Judas Priest - Painkiller (Reaction!) 

This may actually be THE definitive heavy metal song of all time.

The guitar duo of K.K. Downing & Glenn Tipton is one of the greatest in metal history. They wrote some legendary riffs and have influenced countless famous metal guitarists including Kerry King (Slayer) and Dave Mustaine (Megadeth). Great reaction.

Painkiller is one of the defining song in metal, at least for me.

The whole Painkiller album is killer.

What's really wild is that the lead singer Rob Halford is 71, still touring and still sounds like that.

I CAN imagine buying this CD in 1990 and pressing play...Holy smokes...this was next level for JP

Back in the day even Priest fans didn't know what was coming after the drum intro, and it was facemelting!

Judas Priest - The Sentinel is another insanely good song by them, great reaction aswell!

Most metal thing ever... after Richie Faulkner joined the band, he was playing this song live a few years ago.. he had an aortic ambulism (heart burst and bleeding into the body) while playing this song... he never missed a single note in the solo and finished the song! Rushed to the hospital after and survived 🤘🏼 I just saw them at Power Trip (10/23) they sound just this good!!

"imagine buying this cassette ...." You mean REMEMBER!!! hahah!

Priest is the metal band all other metal bands wish they could be. They've been the metal Gods for over 50 years running.

There's enough metal in this song to build 2 aircraft carriers.

I'm 54 and Priest has been my favorite band since I was 15. To see where they started with Rocka Rolla to now has been amazing. You should do some of their older stuff. Beyond the realms of death, the sentinel and victim of changes to name a few. Thanks for the reaction

That first solo was Tipton,second was Ken(KK) Downing...Tipton is the greatest metal guitarist ever! Such a perfect tone and very complicated but beautiful...listen to "all guns blazing",every guitar style rolled into one!

That note that Rob Halford is holding at the end of the song there goes on for some 25+ seconds. That is not an easy feature for Any vocalist in Any genre to pull off which makes Rob Halford one of the Greatest vocalist of all time.

So in the 80s Judas Priest had some very "commercial" sounding albums and alot of fans said they lost their edge and sold out...then they unleashed this beast.....Questioned no more.

this band has been around since the early 70's and has changed so much over the years. The main solo is played by Glenn Tipton. He has sadly had to retire from the band due to Parkinson's. I named my son after Glenn

Green mandalishi victim of changes screaming for vengeance nightcrawler electric eye grinder running wild bloodstone diamonds and rust tyrant firepower

This is one of them songs you get in the car and pop on as you get on the freeway and moments later look down and you are doing 130Mph and didn't even notice well till you check the rear view and wonder how long the red and blue lights have been back there.

"Dude I 'm thirsty." Might be the best reaction to this song I've ever seen ROFL

Rob Halford is 2023 over 70 years old and still with Judas Priest on Tour

They didn't break the rules, they made them. Inspired so many artists all over the world. So long on stage and so different. One of my first own audio cassettes was their album Turbo when I was about 10 years old, so I've known them for a long time. But I really fell in love and began to understand their music differently much later and after I returned to their early albums. Especially Sad Wings of Destiny. Victim of Changes has already been recommended here - a great song, but it's better to listen to the whole album. Painkiller is a good song, but it does not make it possible to understand who judas prie. Sorry for my English and thanks for reaction!

There are two guitarists here-Glenn Tipton and KK Downing. Both mind blowing!

Most metalist metal song ever metalled!

Rob Halford (vocals) of Judas Priest inspired a lot of metal singers (More than likely also Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses...) ...U had past singers in the 70's that had the 'high scream' vocal range... Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Ian Gillan (Deep Purple), Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath), Geddy Lee (Rush), etc... But Halford brought a new level of intensity and edge when Judas Priest started in the mid-70's. Back then, 'heavy metal' was band's like Black Sabbath which had a slow, heavy and punishing sound... Judas Priest began to bring in the faster elements to heavy metal - faster guitars, faster beats w/ double bass... piercing vocals. Their 1977 album 'Sin after sin' and 1978 album 'Stained class' were so groundbreaking for their time... Priest was also a show-no-mercy live band in concert... the twin-lead guitar duo of Glenn Tipton & K.K. Downing also wrote the rules on the playing aspect of heavy metal... Priest's 1980 album 'British steel' was a sonic detonation w/ songs like 'Breaking the law' and 'Living after midnight' scoring on the pop charts, which was unheard of back then... 'Painkiller' came later in their career in 1990, after thrash metal bands like Metallica and Slayer were becoming popular... and Judas Priest were seemingly losing ground and sales... They had endured a ridiculous trial in Nevada where they were accused of inspiring a grisly double-suicide w/ their music (allegedly w/ a 'subliminal command' on a record)... Priest were exonerated, but it was tough on them... Their anger shone through on the 'Painkiller' and showed the world that Judas Priest were still one of the greatest heavy metal bands on the planet 🤘🤘🔥🔥Not 1 ballad or filler track... all killer tunes from first to last...

