Robbo Reviews...

OH WOW! As ever with Robbo, he always seems to be fashionably late to the party. Yes I'm certainly late to this particularly raucous shindig, but are Alestorm really all that? This is the most recent release (As of February 2022) from the "Pirate Metal" band, in a current line of six albums. It was released in 2020. So let's find out if it's worth it's weight in gold doubloons or whether it should it be kept firmly hidden at the bottom of Davy Jones' locker...

First impressions after watching a couple of videos from this release gave me some serious Ninja Sex Party vibes in terms of childish humour, and to me, that's no bad thing. The distinctly Scottish accented pirate style vocals are like nothing I'd cared to listen to before. But I'm a sucker for a novelty concept, and so I dived head first into this album.

OH WOW!!! From the very off, with 'Treasure Chest Pirate Quest', you know you're in for a treat. A Heavy Metal sea shanty with an infectious chorus you'll be singing all day. Or at least until you get to track two with the hilarious 'Fannybaws', which ramps up the vulgarity but also the infectious nature of the songs.

There's absolutely no let up as the album moves from 'Chomp, Chomp' to 'Tortuga' and followed by 'Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship', featuring some hilarious metalcore styled singing with lyrics only a true lyricist could dream of ("Those zombies ate my pirate ship... They are a bunch of undead pricks!") and then the melodic metal style of 'Call Of The Waves' really ramps up the quality.

What comes next is an odd one, but a strangely suitable cover song of a small ditty from an old Donkey Kong Country video game influenced cartoon, called 'Pirate's Scorn'. Why not eh?

Now comes the song that truly hooked me in on my initial research into if Alestorm were worth my time. If purely only for its quite wonderful Wealdstone Raider viral YouTube video influenced title, 'Shit Boat (No Fans)'. Just over a minute long, it's childish, ridiculous, dumb and absolutely brilliant!

'Pirate Metal Drinking Crew' is yet another catchy number, in the same vain as the opening track to the album, but as we approach the album's final drops of delicious Rum, we're given the jewel in the tankard of this audio extravaganza with the epic eight minute plus 'Wooden Leg Part 2: The Woodening'.

The song tells a tale of a Pirate's quest for revenge and redemption and ultimately cursed attempts at using voodoo magic to reacquire limbs lost in previous battle. Yes really. Bonkers mad and great fun! Plus it refers to a "greasy Spaniard" and a "Japanese Bastard", so that'd go down well with the 'woke brigade'!

The album closes out with an old traditional number named after an old pirate called Henry Martin, which is probably the nadir of the album, but overall it doesn't spoil what has been one Hell of a journey!

So, yes, this album truly is worth its weight in gold doubloons. Even more so if you happen upon the deluxe edition, which has an extra whole album of the same songs, but made with what sounds like a Commodore 64 SID chip. Certainly one for the teenagers there in any case!

So, a short backstory for those not in the know... KK Downing was guitarist and founding member of Judas Priest, the greatest heavy metal band of them all. Sure, Black Sabbath are credited with the invention of the genre, but Priest truly put the metal into heavy metal.

In 2011, KK left the band. Since he wasn't welcomed back after his hiatus, he formed his own version of the band, which also included former Priest singer Tim 'Ripper' Owens on vocals. This is that band's début album.

Just an addition to the above. Owens was in Judas Priest for two studio albums after metal god Rob Halford left the band to do his own thing in 1992, before returning in 2004. I guess KK felt aggrieved that he wasn't given the same welcoming embrace.

And so on to this album. It was entirely written by KK but this isn't just a solo project. Pound for pound, the talent on show here in KK's Priest, possibly equals that of Judas Priest, but is it actually any good?

Well first of all, let's get the negative stuff out of the way. Let me be totally honest. I was always going to biased as I openly loved the Ripper era Priest, totally against the popular opinion from fans, who felt that without Halford, Priest weren't really Priest. I've always rooted for the underdog. Here is no different. But I have to admit, lyrically, the album is stuffed full of metal cheese, and the odd strange use of wording ('Hail FOR the Priest'? Eh?) and I'm not a fan of pointless intro spoken word tracks, such as the opening track 'Incarnation' here....

... But after that pointless bit of egginess, the real opening track smashes you straight in the face. 'Hellfire Thunderbolt' feels like a straight up sequel to the Judas Priest album 'Jugulator' with galloping rhythms and razor sharp vocals. It's a wondrous start that leads into the title track, which keeps up the frenetic metal speed and Owens again reaches such high notes that it could possibly cause glass to shatter.

