British Steel

Man, 80s metal is so hit and miss. But THIS was a hit. Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and AC/DC defined a whole genre and spawned a dozen half-assed offshoots (coughHairMetalcough). This album is an absolute face-ripping example of the style and I love it. Normally, I comment on guitar tones but the real stand out on this album is the drummer. Dave Holland keeps things tight and crispy without the drums feeling overproduced. The whole tone and feel of the album is built on his nearly mechanical but powerful approach to his drums. Not much else to say. Just a great frikkin' album.

Wish Thatcher would’ve taken this particular British Steel out of the public’s hands.

I went into this with low expectations and was shocked by how much fun I had listening. Bombastic, old-school heavy metal that finds a sweet spot of campy and corny without being annoying or insincere.

This was the tits but did get a little samey. Deffo gonna listen to more JP

Wikipedia: This album was recorded in Ringo's house For some reason I feel that it's the most vital piece of info to share about "British Steel" S'good HL: the singles

Really liked this, more than I thought I would when I saw Judas Priest

I was torn between giving a 4-star vs. a 5-star review. I bounced of Judas Priest throughout my life; I always thought they were a little cheesy. But, giving this album a critical listen, I can see where I was wrong.

Classic British heavy metal album

Was anyone like "I had no idea that leather clad man with the beautiful operatic vocals was gay" when Halford came out in 1998? I was too young to remember but it seems pretty obvious when we look back on it. All in all a badass classic album that was pretty revolutionary for its time and influenced tons of great metal and probably non-metal bands.

British Power metal, can see how Ozzy/Black Sabbath influenced these guys. Also motor head vibes. Yeh dope, 4 stars (just about...)

Now here we go! I'm not going to lie, I haven't listened to a lot of heavy metal albums in their entirety ("heavy metal" in this case referring to the specific metal genre of heavy metal instead of the colloquial definition describing most aggressive music as heavy metal), but I think it is safe to say that this is the best heavy metal album I've listened to. I've sang the lyrics "Breaking the law, breaking the law," since I was a kid, after watching Beavis and Butt-Head sing it when Beavis chopped off Butt-Head's fingertip with a chainsaw. Anyway, one of the interesting things about this album being so good is that it is apparently the band's 6th release. In my experience the vast majority of bands are in decline at that point in their career, so it's cool to see such an iconic release at that stage of their career. My personal enjoyment: 4/5 Did it belong on this list: 4/5

3/5 decent but didn't fully hold my interest. Definitely dated by now but can see where it would sit in general rock history

This bored me, for me it's at best an average entry for this genre. It's not a terrible album by any means but it gave me nothing. Also there are too many albums of this genre I'd rather listen to that would probably be 3* so it gets 2* from me.

The most interesting thing about Judas Priest is that they present very clearly as a heavy metal band, but their lyrical content seems like it actually toes the line really well with punk, which I think enhances the overall output exponentially as it taps into 2 genres seamlessly.

Wow! I've never really been into metal but this was great!

Very metal, gets me going- third beer hits just right kinda energy

An absolute solid album with some great tracks. I think this album is a great representation of the genre, the sound, the messages, all of it. I will definitely be giving this album another run through to hear some of the lyrics again.

It's kind of edgy but also some of the lyrics are pretty stupid. Guitar is pretty fire though. Although it's good, Black Sabbath is way better.

Influential 80’s metal album, better metal albums would come off the back of this, and does sound a bit dated and cheesy now.

I somewhat like this, but is sounds very dated. You listen to this and then Master of Puppets by Metallica (86) or Appetite for Destruction by GNR (87) and this feels 25 years older...

This album is from a definite place and time. Not sure it holds up all that well even though there are a couple of great songs here. Don't think I'd listen to the album again though.

I cannae really be that eloquent here, just shite.

Cool metal album

Hard rock meets NWOBHM in an album that gets the best of both worlds. All-time classic!

Short, effective, energetic. A great rock album!

A great metal album that maintains musicality and a powerful lead voice. Get pumped

🤟Labi gabali

Brilliant from start to finish

A lot of great songs in this album. First time listening to this album admin couldn’t get enough of it

Quintessential heavy metal album. A must.

Very nice, been a long time since I listened to that :)

The riffs, the metal. It had me

🤘 🤘 🤘 🤘 🤘. Best track: Breaking the Law

I love the theatrics of this band, especially coming from singer Rob Halford. What a fun time it was to listen to this! Some obvious hits, but the entire album is a celebration of metal <3

