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Oh yes, this album rules. This is the first great metal album, and it is among my favourite Priest and metal albums.

1976 ? The 1rst Great Metal album ? I don't think so ! :twisted: but indeed it's a classic & Priest real starter !

As I've said in another thread, I don't consider the early Sabbath albums to be great, and I definitely don't consider Rocka Rolla or some of what Deep Purple was doing to be great. This is therefore to me the first great metal album. I mean, just look at some of those parts... The thrashiness and great guitar harmonies of Tyrant, the insane "slice to the left, slice to the right" part of Genocide, Halford's godly performance on the Ripper, two more classics in Dreamer Deciever and Deciever, and of course, the first great metal epic, Victim of Changes. Incredible album.

you take Zeppelin/Purple's high pitched vocals, Thin Lizzy/Wishbone Ash's duet guitar works then add Black Sabbath's heaviness and Uriah Heep/Jethro Tull type melodies... what would you get ? Judas Priest ! a new mix more than an innovative formula... don't get me wrong, I love Priest. Just I couldn't let you say that

Right on my friend.....back when this album came out, there were other "heavy" bands like U.F.O., Thin Lizzy, Rush etc. aside from the early 70's heavyweights like Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and Zeppelin. Black Sabbath was the only real heavy metal band at that time. All the rest were just called "heavy rock" including Priest. All these band's albums had a wide variety of songs; some heavy, some mid-tempo and even ballads. None of these bands had ever released a single album that was heavy all the way through. Heavy metal came to exist as a viable music form in the late 70's with Priest leading the charge. I've always wanted to review this album but Brent beat me to it!!! I first heard this album when it first came out back in 1976 at my local record store and as a very impressionable 15 year old, it had quite an impact on me. This album was the first one available as Rocka Rolla came out in North America after Sad Wings. Sure I had all the Zeppelin, Heep, Deep Purple albums as well as Alice Cooper and just about every "heavy" band that there was at the time but this album just floored me....it was something very special. Rob Halford's vocals were simply out of this world and those screams!!!!!! A couple of things to add if I may....as far as The Ripper being the heaviest track.....no way.....the main riffs for Victim Of Changes were probably the heaviest thing I'd ever heard at the time. There' s a heavy blues influence especially with the lyrics to Victim Of Changes and overall, there's a bit of a progressive rock feel and even a bit of left over late 60's, early 70's psychadelia especially with tracks like Dreamer and Epitaph and the dreamy interlude in Victim Of Changes. The lead guitar has many weird phasing and wah effects and there's some cool stereo panning with the mix. This album laid the groundwork for Priest and helped them became the flagship metal band that carried us out of the 70's and into the 80's. Sure this album sounds dated but even after owning this album for almost 30 years, it still stands the test of time.......there's my mini review.........

Thanks Marty, it is always a pleasure hearing you talk about Priest.

Brent

Although people tend to diss them and dismiss them because of their later history, I am always wondering where Kiss fits in the evolution of heavy metal, as they were certainly among the heaviest, rawest and well known of their time. Some well worn metal cliches showed up in their music first, did they not?

in any way would I call KISS heavy metal.... they basically play rock'n'roll with higher volume than previous bands used to do (except for The Who), plus they used all the Alice Cooper recycled show... and then used the mistery behind the make-up which was a clever commercial tool (an idea of their manager/label owner who even put a positive KISS out a few years later with the "good boys" of Angel)...

honestly, if there hasn't been all the circus extravaganza of their outfits & concerts KISS would have remained a sympathetic american rock'n'roll band as music world saw a lot in the seventies...

Whether those bands are great is up to the eye of the beholder. However, besides from Black Sabbath and perhaps Deep Purple, none of those bands were even metal and thus whether they were great or not is irrelevant to my point, which was that Sad Wings was the first great metal album. And even if they did mix all those bands styles together (which they pretty much did) they certainly furthered the metal sound with this album (there had certainly been nothing like songs like Tyrant before, really). And since when do you even have to be a complete pioneer to create a great album? To make a great album, all you have to do is... make a great album. However, once again, whether or not Sad Wings is the first great metal album is entirely subjective.

yeah, okay... right... Sad Wings of Destiny is pretty much what can be considered as a landmark in the metal history... I never denied that... all I say is it's one of the landmarks of our music... Venom's Black Metal, Metallica's Kill'em all, Death's Scream Bloody Gore, Pantera's Far Beyond Driven, and a few more (for good or bad are) are other landmarks of our music...
so, the thing that's bothering me is saying how important this album is (it's true, no doubt about that) but the "first great metal album ever" which is, imo, bullshit as everybody knows it's Black Sabbath's 1rst album...
you can't rewrite history to make it suit your point better ! :evil:

