 | |
List Price: $9.98 | | Label: Sony
Salesrank: 206550
Released: October 25, 1990 |
| Our Price: $6.99 |
| Used Price: $2.90 |
|
| Media: Audio CD |
|
Stained Class Track Listing:
1. Exciter
2. White Heat, Red Hot
3. Better by You, Better Than Me
4. Stained Class
5. Invader
6. Saints in Hell
7. Savage
8. Beyond the Realms of Death
9. Heroes End
Stained Class Reviews:
Great Version! 
2009-09-20 - This CD rules, and make sure you buy the original CD version, and not the remaster. The original sounds better. Buy it now!
Definitely a forgotten and under-appreciated classic
2009-01-04 - I've owned a vinyl copy of this since I was in junior high school, in the early 80's, and it was always one of my quite favorites, something I never really admitted liking so much to anyone really. Not many people I know appreciate early Judas Priest, just the way it is.
Stained Class is a step into a bit of a 70's progressive rock direction, with complex songs that change tempo and vary a lot on odd beats, and aren't very radio friendly. The Downing/Tipton guitar work is phenomenal, and this record for the first time really shows off their talents.
Every song on here is good, it's a complete album. The songs that stuck in my head the most as a teenager were "Beyond The Realms Of The Dead," "Heroes End," "Savage" and "Better By You, Better Than Me."
It's great to get into this music again, and is some of the more timeless metal out there.
CLASSY, WITH NO STAINS!
2006-07-07 - This is what Judas Priest had been building up to over their previous three albums, which had plenty of high points but some low points too. However, there are no low points here. Along with "British Steel", I consider this Priest's best album.
One very positive addition was the addition of drummer Les Binks (where is he now?). His double-kick drumming that starts off "Exciter" is a direct antecedent of the "speed metal" movement of the 1980s.
Though the previous albums were good in their own right, they were still derivative of contemporaries like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple in places (and I'm not saying that's a bad thing!). Here, except for a slight Sabbath flavour on "Saints In Hell", Priest at last find their own identity and their own sound, and from here on out, other bands would be influenced by them.
No ballads here either! The controversial "Beyond The Realms Of Death" alternates between gentle acoustic and crushing electric guitar but is still very heavy. Rob (or was it still "Bob" or "Robert" at this stage in his career?) Halford's vocal tour-de-force is on this song.
This album, along with much of Thin Lizzy's work, set the standards for twin lead guitars. Glenn Tipton and KK Downing play off each other effortlessly. However, one minor gripe is that Ian Hill's bass could be louder; he's a good, no-frills bassist but doesn't get the recognition he deserves.
HIGH POINTS: "Exciter", "Saints In Hell", "Beyond The Realms Of Death", "Heroes End".
LOW POINTS: NONE!
Essential for any heavy metal collection.
Best Judas Priest album of the 70s 
2005-10-19 - By far! This 1978 metal classic is almost 5 stars. (I don't throw 'em around as easily as many others). This is a very important album for the metal genre as a whole, genre defining. Very grim and heavy too, hmm well, for a Judas Priest album. Many classic songs; Exciter, Better By You Better Than Me and Beyond The Realms Of Death are the (in)famous songs of this album. But I find Saints In Hell and Savage equally impressive. The title track is great too. Sound is ok, a bit thicker and heavier than on their other 70s albums. This album should have been heavier, but for 1978 this was about as heavy as it got. (70-75 Sabbath is the only real exception, and surpasses this album in quality and heaviness). Still, this is one of the must-own Judas Priest albums.
The BEST!!!
2004-06-08 - For some, it's "British Steel", for others, it's "Screaming for Vengeance" or "Painkiller".
For me, it's obviously "Stained Class". With such classics such as "Exciter", "Heroes End" and "Saints in Hell", this album is a masterpiece like "Paranoid" from Black Sabbath. With such energy and good riffing, "Stained Class" deserves 5 stars!
