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Defenders Of The Faith
Judas Priest
Columbia, 1984
REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 03/21/2005
Imagine, just for a moment, you're a member of Judas Priest, andthe year is 1984. You're coming off arguably your most successfulalbum to date, Screaming For Vengeance. The obvious question is: what doyou do for an encore?
It's a question that would vex anyone, and I can't say I wouldmake any better moves than Rob Halford and crew did. In fact, Defenders Of The Faith, the follow-up album, turns out to beone of the band's most underrated efforts. Ten years removed fromtheir debut, Judas Priest know that they're on the top of theirgame, and they do make some determined moves to stay there.
To lead off this disc with a barnburner such as "FreewheelBurning" is both a blessing and a curse for the group, it turnsout. Yes, this is an incredible track that proves Judas Priest hadlost none of their fire. But to lead with such a strong trackalmost adds a further challenge to the group, leading them into aconstant game of "Can You Top This?" that would even send Yahwehrunning for the exits.
In some areas, Judas Priest is indeed up for the challenge."Jawbreaker" and "The Sentinel" are prime examples of this, even ifnone of them could be labeled as "singles" a la "You've Got AnotherThing Coming". Even "Love Bites" and "Eat Me Alive," two of themore, aah, controversial tracks in their discography, prove to besolid efforts that, distanced from their history, turn out to bequite enjoyable. (Anyone remember how Tipper Gore got her pantiesbunched up over "Eat Me Alive"? Heh - if she had only known aboutHalford back then. I'd have loved to have seen her back-pedal offof this one.)
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