Ranking Rock/Metal Albums: #5. Judas Priest- British Steel(1980)

Legendary British heavy metal act Judas Priest makes its debut in my ranking series with 'British Steel', the album which marks a shift towards a more commercial sound and achieved chart success, so here is my ranking of the tracks:

9. Metal Gods- 7.5(good)

8. Living After Midnight- 7.5

7. United- 8(solid)

6.You Don't Have to Be Old to Be Wise- 8.5(very good)

5. The Rage- 8.5

4. Steeler- 9.5(fantastic)

3. Grinder- 9.5

2. Rapid Fire- 9.5

1. Breaking The Law- 9.5

OVERALL RATING: 8.66

'Breaking the Law', one of the major hits of the album, wins a very tight race for the first place thanks to its iconic riff and simple but efective chorus which stick to my mind for a long time after hearing it. It's one of those overplayed hard rock/metal tunes I rarele skip, unlike the other major hit, 'Living After Midnight', another simple song with a catchy chorus, but which, as you can see from my rating, doesn't have the same appeal to me(probably because living after midnight and rockin' till the dawn is not recommended for our health if we do it frequently!).

The next three tracks with a high rating of 9.5, 'Rapid Fire', 'Grinder' and 'Steeler', are also eloquent examples of heavy greatness with sharp riffs, fast pace and the unmistakeable voice of Rob Halford sending listeners to the stratosfera, so ranking them was really tough and the order can change after more auditions.

The second half of my ranking includes mostly mid tempo tracks, which doesn't mean that I don't enjoy listening to them, I just do it to a Lester extent than those from the top 4. Even the often maligned 'United' is quite a likeable tune in my opinion, as I often find myself singing în my mind its chorus.

To summarise, I consider 'British Steel' to be a remarkable album, whose more commercial approach played an important part in raising heavy metal popularity and showing younger bands of that time that you can achieve access by playing fast, loud, energetic music as long as it has enough melody and hooks to attract a wider audience. Rock on wherever you are!