Judas Priest Albums-Worst to Best

I'm a huge Judas Priest fan. I love most of their albums, but there are some that I would not listen to simply because I don't care for the music of that album. According to Ultimate Classic Rock, here are the Judas Priest Albums-Worst to Best.

17

Demolition (2001)

-This is the second and last album that Judas Priest had made with American vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens. The band had found him in a Judas Priest tribute band called British Steel. Overall, this album was said to be less than successful

-My opinion: I simply didn't care for it. I understand Tim had some big shoes to fill and he certainly exceeded expectations. But I just simply didn't care for the music of this album

16

Nostradamus (2008)

-This album was a bomb from the beginning. Expecting kids in the 21st century, especially kids who happen to be rabid Priest fans, to sit down and devote two hours to Priest's first full fledged concept album is like asking little kids to sit still for two hours without moving or making sounds. This album was a disaster. The songs were long, the concepts in the songs were unable to be understood.

-My opinion: Just weird and not good

15

Jugulator (1997)

-This was the band's first album with Tim "Ripper" Owens. This album fared far better than the second album, Demolition. This is, by far, the band's heaviest album. With the vocals of front man Tim "Ripper" Owens, this is definitely better.

-My opinion: It was good

14

Point of Entry (1981)

-Due to a busy touring schedule and expectations of topping British Steel, these guys may have rushed through the production process. Although this album did produce some good tracks like "Hot Rockin'" and"Heading Out to the Highway"

-My opinion: I like this album. I think it's good. I might have to go back and re-listen to it, though. I have to say that "Desert Plains" is a great track

13

Turbo (1986)

-The band was experimenting with and using the latest tech-guitar synths. This band may have alienated some Priest fans, but they gained even more fans, even fans who had gotten swept up in the hair metal craze

-My opinion: I like this album. I have it at home and I listen to it very often. It's great. The songs are great!

12

Ram It Down (1988)

-This album tends to be overlooked by a lot of fans. A lot of fans don't give it much credit; they simply refer to it as being almost like Turbo Mark II. The band did, however, do an impressive cover of the Chuck Berry song "Johnny B. Goode".

-My opinion: I like it. I have it at home. It's good

11

Rocka Rolla (1974)

-No one ever says that a band's first album out of the starting gate is going to be good. That said, this album is hardly any of the stuff people will come to associate with the future black leather and studs band. This band still had a touch or two of folk rock and hard rock. They were still trying to find the right sound here

-My opinion: I simply didn't care for it

10

Redeemer of Souls (2014)

-This album is one of their heaviest albums they've ever made since Jugulator. It almost has you wanting to bang your head to each song

-My opinion: I didn't care for it. The songs sounded too much like something Iron Maiden would write about-mythology, history, etc. The subsequent tour for this album is the tour me and my sister had seen Judas Priest on, when they had the Saturday night headline slot at the 2015 Rock on the Range festival in Columbus, Ohio.

9

Angel of Retribution (2005)

-When you look at the artwork for this album and then look at the artwork for the album Sad Wings of Destiny, it's like two sides of the same coin. The artwork for this album has an almost evil looking mechanical angel, looking like he is there to wreak havoc upon all. This album is said to be successful because of the three way writing team of Halford/Tipton/Downing

-My opinion: I didn't care for it.

8

Sin After Sin (1977)

-This album did boast an impressive heavy metal overhaul of the Joan Baez classic "Diamonds and Rust". This was when the band was just getting off the ground. It was their third studio album and they were struggling to find a permanent drummer since they were just "borrowing" a studio drummer named Simon Phillips. The band were still getting their chemistry together

-My opinion: "Diamonds and Rust" is a good song

7

Hell Bent for Leather (1978)

-This album is what transformed Judas Priest into the studded black leather, Harley Davidson riding, heavy metal machine they were to become

-My opinion: My sister loves the title track. I made the mistake of letting my sister listen to Judas Priest and now she says this is her favorite song. She's a full fledged Priest fan! As for the album, there are a few good tracks here and there

6

Defenders of the Faith (1984)

-This album was seriously underrated due to the success of 1982's Screaming for Vengeance. One thing you might notice about Judas Priest is that on some albums, they will have a creature of some sort. Here is no different. They have a half-tank, half-lion creation. This album tracks that are just a sonic assault to the ears, such as "Freewheel Burning", "Love Bites", "The Sentinel".

