Judas Priest
Ram It Down

THE REVIEW

One review was too little for this album, especially when it doesn’t highlight its true nature; so I'll share my thoughts as well. It's 1988, Rob Halford & Co. retreated to the Scandinavian country of Denmark for recording; from which the subsequent "Scandinavian Tour 1988/89" emerged.

This album is one of the crown jewels of this British band, which significantly contributed to the growth of the "Heavy Metal" genre itself (the other album will be titled "Painkiller" and will be released shortly thereafter). "Ram It Down" is the opener of this fantastic work, a scream capable of splitting the listener's heart in two and then continuing at lightning speed to the incredible dual solo by K.K.D. & G. Tipton (in my opinion, worthy of classical music violinists... not country... WATCH OUT)!!! The piece will end just as it began, with no loss of tempo and no hesitation... to be listened to in one breath.

But just as you’re trying to recover from the traumatic shock caused by the opening track, here we plunge into a whirlwind guitar solo, transgressive and ferocious, incredibly ingenious, technically speaking a lifetime long, which is nothing more than the beginning of the second track "Heavy Metal," a piece that tries to encapsulate all the characteristics of the musical genre in question; unforgettable is the performance of vocalist "Rob Halford." The third track seems to be a bit more frivolous and catchy compared to the previous ones, but no less impressive (with beautiful initial drumming with snare/bass pedal in syncopation). Towards the middle of the album, we find another gem "Hard As Iron"; direct, violent, disarmingly concise, with syncopated rhythms I would say, a masterpiece of a piece: A LESSON IN HEAVY METAL!!

Regarding the two tracks: "Come And Get It & I'm A Rocker," they are two excellent examples of extreme Hard Rock almost on the edge of Heavy, impeccable performances by the band members even here; (in this album, we also find the very famous Rock N' Roll piece "Johnny B. Goode" by C. Berry in a Heavy Metal version). The "Ballads" of the album is identifiable in the piece "Blood Red Sky", in this track R. Halford will give his best, with quite dark rhythms and some hints projecting the listener into a near future "Post Atomic," this piece remains one of the best of the entire album and the Priest's career as well. "Love You To Death" perhaps is one of the most transgressive tracks the band has ever made (according to the lyrics) but not overly exciting overall.

The album closes with a self-glorification (more than deserved) THAT GOES BY THE NAME OF "MONSTER OF ROCK"; in short, this is Heavy Metal. This is not just a music CD, but also an example and a lesson, for all those who one day decide to embark on the musical genre in question; a star that will shine with its own light for a long time to come.