Top-15 Best Songs: Judas Priest

Welcome to a new series I'm starting here, right now! A top-15 best songs list, because 10 is simply not enough most of the times. Debuting this new series will be the almighty Judas Priest. I will base the list on my personal preference rather than the general one, or which songs are hits or not. Screw that! No further description is really needed so let's get started!

15. Blood Red Skies (1988)

Powerful and epic. Rob Halford vocally in top shape. The productions sucks but it doesn't ruin the song's awesomeness. The song also sounds very good and heavy live on Epitaph (2013).

14. Dissident Aggressor (1977)

The song itself isn't anything special, I think. It's the riff and drums that totally do it for me. One of Priest's finest "harder" metal moments.

13. Diamonds And Rust (1977)

Amazing cover of the Joan Baez song. One of the finest covers of all time, as well. Just listen and feel it for yourself. Outstanding vocal performance from Rob.

12. Out In The Cold (1986)

Another one of Priest's more emotional semi-ballad tracks. I guess I'm just a sucker for those. This live version is also very nice. It says a lot about the song when the band opened up with this in 1986.

11. Victim Of Changes (1975)

The studio version is awesome. Live it's even better. My favortie official release of the song is from the Unleashed In The East live album (1979). This live clip is from the US Festival 1983.

10. You've Got Another Thing Comin' (1982)

This is the closest I get to a "given hit" on this list. Love the biker-esque sound, my kinda shit. Also GTA: Vice City back in 2002. It was the first Priest song I ever loved.

9. Turbo Lover (1986)

In one way this song is actually kind of bad, but in other ways (plural!) it's just fucking awesome! 80's cheesy, guitar synths and an infectiously good chorus. Very driving song. Great solo section.

8. Freewheel Burning (1984)

I had a crazy dream many years ago where I witnessed a cops-and-crooks car chase while I heard this song blast all over the world. High energy, great guitars. The production could be rawer, though.

7. Exiled (2008)

Many fans really disliked the Nostradamus (2008) album, but I loved it from day one. It's actually my favorite Priest record. This song is very powerful, very beautiful. I especially love the last two minutes - great build-up and conclussion.

6. Prophecy (2008)

The opening track from Nostradamus. Just listen to that riff, so heavy. It's like riding a great chopper-style motorcycle while waving around a nasty sledgehammer at people. Fuck! Yeah, that's how I feel when I hear this.

5. The Sentinel (1984)

The guitars! The intro always sounded like you stood staring against a giant concrete wall, just to have the Metallian burst through it when the song kicks off. Such a huge song.

4. Hellrider (2005)

One of those truly perfect Priest songs. Simple but most effective riffing, great dual soloing, driving drums and a catchy chorus. A modern classic from Priest.

3. Beyond The Realms Of Death (1978)

Perfection. I actually almost stole the song title once. My old band made a song back in 2006 and we needed a title. I named it "Beyond Reality Of Death" (no "the", I'm Swedish and that's our own grammatic logic! I was really bad at English back then, as well). I always felt like the title was too familiar, though. Then I realized... haha!

2. Rock Hard, Ride Free (1984)

Another metal biker anthem, just the way I like my Judas Priest. This song never stuck with during the first few years as a fan. It wasn't before a guitarist we used to have in my old band, who loved this song, played it for me and I was instantly sold. Just like that!

1. Desert Plains (1981)

A very mellow track from Priest. Yet another biker anthem, and my favorite one at that. Very emotional, powerful and with an almost dramatic chorus. It sounds like the album cover, I guess. I always imagine myself riding a chopper (motorcycle, of course) on Route 68 or something when I hear this. Anyway, it's my favorite Priest song of all time.

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OK, so that's a wrap! Some people are probably surprised or even disappointed (maybe pissed?!) that I didn't include anything from Painkiller (1990) or British Steel (1980). Don't get me wrong for that, I love those albums. Just not enough, I guess. It was really hard coming up with 15 songs. I'm a huge fan of Priest, even the Ripper albums, so there's really a whole lot to choose from. But this was a fair and honest try, and I hope you enjoyed it.

My Top-10 Best Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time [2016]

On December 13, two years ago, I did my first list consisting of my ten (10) favorite heavy metal albums of all time. I'll tell you; it's fuckin' hard coming up with only ten albums which are supposedly the ten best. I have 3300-something played artists on my Last.fm, with the majority of the artists being some kind of metal. Then have in mind most of them did at least a few to many albums each, as well. That's quite a lot to choose from.

