Stained Class

Artist: Judas Priest
Label: Sony
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio Cassette

UPC: 074643529648
EAN: 0074643529648
ASIN: B0000025CQ

Release Date: 1990-10-17

Related Categories:

General

| Pop | Styles | Music

General

| Rock | Styles | Music

British Metal

| Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

General

| Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR)

| Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Tapes Under $6

Tapes Under $6

Tapes Under $6

Tapes Under $6

All Bargain Titles

All Bargain Titles

All Bargain Titles

All Bargain Titles

Tracks:

Exciter
White Heat, Red Hot
Better by You, Better Than Me
Stained Class
Invader
Saints in Hell
Savage
Beyond the Realms of Death
Heroes End

Similar Items:

British Steel
Screaming for Vengeance
Painkiller
Defenders of the Faith
Blackout

Customer Reviews:

CLASSY, WITH NO STAINS!.......2006-07-07

This is what Judas Priest had been building up to over their previous three albums, which had plenty of high points but some low points too. However, there are no low points here. Along with "British Steel", I consider this Priest's best album.

One very positive addition was the addition of drummer Les Binks (where is he now?). His double-kick drumming that starts off "Exciter" is a direct antecedent of the "speed metal" movement of the 1980s.

Though the previous albums were good in their own right, they were still derivative of contemporaries like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple in places (and I'm not saying that's a bad thing!). Here, except for a slight Sabbath flavour on "Saints In Hell", Priest at last find their own identity and their own sound, and from here on out, other bands would be influenced by them.

No ballads here either! The controversial "Beyond The Realms Of Death" alternates between gentle acoustic and crushing electric guitar but is still very heavy. Rob (or was it still "Bob" or "Robert" at this stage in his career?) Halford's vocal tour-de-force is on this song.

This album, along with much of Thin Lizzy's work, set the standards for twin lead guitars. Glenn Tipton and KK Downing play off each other effortlessly. However, one minor gripe is that Ian Hill's bass could be louder; he's a good, no-frills bassist but doesn't get the recognition he deserves.

HIGH POINTS: "Exciter", "Saints In Hell", "Beyond The Realms Of Death", "Heroes End".

LOW POINTS: NONE!

Essential for any heavy metal collection.

Best Judas Priest album of the 70s .......2005-10-19

By far! This 1978 metal classic is almost 5 stars. (I don't throw 'em around as easily as many others). This is a very important album for the metal genre as a whole, genre defining. Very grim and heavy too, hmm well, for a Judas Priest album. Many classic songs; Exciter, Better By You Better Than Me and Beyond The Realms Of Death are the (in)famous songs of this album. But I find Saints In Hell and Savage equally impressive. The title track is great too. Sound is ok, a bit thicker and heavier than on their other 70s albums. This album should have been heavier, but for 1978 this was about as heavy as it got. (70-75 Sabbath is the only real exception, and surpasses this album in quality and heaviness). Still, this is one of the must-own Judas Priest albums.

The BEST!!!.......2004-06-08

For some, it's "British Steel", for others, it's "Screaming for Vengeance" or "Painkiller".
For me, it's obviously "Stained Class". With such classics such as "Exciter", "Heroes End" and "Saints in Hell", this album is a masterpiece like "Paranoid" from Black Sabbath. With such energy and good riffing, "Stained Class" deserves 5 stars!

4.5 stars - a classic metal masterpiece.......2004-01-31

Stained Class (1978.) Judas Priest's fourth album.

Ever since their formation in the early seventies, Judas Priest was a band that set out to please listeners. Their first album, 1974's Rocka Rolla, didn't really succeed at it though. With their second album, 1976's Sad Wings Of Destiny, they found their sound and drew in a huge cult following. And 1977's Sin After Sin was their first release on a major label. At long last, the band was in the spotlight. Their following was beginning to grow greatly. And in 1978, the band released its fourth studio album, Stained Class. Read on for my review of this album.