I like some heavy metal, always did. But I was always put off by NWOBHM, especially the dual guitar attack, wannabe Beethoven compositional approach of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. At first listen, this was no exception; I dismissed the first two tracks as totally insignificant, but acknowledged the classic status of Breaking The Law; Argentinean band Riff has a song from 1985, Dios Devorador, which features the exact same riff as Grinder; of course I am not saying that Judas Priest ripped off an Argentinean band, pretty much the opposite, but having known the Riff song for many years made Grinder sound more familiar to my ears. What with United? Isn't that a corny song? Were they attempting to re-write We Are The World for a metalheads crowd? Geez, that's horrible! On to You Don't Have To Be Old To Be Wise, great title but too long to re-type. Living After Midnight seems to give a template to a whole bunch of too-many-hair-metal-bands that were to come soon, especially out of LA. The Rage is really interesting! A reggae-like guitar, bass and drums intro that soon morphs into a classic metal, bluesy groove and comes back in the middle of the song; this one should have been huge, that's unfair. All along I can't help but think about some 80s movies with rebel teens in them or some kind of horror, and that's fun! And this is the whole point: British Steel comes up as a thing of its time. A second listen reveals some more details that make the experience more entertaining. Suddenly Rapid Fire seems to hint at the thrash that were still to come a few years later; Metal Gods is a headbanging anthem in the most irresistible way. Grinder still sounds great and even more so. I still don't like United though and I guess I never will, while the patriotic Red White And Blue could have been written by Ted Nugent were he British I guess. Let's face it: with its macho-ish, tough guy imagery of fire, steel, and epics, heavy metal hasn't aged well, but British Steel is still a lot of fun to listen to if only at an entertaining level; if you still listen to this with teenage conviction, that's ok honey, there's nothing wrong with you... but I would be worried. (*Hides underneath the table in order to call the psychiatric hospital*) 

Perfect music for Breaking the Law.

Fantastic. A bit poppy in places for Piest but killer tracks through and through. Well deserved breakthrough album for a wider audience. Highly recommended

yeah. I'll give this a 5. I mean how else does heavy metal and leather meet? Plus the album wails.

One of the 🐐s

I didn’t really know these guys when I was younger but this was easily the best 80’s metal so far

I'm a Judas Priest fan but I tend to overlook this album a bit because "it's the one for casual fans". That's a stupid mentality that I've mostly eliminated over the years. This album is quite terrific feom beginning to end. Yeah, I've heard the big singles to death, but they're awesome songs just the same. The only shortcoming this album has is that Rob never unleashes his falsetto ala Painkiller. I can overlook that. This album is great and an easy 5 stars Just wanted to say that these guys are STILL putting out great albums. Their last 2 have no business being as good as they are coming from a band this long in the game. I guess that's what separates the true masters from the rest.

Seminal.

A true classic! One of the all-time greatest albums!

One of my all time favorite albums and the one that was my introduction to Priest. I love the simple but hooky guitar riffs and soaring vocals. Every track on here is great.

classic metal, uplifting message for the punks

Llegó el viernes. Ayer casualmente estuve viendo una entrevista a Claudio O'Connor, cantante de Hermética (banda fundamental en el heavy metal argentino) y citó a Judas Priest como una de sus influencias. Nunca escuché un disco completo de ellos y hoy toca. Sonido clásico, seguro. Proto-Iron Maiden y previo a todo lo que vino después. Imposible destacar una canción: todo el álbum una joyita, que después de tantos años demuestra que el Metal sigue siendo una salida que nos revitaliza.

I wouldn't call myself a metal fan. I really like this album.

Das ist wahrlich ein Meilenstein und Meisterwerk in der Heavy Rock Geschichte: gradlinig, melodisch, durchdachte Arrangements mit Überraschungen auf höchstem Niveau.

This is a nostalgia trip from my days as a longhaired NWOBHM fanatic. I was more keen on Iron Maiden and Def Leppard, but I was slightly familiar with JP. Back then I only listened to the singles, and listening to this as a whole make me realize how good it is! The playing is brilliant, Halford is a true Heavy Metal God, and they have more variety in this album than most metal bands in their career. The glorious anthem of United, the groove of The Rage, and the majestic light-prog of Red, White and Blue. And that is excluding the bangers Living After Midnight and Breakin' the Law. Didn't think this would get 5 stars, but here we are.

Classic heavy metal. I was 7 years old. My dad didn’t have this one, but our cousins did. I thought they were so cool!

This album is full of bangers that I found enjoyable.

Probably the first really great Priest album. Bangers all the way through. There is a reason it comes up on greatest metal album lists all the time.

Discazo. Puro poder metalero. Me deja prendidísimo para escuchar más de los Judas.

Great album loved it. 8/10

Beyond amazing!!!

When I tell people I like metal I feel like it is misconstrued due to the variety within the genre. Stuff like this, Sabbath, Dio, and Maiden is what I mean. Fair play to all the heavier and more intense things that have followed, but this is the level I vibe with the most.

I have the 1980 US release with Breaking the Law as the first track, but honestly prefer the wider release with Rapid Fire starting things off. This is a top 3 album by a top 2 artist for me personally, so yeah, I was a little excited. There's so much power and commitment in the songs and no slacking. Rapid Fire is the metal song, and Metal Gods and United are the metal anthems. Living After Midnight has gotten stale from me just in seeing them live but I can still recognize that it's a party song. You Don't Have to be Old to be Wise? Heck, that's just something to keep in mind. Also to keep in mind, JUDAS PRIEST FUCKING RULES.

Favorite album by one of my favorite metal gods. This is a perfect album, not a single bad track. Halford at his pinnacle!

