Agreed. I've been a Judas Priest fan my #1 favorite band since 1981 and this debut album is so underrated far underneath the band members themselves a similar example would be Kiss - Music From The Elder 1981
@@sgg6927 I was lucky enough to see them in 1979, one block from my house in Yakima, WA. A life changing event for me and many others. They were really loud in that community college gymnasium and even without knowing the songs we were all just blown away. They had just began the leather look and when Rob rolled the Harley out and they placed a microphone next to the exhaust it was criminally loud! During the solo for Sinner KK threw his flying V about twenty feet into the air with the cord attached. I wish I could revisit that evening every day. There is audio from an impromptu performance that they did at the Roxy in New York on that tour for Andy Warhol. That is probably the closest to being able to hear them like they were that night. They opened for UFO. It was supposed to be a triple bill with a band called Wireless opening. Wireless could not play , something to do with United Airlines being on strike so Judas Priest played even longer than they would have. UFO was also great with Paul Chapman on lead guitar but I was all wrung out after JP!
I really find it silly that many people ignore or underestimate this one. All the elemenets that made Sad Wings a masterpriece are pretty much here already. Maybe it's not as heavy & refined sound-wise and it doesn't have a moody cover artwork, but I always found it equally amazing.
I'm52 been listening to priest, maiden, black Sabbath, Ozzy and countless other classic metal bands since I was 13. Still loving the older stuff . It all started here. God bless heavy metal!
I'm 56 and started listening to Black Sabbath/ Judas Priest/ UFO/ Scorpions/ Deep Purple/ Saxon/ AC/ DC/ Motor Head/ Rush/ Early Aerosmith/ Early Van Hallen/ Started Listening at 10 Yrs. Of age!!! Like Ronnie James Dio( RIP) said " Long Live Rock & Roll!!🤘🏻🤘🏻
Rob Halford, simply the best vocalist ever. I'm seen him live more then any other artist, his range is truly unbelievable. KK and GT also best tandem guitarists team. Too many good songs to name,. Lifelong fan of true metal Masters ........ Thank you JP never a disappointment.
@@scottbarker9058Mr. DIO( RIP) & Mr. Halford are Truly at the Top of the Heavy Rock Vocalist List. I also Love early Queensryche Vocalist Geoff Tate.👍🤘🏻🤘🏻
Admittedly, although I've always liked Priest I didn't give their early stuff enough credit. Never gave this album a chance cause it didn't have the crunchier more aggressive sound they grew into later on. But I've always been good at picking up the hooks and signature sounds the great bands establish, and it's all here. Finally love this album. I'm gonna listen again tomorrow night.
You are so right. Very underrated. This and Sad Wings. Dreamers Deceiver is awesome. KK Downing has ALOT to do with the first 2 albums. Glenn was the last member hired. Truth and is a fact.
Everyone always mentioned how Priest was influenced by some great band such as Zeppelin and Sabbath ; but make no mistake they where just as much of influencers and innovators at the time. Their early efforts were greatly underrated. They led the way for "heavy metal" with an ever evolving style. That's why I love every album from their 70's rock to Fire Power. Thank you for putting this classic on you tube.🤘
When I found JP in '75, it single handedly saved my soul from the sins of disco! This album changed the course of my (musical) life and turned me on to what became heavy metal, which in my late 50's I still listen to. This album will forever have a special place in my musical library and my heart.
WORSHIP THE PRIEST IS THE NAME OF MY 120 MINUTE CASSETTE TAPE I RECORDED ON MY FISHER DUAL CASSETTE PLAYER STILL NOT ENOUGH TIME TO GET ALL THEIR GREATEST HITS
Particularly for a debut album, this record has a very nice clean and professional sound to it. Very well recorded and engineered. Far better than most debut albums, I'd say.
Been a Priest fan for decades. When I was a kid in the 80's i heard this album and thought it sucked. "Play some Rapid Fire man!" So tonight i decide to listen to this and it is awesome. Been missing out all these years. Better late then never. Cheater is complete with Harmonica.
I'd maintain that they have always remained Judas Priest, just later clutched on to a marketable identity. Yes.... the early Priest is best. By far. So pure in intent. So original. Raw. Distinct and irreplaceable. I think a little more of Rob's range came out early, too. They are the Forgotten Gods. Fock!!! NO ONE ever mentions Run of the Mill. Powerful build...
@@glyph68 It baffles me how this album gets panned by so many people, it’s certainly one of my favorites. In fact, I heard Halford talking about it recently and commenting that it has some of their best material. And yes, Run of The Mill is absolutely epic.
Sometimes listening to.a bands 1st album Gives you a insight on a shape of things to come. And plus its intresting to hear a band explore different avenues. Its very honest in its approach. So many times when a band finallly gets commerical success they go into autopilot after that and coast. They no longer challenge thenselves. I enjoy Rocka Rolla as much as I do Screaming for Vengence. Priest was a band from the Midlands. This is what you would expect from a band from that region. Very under rated release. It gets better over time
I totally agree. Aerosmith is another example of this (although they've managed to keep challenging themselves). Their first album doesn't really even sound like the same band that came out with Pump. I usually end up liking a band's early material better than their later material.
