Painkiller (Ogv) [Vinyl]

The title is a bold statement, but in my humble opinion it is true. No album in the realm of metal is better than this one. Rob Halford's voice is at its absolute peak (and he was 40 years old when this album was recorded!), the guitar-work is absolutely phenomenal, and the drumming is simply mind-blowing. There is literally not a bad song on this album, hell there isn't even a good song, they're all beyond fantastic. It's simply pure perfection .The title track is probably the most iconic metal song ever recorded, I would say it's the pure definition of heavy metal. Hell Patrol and All Guns Blazing are just pure anthems of metal, Metal Meltdown is fast and thrashy as hell, and Leather Rebel is just such a fun song to listen to with it's rebellious spirit. A Touch of Evil is easily one of the best songs the band ever made, it has such a mysterious and evil vibe to it that you can't help but just bask in. The high notes that Rob hit towards the bridge to this song are simply mind-blowing. And then of course you have the epics Between the Hammer and the Anvil and Battle Hymn/One Shot at Glory, the latter song being my personal favorite Priest song. Overall, if you want to start someone out in the world of metal, or if you somehow haven't heard this album before, get this. It will seriously change your life.

Before I review this, I would like to say that the sender from Texas did a good job shipping this to me.The case looks good, the art is mostly in tact (except for some dents on the side), and most importantly the disk works. This is especially appreciated since most stores in my area are shut down thanks to the C-virus.Now to talk about the album it self.HISTORY:In the late 80s, The Metal Gods where in a rough spot in their history.Despite the 1986 Turbo Album being a hit that went platinum, not every fan was on board with it and some mailed outraged reviews to magazines like Rolling Stone to bash the album. Judas Priest reacted to this and made a grittier and heavier album called Ram It Down ...Which did even worse.But considering that the band by that point where a mess, the results where not that surprising. Glen and Kevin were at each others throats, Rob was going insane, and Their drummer was getting too interested in his students then on the band (if you know what I mean).Luckily, The band realized that they needed a kick in the ass to truly have a return to form. So the first thing they did was get rid of Dave Holland and replace him with a more competent drummer named Scott Travis (he's no Less Binks, but he'll do) and they hired a producer named Chris Tsangarides, who had experience with band's more ambitious sound in the mid 70s.After three months of recording and a big delay due to a court case that I will not talk about. Painkiller was released in September of 1990 to a very glowing reception, with Touch of Evil being a top 30 hit and the title track being nominated for a Grammy. But the sales were surprisingly worse the it's predecessor. Ram it Down was certified gold two months after release, Yet Painkiller was certified gold four months after it's release. The Band was still declining in popularity in the early 90s and two years later, Rob Halford would leave the band which caused the band to break up for a few years Until Tim Owens came along.Today though, this album is a crap-ton more popular. How popular is it? When BangerTV did an essential albums poll for best Judas Priest Album. Painkiller got the most votes by far.https://youtu.be/4nrJcUcaTQ4?t=837Now for the songs themselves and what I think of the album.Track 1: Painkiller-What can I say about this song? it's a classic metal song about a hero that rises during Armageddon. Rob's voice sounds fresh again despite being in his late 30s, and the drumming really breaths new life into this song. It does a great job of setting the template of Priest truly re-inventing themselves.Track 2: Hell Patrol-This is a song about operation desert storm from the Emmy's prospective. It's got great harmony and it'sall around great wartime music.Track 3: All Guns Blazing- This track sounds a lot like Eat Me Alive from Defenders of the Faith. except this time, it's about war instead of sex. Still the way Rob Sings, "Twisting the strangle grip, wont give no mercy" really makes the song stand out.Track 4: Leather Rebel-This song is ok, It's got impressive drumming and it's supper heavy. But there is something about it that feels a bit weak and tired though, and the generic lyrics are pretty bland to boot. This is much better as background noise you play when playing a computer game like Quake 3.Track 5: Metal Meltdown-This song has a cool intro (it's like a sinister version of eruption), but this one is also a pretty weak track. Again, there's something about the main song it self that feels bland. And the corny lyrics really don't help.I don't know about you, but "poetry" like..."Here comes