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List Price: $11.98 | | Label: Koch Records
Salesrank: 55324
Released: January 25, 2000 |
| Our Price: $7.53 |
| Used Price: $5.99 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Rocka Rolla Track Listing:
1. One for the Road
2. Rocka Rolla
3. Winter/Deep Freeze/Winter Retreat/Cheater
4. Never Satisfied
5. Run of the Mill
6. Dying to Meet You
7. Caviar and Meths
8. Diamonds and Rust [#]
9. Dying to Meet You
10. Caviar and Meths
11. Diamonds & Rust [#]
Rocka Rolla Reviews:
Someone PLEASE find me a book with tabs for this album. 
2009-11-05 - I just can't find one. Maybe it doesn't exist. Esp. looking for run of the mill.....
I disagree with some things written previously here in detail but the reviewer who wrote about each song in detail has it mostly right. I would say about One for the road- a better song than that author suggests, it's just a little bit long for the riff.
Winter (etc) is one of my favorite all time JP songs. The ending point of hope is there, and with a long winter ahead of us as of writing this, it seems especially poignant (if not just pertinent).
Run of the Mill is the story of my life. Sheesh. Over the hill and bored.
I personally think Rocka Rolla is overrated. Good song, but not THAT good. It's too... I don't know, ready-for-consumption. And doesn't really capture RH's vocal skills.
I've always wanted to BE RH, well at least be able to sing like him, and who wouldn't want to (even a female!). Melts away ice from my, eye-high-HIGH...
Anyway I'm serious if anyone knows of a full tab book from this album I'd love to see it.
Think before you review 
2007-11-03 - Okay folks, how about a little perspective on this thing. First, many of you from what I read became Priest fans in the late 80s. That is the JP that you know, and the music that you grew up on. Therefore, you're measuring this album against the wrong measuring stick. Those of us who were listening to them in the early days know that JP wasn't born a metal band, they were a heavy blues band that eventually evolved into the metal band we all know. Frankly, I've always considered the time from this album to Hell Bent for Leather and Unleashed in the East as the best of JP. This album shows their roots, and as such provides us with an opportunity to understand where JP came from, and how they got where they are now. They evolved. This album shows us from where. Don't sell it short.
"Where do we go from here? There must be something near." 
2006-05-29 - I'm going to review the 12 Judas Priest CDs from 1974-1990 except the two live CDs first. I am a huge Priest fan. I first got into Judas Priest 20 years ago and have stayed loyal to them ever since. This may limit my objectivity since these reviews will really be comparing the different CDs to one another not to other bands. There is no bad Judas Priest CD, only less consistent ones. Judas Priest is a band that have repeatedly experimented stylistically. Some of these experiments were more successful than others. There are CDs that are much heavier than others. I will try and bring all these factors into my reviews as well as attempting to summarize the general consensus among hardcore Priest fans about each individual release.
Judas Priest are possibly the most important act in metal history and they are certainly metal's most unwavering proponents. They helped invent heavy metal music, helped refine and perfect it, helped popularize it and have remained "defenders of the faith" during metal's darkest hours, while other "metal" acts ran for the hills. They are a legendary band whose role in popular music can not be overstated. If a metal band was not heavily influenced by Judas Priest directly, then they were heavily influenced by another band that was. Their reach is inescapable.
Judas Priest are led by Rob Halford, one of metal's most recognizable icons and possibly the greatest vocalist the genre has ever known. Halford's unearthly delivery and range are as responsible as anything else for Judas Priest's signature sound.
Judas Priest were not the first band to employ the services of two lead guitarists but they were certainly the first to fully implement them. Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing are both phenomenal lead soloists but it's their riffs and songwriting that have made Judas Priest one of the greatest guitar bands of all time. Both are criminally underrated in the guitar world but Downing is even underrated among Priest fans.
Bassist Ian Hill rounds out the band. A founding member along with Downing, Hill is responsible for keeping the rhythm section humming along through Priest's many drummer changes. Hill is not a flashy player but is certainly competent and on the rare occasions the band's songwriting allows him to shine, he never disappoints.
If this is the worst CD Judas Priest ever recorded with the first Halford/Tipton/Downing/Hill (and it may be) then that's quite a compliment because this is a stellar debut.
Clearly, Judas Priest were still experimenting with their sound and trying to find their direction with this release. That being said, you can already hear the genesis of a fantastic songwriting collaboration which would make magic for the next three decades and counting. Tipton and Downing were already experimenting with integrating two guitars and their accompanying parts into a song.
"Rocka Rolla" is probably their least heavy CD. It is also like many other Judas Priest CDs in that it has it's own fairly unique sound in their catalogue. Overall, you will often find yourself asking whether this is truly a metal CD at all. In my opinion, this is the only Judas Priest CD that is true of. Some of the best tracks off their second CD, "Sad Wings of Destiny" were reportedly left off this CD and that, combined with the mediocre production quality, makes you wonder how truly great this could have been.
Track listing -
"One For The Road" - This slower-paced blues rocker starts off the album on a poor note. It certainly isn't a bad song. It's just a little uninspired and it probably is the worst song offered here. It almost certainly was a poor choice to lead off the album.
"Rocka Rolla" - Right off the bat, track 2 on their debut album, this is probably one of Judas Priest's all-time great songs. This is a fine, early example of a Judas Priest trademark, where each guitar and the bass are all playing their own riff. The magical combination of the galloping rhythm section, the sinister guitar lines and Halford's vocals really crystallizes here. There is perfectly placed harmonica at the close of the bridge section at the end of the guitar solo. This is a fantastic song, perhaps only slightly hampered by lukewarm lyrics.
