I’d say around 1982/1983 my musical tastes were starting to get a bit heavier and I was gravitating to artists and bands that were a little more underground than those found at the top of the charts.  Judas Priest had recently put out Screaming For Vengeance and “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin'” was THE tune at the time-  a simple but cool riff, great lead break from Glenn Tipton, and awesome vocal from The Metal God himself, Rob Halford.  The album itself became a favorite and I was on the hunt to learn more about Priest.  Interestingly enough, this time it was the radio that actually turned me on to a cut from this album.  But more on that shortly.

Unleashed In The East (or Unleashed In The Studio, depending on who you want to believe), released in 1970 in front of a rabid Japanese crowd, is a bit of a turning point for the band:  from intro album Rocka Rolla up through Hell Bent For Leather (or Killing Machine outside of the US), Priest progressed mightily from more of a bluesy hard rock hybrid to something with more of a metallic bite.  Each album shows the band experimenting with different textures, often sounding like Queen in spots on their earlier material mixed with touches of Sabbath, Hendrix, and more harder edge Deep Purple.  Following this live album, Priest would release the iconic British Steel and become more of a household name, but that’s a tale for another time.

The original LP (which I actually had on cassette) for Unleashed features nine stellar cuts, with four more headbangers being added to the 2001 reissue on CD.  I first became familiar with this album via the two covers-  a fabulous, rocking cover of folkie Joan Baez’ “Diamonds and Rust”, sung passionately by Halford over heavy Tipton/Downing riff; and Fleetwood Mac’s(!) “The Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown)”, this time ol’ Rob singing like a madman- one minute all sinister bite, another minute all high pitch wail.  Granted, the riff was fairly close to the original but a bit chunkier and more menacing to go with the Halloweenie lyrical content (is it about drugs or is it about money?  Ask Peter Green).  Dig the great dual lead from Tipton and Downing here too.

Outside of the covers you’ve got some great Priest written cuts here-  “Sinner” is pretty much a KK Downing set piece,  a guitar wankfest in the Hendrix mode via its whammy bar workout and screaming feedback;  intro pounder “Exciter” is almost a bit of early speed/thrash metal featuring some vocal shredding from Halford; sinister “The Ripper” with its great guitar riffery and Halford in thespian mode; and kicking one/two punch of “Genocide” and “Tyrant” that close out the disc with molten metal.  Oh yeah, did I not mention Les Binks?  The dude was likely Priest’s best drummer-  just listen to his double bass work on “Genocide” and “Exciter” and how he pushes each song along, staying slightly ahead of the beat to propel these songs along at a mighty pace.  The guy could lay back too, especially come something like “Green Manalishi” where he forms a solid pocket.  An underrated drummer for sure.

But alas the piece de resistance here is “Victim Of Changes” with that great dual guitar intro and that infamous first line from Halford:  “Whiskey woman don’t you know that you are driving me insaaaaaaane, OWWWW”.  “Victim” was actually written with original Priest vocalist Al Atkins but Halford makes this cut his own and still nails it in concert to this day.  I love the way this cut builds and breaks down, all menacing stomp early with lurching guitar riffs and fab Halford screams until midway through with a bit of a breakdown before some great lead guitar work from Tipton/Downing.  Then things get all trippy and psychedelic, a bit of a bluesy spot for Halford to actually do a bit of fine singing during the buildup before letting it rip with a hellacious “VICTIM OF CHAAAAAAANNGESSSSSS” and more great guitar work kicks back in Halford hits a few dog whistle notes to close things out.

I’ve not really touched on the four additional cuts added to the reissue but they pack their own punch as well.  “Rock Forever”, “Delivering The Goods”, and “Hell Bent For Leather” all from their latest LP at the time are prime rockers, a bit tighter and more direct in scope and closer to the straight ahead songwriting that will eventually be displayed on next album British Steel.  “Hell Bent” eventually would be an encore for years to come, featuring Halford revving up the Harley to get the crowd fired up.  Things end the disc with the rifftastic “Starbreaker”, including a bit of a snappy Les Binks’ solo to round out the song before it comes to a crashing conclusion.

As much as I dug Priest back in the day my tastes would eventually lean to more heavier fare.  That said, there are still those magic moments in their catalog that may come up on shuffle that cause me to smile, headbang away, and break out the air guitar/air drums.  As for trying to sing along to this stuff?  Aw, hell no…  this is PRIME Rob Halford, Unleashed In The East being a high water mark in the man’s career.  As for the rest of the band, this disc certainly captures the band in full flight with not a weak link in sight.  But once again I wonder…  whatever happened to Les Binks?