Deciding which Priest album is the best or worst is really difficult, because each one of them is unique. Not much of the previous album's sound ever make it to the next one. Unlike some bands which repeat the same formula that has sold them records for years already.
Looking at this topic, or any other similar discussion for that matter, the most popular Priest albums to nominate as their worst are Point of Entry, Turbo and Demolition. I'll give you my own opinion about them.
Point of Entry: OK, so this might not be the raw-sounding British Steel metal or the full-blast Screaming for Vengeance stuff, but with enough time spent listening it, I think it's a decent record after all. At first I generally disliked this album and only liked one or two songs from this, but after a few times spent listening, it has begun to sound better. So, the tracks sound quite commercialized or downright cheesy (You Say Yes and All the Way in particular), and the music videos merely make me laugh these days (although as a Finn, it was nice to see Halford in a sauna during Hot Rockin'!). But these easy-going songs are great when I need to relax, kick back and feel happy about what I've already got. There's still enough Priest sound there to merit the logo on the cover, no doubt about that. Besides, the lighter sound is a good way to introduce people who've never listened metal before to the band. Definitely not the worst the band has put out. But both versions of the cover art are hideous, I give you that.
Turbo: This is where things get messy. I like this album too, having listened to mainly 80s pop (don't laugh!) before I discovered the old heavy bands like Heep and Purple (and with time, Priest). So, the combination of my previous and current favorite genre doesn't sound too bad to me, after all. But I agree that this is an oddity as a Priest album. Though I still think that Turbo Lover, Out in the Cold and Reckless, and sometimes Locked In, are great tracks, even when compared to other Priest songs. This is also a feel-good album, much like Point of Entry, to me. Overall it's a good album, but not necessarily a Priest classic.
Demolition: The first time I heard a song from this album (I think it was One on One), I thought that someone had mislabeled it as Priest. It was so much different from the classic albums I had heard before that. While the more modern approach might appeal to some, this is not the way Priest could've gotten new fans, as I think the main reason behind this was. Ditching the unique traditional style to something that a thousand other bands were doing at the same time just doesn't cut it. Jugulator, while also being very brutal, at least had some imagination in it. Most of the songs here just get in from one ear and out of the other, with nothing happening in between. It's just a large chunk of same-sounding guitars and vocals over and over again, with only a couple of exceptions. Being the longest studio album (apart from the epic Nostradamus) doesn't help either, most of the tracks could have sounded better with a tighter pace, and some could have been dropped altogether. Nine out of the thirteen songs are over five minutes long and usually just repeat the same stuff all over again, which not exactly an ideal combination. Crude language is prominent, something not often heard from Halford-era Priest. But Lost and Found is a good ballad, one of the few tracks here to have a proper melody and to show the actual capability of Owens, and Machine Man is an acceptable piece of straightforward speed metal, although like the other songs on this album, it could have too been a little shorter. Close to You is good as well, hits my weakness for power ballads. Overall this is the least favorite of Priest albums to me, but I'm sure this one has it's fans as well...
Edited at: Sunday, January 30, 2011 6:28:26 PM |
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