'Sacerdote y Diablo' is up next. Thankfully, although titled in Spanish ('Priest and the Devil') the rest of the song is in English. This features probably the strongest riff on the album, and although marginally slower in pace than the previous tracks, your arse is still well and truly being kicked by one big metallic Spanish boot. And no, not that sort. This is far from torture.

Until now, we've been firmly in the 'Painkiller' Priest territory, but now we seem to head way back to an earlier Priest style, more akin to 'Breaking The Law' with 'Raise Your Fist' and the cheesiest of the lot, 'Brothers Of The Road'. Both welcome additions, with a more "sing along" style of chorus on each.

'Metal Through And Through' is certainly an interesting beast. At over eight minutes long, it certainly has that more '70's Priest feel to it. Again, it's all a bit cheesy, lyrically, but it's by no means a bad song, but it feels like I've come across the album's first real minor stutter. Maybe if it was shorter, it would've been better, but the riff that laces throughout the song is certainly infectious. This song is followed up by probably the weakest track on the album, 'Wild And Free'. It isn't bad as such, but it's just a bit bland after the highs I've felt up to this point of the record. 'Forgettable' is a fair assessment I think.

'Hail For The Priest' brings us full circle with another galloping belter of a song that really does give those opening tracks a run for their money. But we have one song left...

... And it's a blatant sequel to an early/mid-'80s Priest song called' The Sentinal', with this imaginatively named song, 'Return Of The Sentinal'... And you know what? It's actually a bloody good song! A sprawling monolithic epic, that nicely rounds off a pretty satisfying album.

So it was certainly a worthwhile listen, and if you love your metal, you won't go wrong with this surprising effort. Judas Priest at their absolute best still come out on top, but if they'd have released this, I'd have been more than satisfied, and one thing's for certain... having TWO Priests is sure as Hell better than having just the one!

As I write this review, it is currently #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek and what better way to highlight this than to review the latest solo release from Wolfsbane and former Iron Maiden vocalist, Blaze Bayley.

Blaze has had more than his fair share of highs and lows throughout his life and career, and mental health has often been a theme throughout his solo albums. None more so than on 'War Within Me'.

The album kicks off on this very subject, on the title track, which really grabs a hold of you and gives you a good old shake and inspires the energy in you to face whatever lay in wait for the day ahead.

Following up is a great historical story of courage and bravery of the '303' squadron during World War 2, which was a Polish squadron flying under the RAF flag, who played a massive part in defeating the Germans. The opening two tracks really do set a high standard for the album.

As the album progresses, the standard doesn't drop. There's nothing absolutely groundbreaking or jaw dropping here, as there was in the previous 'Infinite Entanglement' trilogy, but every song is either an emotional ride or a song to make you stick your chest out and carry on against all odds.

The closing two songs, 'The Unstoppable Stephen Hawking' and 'Every Storm Ends' really do send you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, particularly if you've personally had to battle mental health issues or fought against the odds on any sort of life changing experience.

In summary, Blaze and his backing group Absolva have created an exceptionally good album. Is it the best work Blaze has done? No. But I'd easily say it's his most consistent album, with a constant stream of very good songs. Nothing pretentious like the road Iron Maiden have walked since sacking Blaze for a returning Bruce Dickinson, but probably no absolute essential track like in previous albums.

The King of Metal retains his crown! 👑

WORST ALBUM ART TOP (BOTTOM?) 5...

Okay, this something a bit different from my usual reviews. When talking about food, they've always said that the first taste is with your eyes. If it looks appetising, you're more likely to enjoy how it tastes as a result. Same could be said about music. If an album's cover art grabs your attention, then you may just discover something you'd otherwise just browse past.

The big difference here though I guess is that something that looks completely hideous is equally as likely to get your attention as a great looking album cover. Saying that, it's still only 50/50 that the music is going to be any good, so good luck!

For this list, I've picked five album art stinkers from my music library. Otherwise I'd be here all day listing hundreds of unimaginative drivel from shitty rap artists or so called R&B superstars posing in provocative clothing to entice horny fourteen year old kids...

So here it is. Go forth and punish your eyeballs...

5. 'Point Of Entry' by Judas Priest

Although Priest, up until this point (and after) always served up a mixed bag in terms of album art, this offering in the early 80s is a bit of arty farty nothingness. Judge for yourself what it's meant to be. To me it stinks of what was on offer within. Bang averageness, leaving the listener bewildered after the previous album, 'British Steel' was a timeless classic.

