Judas Priest – Sad Wings Of Destiny
Since its initial release, Sad Wings has gone on to become one of the band’s most popular and enduring records and also one of the most definitive and influential albums in the history of Heavy Metal. The band have represented the album well in live shows and compilations all throughout their career and numerous important bands have covered tracks from it throughout the years.
Musically, Sad Wings Of Destiny is an interesting and impressive album that was years ahead of its time and miles ahead of its 1974 predecessor Rocka Rolla despite much of the material being written roughly around the same time.
Practically every song on the album is either instantly loveable or a grower that will become loveable over time, or else a mixture of the two, such as on ‘Victim Of Changes’ which just kind of gets better with every listen and also becomes even more dynamic and explosive on their live albums.
Stylistically, the band mix grand piano lead tracks with lengthy semi-epic tracks, acoustic moments and outright rockers, and end up delivering at least something for all kinds of fans. Tracks like ‘The Ripper,’ ‘Deceiver’ and ‘Genocide’ with their use of twin guitar work, power chords, palm muting and powerful steady drumming foreshadow almost two decades of Metal music, and still stand up as good songs to this day.
Then the more Progressive Rock influenced moments like ‘Prelude’ and ‘Epitaph’ showcase the talent and variety that the band were capable of musically and the immense range that singer Rob Halford can operate within, and ultimately help prevent the album from seeming one-dimensional or dull.
Overall; If you like Metal music this is something you should seriously consider listening to and if you like Judas Priest it is an absolute must-have record that no fan should be without for long. Sad Wings Of Destiny is not just an important historical document, but a genuinely enjoyable album that still stands up remarkably well to this day.