Another thing I did which I found rather weird was how I chose one album to represent the artists respectively as a whole. Looking back on it now, it's more like a "best heavy metal artist and their best albums respectively"-list. With that said, I decided to re-make a list and actually keep true to the list's purpose. Besides, my opinions have changed a bit during the last two years. So here ... we ... go!

Extra note: Only classic heavy and traditional metal, and NWoBHM will be included in this list. Not the "general understanding" that heavy metal means "all" metal.

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10. Saxon - Innocence Is No Excuse (1985)

Saxon is one of the greatest, hardest working and long-lived classic NWoBHM bands ever. They have made a large amount of records and still to this day they put out a record every two years. Another great feature of theirs is that they never put out a bad album. Some albums were obviously not-as-good as others, but I never disliked or got truly disappointed by a Saxon album. I feel secure when I say they're the only band on this list to have that feature.

Speaking of this particular choice of album. It's probably what you'd call their "second most commercial" release. The winner being Destiny (1988), of course. This was an attempt to break into the American market, which ultimately didn't succeed. I think it's still very much British heavy metal here, with a few touches of American influences. It's mostly the production that sounds American - huge arena-like soundscape, but that's exactly one of the features I love about 80's metal - lots of reverb all around. The songs just sound so huge on this record.

9. Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time (1986)

My first favorite band for a few years when I first started listening to heavy metal. I'll love Iron Maiden to death, but I do think the massive hype around them is overrated. I mean, in the long run their stuff just tends to be somewhat repetitive, especially Steve's songs although his the master at writing epic songs. But Maiden still deserves a lot of credit for what they've done throughout their career.

I'm one of those fans who prefer the old stuff. Mostly because I love the actual 80's sound so much, and I also think Bruce's voice was in much better shape back in his younger day. But one thing that was so great about Maiden in the 80's was how they constantly evolved into something better, in my opinion. This album was where they truly reached their peek in my book. I just love the sci-fi themed Blade Runner-esque setting from the cover art to the guitar-synths gracing the musical landscape.

8. Madison - Diamond Mistress (1984)

One of those more "odd" or "unheard" choices on this list, I imagine. Madison was an old Swedish band much in the vein of Priest, Maiden and speed metal. They only did two records with this being the first one. Their second album, unfortunately, followed the band Europe's success and did a glam metal album, which was rather bad.

This album was a great heavy metal. From the fast guitars and drums to the young and somewhat naive, but still great vocals from Göran Edman (later in John Norum and Yngwie Malmsteen's bands respectively, and more). Like many other Swedish bands in the 80's, there are also hints of ABBA influences in the bands music. As a Swede, you can kind of here that as you largely grow up with ABBA here (for reasons I'll leave obvious). It's just an amazing record!


7. Accept - Balls To The Wall (1983)

Accept is probably my favorite band coming from Germany, and there are a lot to chose from. They had a really great run in the 80's, not so much in the 90's, but then again in the 2010's (or currently). Just like with many other bands in this list, they've had such great records it's rather hard choosing one as the better. This has got to be it for me, however, as I just love the heavy sound of it. The drums in particular are real heavy and kick-ass.

The songs on this album are all great. Perhaps there isn't a real "hit", if you want to call it that, but as an album in its whole I think it's one of the strongest ones ever made. The guitars are heavy and loud, drums pounding, bass deep and Udo's vocals are in great shape. Udo even manages to do the album's ballad "Winter Dream" without sounding out of place, despite his unique vocal style.


6. Enforcer - From Beyond (2015)

I would suppose a lot of you are familiar with the Swedish band Enforcer which is currently very active and rocking throughout the world. They're a young band taking on the very best of old school metal. The recipes are all available today and Enforcer just takes that opportunity to re-do and refine the recipes, in my opinion. For not being one of the "old originals", I think they're very competent in what they're doing. Without a doubt the best band among the "revival/retro bands" these days, because they simply make it sound original again. #makeheavymetalgreatagain






5. Judas Priest - Nostradamus (2008)

I'm a huge Priest fan and love most of their catalogue except for the Tim "Ripper" records. I've got nothing against the fact that it's Ripper who sings on the two albums in question, I just didn't like the actual music on them. Other than that, I love everthing from Priest's 70's stuff to their modern stuff.

So here I come and present a rather strange choice in most fans' eyes, I suppose? The truth is, when I bought this album soon after its release, I've been amazed by it ever since. I've always thought that keyboards add a lot more to records, if done properly of course, but who can deny the quality work from a master such as Don Airey (Ozzy, Rainbow, Deep Purple, Priest, etc.)? This two-disc release is just an epic musical journey which I love to experience. It's like all the greatest JP ingredients being enhanced. Master craftmanship.


4. Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)

The almighty (Black) Sabbath, the "start of it all", as we say. Tony Iommi a.k.a. the riff maker no. 1 has driven this band to great heights throughout its career, whether it being musical or commercial heights. It doesn't matter, I love all eras of Sab and I'm a fan of all their records, even though some are not up-to-par with some others, like with most bands.

I had a really hard time choosing a favorite from Sabbath, because I love so many of them dearly, but I always keep going back to this particular one. I honestly can't say why that is exactly, but the music is just great and perhaps there are one or two extra special songs which are dear to me. It's hard to say. Nonetheless, it's an amzing record from an amazing band and it's a great record to experience the band through.



3. Dio - Holy Diver (1983)

Dio (the band) is one of my favorites of all time, and so is Ronnie's amazing voice. Everything from the raw guitar riffs, live-feel drumming, stellar bass and keyboard soundscapes. It's a band that really managed to make their music sound like "pictures", if you know what I mean? It's impossible to just listen to the music itself. You hear it and it's like making up your own fantasy movie with Dio's music as its soundtrack, and that's exactly what I love about their music.

There are many great records done by this band and I've been going back and forth throughout the years about which one is my favorite. Right now, it's this one, but at some points I favored other albums (note, plural). They were such an amazing band and RJD is actually my very favorite vocalist. The man had such an emotional and powerful voice, and it truly saddens me that we'll never hear his voice grace some new wonderful heavy metal again.

2. Mercyful Fate - Don't Break The Oath (1984)

The most sinister and evil heavy metal album ever made. This is one of those few gems that are just flawless. Everything from King Diamond's ghostly falsetto to his darker and twisted screams. All that in company with some amazing and Judas Priest-esque twin guitars, courtesy of Hank Shermann and Michael Denner. I just simply love their style and sound, and I've never heard any more evil-sounding guitars on a heavy metal album than those found here. The ultra-distorted guitar sound is just mindblowing and most unique, as I've never heard any other band using this particular sound before or after (some black metal bands have come close, though).

This one is one of the most definitive, perfect and most amazing metal albums of all time, no matter what sub-genre we're talking. It's got all of the essential ingredients of what defines a great heavy metal record. From the classic and powerful cover art, which just suits the musical content perfectly, to every band members' creative efforts and skills. This is one of those truly immortal classics, and also one of my true holy grails in my vinyl collection.

1. Ozzy Osbourne - Diary Of A Madman (1981)

And number one ...*drum roll*...*tss!*... Ozzy Osbourne! The Godfather of heavy metal, and the one and only who made my interest for heavy metal explode back in 2002. I owe so much to Ozzy, his music and the countless hours I've been enjoying his legacy, from Sabbath to his most recent solo stuff. However, my favorite work of his lies in his 80's solo career, or more specifically up till the No More Tears album. Most of his records up till that point was awesome, with the exception of Bark At The Moon (whose title-track is still kick-ass as fuck).

This album is the perfect example of what I love about Ozzy's music: his unique voice (in awesome shape on this record, just listen to "You Can't Kill Rock 'n' Roll"), his musicians (particularly the amazing Randy Rhoads) and the songs themselves. This is truly the man's finest hour, especially with his own singing efforts in mind. This is the one album I'd chose to have with me on a deserted island.

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Honorable mentions (bands) which were ultimately rejected for not quite meeting the list's criteria or simply outdone:

Motörhead - (Several)
Danzig - Danzig (1988)
Twisted Sister - Come Out And Play (1985)
Tygers Of Pan Tang - Spellbound (1981)
Thin Lizzy - Thunder And Lightning (1983)
Ozzy, Sabbath, Dio, Priest, Saxon, Maiden, Enforcer - (More choices)

In retrospect: Ronnie James Dio

Hi and welcome back to a new round of "In retrospect:". This time I'm tackling the career of Ronnie James Dio, although not all of his career. This might sound weird, but truth be told - the man's legacy started way before Elf, which is kind of the first band people usually know him from. Back in the 1950's and 1960's, Ronnie James Dio was already an active singer, but since this was in a time long-before hard rock and heavy metal, the music was more what you could imagine from that time.

Judging by the fact that Dio's pre-Elf career is too hard to fully trace, not to mention having an interest and patience in hearing it all, leaves me determined to not include his early, mostly unknown career in music. Actually, the same goes for his first little-to-fairly-known band Elf, which I simply haven't heard enough from, and what little I've heard didn't really interest me that much either, I'm afraid.