4. 'Fistful Of Metal' by Anthrax

American band Anthrax's debut album itself, is a great piece of heavy metal, more akin to early 80's NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) than the Thrash Metal they are more famed for in subsequent albums, but the artwork looks to have been drawn by a bored school boy who should have been doing his Maths work but instead doodled in the back pages of his exercise book. Just awful.

3. 'Metal Magic' by Pantera

Yes, THAT Pantera. The biggest metal band on the entire planet during the 90's. To be fair, their entire catalogue could be offered up in a 'Worst album art' competition, but this very early offering just pips it for me. An album from when the band were a full on GLAM METAL outfit, long before Phil Anselmo roared his way into the post of lead singer. This pile of diluted glam garbage wasn't exactly helped by their equally lousy attempt at artwork. 'Diamond Darrell' was a long way from his eventual success as 'Dimebag'. Should have been called 'Dirtbag Darrell' for these abominations.

2. 'Dance Of Death' by Iron Maiden

The absolute Kings of album artwork in the 80s and early 90s, thanks in it's entirety to artist Derek Riggs. Each album cover left you gazing for hours as you spotted new and amazing details hidden within the artwork, including trying to spot his unique signature that was always well hidden. Unfortunately, the band disposed of Derek's services in the early 90s and it went completely downhill from there for the artwork, and arguably the music. From this reviewer's point of view, the music improved again once Blaze Bayley joined the band as singer, after a slow decline with Bruce on vocals, but the artwork just kept on getting worse. The nadir of this slide came with this awful offering. This was 2003, yet the computer generated artwork looked more akin to 1993. Absolutely terrible. The hope was, that they spent more time on the music than worrying about artwork, especially after firmly having Bruce back on vocals after unfairly booting out Blaze for the 'Okay' 'Brave New World' album. That was bloody wrong too. Oh how the mighty had fallen. Like Samson cutting his hair (yes, pun intended! If you know, you know...) it seemed cutting Riggs away, also put Maiden on the slide.

1. 'Unveiled' by Cage

'Prequelle' by Ghost

Ghost. They are a curious beast for sure. If you love the stage theatrics and presence of the likes of Alice Cooper, or Kiss, then visually and performance wise, you simply must check them out. Even more curious is exactly WHAT they are? With a very satanic image, and antichrist-like lyrics, they are lumped in as Metal. But are they really? Hard Rock? Yeah sure. In places. It's actually quite the conundrum. What they are though, are bloody talented, and unique... A rare thing in this day and age!

I'd never really given Ghost much attention. They were a modern metal band. I just assumed they were yet another screamo metalcore band that today's kids think is "sick", but would likely trigger me with yet another migraine.

The discovery of Ghost for me was purely accidental. Residing down the usual rabbit hole of random YouTube videos in late 2018, I found myself momentarily waylaid and YouTube took over by playing an "up next" track automatically. That track was "Rats" by Ghost. I was left agog by the music firstly, and then as I looked up, visually I was floored. The rest, as they say, is history.

As for the album 'Prequelle', my first foray into the band's awe inspiring back catalogue, it is essentially a concept album based around the Black Plague of the 1300s. Yeah I know, but hear me out...

The opening track 'Ashes' is a small intro to the album, with 'Ring-a-ring of Roses' laced through it, leading into the jaw dropping aforementioned 'Rats', a straight up rocker, that is followed by another called 'Faith', possibly the 'heaviest' song on the album.

The pace is momentarily lowered with 'See The Light', a haunting ballad that leads into an instrumental song called 'Miasma'. Not normally a fan of instrumentals, but this has "80's action movie" written all over it, even having a saxophone solo towards the end, for that authentic 80's feel. But it seems to stand out like a sore thumb at this point.

That sore thumb is soon reassessed as the next track, 'Dance Macabre' kicks in. 'Miasma' WAS like the intro to an 80's action movie and the following track was indeed the movie itself! Yes, it's definitely radio friendly, but it perfectly captures the point during the Black Plague where people had come to accept death, and literally 'partied like tomorrow was the end of the world'! But in this case, it felt more like a Hollywood retelling of the story, set in 1980's Los Angeles.