-My opinion: I like "Freewheel Burning" and "Love Bites"

5

Painkiller (1990)

-With the specter of grunge looming on the horizon, just waiting for the first opportunity to take over, the men of Priest were trying to prove they were still successful. Unfortunately, what took some wind out of their sails was a seriously long trial about two kids who killed themselves and blamed it on Judas Priest having backwards messages in their songs. But, despite the trouble, the band came through with flying colors, only this time around, they had a new drummer. An American drummer named Scott Travis, previously of Racer X fame

-My opinion: I like it. I have to re-listen to it, but I like it

4

Sad Wings of Destiny (1976)

-This was when Priest was still getting off the ground. Their doom-laden sound, which would not sound out of place at a Black Sabbath concert, is what made this album unique. This album did, however, help Judas Priest get a little fame with tracks like "Victim of Changes", "Tyrant", "Genocide".

-My opinion: A little too Black Sabbath-y for me. I like Black Sabbath, always have, always will. But I really don't care for the doom and gloom sound here

3

Screaming for Vengeance (1982)

-When you think of 80s era Judas Priest, you might think of Screaming for Vengeance, then again, you may not, who knows. This album is jam packed with great tracks like "You Got Another Thing Comin'", "Fever", "Electric Eye", "Screaming for Vengeance" "Riding on the Wind" "Take These Chains", "Bloodstone". It's awesome!

-My opinion: I have this album and I love it. I do find myself repeating "Fever" a few times more than I should. It's a good song!

2

Stained Class (1978)

-This is their definitive 1970s album. Many old school Priest fans will cite this album as their favorite album. This album helped the band add even more heavy metal monsters to their increasingly long career. Tracks like "Beyond the Realms of Death", "Exciter" are enough to form anyone into a Priest fan

-My opinion: I like it. "Exciter" and "Beyond the Realms of Death" are good songs

1

British Steel (1980)

-This is their trademark album. You ask any Priest fan what album they think of when they hear Judas Priest and odds are going to be that British Steel is what comes out. This album added some of the more famous tracks to the leather-bound metallers, like "Living After Midnight", "Breaking the Law", "Metal Gods", tracks that get played live at Judas Priest shows to this day!

-My opinion: I like it. A lot of good songs.

Kiss Albums-Worst to Best

As much as I like Kiss, sometimes it does get irritating reading Gene Simmons spouting off about something he believes in that no one agrees with. According to Ultimate Classic Rock, here are the Kiss Albums-Worst to Best.

BTW, when it says "My opinion", that's just how I feel about it. Everyone might feel differently about it. Don't take my opinions to heart; I'm not cruel or harsh about my opinions here. It's just how I feel about them. Everyone might feel differently. So it's up to you to see how you feel about some of these albums. You might like them, who knows :)

24

Peter Criss (1978)

-This is from the time when the band's manager thought it would be a good idea to release four solo albums simultaneously. Each one reflecting the taste in music of that person. Instead of the raw edge of hard rock, the man behind "Beth", "Hard Luck Woman" "Black Diamond" is now crooning to R&B ballads, big band-type music. Overall, it is not one of the better albums, even though it has a small handful of people who like it

-My opinion: I simply didn't care for it. I'm not saying it's bad or good. I simply did not care for the type of music on this album

23

Crazy Nights (1987)

-This album was considered garbage by most if not all Kiss fans. This band has been accused of changing with the times and here is no different. They adopted a pop-metal sound in addition to adding keyboards and synthesizers

-My opinion: I have this album. I think it's pretty good. I like a few of the tracks on here. It does seem, however, that the band were trying to keep the pace with other up-and-coming metal and rock acts of the time. "Reason to Live" is a definitely good track to get women into Kiss, other than "Beth".

22

Hot in the Shade (1989)

-This was considered to be a failure. The only highlight of the album was "Forever" and the other strong song was "Rise to It".

-My opinion: "Forever" is my favorite track here. It's beautiful and it's said to be one of the more popular songs for weddings. Other than that track, I can't say I'm too enthused about it. But, that's just me. Everyone has different opinions.