the metal meltdown, run for your lives. Can't stop the metal meltdown, no one survives"feel pretty childish and generic when compared to something like"Fools! ...Self-destruct can not take the crown! Dreams!! ...Crushed one by one to the ground!" or "You don't know what it's like, you don't have a clue. If you did you'd find yourselves... DOING THE SAME THING TOO!!!"Yeah, by this point of the album I was like "ok, this album is starting to get boring now".Track 6: Night Crawler-Now this song is an awesome song about a monster on the loose. It's like a heavier and faster version of The Ripper. And the Lyrics do a good job of invoking fear into you, especially at 3:29. Now THIS is more like it. Also, what's also interesting is that even the synthesizers are pretty bad ass in this song. Yes, that's right. One of the most beloved Metal albums of all time has synthesizers in it. And there's another song coming up that has even more of them. But this is for me is the best track on the album.Track 7: Between the Hammer and The AnvilThis song is ...good. Yeah, it's just a good song about a resistance. It has good vocals by Rob, solid and epic atmosphere, good harmony, and really good guitar riffs from Kevin and Glen. But there's something about it that just doesn't seem to really stand out. It's like what they were really doing here is just testing there new sound with this song.Track 8: Touch of Evil-the other hit song on this album. This song is about temptation for something you know you shouldn't have or do, something that I'm sure people trying to get sober from drug abuse or simply on a diet can really relate to this song's subject. This is the least heavy song on the album and is flooded with syntonizer's (It's that synth heavy song I was talking about earlier). It's almost like a warped version of a Poison song. I should by all accounts hate this song, but I actually don't. I think this is one of the best songs here, it's pretty great in fact. I know some will consider that blasphemy, but that's just what I think.Track 9: Battle Hym-this song is basically trying to be what the Hellion from Screaming for Vengeance was, but no where near as epic. It's just an attempt to end this album the same way Screaming for Vengeance started.Track: 10-This is the finally track about reflecting on war, and it's ..good. just good. Just like Hammer and the Anvil it's got it where it counts. But again, it feels like more of a jamming session experiment with the bands sound then a truly ambitious song. The only difference though is that it has an impressively long twin guitar solo by Glen and Kevin, and there are even some synthesizers during the chorus. So again, it's a good song, but again it feels like it's not going the extra mile with the song writing.OVER ALL THOUGHTS-Is this an essential classic album for your collection if your a Judas Priest fan like me? Yes.Is this one of the finest metal albums of the 90s? yesBut that's not saying much since this album's only competition is the 90s outings of Alice in Chains, the 90s outings of Pantera, those two Megadeath albums, and Ozzy Osbourne's No More Tears album (though that album does tend to lean into hair metal territory in a few areas).Is it Judas Priest's masterpiece like all the youngsters on BangerTV claimed? No way.I will say that it is certainly in their top ten, but I don't think it's even in their top 5.I seriously don't think it's in the same league as something like Sad Wings of Destiny or Defenders of the Faith.So yeah, it's a worthy addition to their catalog and one of their high points.But I also think it's a little over-rated.10 out of 10? No. I'd say it's more like a... 8.5 out of 10, or an 8.75 out of 10.It's still a really good addition to their discography, and it is the return to form the band needed at the time.After all, I bought the original 1990 release over the remastered version for a reason.Happy 30th anniversary Painkiller. May evil continue to go under deadly wheels for many years to come.

Yeah, if hell had a playlist this album would be prominently featured. Virtually every song here kicks you straight in the teeth and steals your girlfriend.The title track Painkiller is an all out heavy metal assault. Everyone in the band is in rare form, and if Halford was already in legendary status, his performance here would have done it.I'm not going to say anything new that another reviewer hasn't already, just add it to the cart and get your metal on.

This is a review of the Double Vinyl Album edition 2016.I'll be direct, the album is the quintessential Metal album period.I rarely played the cd because it sounded so 'Digitally' Brittle, No bottom end, shrill, just a mess.Whoever Mastered this 2LP set needs to win a Grammy or something because it sounds FANTASTIC!I absolutely KILLS all other cd versions of this album. Probably in the top 5 Hard Rock Heavy Metal albumsfor sound quality. This is why I love vinyl!!