As 'Pro Memoria' takes us back into a slower, yet dark tempo, death is firmly back at the front of the mind. In a strange kind of toe tapping way. 'Witch Image' then ups the tempo again and is another highlight of the album with another catchy as Hell chorus.

'Helvetesfoster' is the third and final instrumental track on the album, but on this occasion it's a bit too much for me. It's an amazing piece of work and most will probably appreciate it, but by now I'm thinking it's not a patch on 'Miasma'.

And so we reach the finale, 'Life Eternal'. An emotionally charged ballad of love and loss. Absolutely this strikes a chord in today's COVID environment and is a superb melancholic/personal (depending on whether or not you have lost loved ones) ending to such a compelling story the album audibly paints.

Of course, if you're a scumbag like me and have a hooky download of this album, you'll probably have two extra bonus tracks that stand alone from the rest of the album. Those songs being 'Avalanche' by, erm, Leonard Cohen, and an absolute stonking cover of 'It's A Sin' by the Pet Shop Boys. Wonderful stuff.

In summary, it's a modern classic. Little was I to know though, that this wasn't even Ghost's best album...

'Hysteria' by Def Leppard

Xmas 1992. I had just received my first ever hard rock album, 'Use Your Illusion II' by Guns N' Roses, on cassette. The circumstances leading up to this are lost to time. Prior to this, I had been listening to The Shamen, and other Radio 1 pop songs. But this one cassette changed everything. I had discovered my musical calling.

Again, I cannot exactly recall the turn of events unfolding, but I had come across a hooky cassette, probably in my sister's bedroom, filled with songs taped from the radio. The time of the recordings was when the charts featured songs by Bon Jovi, Whitesnake and a band called Def Leppard. I recalled songs like 'Livin' On A Prayer' and 'Here I Go Again', but what was this song 'Animal' by a band I'd not heard of before? I was intrigued.

Upon first listen, I was instantly caught by the melodic guitars and its summery vibe. But then the harmonious vocals kicked in leading up to the chorus. I was hooked. What magic was this? I needed to hear more!

Around this time, I had been gifted my first ever CD player. My only CD was a CD single called 'Boss Drum' by The Shamen. But I was about to spend what little money I had from my newly acquired paper round, buying my first CD album, 'Hysteria' by Def Leppard.

I remember driving everyone in my house bonkers by playing this album, on repeat, for an entire week before I was paid again, and was able to buy the band's follow up album 'Adrenalize' and allow the family a bit more variety!

The album itself had been released in 1987. The recording of the album would make for interesting reading, highlighted by the fact that the band's drummer Rick Allen, had lost an arm in a drunken car accident, but was still in the band, using a unique, partially electronic drum kit. The band themselves were looking at recording a very pop oriented rock album, in their words, "... to be the hard rock equivalent of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'..." so the electronic drum kit would fit right in.

From the off, the album's opener 'Women' hit you hard with those amazing vocal harmonies and typical hair metal lyrics, but with a more mature edge to it, compared to their contemporaries. The next track 'Rocket' is a showcase of the technology of the time, combined with a similar lyrical theme to Billy Joel's 'We Didn't Start The Fire', but basically the lyrics are just a collection of musical artists and influences of the band.

At no point, does the album take a dip. Not one drop in quality. The album contains twelve thumping tracks, seven of which were successful singles, and contains probably the band's most famous song, 'Pour Some Sugar On Me', that was the last song written for the album, more or less written on the back of a Wimpy napkin, and becoming their signature song forevermore.

Want cheesy 80's power ballads? There's plenty here. A headbanger or two? Yep. But from start to finish, this has to be the most polished, ultra produced rock album of all time. Not one raw edge. Not a hint of their early work. But boy, what a ride this album is! And for this 13 year old boy who could not connect with the angst driven grunge music of the time, this was a god send.

'Jugulator' by Judas Priest

Okay, first let me own up; during the mid to late 1990s, I had drifted away from heavy metal music. Grunge had all but killed off all the bands I loved, and I hadn't yet taken to bands that were simply too heavy for my tastes at the time; Like Pantera for example.

Massive bands like Iron Maiden were persevering through change, whilst others simply sank. One such band who seemed to sink were Judas Priest, but they never did so without a fight.

As I drifted off into a haze of indie mainstream music with bands like Oasis, offering up at least a hope for guitar based music that wasn't all about doom and gloom, Judas Priest, after years in the wilderness without a lead singer (after Rob Halford had departed), were reinventing themselves with the addition of new vocalist Tim 'Ripper' Owens; An American with a voice equal to that of the Metal God himself, who previously was part of a Judas Priest tribute act called 'British Steel'.