What I will cover is Ronnie's well-known career and legacy, from Rainbow to Black Sabbath to his solo act Dio. The only releases I will exclude from these bands are live and compilation albums, since they rarely interest me anyway.

A small shoutout before I begin, however, for Rainbow's "On Stage" album which in fact is a good one. Nonetheless, I will not include it in the list, but it's very worth checking out.

Here we go...

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Rainbow


1975 - Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow

Ronnie James Dio's first well-known album, and his first mainstream introduction to the public, is quite a landmark. Though this album was a major factor in Dio's career, it was also important for band leader and legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who had left Deep Purple to form his own band. The release itself, however, is not quite as good to my ears as many other people think. Truth be told, I always found Deep Purple and Rainbow to be somewhat of a hit-or-miss kind of bands. It's solid and got some great tracks, but nothing awesome as a whole.


1976 - (Rainbow) Rising

Now this is a lot better than the band's previous effort, I believe. If anything, it's certainly heavier and more to my taste. While it's got a shorter amount of songs (six in total), half of the album is made-up of eight-minute songs. Back in my early teens many years ago, I was often bored of lenghty songs, but as I grew older I really started to appreciate those musical-journey style songs many bands do. This album really has got that, with music just as epic as the most classic album cover art. One mighty fine hour in Dio's career, not to mention in the rest of the band members' careers as well.


1978 - Long Live Rock 'n' Roll

Dio's last album with Rainbow has got quite an ironic title, doesn't it? Not because rock 'n' roll died, at least not as early as 1978, but because it was the last album of Dio-Rainbow. It doesn't quite matter that Rainbow switched members from every record to record (at least up until "Difficult To Cure", after that I'm not sure), the Dio-Blackmore collaboration was all that counted, really. The album itself is a good closure for Dio's tenure in Rainbow with some of both Dio's and Blackmore's best songs ever.


Black Sabbath (take 1)


1980 - Heaven And Hell

Starting off his career in a band like Rainbow, only to then go on and replace Ozzy Osbourne in the mighty Sabbath. That is one hell of a career move, right? Well, Dio had the chops to did, and he bloody well did. As a major fan of Sabbath I love every album they did with Ozzy except for "Never Say Die!", which is a bit bland. I can understand why some people didn't like a few more of their last Ozzy-fronted albums, though. Anyway, with Dio in the fold, they put themselves back on the map - big time. This album is one of the best albums of all time, particularly within the metal community. Anyone denying its mastercrafted heavy metal sound of grandeur is an idiot. Dio himself stated at several times that this was his very favorite album, as well.


1981 - Mob Rules

While it doesn't really seem like an unknown album, it's certainly underrated and overlooked in comparison to its predecessor. I sometimes wonder if I don't even like this one slighty more, but it's a close call any way. Where this album perhaps went by more quietly, however, it was an important career step for Dio, who met his future long-time drummer Vinnie Appice who plays drums on this album. This would also be the last Dio-fronted Sabbath album in ten years to come, but what a great closure of Dio-Sabbath (mark one) it was. Very heavy and powerful album!


Dio


1983 - Holy Diver

One of the most legendary metal albums of all time. The debut of Dio's solo band really showed the world that the little man with the big voice could make it on his own. An album that surely helped out a lot with putting American heavy metal on the map, because after all, Ronnie James Dio was American. While Dio himself was American, however, his new and sensational young talen Vivian Campbell came from Ireland. Viv Campbell is today more known as one of the guitarists in Def Leppard, something that is quite far away from the style of Dio. Anyway, this album showed everyone that the Dio band was just as good, if not better, than both Rainbow and Black Sabbath had been with Dio. Most worthy of mentioning is also Dio's classic rhythm section with Jimmy Bain on bass and Vinnie Appice on drums. Just one of the great rhythm sections of all time, what a band!


1984 - The Last In Line

For a long time this was my favorite Dio album. I don't know if it still is, but it's one damn good album to say the least. Coming from "Holy Diver" which largely lacked keyboards, something which was pretty crucial and prominent in the soundscapes of Dio's former bands, this one saw keyboardist Claude Schnell recruited and a lot of more keyboards being present in the music. I believe this really helped cementing the Dio band's sound, especially with Ronnie's fantasy-themed lyrics which fit the 1980's heavy metal scene very nicely. This album is a very heavy and atmospheric journey of heavy metal music that everyone should own. A great mix of heavy, speed, and poppy metal.


