This was the album where Priest decided that making the music heavier and METAL would be a good career move. I have seen a few online debates recently stating that Priest were NWOBHM. Well, they weren’t, but they were one hell of an influence on those bands and the band themselves definitely rode that wave.
I discovered Priest on this album and have been a fan ever since. I guess if you look at Priest now, they are barely recognizable to the Preist on this record. Yet, they still play Victim Of Changes, Ripper, and Tyrant live to this day. So, the band recognize what a major step this album was and how strong the songs are.
My favourite tune is Ripper, the song that gave birth to modern metal. It’s all there: the chugga riff and groove, the big vocal, and dark subject matter. A close call for favourite is Island Of Domination which expands on Ripper with a lot more drama to it. Of course this album is not perfect. Epitaph, where they try to do a Queen moment, is just a tad strange.
I still get a buzz when I play this 48 years later.
8/10 from The Grooveman.
What is the deal with the first song “Victim of Changes”?! It sounds muffled and so much quieter than the other songs on the album. Sounds like somebody screwed up somewhere along the line in the recording process. Extremely dissappointed in the poor sound quality of that song.
From what I can gather there was something wrong with the transfer from the original source.