enter the goatlady

This is part two of my blog series on metal appreciation. You can also Check out part 1 - Metal Appreciation 101: The Beginning.

Iron Maiden or Judas Priest. Most old-school metal fans prefer one or the other. Occasionally people will claim to like both equally, but just between you and me, they’re lying.

Up front disclosure: I fall on the Judas Priest side of the argument. I mean, the classic image of 80’s Iron Maiden that I always think of has Bruce Dickinson running around in bright patterned spandex pants and huge white sneakers:

Contrast that fashion disaster to Judas Priest front man Rob Halford:

Sure, he’s gay. But he’s also tough. And cool. (And spiky). And that always appealed to me far more than Bruce’s sneakers, personally. I was first introduced to Priest through my best mate Gossy, who was in turn influenced by her older brother, who was somewhat of an early metal fan.

It cannot be denied that both bands have contributed an enormous amount to the history of metal. Going back to our big-arse genre diagram, Sam Dunn (remember him? check the first installment if you don’t) has grouped Iron Maiden into the “New Wave of British Heavy Metal” (1979-1983) group (affectionately known as NWOBHM by historians - and I’m serious) whereas Judas Priest have been put into “Power Metal” (1976-present). I’m a bit surprised by that - I usually think of Priest as being very much British New Wave - and although they are mentioned on both the NWOBHM Wikipedia entry and in the NWOBHM Encyclopedia (yes, of course there is one) they do not have a dedicated entry themselves, so I guess I stand corrected.

Anyhoo… while both bands have had on-again off-again careers, Judas Priest have been around the longest, so we’ll start with them. Judas Priest start to get interesting, in my opinion, with Killing Machine (released as Hell Bent For Leather in the US). This is when they got properly heavy and started the leather and studs thing. I had this on tape when I was younger and listened to it in my walkman (remember them?) constantly. Here’s Hell Bent For Leather, live, complete with onstage motorbike:

YouTube - Judas Priest - Hell Bent For Leather

That album was followed up by British Steel in 1980, which is often considered their best work. Here’s Breaking The Law, which has a rather hilarious film clip:

YouTube - Judas Priest Breaking The Law

I wouldn’t recommend holding up a bank using only guitars, even if you do have KK Downing and/or Glen Tipton with you.

From Screaming For Vengeance, Priest’s 8th studio album released in 1982, check out You Got Another Thing Coming:

YouTube - Judas Priest - You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’

Looking through YouTube, there’s so much I’d like to link to here, but I will try and limit myself. To wrap up the Judas Priest segment, I will include Turbo Lover from 1986’s Turbo, which is one of Gossy’s fave songs. There are some people who consider Turbo to be low point in Priest’s career, as it features synthesizers and is much more mainstream than their previous work. I dunno though - it’s Priest, isn’t it? You decide for yourself:

YouTube - Judas Priest

If you’re interested in Judas Priest, there’s two other episodes in the band’s history that you may want to read up about. Firstly there was the “subliminal messages” trial, where the parents of two boys who committed suicide sued Judas Priest in 1990, claiming the album Stained Class contained the subliminal message “do it”. The law suit was eventually dismissed, although not before causing a considerable financial burden to the band. As Rob Halford pointed out during the trial, commanding fans to commit suicide would be counter-productive; if such a thing were possible, bands would be more likely to instruct listeners to “buy more records”.

Secondly, the era involving Tim “Ripper” Owens, who joined the band in 1996 after Halford left, is quite interesting. Owens was the singer in a Judas Priest tribute band called British Steel - and his transition to the “real thing” was the inspiration for the film Rock Star, although the details differed quite a bit in the final version of the movie. It’s not a bad flick, either.

Judas Priest have continued to release good albums since the “classic period” that I’ve outlined here - for example, 1990’s Painkiller was particularly well received. A new Priest album is set for release in 2008: titled Nostradamus, it is apparently a concept album based around the prophet of the same name

Onto Iron Maiden. Their early history is confusing - they went through a number of singers and guitarists (I think) before settling on a mostly stable lineup (I think). You’re free to try to untangle the Wikipedia entry yourselves.

1981’s Number of the Beast, their third album and first international success, was the first to feature current vocalist Bruce Dickinson. From that release, here’s the title track:

YouTube - Iron Maiden - Number of the beast

Another classic is Run to the Hills. I dunno about the video clip for this one:

YouTube - Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills

Here’s a live clip for Flight of Icarus, from their next release, Piece of Mind from 1983:

YouTube - 4 - Iron Maiden - Flight Of Icarus

Their later albums - which were plentiful - get a bit weird, and to be honest I don’t know many fans who don’t prefer early 80’s Maiden to later Maiden. So I’ll leave you with one last clip, Aces High, also from Piece of Mind:

YouTube - Iron Maiden - Aces High

So… Priest… Maiden… it’s up to you. As I mentioned at the beginning, you can claim to like both. But deep down you know you have a favourite: so let’s hear it in the comments. When MTV’s Headbanger’s Blog asked Who Rocks Harder?: Judas Priest or Iron Maiden? it was definitely Priest that got more comments. I know that’s who I picked.

I can’t finish without some more Priest, so how about this: Parental Guidance, the anthem of the 80’s. Sing it with me kids:

We don’t need no
no no no
parental guidance here

YouTube - Judas Priest - Parental Guidance