How is an opinion rewriting history? Whether an album is great is an OPINION. We all know that Black Sabbath wrote the first heavy metal album. However, there's no universal law that says "Black Sabbath's debut, Black Sabbath, is a great album." There's no doubt that its an influental album, a revolutionary album, but "great" is simply an opinion, and thus can only be defined by the person who says it. Therefore, my opinion that Sad Wings of Destiny is the first great metal album is just that... an opinion. You are free to agree, or in this case, disagree with that. And that is how an opinion works.

ok, let me rephrase then : "Black Sabbath's 1rst album is the 1rst heavy metal album and therefore is a great album for giving birth to our music"... satisfied ? :twisted:

Great album! Tyrant is one of my all time favs along with Ripper! Behold!

[Right on my friend.....back when this album came out, there were other "heavy" bands like U.F.O., Thin Lizzy, Rush etc. aside from the early 70's heavyweights like Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and Zeppelin. Black Sabbath was the only real heavy metal band at that time. All the rest were just called "heavy rock" including Priest. All these band's albums had a wide variety of songs; some heavy, some mid-tempo and even ballads. None of these bands had ever released a single album that was heavy all the way through. Heavy metal came to exist as a viable music form in the late 70's with Priest leading the charge.


Rush, Thin Lizzy and UFO ,all of them were pretty heavy for that time,and they kicked some serious ass. But you forget to mention Queen ,who were at the peak of their heaviness during those days;i know that many metalheads simply ignore Queen ,because they got so mainstream during the 80's,drifting so far away from their heavy rock roots(but the same goes for Rush,except that Rush were never that popular).But it's a big mistake to deny their importance in the history of hard rock &heavy metal.Such heavy songs as Stone Cold Crazy ,Brighton Rock,Oggre Battle,Death on 2 Legs, Prophet's Song,White Man or Tie Your Mother Down(and many others) hold the comparison easily with the heaviest tracks from Sad Wings...some of them even have the fastest guitar riffing from the 70's.Anyway, good choice for a classic ,Sad wings(doesn't Epitaph sound a bit like Queen?,..hehe)is my favorite ,along with Stained Class, Painkiller and Turbo.So hail to the mighty Priest and long live Queen(now with Paul Rodgers)

Ohh yeah i think Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin were playing some heavy ass shit for the time, i love those bands, nothing like the master , the one and only, Mr. Ritchie Blackmore ripping some insane guitar solos, ohh yeah not to mention the heavy as hell drums of Lords and Bonnahm. And yes Lizzie, UFo, and Sabbath were pretty heavy too for point in time. Bottom line, all these bands influence the heavy metal scene one way or another, all great bands.

:twisted:

I didn't intentionally forget to mention Queen.....I just never thought to.......by the way, look for my classic review of Queen II coming up soon.....one of the greatest albums ever in my opinion....

A review of Queen II would be great(actually i can't wait for it);by the way ,what a pity there has not been (yet) a review of the latest Queen release: the double CD (and DVD) Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl(and nothing about their comeback live with Paul Rodgers in the news section)!

Seems like people always forget about Blue Oyster Cult in those early days, Self Titled, Tyranny and Mutation and Secret Treaties were Heavy Metal albums for their days. Listen to the guitar, etc on songs like 7 screaming diz busters, The Black and the Red, Harvester of Eyes, Flaming Telepaths, Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll. SWOD is a great album but almost half of it is Hippy Ballads, although the simple Heavy Riffage and heavy bass work certainly took Metal in a new direction, the slow buildup was already done by Sabbath and Zepplin both (Priest later on nailed it with Beyond the Realms of Death). Not arguing, but lets not forget BOC when we talk great early Metal Prototypes. Personally to me, Hell Bent for Leather and Stained Class were the 2 Priest albums that laid the ground work for Modern Heavy Metal.

Oh yeah, great review even if the Painkiller love made me cringe.....lol

Guess what? You're not the only one BOC fan in here!I really love this band: so original, so unique,so rocknroll, great songwriting,great lyrics.I want to add other killing songs to the list:Dominance and Submission,Hot Rails to Hell,Black Blade,Godzilla,Astronomy.Now ,i should qualify their music more as psychedelic bluesy hard rock than as heavy metal.Their vocals are not at all heavy metal style and they simply lack the "power and the glory " feeling. They're more rocknroll.So far i'll stick to my opinion:Queen are more ar less a seventies version of Blind Guardian and BOC are a hard rock version of the Doors.