Defenders of the Faith

iTunes Review

As Judas Priest continued their streak of crossover success, they found new ways to keep their patented brand of high-octance metal raw and rude. Tipper Gore singled out “Eat Me Alive” in her crusade against objectionable lyrical content, but in truth, the song’s incendiary guitar solos (courtesy of synergetic duo K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton) are far more lascivious than written words could ever hope to be. “Freewheel Burning” is one of the band’s finest blitzkrieg assaults, but even when the band slows down they refuse to bow to the insipidness of the power ballad. In what could be considered their doom rock trilogy, Priest maintains ferocity even as the tempo moves from slow (“Some Heads Are”) to slower (“Night Come Down”) to slowest (“Heavy Duty”). Following the mass success of Screaming For Vengeance, it was up to Priest to represent metal’s core values to a mainstream audience, and as its title underscores, Defenders of the Faith makes good on that promise.