I totally agree with you guys. Early albums of Aerosmith, Rush, Scorpions, Journey, Styx, Judas Priest of course, Maiden. Etc.... I always enjoy more their early works.🤘🤘🤘
With great enthusiasm and little money, Judas Priest recorded his debut album during the last week of June and the first two weeks of July 1974, at the Olympic Studios in London, where they slept during the day in their van to get into the studio at night, since at that time it was cheaper. "Rocka Rolla" would see the light on September 6 under the Gull Records label. The legend began to be written...
I'd have to agree. Early Priest albums are the best. As they became more commercial and glammy, they lost it. Their early songs were all great. They never get old.
So grateful they went for a quality recording studio - the results are sensational on my pro studio converter and monitor speakers. Amazed that this is their first album - never heard this until just now - gobsmacked at the power, finesse, and feel. Produced by Rodger Bain. Engineer Vic Smith.
A Different Taste/Flavor of Judas Priest. I quite enjoy it. Priest Blues great playing, strong singing! RockARolla, Never Satisfied, Run of the Mill, etc. 🖤❤🎸💯⭐
This is definitely one of my favourite 18 Judas Priest studio albums. Seriously, I do love 70s Priest as much as I love the rest of their trajectory and probably even more. They had such a special sound and music.
My favorite album of 1974 from great drumming to awsome guitars to super bass play and Rob's unmistakable vocals this is a classic well put together debut album it started the whole metal music albums that would influence more rock and metal music for future albums to come. This one started it all Super songs every single one is truly awesome with creative sounds..Rock on Judas Priest.
I had already smoked a joint to Sabbath's Paranoid when this Import came out at Budget Record's and Tapes. I waited 2 weeks till it came in. Lost memories that diminished within the blue smoke and black light posters all over the walls. Chicago knew about Judas Priest years before the West Coast did!
@@hondotoo We had a Budget Records and tapes on Cicero Ave & 152nd St. Oak Forest, and on 147th in Midlothian was a Music store that in 1974 Paul Butterfield had a no show for Hohner Harmonicas Promotional Event. I was there and pissed off that I wasted a whole Saturday afternoon, even though we got a lot of promotional stuff. The White Sox Will Rise Again, my friend!
@@alanheinson5620 its the root of denim n leather tbfrank, no offense but nothing is more than Black Sabbath that could claim is the root of this amazing Genre of music And in that sense, Satan is the root of Metal. So Hail Satan for giving us the best music in the universe
@@marcosrenegarcia3214 I AM THE DEMON ALCOHOL, LETS PARTY!! and hell yeah man for reals. Specially all warm from being in a back, while walking to the destination
An incredible record, with an original sound. Yes, you can pin it on early influences like Sabbath, Zeppelin, Cream, Hendrix, Deep Purple, et al. But Priest's virtouosity and tightness are already evident here, and those traits were what pushed them into the 80s and beyond!
Remember many traipses and tromps started with this álbum in my highschool daze cruising in a 1973 lime green Pontiac Bonneville Catalina with an underdash Pioneer cassette player an 200 watt equalizer/amplifier and some 150 watt Clarion speakers un 1982.
These insanely great bands and albums are so timeless. I'm so glad that these types of albums have never died or slowly faded away. Rock and roll forever! 🎸🎸🎸
This album is awesome! Like most veteran metal greats who started recording in the early 70's, the Hendrix influence is there. But make no mistake about it, this is the beginning of the unique sound of the Priest.
This is a great album, even if they've not reached their true form and sound. It's got a slower blues sound throughout but you can also hear in it some of the great metal guitar riffs and harmonies Priest would later be known for. There is not a weak track on it. I love this album.
@@Midnightmidway In this very first album they are not what could be called heavy metal; it's hard rock, blues. But by the third album it's true heavy metal.
Thats probably why it didn't blow up, it was TOO equal to Zeppelin and Sabbath. Those bands already existed. Rocka Rolla just wasn't quite the Priest sound yet
Outstanding album, which should have been acknowledged as great when it first came out. Cheater reminds me more of late-70s Priest, although it is slower than most later songs. The production is perfect too, for me, including the guitar sound - the notes have room to breathe, unlike a lot of modern metal, and the slow pace helps rather than hinders.
100%. Многие группы начаавшие свой путь в начале 70х часто писали в стиле психоделики, и даже ранние Скорпионс , особенно их первый альбом 1972 го Lonesome Crow просто потрясный и очень сильно недооценённый, и также второй Fly to the Rainbow.
F*ck this is so good! Exquisite blend of heavy metal and hard rock with psychedelic and some good ol' blues influences. Psychedelic solos are quite tasty as well as the lower vocals in, "Dying to Meet You" which is my top favorite song from this album.
Super-clean, loud UL of a penultimate heavy-music band in apex-mode helping to lay the groundwork for the musical genre commonly referred to today as "stoner music". But whatever label one prefers, this early J. Priest is 100 dope AF. Thanks, christ ismet.
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. ✌
