The Trail to Heavy Metal Greatness via the Sad Wings of Destiny
My father before I was born and in my early childhood worked for the grocery chain Smith’s Food King in the Salt Lake County area. Although this job had a lot of ups and downs my father made friends with a few of his coworkers that like him were very fanatically into music. One of them was a really cool guy named Dave K. My father at this time really had his hand on the pulse of the hard rock scene (and what would become metal later on) and discovered several bands before the general populous. However, my Dad’s friend Dave had a gift for discovering several bands on the way up before my Dad. For instance, Dave K. discovered the band Journey during the pre-Steve Perry era (Journey’s first three albums), REO Speedwagon 4 years before Hi Infidelity would make them a household name, the Scorpions 4 years before “The Zoo” and 8 years before “Rock You Like a Hurricane”, and he introduced my father to Judas Priest a full two years before British Steel would launch them into superstardom. Through Dave K. my father bought an 8 track cassette of Hell Bent for Leather (or Killing Machine outside of North America) which would become a favorite album of my fathers during the late 70’s and my father would buy British Steel shortly after it was released. From 1980 onwards Judas Priest got very extensive airplay on KBER and KRSP in Salt Lake City and they were a band I grew up listening to on the radio with “Turbo Lover”, “Breaking the Law”, “Living After Midnight”, “Exciter”, “Delivering the Goods”, “Head onto the Highway”, and “A Touch of Evil” being regular staples. I especially loved “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin” which was one of my childhood, tween, and teenage angst anthems that especially sounded great on a frustrating day. Forgiving the fact that it was 1993 before I finally started buying Judas Priest’s albums I was a huge fan growing up just off of the radio play they got in Salt Lake City.
In 1985 two young men who spent many hours drinking beer, smoking marijuana, and listing to some of Judas Priest’s albums would go to a nearby park and commit suicide, one dying and the other surviving with very severe facial injuries (however, the survivor would die three years later). The families both boys filed suit against Judas Priest because they alleged that “Better By You, Better Than Me” from the Stained Class album (a remake of a Spooky Tooth song) the words “Do It” are heard when the song is played backwards and that this subliminal message had such a strong effect on the boys that it directly led them to end their lives. The families filed suit for financial compensation from Judas Priest and Columbia Records. During the summer of 1990 Judas Priest became the first heavy metal band to go on trial for their music in the case of James Vance vs. Judas Priest at the Washoe County Courthouse in Reno, Nevada. Through the course of the short trial it was determined that the boys grew up in abusive homes, were recreational and narcotic drug users, and that the words “Do It” were not subliminally placed in the song intentionally (and later determined that the sound was from an editing/mixing error done by Stained Class’s producer Roger Glover). At the conclusion of the trial the case was dismissed and Judas Priest was acquitted (all appeal requests have been unsuccessful to this day). Because this case received great national attention and media coverage everyone knew about it. When I started my 8th grade year in September 1990 there were many super self-righteous people that previously would never have talked to me, but they suddenly felt like they had to blatantly tease, mock, and ridicule me by telling me I was going to hell, that metal had brainwashed me, and that I must be suicidal just because I was not only a metal fan, but also Judas Priest fan. NIKE’s slogan when I was growing up was “Just Do It” and they have never once been accused of advocating suicide. In addition, the words “Do It” has a lot of interpretations and inferences many of which have nothing to do with suicide. I very proudly defended Judas Priest in the face of being ridiculed for being one of their fans. It is very unfortunate that due to the stigma and fanfare associated with heavy metal at its peak, very few people (at least that I knew) were willing to look at both sides of the story. Thankfully, the sensationalism of the trial passed as time went on and the teasing stopped with it. However, this trial had such a strong effect on me that when I was a student at LDS Business College in 2001 I wrote a 16 page research paper on subliminal messages in advertising, media, and in music for my first college writing class. I researched the history of subliminal messages going back to the late 40’s and read numerous psychological research findings and articles about how effective subliminal messages were. The common theme in everything I read was that the human brain does subconsciously notice and process subliminal messages, however, a subliminal message will not make a person do anything they would not consciously do and does not take away a person’s decision making judgment and rationalization. The Judas Priest trial was one of the central thesis’s of my paper. On the plus side my professor loved it, all of my peer reviews were unanimously positive, and I got an ‘A’ on the paper.
