Judas Priest - Painkiller
Tracklist
01. Painkiller02. Hell Patrol
03. All Guns Blazing
04. Leather Rebel
05. Metal Meltdown
06. Night Crawler
07. Between The Hammer & The Anvil
08. A Touch Of Evil
09. Battle Hymn
10. One Shot At Glory
11. Living Bad Dreams [Recorded during the 1990 Painkiller sessions] [2001 re-release bonus]
12. Leather Rebel [Live at Foundation's Forum, Los Angeles, California, USA in 13 September 1990] [2001 re-release bonus]
Line-up
Robert John Arthur "Rob" Halford - vocals
Kenneth "K.K." Downing - guitar
Glenn Raymond Tipton - guitar
Scott Travis - drums
Ian Frank Hill - bass
Guest musicians
Donald "Don" Airey - keyboards
Robert John Arthur "Rob" Halford - vocals
Kenneth "K.K." Downing - guitar
Glenn Raymond Tipton - guitar
Scott Travis - drums
Ian Frank Hill - bass
Guest musicians
Donald "Don" Airey - keyboards
Additional info
Produced by Chris Tsangarides.
Rating:
10
10
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Rating:
10 |
The most wicked, crass, screaming guitars, heaviest? album in Judas Priest's discography with Rob Halford. There are simply not enough attributes to describe it. To many if not most of the fans say it's the best album they ever recorded. For me, it's the second best (pointing at the Screaming For Vengeance review). Of course, this is a perfect production, incredible songwriting, a brand new sound you would not have imagined before 1990, but everybody can have his own view on that. Read more ›› |
Rating:
9.2
9.2
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Rating:
9.2 |
The year is 1990 and after 2-3 softer releases like Turbo or Ram it down, Rob Halford, KK Downing, Glenn Tipton, Ian Hill and new drummer Scott Travis (the five members of Judas Priest) decide to do something so brutal, even by death metal standards of the day. It's so heavy, so fast and shredding, yet so catchy and melodic that no-one has ever heard anything like it before. Read more ›› |
Staff pick by
ScreamingSteelUS
Found in 203 lists
ScreamingSteelUS
Metal Meltdown
Sep 02, 2020
30 years ago, on September 3, 1990, Judas Priest released the perfect heavy metal album. Not A perfect heavy metal album - THE perfect heavy metal album, a nonstop death machine bristling with power and speed that puts all competition to shame. The title track really says it all: it's iconic from head to toe, opening with Scott Travis's merciless drum volley and closing with Rob's peremptory shriek of "PAIN!!", with some of the greatest shredding ever committed to wax in between. But the album doesn't end there; for 47 minutes, Painkiller holds its listeners captive with stratospheric screeching, face-melting guitar solos, and the sleekest, heaviest, most brutally effective solution of thrash-laced heavy metal that the world has ever heard. The snarling evil of "Night Crawler," the pummeling metallic frenzy of "Metal Meltdown," the epic and intimidating groove of "Hell Patrol" - every track is a guaranteed killer from one of the most legendary bands ever to give meaning to the phrase "heavy metal." I love the myriad styles of metal music and I embrace it in all its deathly, blackened, doomy, thrashy, folksy, grindy, djenty extremity, but when it comes to the grand tradition, the classic sound, the stuff that "heavy metal" in its purest form is made of, there is nothing better than Painkiller.
Top lists
Comments page 6 / 6
Comments:
165
Visited by
3511 users
 Posts: 3433 |
Posts: 3433 Written by No False Steele on 27.06.2022 at 23:44 Yeah Sad Wings is undoubtedly amazing. The "problem" with JP is that I love so many of their albums, so that Sad Wings ends up further down on my list, even though it's incredible. My personal list would go: 1. Painkiller 2. Defenders of the Faith 3. Stained Class 4. Screaming For Vengeance 5. Sad Wings of Destiny 3, 4, and 5 are really close and their order changes a lot for me - but these are definitely my top 5 JP albums
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Posts: 5653  |
Posts: 5653
Without the success of Sad Wings..., JP as we know it would have never existed, their influence on the genre would have never been either. That is why I never understand people not comprehending its importance.
---- I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
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 Posts: 2792 |
Posts: 2792 Written by John_Doe on 28.06.2022 at 12:27 Who is not comprehending the importance of Sad Wings? 
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Posts: 218  |
Posts: 218
My favorite heavy metal album of all times. Every song is just pure enjoyment. No matter how many times i listen this throught the years
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Posts: 5653 |
Posts: 5653
A long time kept secret about this album was that most of the bass on the album is programmed by Don Airey on a moog synth. 
---- I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
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 Posts: 339 |
Posts: 339
One interesting thing about this album is that for a long time I thought that "Living Bad Dreams" was the album's closing song, and that it gave the album a tragic and solemn feeling, which was in stark contrast to the opening song "Painkiller". But I didn't know until later that "Living Bad Dreams" was a bonus track on the 2001 re-release, which means that the original 1990 album ended with "One Shot At Glory", which is obviously more in line with the emotional tone of Painkiller. So these two songs as the ending songs seem to take the overall emotion of the album in different directions. Well, no matter which way it ends, this is the most perfect "heavy metal" in my mind. The vocals, the instrumentation, the songwriting, and the overall feeling of the whole album are all 10 points... The 1990s were definitely the strongest and richest period of metal music, but unfortunately such an era has become history.
---- I regret nothing.
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 Posts: 1278 |
Posts: 1278
2025 is the year I give another chance to Judas Priest and I am now on the verge of giving this a 7 (I think I had this album at 4 a few years ago). There's still something I feel like I'm missing, and some songs that I've seen hailed as classics like "Leather Rebel" and "Night Crawler" do absolutely nothing for me, but on the other hand I'm growing quite fond of "A Touch Of Evil" which feels very different from what the rest of the album has to offer. Maybe some more variety is what I would want, but at the end of the day it's a straight forward heavy metal album, and that's a style I've always had my gripes with.
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Posts: 3433 Written by Roman Doez on 06.01.2025 at 18:05 If Painkiller isn't your thing, have you revisited their 70s or 80s material? They are quite different, so maybe one of those appeals to you more.
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Posts: 1278 Written by F3ynman on 06.01.2025 at 18:09 That's what I was about to do  British Steel is the only album of theirs I absolutely did not like, the other 70s and 80s albums I heard I at least enjoyed to some extent and Screamig For Vengeance is one I actually go back to every now and then
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Posts: 3433 Written by Roman Doez on 06.01.2025 at 18:15 Alright, keep me posted! I'll also recommend The Essential Judas Priest compilation if you want a nice quick overview of the band's spectrum of styles 
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Posts: 99 Written by InfernalOverkill on 28.04.2025 at 11:48 Top 10 album!
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Posts: 786 |
Posts: 786
Maybe even that. But that´s hard for me to realy pick a Top 10. Just put Dissections - Storm of the lights bane safe in Top 10. On the other hand I have all (yes all) songs on this in my Top 1000 and one in my Top 100 (Night Crawler). Maybe I will do a List about my favorite 100.
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| Posts: 339 |
Posts: 339
Every time I listen to this album, I'm moved by the vibrant life force it exudes. It's so good to be alive.
---- I regret nothing.
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Posts: 2581 |
Posts: 2581
Had listened to painkiller, the title track at multiple occasions but never really got to listen to the whole album until now. Didn't realise the rest of the songs were so catchy. This is an immensely fun album to listen to. All power to the collective effort of all metalheads around the globe to choose this as the best metal album ever, if we take the subset of the voters here a strong sample of all metalheads ever. 
---- Leeches everywhere.
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