Judas Priest - Rocka Rolla

Reissued 1974 album. The Birmingham Metal gods' debut LP, originally released in 1974 by Guil Records, now has the addition of the 'Diamonds And Rust' single as a bonus track to give a total of 11 cuts that show the early years of this internationally successful five piece. Album Description

ROCKA ROLLA TO ANGEL OF RETRIBUTION

i chose to do this review for several reasons. in your editorial views it
is stated this originaly was put out by guil records. though it seems to
be a bit picky i mention it because gull records would not sign priest do
to the fact they didnt think they would ever make it. a 2nd try by priest
was also denied and the band already thought of throwing in the towel.they practiced under a pub in birmingham england after it closed &
charged very little to play there. rob,ian,kk and glenn survived on beans
and crackers and slept there overnite until the pub would open. finally a
break thru of sorts. after 2 tries, gull gave them a shot. they recorded
rocka rolla and played on the " top of the pops " on bbc. ( pickup the
making of british steel where u can see them play rocka rolla, deciever,
and take on the world. U HAVE TO SEE THIS !!! although rocka rolla only
sold just over 1000 copies ( i have one ) gull gave them the okay to go
with their 2nd release "sad wings of destiny". when i first listened to it
i was blown away. its a masterpiece to me. albums that you can play all
the way thru without skipping songs is very very rare. although they still
struggled w/ gull they finally got picked up by columbia and the rest is history as all u priest fans know. the rocka rolla album had 2 interesting
things. one was that the cover of the album featured the top of a glass
bottle of pop with rocka rolla on top of the cap design. in the early
1980's, the company of coke or coke a cola told priest they had to remove
that design off the album because it compared to close to the top of a
bottle of coke. there is now a new design on that cover with an evilish
type of flying machine on it. another little trivia is that on rocka rolla
rob halford used bob halford on the back cover and in the credits. on sad
wings of destiney he used robert halford and then he went on to rob halford since then.rocka rolla is a great album and the song dying to meet
u about a soldier in war and the terror only one could imagine if they
were in that position really grabs on to you and holds on and then the
soldier returns to find almost equal terror as he tries to shed those
horrible memories. again , its a great album and i suggest u pick it up
and add it to your collection. watch for priests next release that is a
concept album about the mystery and predictions on nostradomus. to all
priest fans , i know its been 10 yrs but angel of retribution is as if
rob never left. its meavy metal a its best. cd id do out in 2007.
don barajas, author September 3, 2007

Judas Priest are...Dying to Meet You!

And so begins an epic journey that would last three more albums, before the relatively more commercial pastures of Hell Bent For Leather.

Priest's Debut is neither the farce that many people say, nor is it on the par with Sad Wings Of Destiny. What it is though, IS epic, and classic.

One for the Road is decent, but its the definition of filler track in this era of Priest in my opinion.

The title track gives indication of some of the more commercial tracks and albums that would come on future albums, complete with a dancable groove, but also wicked guitar dual leads and evil riffs (At times a Sabbath type figure appears, such as the beginning of the song).

The "Winter" opus is Sabbath meets Zeppelin by way of 70's Scorpions in a way, but is over before it can start becoming an epic on par with later works. The next three songs though, are some of the best Priest have recorded, and ARE on par with the next album!

Never Satisfied comes out with a very heavy riff that fuses the heavy bands of the Seventies in one fell swoop, Dying to Meet You is an epic "power ballad" that foreshadows the intensity of THE GREATEST JUDAS PRIEST SONG OF ALL TIME, Dreamer Deceiver!

Dying to Meet You works mainly because of Rob Halford. He starts with a very low baritone, almost gothic voice backed by clean guitars, and ascends into a heavy galloping riff in the end complete with Halford shrieking. This is the beginning of EPIC metal, and cannot be looked over and ignored. Just ask bands like Opeth, who's Mikael Akerfeldt has called the first four Priest albums some of his favorites.

It has dynamics that NOONE, and I'm even including the most underrated Euro-Metal of the time (even Scorpions) had, only Queen had these type of Opera-like dynamics, but they weren't (really) metal.

So in my opinion, Rocka Rolla, isn't "one of the worst" Priest albums at all.

Sure, the production is dry and the dynamics stunted because of the production, but by any means, it remains a Priest classic.

I would compare it best to Ram it Down, because like Ram it Down foreshadows Painkiller which was better, Rocka Rolla foreshadows Sad Wings of Destiny. August 4, 2007

Greatness starts somewhere!

First of all, don't believe it when someone says "Rocka Rolla" sounds nothing like Judas Priest. It does. It sounds like Judas Priest sounded AT THAT TIME. Rob Halford's vocals are instantly recognisable and the two-guitar team of K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton are there from the outset.

It does reflect its era, though, and listening to this you get a bit of Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, Uriah Heep, Deep Purple and Cream - but what's wrong with that?

One amusing aside is our Halfie's take on male/female relationships in "Rocka Rolla" and "Cheater". Gotta give the guy credit for trying.

I'd draw some direct comparisons with the Scorpions' "Lonesome Crow" and the first Black Sabbath album.

In retrospect, I'd rather listen to this than "Turbo" (their lowest point) any day! June 30, 2006

Introducing Judas Priest! ! !

Best Songs are, One For the Road, Rocka Rolla, Winter/Deep Freeze, and Run To The Mills! The REST are good! If they werent the best, I would never say they were nor never get into to them! December 20, 2005

Solid debut by the best metal band thhat ever lived!

Frankly, I don't bloody care if the production was bad. Does not mean that the record was "poor". Neverless, it was a great debut by our homeland's Gods, Judas Priest! From the brilliant "One For The Road" to the sepctactular instrumental "Caviar And Meths", it is a "wild ride", as I've heard Americans say!

Formed by Guitarist KK Downing and MY metal hero, Ian Hill, the Gods gave them the magic of metal! Also known for using various drummers, famous lead guitarist Glen Tipton and the bloody brilliant screecher, Rob Halford.

I admit that the production was bad, but that is the producer's fault. They'd be rockin' and rollin' anyway.

My favorites are "One For The Road", "Rocka Rolla" and "Never Satisfied".

To all the great fans who abandoned Priest because of Angel Of Retribution, Farewell and a glaring old Aye to ye! November 23, 2005

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