Originally posted on www.MaximumMetal.com

The boxed set for Judas Priest has finally arrived and it is worth looking into. It is 4 music CDs and one DVD. How does one best judge a comprehensive boxed set by a band who's work is a testament to heavy metal music other than with the simple words of "BUY THIS PRODUCT". The release of this box does come at a good time, for Rob Halford is reunited with his Mates (Tipton, Downing, Hill and Travis) and they are embarking as the pre-headliner for this year's Ozzfest opening for Black Sabbath. While many agree that Black Sabbath began the heavy metal music sound, there are many who contend that Judas Priest was the first heavy metal band, taking what Sabbath created and introducing it to a larger variety of sounds and styles. Refining it into so many memorable songs that we still find sounding fresh today.

As you can see by the listed tracks, there are only 8 bonus or unreleased tracks among the CD's. The rest are a composite of classics from the bands extensive catalog. Purists probably already have the re-mastered CD's that were released a couple of years ago, or might even have downloaded these "new" never released tracks and might hesitate on buying the Box. However, there is a 60 page color booklet with many pictures and some detailed liner notes (several pages outline the track lists of the CD's). I liked the book since it was something to peruse while listening to the CD's. Of course I did stop to play air-guitar as I usually do when Priest is playing. Come on, you know you all do it. I am not the only one I am sure.

Some of the tracks did make it hard for me to rate this box as high as I ended up doing. While it is nice to see some live tracks that we never heard before, we did not need to have them be of "Breaking The Law", or "Electric Eye" since these are featured on the included live DVD. Also, tunes like "Private Property" and "Parental Guidance" from Turbo could have been left off or replaced with the studio version of "Hot Rockin'" or "Love Bites" instead of the live releases we got and perhaps another tune or two. I have long felt that those songs represented a bad phase for Priest. Turbo had few good moments, but let's focus more on "Screaming For Vengeance" or "Defenders Of The Faith". Of course the bonus DVD that is my favorite part of this package. It was taken from a 1982 "Screaming For Vengeance" tour show that actually aired on MTV. That's right, I said MTV!!! It was even before The Headbangers Ball was airing. Anyway, this has been unseen since its VHS release of almost 20 years ago and it is great to see it once again.

I did have some criticisms on the packaging. It looks cool when you see it all in black surrounded by the trademark "metalhead" studs, I found it rather cheap after the cover was taken off. There are no jewel cases or even slim packs to protect the CD's and DVD. Instead there are merely carbboard black sleeves. They are held in by a plastic piece that without being careful can bend these cardboard sleeves. This is important to mention for those who maintain their collections with the utmost care.

Track Listing:

CD1: Never Satisfied, Deceiver, Tyrant, Victim Of Changes - Live, Diamonds And Rust (Live)*, Starbreaker (Live)*, Sinner, Let Us Prey/Call For The Priest, Dissident Aggressor, Exciter, Beyond The Realms Of Death, Better By You Better Than Me, Invader, Stained Class, The Green Manalishi With The Two Pronged Crown (Live)*

CD2: Killing Machine, Evening Star, Take On The World, Delivering The Goods, Evil Fantasies, Hell Bent For Leather, Breaking The Law (Live)*, Living After Midnight, Rapid Fire, Metal Gods, Grinder (Live)*, The Rage, Heading Out To The Highway, Hot Rockin' (Live)*, Troubleshooter, Solar Angels, Desert Plains, The Hellion/Electric Eye (Live)*, Screaming For Vengeance

CD3: Riding On The Wind, Bloodstone, You've Got Another Thing Comin', Devil's Child, Freewheel Burning, Jawbreaker, The Sentinel, Love Bites (Live)*, Eat Me Alive, Some Heads Are Gonna Roll, Rock Hard Ride Free, Night Comes Down, Turbo Lover, Private Property, Parental Guidance, Out In The Cold, Heart Of A Lion *

CD4: Ram It Down, Heavy Metal, Come And Get It, Blood Red Skies, Painkiller, Between The Hammer And The Anvil, A Touch Of Evil, Metal Meltdown, Night Crawler, All Guns Blazing, Jugulator, Blood Stained, Machine Man, Feed On Me

DVD: The Hellion/Electric Eye, Riding On The Wind, Heading Out To The Highway, Metal Gods, Bloodstone, Breaking The Law, Sinner, Desert Plains, The Ripper, Diamonds And Rust, Screaming For Vengeance, You've Got Another Thing Coming, Victim Of Changes, Living After Midnight, Green Manalishi With The Two-Pronged Crown, Hell Bent For Leather.

Pricing on this product has been vastly different. The best I have seen so far is on www.deepdiscountcd.com for about $39 dollars. Clearly the five disc collection is worth that. Go check it out.

Ken Pierce in NYC

Ken@themetalcircus.com

Judas Priest are one of the greatest metal bands of all time. The music in this box set spans a career of countless 5 star metal tracks. I understand that some people may find the very early Priest material a little dated, but you have to place yourself into the time zone and the generations Priest were playing to. Priest put a lot of work into their songs and still play a lot of their classic tracks - Sinner, Victim of changes, Ripper etc etc live even today. If you wanna listen to a metal band ahead of it's time, you gotta listen to 'Unleashed in the East'. This is by far one of the greatest live albums by a metal band ever. So to say this is crap, shows a real misunderstanding of the genre.

pogo needs an ass beating.

read his/her reviews and tell me what you think.

The first compilation covering Judas Priest's career from 1974 - 2001! Totally worth the money for true Judas Priest fans! 4 CD's with enough Priest to satisfy everyone and one great bonus DVD, Priest live in Memphis, awsome! The DVD can only be beaten by actually seeing them live.

Totally recommended Box Set!

I never was a huge JP fan. They were placed below Iron Maiden, KISS and Black Sabbath on my Heavy metal list, but after listening to the music and watching the dvd I suddenly remembered how cool these guys are! The dvd in particular is mind blowing, showing how tight the band is and putting to rest the debate on who the greatest metal front man is, Rob Halford - hands down. When he does the robot walk in "Metal Gods" the 38 year old me laughed out loud but the 16 year old metal head inside me thought is was freakin' cool! I was at the show in Dallas on this same tour and remembering it was the greatest!

I have no complaints about the music selection. The entire Turbo album sucks and Defenders Of The Faith was underrated. The book that comes with the package is beautiful to look at and informative (much better than that lame Behind The Music episode that VH-1 slapped together). My only complaint is the horrible packaging. I was totally disappointed in it. I would have gladly paid ten bucks extra to get a nice package, like the excellent KISS box set.

So all you 35 to 45 year old metal heads with disposable incomes go out and buy this. You will not be dissapointed. And to all you young metallers, get this and see where it all came together and made the "pre-Poison" eighty metal scene so glorious.