21

Music from "The Elder" (1981)

-With the band fractured after the departure of drummer Peter Criss, the band wanted to get back to their basic hard rock sound. That did not go according to plan. They somehow got talked into doing a concept album set in the Medieval Period.

-My opinion: Nope. I didn't bother listening to it. Too weird

20

Carnival of Souls (1997)

-With grunge overtaking the market by storm, seemingly overnight, all anyone wanted to hear were doomy, gloomy, grunge songs that sounds like the perfect soundtrack for a suicide. All bands were expected to change their sound just to fit in. It seems that Kiss had done that exact thing. They took on a doomy, grunge-y almost Black Sabbath sound

-My opinion: The only ones who can do the gloom and doom metal are Black Sabbath. I simply didn't care for this album

19

Animalize (1984)

-Paul Stanley was left mostly in charge of the production of this album because bassist Gene Simmons was busy trying to get face and name on the silver screen. Other than "Heaven's on Fire", this album is not that great

-My opinion: I do love the track "Heaven's on Fire". I know my sister sure seems to be a fan of the video, showing Paul Stanley close to naked except for a towel around his hips, lol.

18

Dynasty (1979)

-With the interesting journey of doing solo records, everyone had a taste of creative freedom. This album seems to have shunned a lot of Kiss fans with the disco track "I Was Made for Loving You". This is considered to be, among die hard Kiss fans, as the scariest song they made. Suffice to say, not much production was being made here

-My opinion: "I Was Made for Loving You" is a good song, no matter what people say. That is the only track I like here. And I literally went through each album, listening to song after song, just to see if I could find any more Kiss studio albums. Sadly, "I Was Made for Loving You" was my only highlight here

17

Psycho Circus (1997)

-Almost 20 years is the time limit between the last original lineup Kiss album and this one. This album proved, once and for all, that Peter Criss and Ace Frehley were about as useful as used condoms in Kiss. They hardly contributed any songs at all. Most of that work was down to Gene and Paul.

-My opinion: The title track is a great headbanger. Other than that, I'm not too in to the other songs. It just sucks that Peter Criss' ego and Ace Frehley's ego went to their heads. Instead of acting like they were both Jimi Hendrix or gods of rock, they should have focused on writing music together instead of group fighting

16

Sonic Boom (2009)

-It was more than a decade before Kiss made any headway in terms of new music. By that point, they had officially sworn in former Badlands/Lita Ford/Black Sabbath drummer Eric Singer and former Black 'N' Blue guitarist Tommy Thayer as the new Catman and Spaceman. Paul Stanley took the reigns on production, making a few simple rules-all ballads are going to remain on the cutting room floor, they play together in the studio. Despite the fact these rules might seem harsh to some, everyone was fine with it and the album proved very successful

-My opinion: Even though it was good, I have to go back and listen to it again. I heard "Modern Day Delilah" and it was pretty good.

15

Monster (2012)

-This album proved to be a, no pun intended, monster of success. One of the tracks to be forewarned about if you let kids listen to this is the risqué, AC/DC-type track "Take Me Down Below", which has Gene and Paul talking about sex.

-My opinion: AWESOME! I love this album. Although, be forewarned-you might need to turn down the volume when listening to this. When I listen to it on my MP3, I have the volume one click above total silence and even then it seems loud. But, overall, the songs are great. "Hell or Hallelujah" is a total headbanger. "Last Chance" is amazing. Every song is amazing!!!

14

Gene Simmons (1978)

-During the time when their manager thought it was a bright idea for all four band members to release a solo album simultaneously, Gene's was a total wild card. It's interesting to say the least. The total "wild card" moment is a cover of the song "When You Wish Upon a Star"

-My opinion: I didn't care for it.

13

Asylum (1985)

-This album is underrated in every sense of the word.

-My opinion: I have this album. It's okay. I like one or two tracks. My all time favorite track is "Who Wants to Be Lonely?" It's a good track and if women like Paul Stanley getting his clothes ripped off and getting wet underwater while doing that, then the video for this song is the video for ladies! Also, there's another beautiful track geared towards getting ladies to their shows-"Tears Are Falling". This poppy ballad is something that women can enjoy, rather than the just about sex songs that Kiss are sadly known for.

