Published on Mar 22, 2005
Turbo is, quite possibly, the album that sparks the most
debate among Judas Priest fans. Even the Rob Halford-vs-“Ripper”
Owens question is minor compared to the debate this particular
album can cause among the hard-core fans. The question, in fact, is
not “What the hell were they
thinking?!?” The question is, “What the hell happened to
this album?”
Allow me to expand on that for a minute. Around this time in the
heavy metal scene, it was not uncommon for established bands to
experiment with synthesizers a bit and try to freshen up their
sound. Iron Maiden did it – and, in my opinion, successfully – with
Somewhere In Time. And, indeed, there are times on
Turbo when the great experiment seems to be succeeding. If
only the bulk of the album didn’t contain some of the group’s
weakest offerings in some time – disappointing especially after
coming off the strengths of
Screaming For Vengeance and
Defenders Of The Faith.
What
Turbo ends up being is less of a stylistic change for Judas
Priest, but instead marks a time when the group sounded tired with
the whole circus. Unfortunately for us, they take the listeners
along for the ride.
The lead-off tracks, “Turbo Lover” and “Locked In,” are probably
the best-known from this disc, which is a bit of a shame, as they
aren’t the strongest efforts among the nine songs. Let’s forget –
or at least try to forget – the videos that went along with these
songs. It almost sounds like “Turbo Lover” wasn’t fully developed
in the songwriting process, as it sputters along the verses towards
a rather uninspired chorus. As for “Locked In,” it’s a little bit
better, but hardly of the same caliber as the material that Judas
Priest had been putting out for the past few years.
Ah,
here’s where things get a little trickier, and it makes one
think twice about throwing the whole album away as a bad idea.
“Private Property” and “Parental Guidance” both are surprisingly
strong tracks, with solid songwriting and performances that dare
you to keep from slamming your head against the concrete. It is on
these tracks, as well as “Out In The Cold” (though I’d have cut the
keyboard intro in half), that one comes to believe that Judas
Priest and synthesizers
could co-exist without weakening the music. I’ll even
forgive the band reprising the opening line of “You’ve Got Another
Thing Coming” at the end of one of these tracks.
If only the remainder of
Turbo could have been this strong. Tracks like “Rock You All
Around The World,” “Hot For Love” and “Reckless” just don’t pack
the kind of muscular punch that one came to expect from Judas
Priest, and the combination of lackluster performance and weak
songwriting make the headphones go limp in disappointment.
So what happened? I don’t claim to have any inside information
on Judas Priest, but let’s not forget that right after
Defenders Of The Faith, Judas Priest was one of the bands
singled out by the Parents’ Music Resource Coalition – the
filthiest four-letter word in the English language – for the
content of their music. Maybe – just maybe –
Turbo was Judas Priest’s way of counter-acting the negative
publicity they were facing courtesy of some Washington nitwits.
Such a move forced the band to undergo a sudden stylistic change
which they struggled with, though the strong tracks prove that they
could, at times, rise to that challenge. This is all speculation, I
admit, and I’m open to other suggestions. But, for now, I’ll treat
this as my “lone gunman” theory on Judas Priest.
In the end,
Turbo does prove to be one of the weakest efforts Judas
Priest came up with, though there were occasional signs of life
that cannot be ignored. Despite the success this album had, it was
obvious that the salad days for Judas Priest had come to an
end.