By 1993, Nirvana had made it big and the music scene as a whole and especially the metal scene would very drastically change and along with it my tastes started to change as well. I still very much loved the heavy metal I grew up with, but I was starting to explore punk, grunge, and a lot of different forms of rock and pop music. During this time the playlist/programming on many rock stations changed and almost anything associated with 80’s metal with very few exceptions no longer got airplay or video play. Fortunately, in 1993 Judas Priest put out their first best of collection (Metal Works 73 – 93) and I broke down and bought my first Judas Priest cassette. This was a double cassette and I only knew about half of the songs, but I was just way excited to hear all of the classics that I just didn’t hear on the radio anymore. That evening I heard the live version “Victim of Changes” from Unleashed in the East for the first time and it completely floored me. At a length of over 7 minutes this song was never touched by radio in Utah and it was freaking amazing! Out of all of the Judas Priest classics “Victim of Changes” stood out the most. I wanted to buy a copy of the album Sad Wings of Destiny really bad. Unfortunately, the album at that time was out of print in the United States and I had no way of getting a copy of it (that was one long backstory).
Shortly before I turned 16 years old in 1993 through my older brother Alan I landed a job as a dishwasher at Chin Wah, a Chinese restaurant in Sandy, Utah. At this point in time CD’s were really becoming the standard for music and I wanted a CD player really bad. About a year before Alan had bought his first CD player, not only was the sound quality amazing, but this device completely eliminated the chore of rewind/fast forward associated with all of my cassettes, which in my mind was its most appealing feature. Although by 1993 CD players were a lot cheaper than they were in 1986, they still cost between $600.00 and $800.00. I came up with a savings plan and about a year later right before I turned 17 years old in 1994 I purchased my first CD player (plus a stereo with a turntable and cassette deck). During this year of my life I could not get enough of Judas Priest’s Metal Works 73 – 93 and largely because I loved “Victim of Changes” so much Judas Priest’s 1979 live album Unleashed in the East was the 5th CD I ever bought. It did not disappoint! From the second “Exciter” starts the album this live album just kicks serious butt. Besides “Victim of Changes” I really loved “Diamonds and Rust”, “The Ripper”, “Genocide”, and “Tyrant”. I very quickly discovered that the studio versions of “The Ripper”, “Genocide”, and “Tyrant” were featured on Sad Wings of Destiny was still out of print. However, I did start buying Judas Priest’s CD’s and especially loved Sin After Sin, Hell Bent for Leather, and Defenders of the Faith.
I think because Sad Wings of Destiny was so elusive it made me want it even more. In the winter of 1995 I was at Media Play in Taylorsville, Utah, going through Judas Priest CD’s and I stumbled on a CD called Judas Priest: The Collection imported from England. On the surface it looked like a best of collection of stuff from Rocka Rolla and Sad Wings of Destiny. But then I looked at the back of the CD and it was the entire albums of Rocka Rolla and Sad Wings of Destiny on one CD my jaw about dropped to the floor. I already owned Rocka Rolla, but finally I was able to get my hands on Sad Wings of Destiny, albeit it was part of a collection. I was so excited as I drove home from Taylorsville to Sandy that I could hardly contain it that evening. I got ready for bed and put Sad Wings of Destiny on my CD player. From the start of “Victim of Changes” I was completely blown away, the studio cut of “The Ripper” was pretty cool, where this album really took me back was on when “Dreamer Deceiver” started. It started out very slow and almost bluesy, then progresses into a very low tempo metal jam, and just keeps progressing and building in intensity, eventually transitioning flawlessly into “Deceiver” where the volume is cranked up and the song becomes a spectacular and groundbreaking metal song. I had heard the song “Deceiver” before (I had purchased the now out of print The Best of Judas Priest on RCA which had “Deceiver” on it), which I thought was a good song, but once I heard “Dreamer Deceiver” I finally got the whole picture of what Judas Priest envisioned and it made all of the difference. “Dream Deceiver/Deceiver” is truly the masterpiece of Sad Wings of Destiny and although the album always lists them as two different tracks, both tracks are one complete song and to this day is still my favorite on the album. The rest of the album is flawless. However, of all of the surprises the first time I listened to Sad Wings of Destiny was the song “Epitaph”. Part of what makes this song such a surprise is it is literally the only Judas Priest song with absolutely no guitars whatsoever. Rather, guitarist Glen Tipton plays the piano accompanied only by Rob Halford’s powerful voice. It’s a very melodic, simple, and somewhat gothic ballad and yet it fits in perfectly and complements the rest of the album. My patience and diligence in finding Sad Wings of Destiny during a period of time when it was out of print was rewarded many times over! It is honestly one of the most groundbreaking albums for heavy metal as a genre and was years ahead of its time. Through the remainder of my senior year of high school this was an album that I just couldn’t stop listening to. When I was on my LDS mission in western Pennsylvania I found a used cassette of Sad Wings of Destiny for $0.25 in this hole in the wall music shop in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, and it was a huge breath of fresh air, especially since my access to non-religious music was very limited as a missionary.