This was risky business. After all, Priest's previous studio album was the unrivalled 'Painkiller'. How does a band follow that up with the added handicap of trying to replace God himself on vocals? Well, as it turns out, at the time, they couldn't...

Fast forward twenty years or so. My love for metal had returned. The once considered dead genre was as popular as it had been in as many years. I had rediscovered the wonders of Judas Priest, if only by accident due to my son George taking a liking to 'Breaking The Law', and a quick bit of Googling had me in possession of every album Priest had ever released. Y'arrrgh!

So, I've always been a massive fan of the underdog. It explains my poor choice in football team, and I also really loved the Iron Maiden albums featuring Blaze Bayley... Very much in the face of popular opinion. So naturally, I headed straight to the most maligned era of Priest... The first of two studio albums that Ripper Owens featured on, before Halford rejoined the band at his expense in the early 2000s.

'Jugulator' was released in 1997. Groove metal was everywhere. Including on this album, by the bucket load. But Priest were never ones to shy away from incorporating modern elements into their sound. This was the biggest change they'd made since 1986 though, where they'd introduced Synth elements that were popular at that time, and they divided their fans in the process. Was this change in style again too much for fans to stomach?

Straight from track one, it was clear this album wasn't messing about. The melodic edge was gone. These were angry sounding men, with an 'end of the world' concept they intended on using to build a story. 'Jugulator', the title track, took the heaviness of 'Painkiller', tuned down the guitars, and pummeled your ears, leaving you gobsmacked. Owens could bloody sing! And I genuinely feared the end was nigh for mankind!

The album thunders along, without ever letting up the pace. Sure, one or two songs certainly misfire and could have been left off the album (namely the cringeworthy 'Decapitate' and 'Abductors'), but the best was yet to come...

As the album approached the end game, it offered up its most Halford-like track, 'Bullet Train', a fast paced song that wouldn't have sounded out of place on 'Painkiller'. Wow, but with only one song left, had they peaked too soon, leaving us to end on a damp squib? Well, emphatically NO!

The final track brings the album around full circle. If the song 'Jugulator' was the start of the apocalypse, 'Cathedral Spires' was the conclusion. There's no happy ending here, story wise, but boy did they save the best 'til last!

The song starts slowly, builds up, and finally explodes into possibly the greatest piece of music the band have ever put on record. Owens hits all the right notes, with powerful backing vocals assisting what is the best nine minutes of song I have heard in a very long time. The hairs on the back of my neck (of which I have many) all stood to attention. As did other areas. This was metal at its absolute finest. The fact the band completely disregard the Owens era and particularly 'Cathedral Spires' should be a criminal act. To hear Halford belt this song out is on my musical bucket list.

In conclusion, this album is vastly underrated by many fair weather Priest fans and the music media alike. Many have said they'd rate it higher if it wasn't released as a Judas Priest album. Just typing that made my IQ drop considerably. It's not quite up there with 'Painkiller', but for me, I'd have this album in my top 3 Priest albums of all time, without a shadow of a doubt.

Warning... Potential spoilers ahead, but kept to a minimal.

OK, so this is my first review of a TV show. Yeah, I could have chosen a personal favourite, like 'The Sweeney' or 'The A-Team', or even a more current favourite like 'Cobra Kai', but I've chosen 'Snowpiercer' as it's fresh in the mind and still currently airing new episodes as I write this.

In a nutshell, the concept of this series centres around a train that was specifically built in order for humanity to survive the apocalypse of a new, deadly ice age. I know, right? Not a domed living habitat like you'd expect for when Mr. Musk finally colonises Mars, or even an underground bunker. No. A train. But not just a train, but a supersized train that would be circling the planet continuously, on clearly supersized (read: newly laid) train track tens of thousands of miles long. A train powered by perpetual motion, so it must remain in motion indefinitely. And 1001 huge carriages long. Yeah, you're now grasping the ridiculousness of a plot with more holes in it than a Rab C. Nesbitt string vest.

The cast? Eclectic. A lot of British characters, of which most are the arseholes of the series, and the bloke who played that arsehole Simon, in The Walking Dead, playing, well, another arsehole just like Simon in this; But the stand out cast member? Jennifer Connelly, who those of a vintage year will remember fondly from the 1980s in films like 'Labyrinth' and later 'Career Opportunities'. Of course, on an entirely personal note, I was gutted as she no longer has the big boobs she boasted in her younger years... but then I am a wrong'n, so... Ahem...

