9. Judas PriestUnleashed In The East
I think it’s the best 70’s record ever made. I think all the live versions of the songs on that record are great but I think the drumming is exceptionally amazing. I think that guy set the framework – whether people know it or not – for heavy metal drumming as we know it, a guy named Les Binks.
I think songs like ‘Victim of Changes’ are everything that newer metal bands are still trying to do but can’t. I think if you listen to that, and then you want to do that same kind of thing, you’ve got a hard road. You’re not going to be better than that, I think that stuff is fucking great. I think that me and Dale both think it’s the best heavy metal album ever made. By far. By far, without question.
The songwriting is amazing, the performances on that record are unbelievable. ‘Live in Japan’, I don’t know how live it is, but regardless it’s a fucking great record. That’s my go-to record for them. For somebody like me, you know, in the hip, underground rock world, not a lot of people notice how great a band like that is, but I do.
It was impossible, impossible, for me to see live bands growing up where I was from. Until I was mobile, until I was able to move myself. My parents were not driving me to a concert – they were like, ‘it’s not happening!’ which ultimately made me appreciate bands like Judas Priest more. I saw Three Dog Night, Kiss, bands like that in the 70’s and I loved it. Still do. Arena rock didn’t really influence the Melvins but certainly punk rock did. They showed me how I could make it work, bands like The Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Clash, Black Flag.
