Stained Class
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| Stained Class | ||
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| Studio album by Judas Priest | ||
| Released | February 10, 1978 | |
| Recorded | October-November 1977 | |
| Genre | Heavy metal | |
| Length | 54:10 | |
| Label | CBS, Inc. (UK) & Columbia Records (US) | |
| Producer(s) | James Guthrie & Judas Priest | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Judas Priest chronology | ||
| Sin After Sin (1977) |
Stained Class (1978) |
Hell Bent for Leather (1978) |
Stained Class is the fourth album by the British heavy metal group Judas Priest, released in 1978.
Considered by most fans to be one of the high points of Judas Priest's catalogue, Stained Class showcased a more streamlined songwriting style while not compromising on the band's trademark heavy metal riffs. It also introduced their classic logo, replacing the Gothic Script logo of earlier releases. This was considered by many to be the last of the four "classic" Judas Priest albums.
An unfortunate legacy of Stained Class is the 1990 civil action brought against the band by the families of two teenagers who killed themselves after listening to "Better By You, Better Than Me." The suit alleged that the band recorded messages on the song that, when played backwards, said “do it, do it.” The suit was eventually dismissed. Ironically, "Better..."" is not even a Judas Priest original, but a cover of a 1969 track by Spooky Tooth (written by that band's keyboardist Gary Wright). The album was remastered in 2001, with two bonus tracks added. In 2004, UK magazine Metal Hammer named Stained Class the heaviest metal album of all time.
[edit] Track listing
- "Exciter" (Halford, Tipton) – 5:34
- "White Heat, Red Hot" (Tipton) – 4:20
- "Better By You, Better Than Me" (Gary Wright) – 3:24
- "Stained Class" (Halford, Tipton) – 5:19
- "Invader" (Halford, Hill, Tipton) – 4:12
- "Saints in Hell" (Downing, Halford, Tipton) – 5:30
- "Savage" (Downing, Halford) – 3:27
- "Beyond the Realms of Death" (Binks, Halford) – 6:53
- "Heroes End" (Tipton) – 5:01
[edit] 2001 Bonus Tracks
- "Fire Burns Below" (Halford, Tipton) – 6:58
- "Better By You, Better Than Me" (Wright) – 3:24 (Live)
[edit] Personnel
- Rob Halford: Vocals
- K.K. Downing: Guitars
- Glenn Tipton: Guitars, Keyboards
- Ian Hill: Bass Guitar
- Les Binks: Drums (Binks wrote the entire guitars part for "Beyond the Realms of Death")
[edit] External links
- Stained Class at the Judas Priest Info Pages site, Accessed July 10, 2005.
- The Judas Priest Trial - 15 Years Later, Accessed on July 10, 2005
- Album lyrics