The band doesn't waste any time getting right to the rock and roll on this album. The album opens with Exciter, a fast and furious rocker that has gone on to become a fan favorite. It's comparable to Sinner, the track that opened up their previous album. Next up comes another legendary hard rocker, an underrated masterpiece called White Heat Red Hot. Why this song never went onto extreme popularity is beyond me, because it is nothing short of excellent. Track three is a cover of the Spooky Tooth classic, Better By You Better Than Me (for those of you not familar with Spooky Tooth, they're the band that guitarist Mick Jones played in before Foreigner.) This is an EXCELLENT cover, but this version of the song was a source of controversy for many years (it was believed to contain subliminal messages that encouraged suicide.) But, of course, it's the music that matters, not the hidden messages (if there really ARE any.) Invader is an odd but still excellent tune with the theme being an alien invasion. This is NOT the same song as Iron Maiden's Invaders, although there is a striking resemblance between the two. Also, every band has to do a song about Native Americans being conquered by people from England, and Savage is Priest's song of this style. It's an excellent attempt at it, too. Saints In Hell and Beyond The Realm Of Death are also excellent tracks worth checking out.

This newly remastered version of the album features two bonus tracks. An unreleased studio session called Fire Burns Below, and a live take on Better By You Better Than Me. The former is one of the band's most unusual rockers, but it still rocks hard and rocks right. The live take on Better By You Better Than Me is inferior to the studio version, however, as far as these live bonus tracks go that show up on the Priest reissues, this is one of the better ones. These bonus tracks are a nice incentive to purchase the new version of the album. But if you've got the old version, they aren't reason enough to buy the album again.

Overall this is a great album, and to the time it was Priest's finest. It's a shame this album tends to go underappreciated in the modern age, because it really is one of their best ones. To put it simply, if you're a fan of the band, casual or die-hard, this album is a must purchase. There are many excellent songs on here - many of which aren't available on any hits compilation.

The first Uptempo 80's Metal Alum ever.....released 1978!.......2003-07-18

Stained Class was Judas Priest's 4th Studio Album and to my ears one of the greatest Metal albums of all time. Their least popular, but most influential 70's release. Here is a song by song:

Exciter - The first Thrash song I know of.....Double Bass. Screaming lyrics and great riff's... Like Painkiller but better, because it was more original at the time....I rate it a...............A+

White Heat Red Hot - Opens with a cool riff and has pretty catchy high pitched vocals...Overall this song is good but nothing that 25 years later sounds classic....On the other hand 25 years later its still enjoyable and Rob has some GREAT Screams at the end..so I give it a...............B

Better by you better then me....This song opens pretty cool....It has a little bit of a Disco feel to it, which makes it kid of funny now...but it has the slow parts that show how PRIEST used to experiment....I could be wrong, but I think this is the song that got PRIEST sued..In which case it was written by "SPooky Toooth"

Stained Class - This Song ROCKS!!!! The Tuniquite Turns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd type more but I am too busy rocking out!!!!!!!!!

One of the best songs in Priest catalogue......A+

Invaders - Opens with a guitar synth thing a little drumms an average drums / vocals thing...The song has lyrics about an Alien invasion and a some decent vocal melody lines,..but overall is filler.....rated C+

Saints In Hell - Opens wiht one of the best Riff;s I have ever hear (GO>>>KK)......Rob sings so high that its hard to understand his lyrics until the chorus....There is a great high hat sound in the middle of the tune,,...but does anyone care 70yomore????n It's to me one of the top METAL Songs of the 70'S!!!!!!!!!..............A

Savage - A catchy song about British Soldiers bringing their beliefs o Native people...B

Beyond The Realms of Death - This could be Priests..."Stairway"....Its about a gut who goes crazy and can't deal with the world anymore..

If you have evet seen the movie..."Birdie"....starring "Nicholas Cage" the sory line is oddley familiar.

Hero's End - This song is supposedly about Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison and about how much of a shame it is that great arists "DIE:" to prove their worth.....Whatever this songn is about...IT rocks!!!!!!!!

Music CD:

Music CD

Music CD

Music CD

Live in Nottingham 76 ~ John Martyn

Burning the Process ~ Pressure 4-5

Fear No Evil ~ Slaughter

Best of 80's Metal, Vol. 3 ~ Various Artists

Ballad Album

1999 ~ Lov

Cher

History: The Best of New Model Army ~ New Model Army

Tangos Argentinos ~ I Salonisti

Fanciness ~ Shabba Ranks