1985 - Sacred Heart

Somewhat unintentionally controversial, this album would prove to be the last album featuring the classic Dio line-up. Guitarist Vivian Campbell and Ronnie had clashed by this point, for whatever reasons (they are widely discussed throughout interviews if you're interested). It's a most typical Dio album in a musical sense, but it does perhaps feature a somewhat more commercial sound. The album's lead singles are quite poppy and the fans were largely split with opinions about this one. This fact along with the ultimate demise and departure of Vivian Campbell's tenure in the band made it somewhat of the controversy it is. But I am one of those fans who love this album. A few tracks do tend to sound a bit more filler than usual, but still - it's a pretty fucking good album anyway.


1987 - Dream Evil

Marking the first album without guitarist Viv Campbell, this was the first (and ultimately at the time the only) album to feature Craig Goldy. I've always been very fond of this album, especially considering it's Craig Goldy who plays on it. That might come across as I don't like the guy's playing, but I'll come back and explain that on later albums. What this album sounds like is a mix between Dio's previous three solo albums and his Rainbow albums. Goldy seemed to be very influenced by Ritchie Blackmore, and perhaps even a bit too much so. The guitar playing is just phenomenal but not really as original or interesting as on previous albums. At the end of the day, however, this release does feature some of Dio's most underrated songs, and for any fans who loved Dio in Rainbow, this one would surely be the album to check out from Dio's solo records.


1990 - Lock Up The Wolves

Dio's fifth album once again showed a change within the band, albeit a much larger one this time around. For this album, Dio had changed out his whole backing band. Some of the old guys got fired for whatever reasons and the rest felt uncomfortable playing with the replacing guys. I can only suppose it was inevitable and a much needed change at the time. But how does it affect the album then? Well, it sounds quite different (obviously). Compared to the previous albums, this one is way much more guitar-driven, with hardly any prominent keyboards at all. Perhaps a sign of the times as the 80's was over, I dunno. The guitarist here, Rowan Robertson, was infamously only seventeen years old at the time he joined the band, and boy was he full of great talent! Ultimately, it's not the strongest Dio release. It took me a few years to truly get into this, but when I finally did, it became a very good more hard-rock/glam metal-influenced record than its predecessors.


Black Sabbath (take 2)


1992 - Dehumanizer

Dio let-go of his solo band in favor of rejoining Sabbath during the early 90's. I suppose the reason was that both the Dio band as well as Black Sabbath had been struggling somewhat throughout the last few years, and while they assured everyone it wasn't about the money, well ... I beg to differ, especially considering how ill they spoke of each other during the 80's. But it all happened anyway, and the end result was one hell of a heavy album. Perhaps even the heaviest Sabbath album of all time, but in the end I always felt this album fell somewhat flat in comparison to Dio's previous Sabbath-albums. It's a solid album, but nothing too spectacular. Sabbath simply did better doom metal with Ozzy in the 70's (without disrespecting Ronnie's performance or place in the band). This reunion was, however, very short-lived.


Dio (take 2)


1993 - Strange Highways

Without a doubt this is the most overlooked and underrated album of Dio's career. I suppose the reasons for it were maybe not all that surprising, though. Seeing as how the 90's obviously changed the music market for this kind of metal, and Dio and his solo band were largely associated with "dragons and rainbows", I just guess nobody was interested anymore. Well, that sure as hell was their huge loss, because this album is fucking awesome. Once again, the old trademark-keyboards are almost completely gone on this one as well, and it's way heavier than any solo record Dio ever did. This one is a lot more like Sabbath's Dehumanizer, p. 2. The only difference is - I think this one turned out way better, to be honest. For this album, Dio used his new guitar player Tracy G. along with former Dokken bassist Jeff Pilson, and his former long-time drummer Vinnie Appice came back to the fold as well. Some fans ultimately disliked Tracy G. and his playing (strongly), but I guess it's mostly because the guy played his own solos on old Dio and Sabbath tracks when they played live. Otherwise, I think the guy had a great guitar tone and I love his "loose" riffing style.


1996 - Angry Machines

And without a doubt this is Dio's worst album of his (more well-known) career. I've tried to get into this but I just can't. It sounds like a further exploration within doom metal, this time taking an even heavier approach. The end result is just plain bad. The songs are boring, uninspired and most of all - it doesn't sound very much like a Dio album. I can only suppose that for those who disliked Tracy G., this album did nothing but further cement that opinion of theirs. This was ultimately the last album to feature Tracy G. (as well as Vinnie Appice), who left some years later due to even Ronnie getting tired of his solo-style during live performances. I liked the guy and his personal playing, but this album was pretty bad. Him not playing the older songs' solos properly either, well ... fans were obviously gonna be pissed.