The drum intro was a salutation from the new drummer (at the time), Scott Travis…He rocks to this day with the Priest!

32 years ago! Think about that. Proving once again, the music I grew up with is much better than today.

On the solos you have Glen Tipton and K K Downing. Both legends!

Judas Priest are one of the bands that created metal. Before them metal didn't exist. I have this song set for my alarm in the morning.

the entire Painkiller album is absolute FIRE, well worth the purchase. please add All Guns Blazing and Nightcrawler to your playlist

I had the pleasure to see them in January of 91' for the Painkiller tour with Megadeth opening for them. One bad ass show.🤘🤘

VICTIM OF CHANGES Live 🤟😎 Saw Judas priest in 1979 as a teenager in a small venue with around 300 people in it .

Legendary song! The most metal! How can a song be so perfect? The vocals, the guitar, the drums. Everything is pumping so hard, including your pulse. It's so hard but is so smooth at the same time. Epic!

After a couple of previous “average” albums and this came out, every Priest fans first thought was “ The Priest is back” !!

Seen this show live in Calgary Canada. Front row, one of the best metal shows of all time. Priest rocks!!!

I bought the cassette in 1990 listened to it,went ohhhh there's the new drummer...awesome! It's Glenn Tipton who played 1st solo in that video,not Ritchie Faulkner. He does now on tour cause Glenn is 75 with Parkinson's disease. Back then it was Glen and Ken Downing on guitars...best duo ever!

RIP to Chris Tsangarides the charismatic producer of this incredible Studio Album for whom noone ever talks about...

i feel happiness and joy . like a blanket of sound comfort

We don't call them the Metal Gods for nothing brother. Im 60 and my introduction to Judas Priest was "Hell Bent For Leather" back in 1978. 🤘🤘

Rob Halford doesn't "sound" like anyone, everyone else tries to sound like him. 🤘🤘🤘🤘

Full album its amazing

Priest were heavy metal pioneers, but by the mid-80s they were kind of seen as dinosaurs. They still had some great songs and albums, but thrash was making them sound old and slow. Then they got Scott Travis on drums for Painkiller and they were right back in the mix.

I bought Painkiller when it first came out, I was 19. Painkiller is the best song on the album, but the whole album is very good. The only Priest album that is all killer with no filler.

The Metal Gods of Birmingham, England. No-one anywhere can compare.

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it yet, but at the time this video was made, the lineup was: Rob Halford - Vocals Glenn Tipton - Guitar - 1st solo K.K. Downing - Guitar - 2nd solo Ian Hill - Bass Guitar Scott Travis - Drums

More Priest please! i suggest you Screaming for Vengeance (LIVE from 1983)

Painkiller is one of the best albums I've ever heard. Cant go wrong with any song from it. There are only a hand full of albums I would say that about.

This is one of the songs I would play if someone asked me to define heavy metal.

METAL GODS - and I did by the LP in 1990, been a fan since the early 80's.

That man turned that guitar solo into a banshee scream!!!

All hail the metal gods! 🤘🤘🤘🤘

The whole album is relentless!

Still one of the greatest songs ever, and certainly the best by Priest IMHO

That is Glenn Tipton. The blonde headed guitarist is founder K.K. Downing. The whole CD is awesome.