"Winter - Deep Freeze - Winter Retreat" - I consider these three songs to actually be one continuous song and I consider "Cheater" to be seperate altogether. If nothing else, these songs are connected thematically while not being bound by musical motif. "Winter" starts things off well, immediately suggesting the chill of Autumn's demise with a grinding guitar sound effect and echoing, ethereal vocals by Halford. Pretty good. Fairly heavy. This part comprises the bulk of the trilogy, both being longest in duration and carrying the most emotional impact. "Deep Freeze" is Downing (not Tipton as another reviewer suggested) playing some tremolo lines through distorted sound effects. Downing himself has said he doesn't like this but I do. It does what it's supposed to, suggesting a chill so cold that words can't describe. It effectively makes the transition from "Winter" to "Winter Retreat". Even if you don't like it, it doesn't last too long. Admittedly, a LOT of people seem to dislike it. "Winter Retreat" is a very light, short song. Halford's voice is literally beautiful here and the lyrics suggest the time for optimism has arrived. Which of course is why it makes no real sense (possible irony?) to connect this with...
"Cheater" - Great blues-metal riff opens this song about revenge against a woman who has done our narrator wrong (and the guy she did it with too...). Perhaps the dark lyrical tone of this song would suggest to the observant the heavy musical days to come. A fantastic song overall with more strangely perfect harmonica work by Halford and highlighted by a fantastic guitar solo. I can't be sure but I believe the solo is Downing. Glenn would go on to play too many of the solos later in the band's career and this solo would appear to be evidence of that. Tipton seems to be a technically superior player and certainly tends to play faster solos, highlighted by a lot of pentatonics, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and finger tapping. Downing often plays a more soulful solo and he tends to use way more tremolo than Tipton. Of course, they're at their best when they trade off and play off of one another, highlighting each other's strengths.
"Never Satisfied" - Pretty good song featuring more phenomenal vocals by Halford, especially the final wail. Unfortunately, it's a weak spot, both because of the fairly lame lyrics and because the main riff, already used too repetitively, sounds too similar to the bridge. Al Atkins removal from the band seems to have benefitted Judas Priest in two ways. Halford sings circles around him and his removal as a lyricist had to have helped that area as well.
"Run of the Mill" - Clocking in at 8:33, one of Judas Priest's longest songs. One of their least metal. Also, definitely one of the most interesting lyrically of their entire career. The song deals with a person who has failed to reach their potential and has become a failure. This is a great song with some very soulful guitar work. Superlatives escape me to describe Halford's devastatingly poignant vocals. Listen closely to hear a great bass line hiding under all that guitar.
"Dying To Meet You" - Schizophrenic song that starts off with a rare bass intro from Ian Hill and a slower pace overall. The song tells the story of a soldier preparing for battle and then entering combat. Halford's vocal range is put to the test here as he sings the first part of the song about as low and deep as you'll ever hear him. About midway through the songs picks up speed, the guitars take center stage and Halford's vocal delivery gets much higher pitched. Lyrically, this is the part of the song where the fighting starts. The tone of the song seems a little derisive of the soldier himself, perhaps topically reflecting many people's attitudes about the Vietnam conflict, which of course was winding down at the time. Personally, I disagree with this view but Judas Priest are almost entirely an apolitical band for better or for worse so I can forgive these very trivial differences of opinion.
"Caviar And Meths" - A two minute instrumental closes the CD out. I think it's fantastic. Wordlessly sad. It's a tragedy that this was originally an eight minute long song with lyrics. I'd love to hear the full version but it's probably lost forever.
I don't consider "Diamonds And Rust", Priest's cover of the Joan Baez masterpiece a song from this CD. I consider it a part of "Sin After Sin", their third CD and will talk about it there.
I believe the two versions of the song to be the same version with each being produced differently.
Amazon users consider this 10th out of 12 of Judas Priest's 1974-1990 CDs. I consider it dead last. That being said, it's still a great album. It's just not a great introduction to the band as a whole and a lot of fans of the heavier side of Priest may not like this album. Curious listeners should get "Screaming For Vengeance". It's not Priest's best but it's their best selling and possibly their most generally accessible and most indicative of what Priest generally sound like.
1 star for kosh records re-issue
2006-04-15 - If you are going to get the Kosh Records re-issue then you should just get the album Hero Hero, because with that album you also get the songs from Sad Wings Of Destiny for the same price with the same sound quality.
Not the Priest we know and love, but still a great record
2005-10-23 - I'd seen many of the reviews for this album before I got it, and was expecting something terrible. I recently picked it up, simply to add on the my near-complete Priest collection, and I was pleasantly surprised.
No, this is DEFINITELY not Sad Wings-style epic metal, and no, this is definitely not British Steel-style mainstream rock, but it IS nonetheless a great 70's rock album. Before the first two songs were over, I was already tingling because of the 'Black Sabbath-ness' of the album (The opening riff of "Winter, Deepfreeze" sounds remarkably similar to the mid-section of Sabbath's classic, "Iron Man"). It's good old-fashioned classic rock, and that's all there is to it.
Like an earlier reviewer said, I believe that when you put this in, forget about the name across the top, and any expectations attached to it, and simply listen with an open mind. I promise, you'll like it. Not what you'd expect from the 'Metal Gods', but a great album nonetheless.
This is chapter one in the epic story of one of metal's greatest bands. Pick it up as soon as possible.
