Sad Wings of Destiny isn’t the best Judas Priest album, even though it’s good. The production job (even on the original release) is extremely flat. Halford’s vocals don’t soar like they would on later releases. The guitars are still indebted to more traditional hard rock and blues rock than the shredding, roaring heavy metal riffs they would explore more on their next, superior album, Sin After Sin. “Epitaph” is such a lame ballad that it rolls over into being awesome and moving. This was my first Judas Priest album, and it almost made me stop here. I’m glad I didn’t. Out of all the tracks here, “The Ripper” best hints at the later greatness to come.

On a side note, this album’s style is almost entirely indebted to Queen. Just listen to the scream at the beginning of “My Fairy King” on that album. It’s unmistakably Halford, but for some reason Sad Wings of Destiny garners all the praise as one of the founding albums of heavy metal even though it’s clear worship of a different band. Shaking my damn head. Oh well.

If you get one of the later releases, it might have an altered track listing. Fuck that. They even put the song called fucking “Prelude” in the middle. Fix it and make your track listing match the original vinyl’s. It’s what’s right.