Obviously the album itself is a metal classic - one of the best metal albums of the 90's, perhaps all time. This review is specifically for the We Are Vinyl LP. Sounds great to me. 1st spin it sounded good but perhaps just a mite compressed. But 2nd spin on my other TT with headphones sounded really really good. I was rocking the F out! Little if any surface noise. Mine was a tiny bit warped, mainly on side B. But it's flatter than most new presses. Given the very reasonable price tag, if you're a fan of this magnificent beast of an album (as any self-respecting metalhead should be) & want it on vinyl - buy with confidence.

A lot of songs I remember listening to ages ago, but never owned the album. I don't have another vinyl copy or CD to compare this reissue against, but what I got was a heavy and flat record, minimum surface noise, stereo channels are well balanced, minimum surface noise, no disturbing clicks or pops. It will spend some time on the turntable, great buy especially for the price.

This is a great album by a tremendous band. However this is a really poor piece of vinyl. Thr pressing is messy causing the production to sound confused with a poor mix and poor sonic range. Dont know what was used to master it but I have no hesitation in saying that this is the worst lp I have for sonics and channel separation. Most new vinyl is profoundly crap indeed. Paid £12k for my system to have it sullied by this dross. Not Priest's fault. Songs are brilliant. Get the digital versions.

Painkiller was my first experience of Priest back in 1990 and my pretty worn out cassette stands testament to how much I loved the album at the time.Some 24 and a bit years on, I still love this album and rate it as a Priest classic. It's decidedly more aggressive than anything they had put out previously with the band seemingly fired up and bursting out the speakers with a new lease of life. Maybe it can attributed to Scott Travis' harder drumming which features more prominent use of the double bass pedal or maybe the band wanted to compete with fresher heavier bands at time. Either way, they came out all guns blazing and this album is a barnstormer. Lyrically it's not their finest hour, it's typical, silly OTT metal but who cares when it's this enjoyable. I don't think I could ever tire of 'Nightcrawler' and 'Between the Hammer and the Anvil' back to back and 'One Shot at Glory' is a great end piece.The 'Import' CD I have ordered here is actually the older version prior to the 2001 remastered editions with the bonus tracks. I wanted this one simply because the mastering is so much better - the remastered version is a very harsh sounding, dynamic range compressed disc. This is much more listenable, just a bit quieter. Crank it up and it sounds much better.

Judas Priest's Painkiller album was released in 1990 and has since went on to become a classic album, hugely respected and often included in lists of `best-ever-metal-albums.'For a Judas Priest record, Painkiller is very fast and heavy. Drummer Scott Travis brought a new injection of energy to the band and the material is very hard, fast and Thrash Metal influenced. Painkiller as an album is full of thundering double kicks, buzzsaw riffs and of course the highest standard of guitar solos.Along with the renewed energy from the band, singer Rob Halford pushes himself to his very limits on this album. At points it seems as if he is trying to win some sort of world record with his high-pitched screams.The quality of songwriting is excellent and there is no filler or weaker tracks. Songs like `Metal Meltdown,' `One Shot At Glory,' and `All Guns Blazing,' are all furiously energetic; Priest really delivered a supremely strong and exciting record with Painkiller.`A Touch Of Evil,' slows the pace a little and adds some variety to the proceedings, with keyboards from Dio/Ozzy/Deep Purple's Don Airey. The track is really powerful and when all the music climaxes and Rob delivers the line `You're Possessing Me,' I never fail to break out in a big grin.Overall, Painkiller is a fantastic album from start to finish. Atypical of the usual Judas Priest style, but utterly essential to anyone who likes metal nonetheless.

This is an easy review to write. If you're a JP fan, then you already know how good this album is, and you want to see what other fans have to say about it. If you're new to JP, perhaps a young one exploring the great metal bands, then you cannot go wrong if you listen to Painkiller: get it and prepare yourself to keep listening to it for quite some time.With Painkiller, JP were back to their heavy metal 'orchestral' shape: the rick texture of their guitar sounds, interwoven with harmonic riffs, melodic guitar solos, and Halford's voice, accompanied by the pumping drums and bass that take off at a searing pace with the the opening two tracks: Painkiller and Hell Patrol.It's very difficult to weed out a weak track in this album. My other favourite tracks are All Guns Blazing and Night Crawler: pure classic class!'This is the Painkiller!'

Just like I remembered it. I spent a great deal of time listening to them in my late teens and still enjoy their music today, this album brought back the memories. In my opinion it's one of their best albums, not that the others aren't any good.