Desert Plains (live vengeance 82) uncle Bobby at his best......any live version of Diamonds & Rust.....80s live versions of Electric Eye or Beyond the Realm of Death 🤘🤪🥃

Judas Priest have not only become a huge, legendary act in their own right, but also influenced innumerable other bands to play fast-paced, yet melodic, and meticulously well-crafted heavy metal. Among them, the "US power metal" bands, usually not well-known in their home country but rather in Europe, where heavy metal to this day remains very, VERY popular. Some of those obscurish US gems you could try include Savatage (I suggest the song "Hall of the mountain king"), Helstar (I suggest the song "Run with the pack") and Riot (I suggest the song, and album, "Thundersteel"). Here you find musicianship, hooks, high-pitched vocals and guitar playing second to none. We also have German bands: again, not well-known in the US but big on the verge of deserving the label stars in Europe. The biggest, and arguably best, are Helloween (I suggest the song "I want out"), their spin-off band Gamma Ray (I suggest the song "Fight") and Running Wild (I suggest the songs "Whirlwind", "Black soul" and "Wheel of doom"). The legendary Accept would also belong to this category, having produced a buttload of certified classic heavy metal tracks like "Fast as a shark", "Balls to the wall" and "Metal heart". But as far as dual heavy metal guitars classic heavy metal style go, there is simply no beating the undisputed super behemoth that is Britain's Iron Maiden. (In recent times, they even upgraded from dual to triple lead guitars.) If you have an interest in bass guitar as well, Iron Maiden's leader Steve Harris is the architect of one of the most unique bass sounds in music: his fingerstyle playing is lightning-fast but with an undeniable groove, greatly adding to the singular identity of Iron Maiden. Last, but arguably not least, we have modern day acts of exceptional quality as well - again, predominantly European. Fastest of the fast are Britain's Dragonforce (every Guitar Hero player is familiar with the classic "Through the fire and flames"), but Sweden and Finland would probably be the greatest "Judas Priest-style heavy metal" nations of all. From the latter country come Stratovarius (I recommend the song "Hunting high and low") and Battle Beast (I recommend the songs "Kingdom" and "Raven"). Sweden in turn boasts the likes of Hammerfall (I recommend the song "Hearts on fire") and modern day superstars Sabaton (I recommend the songs "Primo Victoria", "40:1" and "Dreadnought"). But if you like it just a little more brutal, though still similar, perhaps no one today can beat Arch Enemy, the Swedish act currently sporting Canadian singer Alissa White-Gluz. Their 2022 album "Deceivers" include gem after gem, including the video track "Deceiver", and is an introduction as good as any. The musicianship is nothing short of spectacular, not least the dual guitar playing by main man Michael Amott and Jeff Loomis (formerly a member of Seattle US metal legends Nevermore). Go investigate! It WILL be worth your while.

Not only is Painkiller the first, and title track, to the album, it's their new drummer Scott Travis's introduction to their fans. What an intro.

When you look up Heavy Metal in a dictionary this song starts playing.

I bought the tape the day it dropped and it blew my mind and still does.

I saw Judas Priest in concert in 2012 and they were still killing it. On a future Metal Friday, Please consider reviewing Queensryche: "Silent Lucidity" (one of the most moving songs I've ever heard) or "Take Hold of the Flame" (the Live in Tokyo version is one of the greatest live performances ever). Geoff Tate is the GOAT vocalist.

I was a sound engineer in Virginia. In 1985 this drummer Scott Travis booked a Friday night in my studio. He needed a demo tape to take to Los Angeles. Scott blew me away that night! He told me he didn't want to just be a rockstar. He wanted to be the drummer for Judas Priest. Dreams really do come true! Judas Priest was the inspiration for the Mark Wahlburg movie "Rockstar". Glen Tipton doesn't play for them anymore because of Parkinson's decease.

Tipton is the master of the memorable solo.

One of the best drum intros EVER

The greatest metal song of all time!!! Glenn Tipton is a freakin' metal monster just destroying those frets. Awesome. You mention what it must have been like to buy it and put it in and hear it. I was that dude. Camelot Music at University Mall in 1990, was in the store and they pulled it right out of the box from the warehouse. I had no idea they had a new album, so I was pumped. Put it in the car and was immediately smiling ear to ear. I knew I had just heard the greatest metal song in the history of life. Much like the solo that Tipton just utterly nails. What an awesome band. Love your reviews, dude. Good job.

Glenn tipton and Kk Downing the best guitars attack🤘⚡🎸🎸⚡🤘. Painkiller album 1990 is heavy and aggressive Metal. The Drummer. He is my neighbor in Las Vegas Scott Travis ex Drummer of Racer X.

When you get thirsty listening to music…. Lol. Great reaction…!