Judas Priest in 1974 signed their first record deal with Gull Records and shortly thereafter started to record their debut album Rocka Rolla. However, during the recording session there was a lot of tension between the band and record producer Rodger Bain (whose previous production work includes the first three Black Sabbath albums). At this point in time Judas Priest was already performing “Tyrant”, Genocide”, and “The Ripper” live and were writing the songs that would become Sad Wings of Destiny, however, Rodger Bain did not like any of these songs and Judas Priest instead had to record some of their older songs from when they were more of a blues band rather than their current hard rock direction. I think Rocka Rolla is a good album and shows Judas Priest’s potential as a band, but only very briefly does it elude to what Judas Priest really had in mind. Shortly after the release of Rocka Rolla Judas Priest made their first television appearance on BBC’s The Old Grey Whistle Test; they perform the song “Rocka Rolla” which is a good performance, however, the second song they perform is the than unrecorded “Dream Deceiver/Deceiver” that will eventually end up on Sad Wings of Destiny. In this performance “Rocka Rolla” shows the more bluesy roots of Judas Priest while “Dreamer Deceiver/Deceiver” shows the future of Judas Priest and a more heavy and hard brand of music. (The first time I saw this performance on Judas Priest’s Electric Eye DVD it’s kind of odd at first. Judas Priest is not dressed in their trademark leather and look like a bunch of hippies. Yet they are playing music that is a full 180 from hippy music. It amazed me that in 1975 the foundation of all things Judas Priest, and for that matter heavy metal as a whole are all present years ahead of its time). Judas Priest learned from their experience with Rodger Bain and decided to produce Sad Wings of Destiny themselves and enlist the established producers Jeffrey Calvert and Max West in recording the album. During this short recording session from November to December of 1975 they finally got what they had in mind musically and Sad Wings of Destiny was released in March 1976. It was not a huge success upon its release and was for the most part panned by critics, but the power of this album plus their live show was enough to get the ball rolling for their career.
In 1980, Judas Priest would release the album British Steel which would launch Judas Priest into the 80’s as one of the hugest heavy metal bands in the world and this album became the foundation for a streak of awesome albums they would record in the 80’s. In the opinion of heavy metal fans and rock historians of what is the greatest Judas Priest album it’s usually a tie between British Steel and Screaming for Vengeance. Although I love both of those albums in my humble opinion Sad Wings of Destiny is the greatest Judas Priest album and one of the most important albums to the development and evolution of the genre of heavy metal. By 1976, what would influence and ultimately become heavy metal is well established in the UK by Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath, and in North America by Ted Nugent, Montrose, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Kiss, and Blue Oyster Cult. Part of what makes Sad Wings of Destiny so unique is that musically it is the blueprint for so much of what heavy metal becomes. Every time I listen to “Victim of Changes” I feel like it is literally the first speed metal song in history and showcases the duel guitar leads that would be the trademark sound of Judas Priest and would become one of the most defining features of the genre of heavy metal. I can’t even count all of the bands that have been influenced by this song. Next, the song “Dreamer Deceiver/Deceiver” I consider to be one of the greatest heavy metal songs ever recorded. This song is the blueprint and standard for the groove and slow jam side of metal and I can especially hear the influence of this song in “Fade to Black” by Metallica, “Foreclosure of a Dream” by Megadeth, “Cemetery Gates” by Pantera, “The Lady Wore Black” by Queensryche, “Foolin” by Def Leppard and for that matter “Rooster” by Alice in Chains. Although the Sad Wings of Destiny may not have done well on the charts, today it’s been certified Gold in the United States, critics retrospective reviews are always positive, and is today respected as one of the greatest heavy metal albums ever made. What I love about this album the most is when Judas Priest recorded it they were very much a struggling band and they had practically no support from their label Gull records, but this album was the start of many great things for them and is truly the small seed that grew Judas Priest into Metal Gods.
