In my heavy metal Queens neighborhood, judas Priest ruled the day for quite some time (at least until Van Halen landed on the scene).
Hell Bent for Leather and British Steel propelled the band to the top of the metal heap (Rush was a different sort of animal altogether).
The leather clad Rob Halford was a bad-ass lead singer who could hit unearthly high notes while the dual guitar attack drove the music forward. The band was loud and in your face. Judas Priest were somewhat theatrical and put on a great stage show but they also had the songs to back up the bravado.
Judas Priest albums are chock full of great songs and never disappointed (well maybe they jumped the shark with “Nostradamus” but they had a great run before that).
My greatest memory from The Paladium show was going with my girlfriend/wife and us stopping at a dive bar in NYC with her ordering, for the first and only time, a “sloe gin fizz” from a bartender who had probably never made one before. This exotic cocktail was a strange blood red color and my future bride drank it quickly like a trooper. She never did feel quite right the rest of the evening and she learned a valuable lesson that day;
Do not order a proper cocktail from a guy who appears to know only how to open beers and pour shots.
Through the years Judas Priest consistently produced great albums that still hold up today and the live album “Unleashed in the East” is still one of my favorites. The band broke up, Rob Halford announced that he was gay and said that if you look at Judas Priest’s lyrics the clues were there all along, and after various other projects, the band eventually reunited to headline arenas.
What a long strange heavy metal trip its been indeed.
The Green Manalishi (With the two-pronged crown)?
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