Hell Bent For Leather is another one of my favorite Priest albums (and all-time metal albums, for that matter). Produced by James Guthrie, who later went on to produce such classics as Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and Queensryche's "The Warning," the sound is quite polished but not as clean and sterile as Priest's previous albums. The remastering on this record definitely brings out the crispness and power. Ultimate classics like "Delivering the Goods," "Burnin' Up," the early Fleetwood Mac cover "Green Manalishi," "Killing Machine" (which was the original title of the European version of this album) and the title track are all featured on this disc. Bonus tracks include "Fight For Your Life" (which was an early version of the track, "Rock Hard, Ride Free" which appeared a few years later on the Defenders of the Faith album) and a great live recording of "Riding On The Wind." What can be said about Unleashed In The East? It's unquestionably one of the greatest live records ever recorded. Recorded during the Hell Bent For Leather tour in Japan in 1979, this album features classic live recordings of "Exciter," "Running Wild," "Victim Of Changes," and, one of my all-time favorite live tunes - "Genocide." The bonus tracks feature four live songs recorded during that tour (which were previously released on the original Japanese vinyl version called "Priest In The East"). The tracks include "Rock Forever," "Delivering The Goods," "Hell Bent For Leather," and "Starbreaker."
The three albums that followed; British Steel, Point Of Entry, and Screaming For Vengeance, were quintessential Priest albums and perhaps their most groundbreaking albums when it comes to cracking the American mainstream metal market. British Steel marks the first Priest album with producer Tom Allom (who would go on to produce the bands next six albums) and their first with a powerful, solid production. This album also contained some of their biggest hits including "Breaking the Law" and Living After Midnight." The bonus track "Red, White & Blue" is pathetic and makes you wonder why they bothered including this, let alone recording it! The second bonus track is a live rendition of "Grinder."
The Point Of Entry album was a bit of a disappointment for me when it was originally released in 1981 as it truly showed the band's obvious attempt in cracking the American charts with lame songs like "Turning Circles," "You Say Yes," and "All the Way." The album did produce strong Priest classics like "Hot Rockin'" and "Desert Plains" but the unreleased bonus track "Thunder Road" is terribly mediocre and the bonus live version of "Desert Plains" is so speeded up it sounds like the band was on crack when they performed this!
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Shockwaves CD REVIEWS ISSUE 8 Page 8