Published on Jul 28, 2001
Any time you have an established band, no matter what genre of
music they play, chances are people will be disappointed when they
go back to that group’s first album, hoping to hear the same style
of music the group is playing in the here and now. I’ve fallen
victim to this myself; it’s far too easy a trap to stumble
into.
So, let’s take things with a grain of salt as we talk about
Rocka Rolla, the 1974 debut from British metal gods Judas
Priest. (This has recently been re-released on Koch; I’m working
from a cassette I bought years ago.) Don’t expect to hear crunching
guitars, Rob Halford’s constant screeching or some serious
double-bass work on the drums. Instead, free your mind from what
you know Judas Priest to be, and try to remember what the music
scene was like in 1974 – when metal was in its infancy.
Musically, the songs on
Rocka Rolla are a cross between Deep Purple’s
semi-progressive style and
Lonesome Crow-era Scorpions. In other words, Judas Priest
really didn’t have any type of a musical road map to follow, and
had to figure out on their own just how to shape their music. And,
in all fairness, there are times they do a pretty good job. Oh,
sure, diehard fans could argue that songs like “One For The Road”
and “Rocka Rolla” are no “Breaking The Law” or “Living After
Midnight” – but they did show two distinct things. First, these two
particular tracks do give a glimpse into what Judas Priest would
eventually become. Second, they showed that the band was fair to
middling in the songwriting department. The use of some more
challenging time signatures is also interesting to listen to,
especially on “Rocka Rolla”.
But
Rocka Rolla does indeed have a fatal flaw – and it is linked
to the band’s musical discovery. When they leaned on the
progressive side too much, things tended to fall apart, as on “Run
Of The Mill,” with its extended bass-and-guitar solo lines. (Note
that I’m not knocking the guitar work of K.K. Downing and Glenn
Tipton; while they weren’t shredding their guitars yet, they were
working their way towards that goal.) Likewise, the suite of songs
that is “Winter” – well, it just reminds me too much of an early
Rush concept piece gone terribly wrong, like when the song features
nothing but guitar distortion. It’s almost as if Downing or Tipton
bought a new effects pedal, and decided to record themselves
playing with their new toy. (To be fair, “Cheater,” which closes
out that suite, is a well-done selection.)
It’s unfortunate that Judas Priest fans who worship
British Steel or Jugulator will probably turn their noses up
at the more simplistic sound of
Rocka Rolla. And while it’s definitely not the shiniest
penny in Judas Priest’s piggybank, it’s not a terrible album, and
has some truly interesting and entertaining songs on it. I still
occasionally dust this one off to clear out the pipes – and it is
worth checking out, if merely to hear how Judas Priest got their
start.