Anyway, the general basis of the story is that of a battle of the classes. The rich, who live in the luxury of first class, right down through the classes to the dregs in the tail end of the train, who are all at odds with one another. It's standard fair really.

For me, I had to ignore the multitude of nonsensical plot holes and faux science (a difficult task) and concentrate on the action. Of which there really isn't that much of. This show should have been called 'Slowpiercer' as its plodding storyline never really got going until the last couple of episodes of the first series. (Yeah that's right, I said series. This is not America. We don't do "seasons" of TV shows here and I refuse to dumb down and use that particular Americanism, even for an American made show.)

If you wanna see Sean Bean naked, then you're in for a treat, by the way. Personally, after seeing him and his little willy flopping about in 'When Saturday Comes', I'm not too fussed! Unfortunately, we don't get to see this much of Mrs. Connelly, I might add. Sexists!

Would I recommend this show? If you're able to ignore the shit I've explained above, and have time to waste, then it's not the worst show on Netflix right now. But if you've yet to watch 'Cobra Kai', 'Stranger Things' (are you mad?) or even 'Black Summer' yet on Netflix, file this way behind those shows in order of what you should be watching.

As most of you should probably be aware, I'm an 80's kid. I grew up playing with ThunderCats, Commodore 64 and rode (badly) a BMX. I'd be out on the estate with other kids playing 'Knock Down Ginger' or pretending to be a Ghostbuster. When at home, I had to endure the music blaring out of my big sister's bedroom. Little would I know that I'd be choosing to listen to that same stuff some many years later.

So, 2016. I was on YouTube, stuck down the familiar rabbit hole of searching out 80's pop songs. It was (and still is) a fun past time. But I somehow stumbled upon something strange... This sounded like a warm summer stroll down Great Yarmouth seafront in 1984. Waves lapping on the shore. Arcade games pinging off in the background. The smell of horse shit wafting off the long... Ahem, you get the idea. But this wasn't an old synth-laden track from the speakers of a Lasonic TRC-931. No. It was a NEW album by a NEW artist. It was full of Synth, entrancing vocals, melody and even electric guitars! This was FM-84. I had discovered SYNTHWAVE.

'Atlas' soon became a regular on the Robbo set list. And still is. It's ideal for those hazy days of nostalgic trips down memory lane. Summer days.

It has guest vocalists throughout the album. I'd never heard of any of them. Including a young chap called Ollie Wride (more on him another day) but it starts and never lets up across the entire album to keep you fully seated in your Porsche 924 whilst you cruise down the seafront, checking out hot chicks in the sunset.

So if you love 80's pop music, or even just fancy trying something new, erm, or old, then give this a try. I guarantee you, you'll soon be down that same rabbit hole I found myself in after hearing this, discovering a world of futuristic 80's neon aural loveliness.

The 1990s were a strange decade for us metalheads. With Grunge taking over the rock landscape early doors, and heavy metal about to be conquered by Pantera; This left us eventually with a generation of angsty, short haired youngsters who would come together in either a Pop punk guise, or they'd spin their baseball cap around, throw on some baggy clothes and embrace "Nu-metal". It was a confusing time. It lead us on different paths, and what once were giant bands, were now playing to empty arenas and small halls. Classic rock as we knew it was in the gutter.

But the decade burst out of the blocks with possibly the greatest heavy metal album ever to grace a round lump of spinning plastic. 'PAINKILLER' . It would be a triumphant swansong for the greatest metal front man of them all, the metal god himself Rob Halford! An album which was to be his last for the mighty Judas Priest. Or at least, as it turns out, his last for 14 years. And classic rock/metal was about to change forever.

The album itself follows the absolute stinker of a release, 'Ram It Down', but boy was it worth the wait. Straight out of the blocks, the title track, possibly the greatest heavy metal song of all time, galloped away and started you out on a journey where you were not afforded a chance to breathe until the end of the final, killer track. There's no duds here. Not one. You are left gasping for air, and with a serious case of whiplash. Rob Halford's voice is second to none. The addition of Scott Travis on drums was a key move. The pace of which he worked was jaw dropping. Speed Metal at its best.

The 1990s had peaked. It was still only 1990. The decade ahead simply never reached such dizzying heights again.