2000 - Magica

This album marked four noteworthy things: the return of guitarist Craig Goldy, as well as drummer Simon Wright (who played on "Lock Up The Wolves") and the former classic and long-time bassist Jimmy Bain, and most of all: the return of Dio's trademark fantasy-style metal. The end result, however, is a bit hit-or-miss. Seeing as it was 2000, with new ways of making digital recording cheaper to use, as well as Dio having not had any greater success for almost ten years by this point, the album sounds rather cheaply recorded. The production is very flat-sounding. On top of this, Craig Goldy's return to the band is more of a disappointment than it is a success. The riffs just tend to sound very much the same over and over. His old Ritchie Blackmore-influenced style of riffing is long-gone on here, and while it was maybe Ronnie who wrote the riffs, it's still a pretty boring performane from Goldy. Simon Wright's stellar-rather-than-loose playing style (if compared to Vinnie Appice) just further makes this album stiff and a bit lifeless. It's sad because this album really had potential in its songs.


2002 - Killing The Dragon

Following much in the same vein as "Magica", this album is more of a success to my ears. It sounds more inspirated and more true to Dio's 80's albums than any Dio album has done post-80's. Maybe this was because of guitarist Doug Aldrich, who temporarily replaced Craig Goldy for a few years while the latter became a father. Still present, however, is the somewhat of the stiff sound from the previous album. It's not nearly as much, however, as the production is a bit more "full" and the guitars (especially) are more varied and alive on this one. Not really a superb album, but without a doubt the best album Dio did after "Strange Highways" in 1993.


2004 - Master Of The Moon

Ultimately what would become the last Dio album, this one once again sees the return of bassist Jeff Pilson as well as Craig Goldy(!), and along with him comes (once again) a more stiff performance like "Magica". Now these two albums have really left me wondering sometimes what this guy did to lose his amazing performance-style from "Dream Evil". It's just sad to see such a promising guitarist become so uninspiring and boring fifteen-to-twenty years down the line. This particular album itself, however, is not bad, but not very good either. Just like with "Magica", this is somewhat of a hit-or-miss kind of album. It's a bit more keyboard-oriented which is nice, but otherwise there's not really one single track that truly stands out as memorable.


Heaven & Hell (a.k.a. Black Sabbath, take 3)


2009 - The Devil You Know

Sometime soon after the mid-2000's, Ronnie once again reunited with his former Black Sabbath bandmates. Sabbath had not too long ago stopped playing with Ozzy Osbourne, whom they had reunited with in the late 1990's. Needless to say, Sabbath was most likely facing another rather unsuccessful bunch of years ahead of them, while Dio had already been working too hard for too little for several years at this point. The guys reunited once more, opting to change their name after the legendary "Heaven And Hell" album this time instead. They released their first and ultimately only full-length album in 2009, which I suppose was successful (judging by time of illegal downloads, etc). The album itself is also a very good one, being the best album by the Sabbath guys (Tony and Geezer) and Dio (with Vinnie Appice) in a long, long time. It's a very heavy doom metal album and a great way for Ronnie James Dio to (sadly) end his career.

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That was it for this time, guys. These are my reflections and presentations of Ronnie James Dio's albums in short. I hope you enjoyed and see you next time!

//J.

Top-10 Most Underrated Or Overlooked: Hard Rock & Metal Bands

I'm launching a new to-be-recurring series here today. A classic top-10 most underrated list. Not very original perhaps, but opinions will always differ - making every list personal and unique. With that said, this list will be my personal opinion, and not some official "agree with this list, now" bullshit, or whatever.

This is purely for entertainment purpose, but hey, maybe you guys will find yourself agreeing with me, and maybe you'll even find something new. //J.

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Thing: Band / Status: Underrated or overlooked
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10. Saxon (UK) - Underrated

Although they are well-known in the metal community, I always felt that they were overshadowed by bands like Iron Maiden and particularly Judas Priest, with their reminiscent biker sound. Sure, Saxon came along a few years after Priest, but at the time (late 70's) Priest hadn't quite yet gone into that more-straight-forward style metal they introduced on "British Steel", and also maintained for several albums to come after that one.

