180g Vinyl LP!
Stained Class is the fourth album by British heavy metal group Judas Priest, released in February 1978. It is the first of three albums to feature drummer Les Binks. It gained notoriety for its dark lyrics and themes, as well as a 1990 civil action trial where the band were accused of backmasking that led to the suicide attempts of two teenagers. Stained Class was ranked #43 on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Metal Albums Of All Time" list.
"A crucial turning point in Judas Priest's career and in the history of metal 1978's Stained Class was where the British band jettisoned the last remaining vestiges of their early progressive-rock leanings, and went for the jugular with faster, tighter and more menacing songs like 'Exciter,' 'White Heat, Red Hot' and 'Invader'; even the album's lone power ballad, 'Beyond the Realms of Death,' sounded downright economical compared to their previous work. Although Stained Class would later be used as Exhibit A in an infamous 'backwards masking' court case (brought against the band by the family of a teenager who killed himself after allegedly listening to the track 'Better by You, Better Than Me'), the album put Priest on the U.S. charts for the first time, and helped steal the thunder of British punk by igniting what would become known as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal." - Rolling Stone
"While the album's overall complexity is unrivalled in the band's catalog, the songs still pack an enormous visceral impact; the tempos have often been jacked up to punk-level speed, and unlike albums past, there's no respite from the all-out adrenaline rush. Heavy metal had always dealt in extremes -- both sonically and emotionally -- but here was a fresh, vital new way to go about it. It's impossible to overstate the impact that Stained Class had on virtually all of the heavy metal that followed it, from the NWOBHM through thrash and speed metal onward, and it remains Judas Priest's greatest achievement." - Steve Huey, allmusic.com
Features:
180g Vinyl
Limited time download code
Selections:
Side A:
1. Exciter
2. White Heat, Red Hot
3. Better By You, Better Than Me
4. Stained Class
5. Invader
Side B:
1. Saints In Hell
2. Savage
3. Beyond The Realms Of Death
4. Heroes End
Stained Class is the fourth album by British heavy metal group Judas Priest, released in February 1978. It is the first of three albums to feature drummer Les Binks. It gained notoriety for its dark lyrics and themes, as well as a 1990 civil action trial where the band were accused of backmasking that led to the suicide attempts of two teenagers. Stained Class was ranked #43 on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Metal Albums Of All Time" list.
"A crucial turning point in Judas Priest's career and in the history of metal 1978's Stained Class was where the British band jettisoned the last remaining vestiges of their early progressive-rock leanings, and went for the jugular with faster, tighter and more menacing songs like 'Exciter,' 'White Heat, Red Hot' and 'Invader'; even the album's lone power ballad, 'Beyond the Realms of Death,' sounded downright economical compared to their previous work. Although Stained Class would later be used as Exhibit A in an infamous 'backwards masking' court case (brought against the band by the family of a teenager who killed himself after allegedly listening to the track 'Better by You, Better Than Me'), the album put Priest on the U.S. charts for the first time, and helped steal the thunder of British punk by igniting what would become known as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal." - Rolling Stone
"While the album's overall complexity is unrivalled in the band's catalog, the songs still pack an enormous visceral impact; the tempos have often been jacked up to punk-level speed, and unlike albums past, there's no respite from the all-out adrenaline rush. Heavy metal had always dealt in extremes -- both sonically and emotionally -- but here was a fresh, vital new way to go about it. It's impossible to overstate the impact that Stained Class had on virtually all of the heavy metal that followed it, from the NWOBHM through thrash and speed metal onward, and it remains Judas Priest's greatest achievement." - Steve Huey, allmusic.com
Features:
180g Vinyl
Limited time download code
Selections:
Side A:
1. Exciter
2. White Heat, Red Hot
3. Better By You, Better Than Me
4. Stained Class
5. Invader
Side B:
1. Saints In Hell
2. Savage
3. Beyond The Realms Of Death
4. Heroes End
