If you love heavy metal, you love Judas Priest. The Birmingham five-piece haven’t just been defending the faith since 1974; they also defined its aesthetic with their leather-and-motorbikes look and have put out some of its most enduring singles, including Breaking The Law, You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ and Electric Eye. Without their unabashed flamboyance and wailing guitars, entire subgenres may never have taken shape.
Although the band’s origins date back to the late 1960s, they didn’t truly take shape until the early 70s, when powerhouse frontman Rob Halford entered the fray and K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton formed a pioneering guitar tandem. Their second and third albums, Sad Wings Of Destiny and Sin After Sin, started their climb to heavy music heroism; it continued through 1978’s back-to-back Stained Class and Killing Machine, the latter of which went Platinum in the US. They headlined in America for the first time the following year, cementing them as just as beloved Stateside as they were in their home country.
After continued success through the early-to-mid 80s, their status stumbled with the controversial Turbo and Ram It Down records. Painkiller was one last blast of authentic heavy metal thunder, but a potential comeback was scuppered when Halford quit in 1993. Priest persevered with Tim “Ripper” Owens at the mic, but it wasn’t the same, and the classic singer returned in 2003.
Since then, Priest’s career hasn’t been wobble-free: Downing stepped down before a planned farewell tour in 2010, after which the rest of the lineup abruptly decided against retirement. Plus, Tipton stepped away from the live lineup in 2018, due to his struggles with Parkinson’s. But, through such albums as Firepower and Invincible Shield, they’ve remained the last word in unabashed, old-school vigour. Following the release of their career retrospective The Best Of Judas Priest, here are their 19 records ranked from worst to best:
19. Demolition (2001)
A noble but flawed attempt to be all things to all metalheads, Demolition is no one’s favourite Judas Priest album. A halfway house between the band’s classic sound and the hybrid futurism of the ‘90s, it lacks any truly great songs and, despite Tim Owens’ stunning vocal performance, served largely as confirmation that a reunion with Rob Halford was the only credible way forward.
18. Rocka Rolla (1974)
Judas Priest’s debut album was more about hinting at their potential than clicking into the higher gear that the band would later use to conquer the world. Rocka Rolla is enjoyable enough, with its faint whiff of progressive hard rock and its warm, analogue tones, but it’s a patchy affair and never comes close to the grandeur and grit of the classics.
17. Ram It Down (1988)
Returning to their traditional sound after the electronic detours of Turbo, Judas Priest stuck to the basics on their 11th studio album. Unfortunately, with the exception of the title track and Blood Red Skies, Ram It Down is a largely forgettable collection of box-ticking stompers with a perfunctory version of Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode thrown in for no apparent reason.
16. Nostradamus (2008)
Judas Priest split opinion with this sumptuous conceptual effort, partly because it saw the band veer into symphonic metal territory, replete with choirs and oceans of keyboards. For all its self-conscious bluster, Nostradamus does contain some killer tunes, however. Prophecy, the title track and Pestilence And Plague are all great, but the Priest boys couldn’t quite sustain that quality for the album’s daunting 102 minutes.
15. Jugulator (1997)
Rather than attempt to cajole cynical fans into embracing the start of the Tim Owens era by playing it safe, Jugulator declared that post-Halford Priest were in an unforgiving and furious mood. A vicious modern metal album that owed as much to Pantera and Slayer as it did to the trad metal world, it failed to set the world on fire but thoroughly deserves to be reassessed now. If nothing else, the closing Cathedral Spires is an outright classic in Judas Priest's canon.
14. Redeemer Of Souls (2014)
Not quite the sizzling return to form that many proclaimed it to be, Redeemer Of Souls is simply a really good Judas Priest album. New guitarist Richie Faulkner acquits himself brilliantly throughout, the sound falls neatly between Painkiller and Angel Of Retribution and, on the stunning Crossfire, Priest prove that they are masters of metal and the blues.
13. Point Of Entry (1981)
Following the globe-conquering British Steel was never going to be easy, and while Point Of Entry features a brace of platinum-plated Priest gems (Heading Out To The Highway and Desert Plains, since you ask), and both Solar Angels and Hot Rockin’ have been welcome additions to live shows, it never quite hits the heights of its triumphant predecessor.
12. Turbo (1986)
Much-maligned at the time thanks to Judas Priest’s decision to embrace the (then) mildly futuristic sounds of the synthesiser, Turbo is far, far better than you may have heard. The first four tracks offer an unstoppable barrage of driving riffs and thunderous beats and – despite a mild mid-album slump – the overall quality of the songs makes a mockery of the notion that an aesthetic side-step had diluted the band’s metal spirit.