12

Paul Stanley (1978)

-This is Paul Stanley's solo album. His album reflected more of the hard rock and progressive rock he prefers. "Tonight You Belong to Me" was one of his only ballads on here. This is proof he could make a Kiss album all by himself

-My opinion: I like it. It's rock, but there's soft rock songs like "When We're Apart and hard rockers like "Move On" which wouldn't sound out of place at a Led Zeppelin concert.

11

Unmasked (1980)

-This is the album when Paul Stanley thought it would be good for the band and the image of the band to take off the famous white kabuki makeup. To do an album showing their faces. This album is underrated in a lot of ways. Ace Frehley has a few songs here and there. Sure, it's not "Deuce" or "Strutter", but it's power-pop that was beginning to become popular.

-My opinion: I simply don't care for it.

10

Lick It Up (1983)

-One more of the "non makeup" albums, the title track is good. It has that 80s metal sound of heavy guitars, heavy drums. By this point, they had two new members-on guitar Vinnie Vincent and on drums Eric Carr. Despite the good songs, Vinnie didn't last. He thought of himself as being a guitar virtuoso like Eddie Van Halen and would often do 10+ guitar solo marathons on stage. It got so bad that Paul Stanley had gotten to the point of going on stage and cutting off the power to Vinnie's guitar. He said that he noticed a pattern with people who were friends with Vinnie-"They bragged about his talents, but they never had a lot of nice things to say".

-My opinion: I like it. It has that 80s metal sound. The title track is great, but I only like a few of the songs here

9

Revenge (1992)

-Paul Stanley found it hard to write music for this album. He does not agree with the grunge sound. He'll often say in interviews that Kiss is about loving life, celebrating life and more, not about being down in the dumps, bragging about how life is unfair, etc. But, overall, somehow this album ends up becoming a fan winner

-My opinion: I don't really care for it. I don't understand why Kiss would attempt a grunge or doom metal-sounding album.

8

Dressed to Kill (1975)

-This album gave Kiss their most famous mantra "Rock and Roll All Nite (And Party Every Day)". This album was released only a few years into their career

-My opinion: I like "Rock and Roll All Nite". Other than that, not too many good songs

7

Rock and Roll Over (1976)

-Their plan for this album was a stripped-down rock sound. This album produced some great songs like "Calling Dr. Love", "I Want You", "Makin' Love"

-My opinion: "Calling Dr. Love" is one of my favorite tracks here

6

Love Gun (1977)

-The songs, overall, are great!

-My opinion: I LOVE THIS ALBUM! The songs, all of them, are great! One track that makes me laugh is "I Stole Your Love". It's a good song, but the reason it makes me laugh is because if you've ever seen the movie Detroit Rock City, listen close to the song playing while the overly religious mother is trying to turn off the record player. The song playing is "I Stole Your Love".

-If you have not seen Detroit Rock City, let me explain. In the movie, there is a guy named Jam. He's a drummer. His mother is overly religious. She does not want her son listening to Kiss because she thinks that Kiss stands for "Knights in Satan's Service". When she goes into her den to listen to what she thinks is a Carpenters record, it is actually Kiss' Love Gun record that her son had hidden away. She puts in the "Carpenters Record" and suddenly the aggressive guitars kick in and "I Stole Your Love" starts blasting out of the speakers. She is desperately trying to stop this horrible music, to the point of nearly destroying the bookcase in which the record player is located. When she finally gets it to stop, the lid pops up and she is looking, with horror, at the Kiss Love Gun record on the record player.

5

Ace Frehley (1978)

-His was considered to be the strongest effort of the four. He centered around straight rock, like Jimi Hendrix and the like. His was said to be the best one of all

-My opinion: I don't really like Ace Frehley. He seems arrogant and plus, it's a bad idea to collect Nazi memorabilia when you're in a band with two Jewish guys, one of whom lost family members to Auschwitz during the Holocaust

4

Hotter than Hell (1974)

-It was said that production work just sucked. But there were some good songs that came through the muck and bad production work, like "Goin' Blind", "Strange Ways", "Got to Choose".

-My opinion: The title track is good.

