I absolutely love this song and wanted to post it just for the sake of it.
Early Judas Priest is my favorite from them. They made so many good albums, but the older I get, I always go back to their early stuff from the 70s. They were more raw and experimental before Hell Bent For Leather and British Steel where they seemed to find their signature sound they are more known for today.
Stained Class, Sad Wings of Destiny and Sin After Sin are great early metal albums with a lot of heavily blues and classical influence on them, even a slight bit of prog-rock.
But anyways back to this song, just wow. When the distortion kicks in and Halford starts screaming, it becomes pure raw emotion. That guitar solo is so bluesy and literally sounds like the guitar is crying. Glenn Tipton IMO don't get enough credit for his soloing when it comes to Metal guitarists. You often hear about shredders and guys that are also deserving, but Tipton and Downing both had some amazing solos all throughout JP's albums.
Same here, I'm not putting those albums down. Defenders of the Faith has 'The Sentinel', one of their best songs ever.
I have a soft spot for Turbo Lover. That entire album is filled with melodic guitar harmonies. 'Out In The Cold' is one of their best songs often overlooked by fans.
Man I love early halford. His delivery on victim of changes is such a revelation, he's got some jim morrison energy during the quiet passage. I do wonder where that vibe went on the later records.
Early Halford is my favorite too.
If you haven't heard 'Unleashed In The East', definitely check it out. That was my introduction to Priest and the version of Victim of Changes on there is awesome. Unfortunately it's not entirely live. It had some studio overdubs after the recording, but I don't think it takes away from it's greatness.