Judas Priest (UK)
Sad Wings of Destiny
March 23, 1976
In my opinion, by far the most important and most influential Judas Priest album, and a monumental impression on the growth of heavy metal as a whole. Epic opener "Victim of Changes" sets the bar for badass attitude, feral fretboard mutilation and unheard of vocal acrobatics, and continues to be the best song they bust out live to this day. "The Ripper" prowls with midnight menace before "Dreamer Deceiver" slowly rises out of the psychedelic shadows that nightmares are made of into a spine chilling crescendo, charging right into the balls-out heaviest song on the album, "Deceiver". Side 2 opens with the musky and gothic "Prelude" before kicking into my absolute favourite Judas Priest song of all time, "Tyrant". This is classic heavy fucking metal, immaculately composed, hummable solos, anthemic chorus, chugging rhythms, and bloodlust ripping through the seams. "Genocide" is a bluesy bar rockin' number and "Epitaph" is the obligatory piano-driven cheese ballad. "Island of Domination" finishes things off with a confident upbeat stomp that even wades sadistically through some proto doom riffs that Black Sabbath wished had written. 36 years later, this is mandatory.
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