Saxon did mostly focus on that ride-motorcycles-on-the-highway heavy metal sound, with lyrics either focusing on those kind of things, or medieval stuff. Vocalist Biff Byford has also got a very distinctive voice which is very nice and suitable for the band's sound. To my ears, they were a very good band (and remains so to this day). It's very sad that people didn't acknowledge them as much as Maiden or Priest, but I guess that Saxon still was luckier success-wise than bands like, say, Angel Witch or Tygers Of Pan Tang.
 

9. Strapping Young Lad (Can) - Both

Okey, so Devin Townsend is pretty well-known these days and has a strong and loyal fan-base. He might not be a superstar, but at least in the metal community he is very well appreciated. But that doesn't necessarily go for all of his many projects that he's done over the years. SYL was a most underground band when they released their debut "Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing" back in 1995, which infamously sold like 15 copies in its first week of release, literally.

In 1997 Townsend and SYL returned with "City", an excellent record that remains my favorite Townsend work to this day. But the sound sure doesn't appeal to everyone, certainly not people who are not into metal. Being rather extreme industrial-style metal, there has rarely been a record more genuinely pissed off-sounding than that one. SYL would release three more full-length albums during the 2000's, all of which are good albums, with especially 2005's "Alien" being another masterpiece. But I guess people were more into the radio-friendlier bands such as Fear Factory, Rob Zombie or Marilyn Manson.
 

8. Crimson Glory (US) - Overlooked

These guys had it all - music, production, vocalist, label, etc. Something went wrong along the way, however, with possibly the record label (Roadrunner Records) being right on paper, but not in practice? They did two albums during the 80's both of which sounded great, and they had an amazing vocalist in the late Midnight (yes, that's simply what he called himself). Truth to be told, I even think he's my favorite power/progressive metal singer of all time. Halford, Kiske, Tate... Non of them beats Midnight in my opinion.

Whatever fans they managed to get seemed to be very much into the band, as their first two works are generally hailed as masterpieces of their sub-genre, yet still when listening to or mentioning them, no one knows what the fuck you're talking about. Strange and sad. These guys were like a mastercrafted Queensrÿche if the latter is just a novice band.
 

7. Death Angel (US) - Underrated

If you would expand the Big 4 into the Big 8 instead, Death Angel would likely enter it along with Testament, Overkill and Exodus, albeit on place 8 I guess. That just doesn't sound fair to my ears, since DA fucking wrings and torns 'em to out to shreds (any DA fan should see what I did there).

Any thrash fan are likely to be aware of their infamous debut "The Ultra-Violence" from 1987. After that one, fans are a bit divided when it comes to the quality of the band's next albums. But in latter years, I really think they were reborn. From 2010's "Relentless Retribution" and on, the band has just been on fire on every album, and today they also stand out as perhaps the best old school thrashers doing new albums. Particularly vocalist Mike Osegueda remains in great shape vocally today, much more so than any other major thrash band vocalist I can think of from the old bands.
 

6. God Forbid (US) - Overlooked

One of the bands included in the NWoAHM (New Wave of American Heavy Metal) movement, a.k.a. metalcore. These guys were great and had a pretty unique sound going on, which I personally would call a mix of Chimaira, Mastodon and thrash bands. It's a shame these guys didn't make it, but I suppose they were overshadowed by the likes of Lamb of God and all the emo shit-bands back in the 00's. They also got better by every album, with their last two being their best (and thrashiest) works to my ears.
 

5. Saigon Kick (US) - Overlooked

Although they managed to make a Gold-selling single in "Love Is On The Way" from their second album, their actual full-length albums did not do nearly as good. With that said, I guess they were potentially quite successful, but just otherwise overlooked since they came just as hair metal was becoming passé and grunge had exploded (fuck you, Nirvana).

While their sound was rooted in typical hair metal of the times, they stuck out by having unique influences and touches to their sound. They do sound like they took Skid Row's sound as a base, then spiced it up with a weirdness and poetical touch of The Doors, the joy of Jane's Addiction and the hard edge of Warrior Soul (which is another massively underrated band, btw). This stuff was experimental hair metal, in a way, and should've appealed to more people than it did.
 

4. Magnum (UK) - Overlooked

I absolutely love this band! If you're American, I would not even be surprised if you don't know what the hell Magnum is - I would rather expect it. It seems these guys went by mostly unnoticed in the US market throughout their entire c. 40-year-old career. They are, however, well-known and loved in the UK, Germany and the Scandinavian countries. Hell, here in Sweden, hard rock fans are always fans of the band, and for obvious reason.

