Rolla.

imo that tracklist doesn't cut it. the "normal" tracklist is much better imho:

01. Victim Of Changes(FUCKING EPIC win)
02. The Ripper(win)
03. Dreamer Deceiver(EPIC win)
04. Deceiver
05. Prelude
06. Tyrant(win)
07. Genocide(EPIC win)
08. Epitaph(FAIL)
09. Island Of Domination(win)

it also has substantially less filler than the other 70s albums, especially Hellbent for Leather, and all of these albums except Rocka Rolla have at least 3-4 awesome tracks.

Victim Of Changes is a fucking epic song. I love how it changes riffs and singing styles through out the song.

Hmmm now this is hard... this is actually a battle between Sad Wings and Sin After Sin...
but I'll choose Sin After Sin because that album doesn't have a bad song, while in Sad Wings the song that doesn't make it perfect for me is Genocyde