The album opens with a rampaging blast of sonic fury, in the form of "Exciter". This song is one of the reasons why Priest is often cited as a key ingredient in the creation of thrash and speed metal. What am I saying? This IS speed metal! Drummer Les Binks shows off his double bass skills and his nice sense of rhythm quite nicely, while Rob wails and screams like something out of hell. Tipton and Downing show off their superior riffing and dual harmonies (listen to that harmony during the second solo...) in this song as well. One of my faves off the album.

"White Heat, Red Hot" starts off rather mid-paced and then speeds up in places. The end of the song has a great rhythm. It has a pretty catchy rhythm and I find myself singing the chorus now and then.

"Better By You, Better Than Me" is the infamous track off the album. For those who don't know, Judas Priest was taken to Court in 1990, after two boys took turns shooting themselves with a shotgun in the woods, while listening to this album. The possibility of a subliminal message in this very song was thrown in and even had a professional music analyist looking for subliminal messages. There happened to be some. The words "do it", are heard when playing the song backwards, but the explanation was that the two words were created by two sounds coming together. Priest won the trial, all was well. Y'know the funny thing about this is? It's not even a Priest's song. It was originally done by a band named Spooky Tooth. This is a nice cover, with a cool groove throughout the song.

The title track is killer. Not as fast as "Exciter," but still has a speedy pace to it. Great lyrics, good solos,nand you can tell the boys in Iron Maiden payed special attention to this song, as the riffing is pure galloping goodness. It screams Maiden. This is definitely one of the highlights of the album.

"Invader" is another somewhat mid-paced number, and it's awfully catchy. It stays with you like a leech and if you're like me, it'll be embedded in your head for quite awhile. Good song.

"Saints In Hell" is a dirty, raw, dark and heavy song, that stays at a slow pace for most of the song, then speeds up towards the end. Listen to that middle break. Love that middle break. Want to know where the thrash riff came from? Here it is. One of the coolest riffs ever.

"Savage" is one very underrated song. It's not the best song, but it deserves more credit. This song sort of reminds me of the song "Dissident Aggressor" from Priest's "Sin After Sin" album, for some reason. It's a slow paced song stuffed with meaty riffage, steady drumming, great vocals (duh!) and a good melody throughout, especially towards the end.

"Beyond The Realms Of Death" is the closest thing to a ballad on this album, though it is pretty rocking. It starts off sounding sort of like a ballad, then unleashes a burst of energy, back to the balladry, burst of energy, and it goes on like this for most of the song. Awesome melodies, great lyrics, GREAT performance by Rob, this is just a classic.

"Heroes End" has kick ass Sabbath-like melody in this song! This is yet another song about death, this time addressing the subject of how celebrities seem to gain god-like fame after death that they would never gain living. A fine end to a fine album.

This album rips, plain and simple. This is metal in its purest form, and it's stuffed silly with riffs, wails and solid drumming. This is a metal album for metal fans...if you are into traditional metal, speed or even thrash (the seeds for thrash were planted here) then this is a must have. Pure classic.

written by Nick Lane

Playing time: 43.55