I was 9 years old when my brother introduced me to this Album in 1992. I have been a fav ever since! Check out A Touch of Evil from the same album. You'll Love the Solo!

May be the greatest pure metal song of all time.

judas priest is one of the bands that invented metal

The album cover of Painkiller is the Painkiller. Great piece of airbrush album art.

Painkiller is the song that represents the metal, in all senses

The first time I ever heard this song on the radio my jaw about hit the floor and I let out and audible “holy fuck what is this?” Then of course I went home and tried to learn it on guitar.

Judas Priest have their own mythology, without being too serious about it, of super beings overcoming adversity and evil, they can be dark, heavy af and still manage a positive outcome for the fan/listener, Priest taught me as a kid, you can get out of anything, but you'll have to fight like hell to do it

pumped, and awestruck.

At the time they received a lot of criticism with people sayind they couldn´t keep up younger metal bands because their previous albums had a more glam 80s bent. Painkiller was the best way for them to say like "fuck off it´s because of us you guys have a job"

Glen Tipton and K.K. Downing back then. I have always considered Tipton one of the greatest guitarists ever, and this was my favorite band for many years. (btw, the singer, Rob Halford did a version of this song and one other, Breaking The Law, with BABYMETAL at the 2016 Alternative Press Music Awards.) Kitsune dao! Oh, my Priest suggestion is Victim Of Changes, Live Vengeance 82

Heck ya. Heavy Metal bands Deep Purple Iron Maiden Judas Priest Black Sabbath Blue Oyster Cult Scorpions These , in no order, are just some of my favorite metal bands from the 80's Hard Rock Van Halen Rush (prog now) Aeorsmith REO Speedwagon Thin Lizzy (a bit early)

My friend. The whole album is insane. One of the best metal guitar albums out there. Most songs after listen to them for a while, you'll probably get tired of them. But when it comes to Painkiller I could put it on repeat and have it played in the background from now until the time Im dead; and I still would love it as much I did first time I listen to it... if not more. 🤘

If you look op info on the element metal this song just starts playing. This is so metal the even pure steel listens to this song for inspiration. Great reaction and analysis so to say. As a massive priest fan i would recommend the sentinel next

Judas priest - Jugulator Is often overlooked because there is no Halford as a singer, but I like it, it's very aggressive and brutal

That's Glenn Tipton dude, on lead guitar, one of the greatest of all time!

This song scratches an itch like no other. Epic.

That is the greatest lead in Metal.

If you wanna go down this rabbithole( And I can't suggest strongly enough that you do!!!) I would go to "Victim Of Changes" next. Amazing songwriting from the VERY early Priest years. A masterpiece!!!!! Even if you dismiss my suggestion, keep doing Priest!!!!

If I were asked "What is Heavy Metal?", this song would be my answer... I listen to pretty much the whole Metal spectrum, but this very song, to me, is the musical definition of Heavy Metal. This is pure Heavy Metal.

Yeah, could you imagine back then? Popping this in cranking it up Friday pulling up to your buddies house picking him up and then heading out to a party or something!!!’

This is as metal as it gets 🤘😝🤘

The first REAL metal band!!!🤟

I know I feel empowered and energized!! It's a mind-blowing amazing song!! Judas Priest is one of my favorite bands! 🤘🏻🔥❤️ Great reaction!!

If someone asked me to define heavy metal this is one of two songs I would point them towards!

There are so many parts in this song where the guitar sounds like it's screaming and I love it.

Painkiller was the right album released at the wrong time... brilliant album.

I'm not really a metalhead but this song does it for me.

Priest the most diverse and best metal band ever ❤

Never thought of this as a wedding or funeral song. Hardcore!

1990 just when thought you heard Judas Priest this comes blasting out, had this cranking out my Mustang 5.0 forever..

This song leaves no doubt who are the metal gods

This song came out 33 years ago and he still can hit those notes! Though my favorite song from this album is "Touch of Evil". Judas Priest is the band that truly defined what a metal band is. So it is fair to say that Axl Rose was very highly influenced by Robb Halford.

Painkiller is what you make someone who asks: "What is Heavy Metal?" listen to. This is metal distilled. No BS, just pure, raw metal.

It's exactly as you described. I listen to our local rock radio channel while driving, I've noticed they don't often introduce this song. They just hit play and the drum solo kicks in and I'm like oh f*** yeah here we go and suddenly my gas foot feels heavy.