Judas Priest – Killing Machine

Classic, classic Judas Priest. Tip-top production for an album of that time, very strong songs end-to-end, well-chosen track order (with the ballad-esque 'Before The Dawn' to boot), explicit yet not too serious lyrics. They seemed to manage a few anthems in their time, and 'Take On The World' was pushing for a cohesive and unified NWOBHM to break just as they had honed their sound to this point where they were really breaking onto exciting new ground. By this time there was no turning back from the leather/whips/bikes/handcuffs/studs imagery, either. Rob Halford had developed his quite unique vocal style and really established it here (he developed it some more on 'Screaming For Vengeance'). This was a different album from 'Sin After Sin', yet still progressed from it, was somehow far more tuneful than 'Stained Class', and more sophisticated and enduring than 'British Steel' ('Breaking The Law', 'United', and 'Living After Midnight' notwithstanding as far as endurance goes). Always exploring new avenues (one of the first metal bands to use synth guitars), they were one of the first bands to establish a new blueprint for riff-driven, well-arranged, fists in the air, ass-kickin' rock and metal with this release - possibly their finest...?