They started off as a rather progressive rock band in the mid-70's or so, at least that's when they recorded their debut album "Kingdom Of Madness", but it wasn't released until 1978 - in the midst of punk conquering the UK. In the early 80's they got some opening slots for Ozzy Osbourne and Whitesnake which gave the band some recognition in Europe, and later got somewhat of a brake in 1985 with the excellent "On A Storyteller's Night". The band at this time had become more of an AOR-oriented Queen-meets-Thin Lizzy hybrid, and they would later receive a Gold record in the UK for their "Wings Of Heaven" (1988) album, which I ironically find to be their least-good record.

They're still growing strong to this day, releasing albums regularly and maintaining a solid progressive-esque hard rock sound. Oh, and Bob Catley is a truly underrated vocalist!
 

3. Chimaira (US) - Underrated

Without a doubt the best and thus also (sadly) most underrated band of the NWoAHM movement. They did kind of scratch the surface, but could never manage to rise to the level of Lamb of God, Machine Head or Trivium. Instead, they were a little more harder in their sound, whereas their metal elements were harder than any other bands, and likewise with the hardcore elements. They also had a groove to their sound, albeit not as groovy as MH or particularly LoG. What helped Chimaira stand out from the masses were their electronical elements, where they incorporated light use of keyboards, and a lot of sound effects, for loss of a better description.

They released six albums and an EP in total, where I love anything apart from their first and last albums. Everything in between is, more or less, gold to my ears. They also constantly evolved from record to record, which is another feat I really like about them. Too bad the kids in the scene either were too emo or too mainstream to really dig into these guys other than carefully scratching their surface.
 

2. Nocturnus (US) - Overlooked

Classic Tampa death metal that is pretty well-known for fans of the genre, I suppose, but for the larger death metal crowd, they're mostly overlooked. Featuring former early-days Morbid Angel drummer Mike Browning on drums (and also vocals on the debut, "The Key"), it kind of sounds reminiscent to the likes of Morbid Angel. The difference that makes them stand out, however, are heavy use of sci-fi keyboards. That's right, Nocturnus is sci-fi influenced death metal with strong and atmospheric keyboards. These guys apparently influenced bands like Children of Bodom a lot, but these guys are a lot better in my opinion.

Their career was ultimately rather shortlived, only lasting two albums and an EP before splitting in 1993 or so. Tensions arose within the band, particularly between main-man Mike Browning and the others, leading them to infamously go behind his back, acquiring the rights to the band name and all, and later firing him from the band he himself founded. Total dick mode if you ask me, but maybe the guy (Browning) was an ass, I don't know. Still, that's a fucking dick move. However, the remaining band did eventually reunite and release another album in 2000 called "Ethereal Tomb", but I don't really like that one at all. Biggest reason for it? Mike Browning's missing, and so is the original (good) sound with him.
 

1. Mordred (US) - Overlooked

Number one this time around is none other than the truly massively overlooked band Mordred. Hailing from the San Fransisco bay area, they started out as some kind of true heavy metal band, like Manowar or whatever. At least that's the impression I've got from what I've heard and seen. Later, however, they did some line-up changes and voila - it was 1989 and thrash metal was at its peak. But Mordred wasn't just a thrash band all of a sudden. On the rise was also funk metal, with Red Hot Chili Peppers popularizing the sound, which in 1989 would also be further popularized by Faith No More.

Mordred made a distinctive sound for themselves by incorporating bay area-thrash with funk metal. A real nice mix if you ask me, as it gives the sound this groovy feeling while also being fast, hard and intense. However, the band's debut was more of a pure thrash album which experimented with funk on a few tracks. It wasn't until 1991's excellent "In This Life" that the band really incorporated funk fully into their sound, and boy did it sound cool!

Like too many other bands at the time, however, the band had suddenly launched its sound the midst of the grunge outbreak (once again, fuck you Nirvana). Sure, Faith No More was huge at the time (though they sounded like a lot of other styles besides just funk) and RHCP would become massively popular with "Blood Sugar Sex Magik", but still Mordred went by mostly unnoticed. Maybe their thrash elements were their death sentence, as that sub-genre was pretty much passé at the time.

They would go on to release a great EP in 1992, and one last full-length in 1994 featuring a new vocalist. I never listened too much to that album, though. It just wasn't the same for me without their "classic" singer Scott Holderby's nasal rapping and thrash rambling. He's quite the frontman, so... Anyway, as of 2016 (or '15 at least), the band was once again active and due for an EP release. This, however, still remains unreleased as of right now, and I haven't heard anything in a long time now.