11. Angel Of Retribution (2005)
After the much-anticipated return of Rob Halford to the fold, the Brummie legends must have known instinctively that their next album had to be a cracker. And so it proved, with a batch of songs that skilfully updated the band’s classic sound while also remembering to keep the heavy metal flag flying high. Judas Rising is a superb opener, Angel is one of Priest’s finest ever ballads and yes, preposterous 13-minute denouement Loch Ness fucking rules. Yes, it does.
10. Sin After Sin (1977)
Routinely overshadowed by the previous year’s Sad Wings Of Destiny, Sin After Sin was a transitional record that saw Judas Priest inch away from their moderately progressive roots and focus on the unbridled metal glory to come. Obvious highlights like Starbreaker and Dissident Aggressor (which was, of course, memorably covered by Slayer on South Of Heaven) are up there with the band’s best tunes.
9. Invincible Shield (2024)
Priest’s latter-career gold streak continued spectacularly with Invincible Shield, boasting another incredible production job from producer and live guitarist Andy Sneap. The likes of Panic Attack, The Serpent And The King, Sons Of Thunder and the title track are classic Priest rippers. Also, final number Giants In The Sky serves as a stirring tribute to the band’s fellow metal icons who are no longer with us.
8. Killing Machine (1978)
Arguably the album that first showcased the classic Judas Priest sound, Killing Machine is rammed to the gills with bona fide anthems: Hell Bent For Leather, Running Wild, Rock Forever, Delivering The Goods, The Green Manalishi… they’re all here and they all kick a vast amount of arse. Even the elegant ballad Before The Dawn crackles with electrified confidence. A game-changing ripsnorter, basically.
7. Defenders Of The Faith (1984)
Judas Priest’s second creative peak arrived in the mid ’80s, and Defenders Of The Faith was the result. Although lacking the chart hits of Screaming For Vengeance from two years earlier, there is real substance and power to the likes of Freewheel Burning and The Sentinel and an endearing frisson of censor-baiting sexuality to the menacing Eat Me Alive. All killer, no filler.
6. Firepower (2018)
2018 was a year of upheaval for Judas Priest, long-time guitarist Glenn Tipton officially stepping away from tour duties as a result of his Parkinson’s diagnosis. Tipton still put his magic touch to that year's Firepower album however, while tour guitarist Andy Sneap took up production duties alongside Ram It Down producer Tom Allom. The result was among the fieriest Priest albums in years, hitting the ground running with the title track and not letting up for a moment from there on in, affirming that even as they approached half-a-century they were still heavy metal's most ardent defenders.
5. British Steel (1980)
Many fans would doubtless put this album at the top of their own ‘best of’ Judas Priest lists, and there’s no questioning British Steel’s brilliance, or its huge influence on the entire world of metal. You simply can’t argue with Breaking The Law, Metal Gods or Rapid Fire and Living After Midnight is one of the ultimate party metal anthems. The rest is nearly as good, and that’s pretty fucking good by anyone’s standards.
4. Painkiller (1990)
The end of Rob Halford’s first period as Judas Priest frontman arrived shortly after the release of one of their greatest albums. Painkiller rips from start to finish and single-handedly redefined the sound of traditional heavy metal in the process. There are literally hundreds of bands out there peddling this exact same sound, but no one will ever top the original. And that title track… holy fucking shit.
3. Sad Wings Of Destiny (1976)
Black Sabbath may have inadvertently invented heavy metal, but Judas Priest defined it with their second album. Grandiloquent, adventurous and epic as all hell, Sad Wings… kicks off with Victim Of Changes – one of the greatest metal songs ever written, let’s face it – and then sustains its air of supreme confidence and power for the duration. All metalheads need this album in their lives.
2. Stained Class (1978)
As the 70s drew to a close, Judas Priest were hitting their stride in no uncertain terms. Their fourth album exudes a ferocious energy, as songs like Exciter, Invader and the towering morbidity of Beyond The Realms Of Death upgraded the ‘70s hard rock template for a new decade. Even a cover of psychedelic rock mob Spooky Tooth’s Better By You, Better Than Me slayed and flayed like a maniac. A true metal milestone.
1. Screaming For Vengeance (1982)
Judas Priest’s biggest breakthrough, particularly in the US, came with this immaculate slab of none-more-metal bravado. Screaming For Vengeance is an imperious display of heavy metal in its purest, most exhilarating form: from the ageless rush of Electric Eye and the world-dominating thud of You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ through to the neck-wrenching attack of the title track and the fiery crunch of Devil’s Child, it’s a flawless encapsulation of everything that made metal such a global force during the ‘80s. And (almost) 40 years on, it’s still exerting its influence over countless aspiring metal musicians around the globe. A steely masterpiece with a giant heart.
Judas Priest’s new compilation album, The Best Of Judas Priest, is out now via Sony. The band play London’s Eventim Apollo tonight (September 21).