3

Kiss (1974)

-This is their debut album. "Black Diamond", "Deuce" are two of the better songs, that get played live, even to this very day. In addition, "Cold Gin" gets airplay live even today. This is proof that Kiss knows how to rock

-My opinion: I like the track "Black Diamond", "Deuce"

2

Creatures of the Night (1982)

-This heavy metal freight train came crashing into markets, much to the chagrin of the crowd. Many had dismissed Kiss as a kiddie band after their disco venture with "I Was Made for Loving You". This album proved they could come back swinging, just like any band can. "Saint and Sinner" is a straight-up, pointing the fingers of blame at Ace Frehley for his egotistical behavior and Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons getting past the point of frustration with him. "I Love It Loud" has that perfect hum of heavy metal guitars throughout the song, making it not only a good headbanging song, but the perfect battle cry for metal heads and headbangers alike

-My opinion: I love this album. The title track is amazing. "I Love It Loud" is so addictive you want to listen to it repeatedly. "War Machine" is a down and gloomy heavy metal rocker that is also addictive

1

Destroyer (1976)

-Bob Ezrin, who produced Alice Cooper, had come in and played drill sergeant to get these guys into shape. He wanted no songs about sex, since it seemed like the majority of their songs pertained to sex. Bob wanted songs that would be good, obviously, but he also wanted the band to attract the ladies as well. That's where "Beth" came in. Originally written as a song called "Beck" and from Peter's days in the band Chelsea, it was originally written to mock one of his former bandmates. They would take what he said and write it down. When the lyrics were read, it turned into a touching love song. But, in addition to the love song "Beth", you have heavy metal monster "God of Thunder", "Do You Love Me?" with its orchestral bells, "Shout It Out Loud", one of the ultimate party songs and an homage to a city that embraced them early on- "Detroit Rock City"

-My opinion: Great album. If it was not for the track "Beth", Kiss concerts would be nothing but sweaty teenaged males or just sweaty males there to rock. All the songs are good!!

Deep Purple Albums-Worst to Best

This band has changed lineups more times than people change their underwear. With each new lineup came a new sound. Here, according to Ultimate Classic Rock, are the Deep Purple Albums-Worst to Best.

21

Bananas (2003)

-This is considered to be a severe bomb. This is album #17 in the bands' discography and it is wrong in every sense of the word. Organist Jon Lord had recently retired and it left a gaping wound in the Deep Purple family. To replace him, the band brought in just as good organist Don Airey, whose impressive career with other bands improved morale just a bit. Most would accuse Deep Purple of sleepwalking through the whole process of recording songs, picking album art and title. Some would accuse Deep Purple of being, to use one of their songs "Lazy"

20

The Battle Rages On...(1993)

-Yet another miserable failure, this album was made when Ian Gillan rejoined the band. Some would even think with a title like this, it would not seem out of place on a Rainbow album or even Dio album

19

Slaves and Masters (1990)

-Joe Lynn Turner had taken the vocal reins on this album. Some think he was intentionally cast hook, line and sinker by former Rainbow band mate Ritchie Blackmore. Yet again, another failure

18

Infinite (2017)

-This album was a mixed bag, according to some. The album showed that the band can still rock, even after the success of 2013's Now What?!

17

Now What?! (2014)

-With Jon Lord recently passing from cancer and Don Airey becoming the official organ player for Purple, the band was unsure how fans would take this album. This album seems to have not only made the old fans happy, but also gained some new fans here and there

16

Deep Purple (1969)

-This was their third album. Each lineup was referred to as Mark I, Mark II, etc. This was the Mark I lineup. Their creative steam was leaking at the speed of rats leaving a burning ship and considering 1969 was the Summer of Love, they were still grappling with the idea of concept rock or art rock

15

Rapture of the Deep (2005)

-This album was a mixed bag. Bananas was a joke and yet this album proves that the band does take themselves seriously.

14

Concerto for Group and Orchestra (1970)

-You know how every band or musician out there will do something just totally out of the blue? This was the "wild card" of Deep Purple's career. This was a mesh of symphony orchestra and Deep Purple's brand of hard rock. Watching videos from this session, you can almost see Ritchie Blackmore itching to let loose on the guitar. Instead, in videos from the sessions for this album, he stands there, still as a board, playing. No showing off or anything he is known for.