Classic Heavy Metal album.

enjoyed every song on the album

I'll admit to having heard of Judas Priest, and indeed this album, but I can't claim to have known anything at all about it. Turns out to be heavy metal, and pretty bloody good heavy metal at that. I don't know enough to talk authoritatively on the subject, but I'd speculate that it was a directional change away from the rock-derived heavy metal of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zep and set itself on a path towards the more mentally metal sounds. I enjoyed it.

peak feelgoodsiness

Every song is a banger. This is one of the greatest metal albums of all time.

One of the best heavy metal albums with industrial sound ever!

Good album, some of the songs seem like they would be better if they were live, or if I could play them on a louder speaker.

Classic album from the Metal Gods !

Yep, I still bang my head to this one.

What a great classic heavy metal album. Classic sleeve, classic tune. Now it gets 5 stars without the bonus songs. I loved the production and the songs. Great album

Breaking the law is like an old friend you've lost touch with over the years. You make plans to meet up again. You're unsure how it's going to go and the very first rift you start lifting like you use to. Your friendship is just as fun as you remember it and you promise to meet again, but for real this time.

Excellent. Top to bottoms

Great vibe

Breakin the law 🗣️

AMAZINGGGG

5 stars #57

I have to admit I wasn't looking forward to this, as I've disliked a lot of metal I've heard here. But this one was great! Window down, driving fast, and this album blasting from the car speakers is the ideal way to listen to it.

Loved it! Listened to it twice!

Even as a metalhead teenager, I had not been interested in Judas Priest for some reason* and never listened to them, or at least never since. And I really only knew Breaking The Law, and likely via Beavis & Butt-Head, when I opened this, expecting boredom and possibly cringe. Huh. This has been the most unadulterated FUN I've had with any of my 66 albums so far!? Fuck yeah 🤘! *Maybe I had filed Judas Priest under that trite Hard Rock of Living After Midnight but the rest - and I'll ignore the 2001 Remaster bonus track addition of Red, White And Blue - is chef's kiss! Halford is fantastic and something about the drums makes me go Wow! Those drums! Extra fun to spot the blueprints of what became circa Metallica. Great, great album!

fantastic album. Rob's falsetto's perfectly match the guitar tone and in some songs the contrast really works. the lyrical content managed to stay relevant more than 50 years later without trying to hard. you can not only relate to the issues being discussed but the issues are still around. especially on songs like breaking the law. the song was true in 1979 when it came out. it was true when I left school in the early 2000's and it is true now. the world is run by people about to retire who make choices based on the world they lived in instead of the world as it works now.

epic and fun to listen to, the songs are pretty similar but all are great for any hard rock fans. Livin' After Midnight remains one of the most recognizable songs, United is a bit weak. lyrics aren't the strongest but just awesome guitar and drums throughout

5/5

this was full of bangers, it was really heavy and i enjoyed it all the way through, i would listen to this again and it makes me want to listen to more fros the band.

This is solid gold. Rob Halford's voice is just perfect for this style of music... and the tracks are the equivalent of pop masterpieces of this style. The chunky driving guitars, memorable riffs, measurable and meaningful solos, with a guitar raft of home run tracks: rapid fire, metal gods, breaking the law, grinder, united, living after midnight and the rage. Plus the cover art is fire.

I love this album was very happy when this came as my second option. United is the best song on here.

The album opens strong with Rapid Fire. Metal Gods was fun, and Breaking the Law remains a banger! Grinder was sort of silly and reminded me of a theme song for a schlocky 80s style horror movie. That’s not a bad thing. Living After Midnight is probably my favorite on the album. Rage was also fantastic; love its instrumentals! United, Steeler and Red White and Blue were ok - the instrumentals stood out above the lyrics for me on these. You Don’t Have to Be Old to Be Wise was the weakest track for me. Overall, great album. Very much the kind of music you throw on and drive! Straight 5

Great record from start to finish.

Cannot go wrong with Judas Priest

This is heavy metal at some of its finest and Judas Priest nails the guitar effects to solidify an album full of certified head bangers. Pair that with Halford's vocals that are gritty yet powerful and you got yourself a heavy metal all-time classic album.

Hm. Gut. Bekomme die ACDC vibes, also nur noch live alben für mich pls, danke.

old school metal

IMO, this is the second best Judas Priest album behind Screaming For Vengeance. But it's still a bloody good album by one of the bands that defines Heavy Metal. Great stuff, love it.

just good old fashioned metal. great listen from front to back.

It’s so nice to hear an album where the singles aren’t the best songs on it (looking at you Rio by Duran Duran). Never heard this album before and absolutely loved it top to bottom. I’m not even a big metal fan but something about this album did it for me. I was hooked by that high note Rob Halford hits at the end of the first song. Can’t wait to kill myself and join Satans army!

Fantastic album, fun listen. 5/5

Heeel nice! Lekker ruig, maar niet té en ook af en toe rust momentjes. Loopt goed in elkaar over Would buy! (aan m'n lijstje toegevoegd hehe)

Style que j'aime !

This is Judas Priest's first solid metal album. A very enjoyable listen.

Rock on dudes

hell yeah

Pretty good

This was one the first metal LPs I ever heard. Solid as anything you will ever hear in the genre