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  They'll take their Turbo and Ram It Down your Point of Entry, committing Sin After Sin until you're Screaming For Vengeance and needing a Painkiller for your Stained Ass!!!
  Birmingham, England's Judas Priest is one of the key bands of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NKOTB) movement, and has maintained its core membership of bassist Ian Hill, guitarist K.K. Downing and other guitarist Glenn Tipton since 1974. Other notable members over the years have included drummer Dave Holland, who recorded six albums with the band and then molested a teenaged boy, and vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens, who inspired the top-selling Hollywood film Rock Star starring Mark Wahlberg. Another vocalist they had for a while (20 years) (and then another 7 later on) (and counting) was (is) an astonishingly talented singer named Robert John Arthur "Bob" "Rob" Halford. This Mr. Halford has a four-octave vocal range. I'm lucky if I can hit an E.
  Like Jethro Tull, Rush and Black Sabbath before them, Judas Priest began their recording career as a bluesy hard rock band whose songs, though perfectly catchy and enjoyable, had little in common with the unique style that they would soon pioneer. In Judas Priest's case, the only hint of future heavy metal goodness to be found here is the tough but silly title track ("Rocka rolla woman for a rocka rolla man/You can take her if you want her -- if you think you can!"). But if you enjoy mean '70s riff rockers from the likes of Budgie, Bloodrock and Deep Purple, wrap the hell out of your ears around this record. "One for the Road," "Winter" and "Never Satisfied" give it to you straight and direct like a bluesman punching you in the heart; "Run of the Mill" and "Dying to Meet You" sprinkle the hot rock action with cocaine jazz chords and dramatic art prog respectively; and best of all, "Deep Freeze" is just KK Downing making stupid noises on his guitar! Yes, if you liked Black Sabbath's "F.X.," you'll love dipping your head into a derelict's colostomy bag! (and "Deep Freeze")
  Apparently the band was upset by the album's mix, but I'm baffled as to why that might be the case. The guitars are loud, proud and stereo-panned; Halford is plenty audible (though he wasn't doing much of his astonishingly high-pitched singing just yet); and supposedly this drummer sucked anyway so who needs to hear him?
  Although Priest purists complain that their sound was too Sabbath/Zeppelin-inspired at this point, it must be remembered that straightforward hard rock was a very popular genre in the early '70s, and this band played it as well as the majority of their competitors. They were not being 'derivative' of a specific band any more than every punk band alive is 'derivative' of the Ramones. There existed a popular style of music, and Priest wrote original songs in that style. The only reason I can imagine anybody being honestly disappointed by Rocka Rolla is if they insist on comparing it to peak-era Judas Priest. As a standalone record, it's perfectly entertaining! The riffs are mean and gritty; the guitars are raw and heavy; and Halford already sounds good, even with his early, less operatic vocal style.