13

Shades of Deep Purple (1968)

-One of the songs that has come from this album and defined Deep Purple as a success was a cover of the Joe South song "Hush". Deep Purple electrified the song and gave it a hard rock makeover. Nowadays, this is one of the most anticipated songs at their concerts. While this album may not have been #1 in the eyes of most, the band was still building themselves up and getting a rhythm going. Give 'em time and see what happens.

12

Abandon (1998)

-This was only the second album after Ritchie Blackmore left for good. It was good, with some hard rocking tracks. It was, overall, successful

11

The House of Blue Light (1987)

-Problems were arising. Both sides were said to be horrible. The classic five man band was starting to have issues. Who knows what those issues were? I certainly don't. Both sides are various genres of music.

10

The Book of Taliesyn (1968)

-Once again, the band, named Mark I, is still heading up the charts in terms of success. Some of their more creative tracks include a cover of "Kentucky Woman", Listen, Learn, Read On", "Shield". Of course, if you know about the history of Purple, you'll know Rod Evans was the vocalist here, not Ian Gillan.

9

Stormbringer (1974)

-From the "interesting" Glenn Hughes/David Coverdale era, Ritchie Blackmore was on his way out. He was getting increasingly frustrated with the heavy funk/soul direction that Deep Purple seemed to be heading in and he was already planning a new band, which he would call Rainbow. This band would later become known as the pioneers of a new genre of metal-neoclassical metal, combining the symphonic feelings and rhythms of Bach and other classical music with the punch of metal. The only songs that seemed to fare somewhat well was the title track, "You Can't Do It Right", which had a heavy funk feel and the melodic "Soldier of Fortune"

8

Who Do We Think We Are (1973)

-Made with the Mark II lineup (Ian Gillan-vocals, Ritchie Blackmore-guitars, Ian Paice-drums, Roger Glover-bass and Jon Lord-organ), stress was beginning to fracture the band. Ian Gillan and Ritchie Blackmore were nearly at each other's throats. Still, through the fighting, they wrote some pretty impressive tracks, like "Woman from Tokyo", "Rat Blue Blue", "Super Trouper".

7

Purpendicular (1996)

-Their album The Battle Rages On... left everyone thinking that Deep Purple was DOA (dead on arrival for those who don't know). It would take more than a miracle to get some sort of positive review for these guys. This was after Ritchie Blackmore had left again. He seemed to have a habit of joining and leaving. This was the second time he left. First time was during Stormbringer. When they brought in Steve Morse to replace the Man in Black, new blood gave the band fresh ideas and their miracle seemed to come in the form of Steve Morse

6

Perfect Strangers (1984)

-This album is considered to be one of the more popular albums by fans. It takes what the band is known for-straight up hard rock- and gives it a modern makeover. One of the more powerful tracks is the doomy, ominous "Knocking at Your Back Door"

5

Come Taste the Band (1975)

-After Ritchie Blackmore had left to form Rainbow, this album is considered interesting because of the various types of songs here. Remember, with Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale in the band, the sounds were going to be very heavy funk/soul/R&B. They had a short-lived guitarist named Tommy Bolin who was just as nuts about his drug habit as Glenn Hughes was. Still, "This Time Around" among others, was a good song

4

Fireball (1971)

-Underrated is a word many use to describe this album. Experimental might also be one. The band experimented with various types of music. The title track was a breakneck piece of rock while another track, "Strange Kind of Woman", is mysterious but still gets played live to this day.

3

Burn (1974)

-We're back to the Glenn Hughes/David Coverdale era. This was known as the Mark III lineup. The title track just sucks you in and doesn't let go until the final minute of the final track "A' 200"

2

Machine Head (1972)

-This is considered to be the most influential album of the Mark II lineup. This album is a MUST HAVE album among the Deep Purple fandom. With tracks like the raging "Highway Star", the head banging "Space Truckin'" and the riff that inspires all people to be guitarists, "Smoke on the Water", this is the album that says inspiration for anyone wanting to pursue the guitar as a career.

1

In Rock (1970)

-This album essentially helped save the band from the depression of the 1960s. It helped rocket them out of concept and art rock into the stratosphere of hard rock and heavy metal. With songs like the breakneck pace of "Speed King", the peaks of the mountains and the valleys of those mountains of "Child in Time", this album has it all. Not only that, some find it amusing that the album cover is a mock up of Mount Rushmore only with the faces of all five Deep Purple members instead of the presidents.