Killing Machine [Hell Bent for Leather] (Judas Priest, 1979)

I must confess that I picked up most of my pre-British Steel Priest in a flurry and didn't take much time to appreciate the development of the band during the 1970's from just another hard-prog band into heavy metal legends. Killing Machine (Hell Bent for Leather in the USA, because you know how sensitive Americans are about "killing" being mentioned in album titles) marks the end of one era and the beginning of another for Judas Priest.

Previous album Stained Class is pretty much the last gasps of the progressive Priest. For many bands, I would be lamenting this, but I'll make an exception for Judas Priest. They were smart enough to realize that they weren't going to be the next King Crimson. Rob Halford & Co. were always more comfortable playing hard and fast than trying out intricate, extended instrumental workouts. Plus it was pretty obvious by 1979 that playing progressive rock was a dead end street. Most of the prominent bands of the era had broken up (King Crimson), retreated inward, or went pop (like Genesis and Yes, among others). Meanwhile, fueled by the self-destructive punk movement and encouraged by the NWOBHM scene, heavy metal was becoming stronger with every year.

Pretty much all of the elements were in place to give Priest the power it needed to chug through the 1980's as a bastion of the genre. Really, the only changes after this were a "locking down" of the writing credits to "Downing-Halford-Tipton" and new drummer Dave Holland, neither of which had a huge musical impact on the band.

On a random side note, a friend and I once thought about making (like we could actually "make" it) a Judas Priest Christmas humor album called Hell Bent for Christmas for which many of the songs of this album could be adapted. I mean, come on - "Delivering the Goods" should be Santa's theme song! Plus, "Hell Bent for Leather" has lyrics and a song structure that can be easily adapted to just about anything. If I've inspired you, just put me in the "thank you" section of the liner notes. Just throwing it out there for y'all.