JUDAS PRIEST – UNLEASHED IN THE EAST LP – Nr MINT A2/B1 UK

Judas Priest – Unleashed In The East
(CBS Records  1979  83852)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

Sleeve in Nr MINT/Excellent+ condition
– some wear to edges/corners
Also comes with original Merchandise Sheet in Nr MINT condition
No 7″

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are a few crackles at the very start of each side)

Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham, England, in 1969. The band has sold close to 50 million albums to date. They are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in the latter half of the 1970s, the band struggled with indifferent record production, repeated changes of drummer and lack of major commercial success or attention until 1980, when they adopted a more simplified sound on the album British Steel, which helped shoot them to rock superstar status. In 1989, they were named as defendants in an unsuccessful lawsuit alleging that subliminal messages on the song “Better By You, Better Than Me” had caused the suicide attempts of two young men.

The band’s membership has seen much turnover, including a revolving cast of drummers in the 1970s, and the temporary departure of singer Rob Halford in the early 1990s. The current line-up consists of Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band’s best-selling album is 1982’s Screaming for Vengeance with their most commercially successful line-up, featuring Halford, Tipton, Hill, guitarist K. K. Downing, and drummer Dave Holland.

Their influence, while mainly Halford’s operatic vocal style and the twin guitar sound of Downing and Tipton, has been adopted by many bands. Their image of leather, spikes, and other taboo articles of clothing were widely influential during the glam metal era of the 1980s. The Guardian referred to British Steel as the record that defines heavy metal. Despite a decline in exposure during the mid 1990s, the band has once again seen a resurgence, including worldwide tours, being inaugural inductees into the VH1 Rock Honors in 2006, receiving a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2010, and their songs featured in video games such as Guitar Hero and the Rock Band series.

Unleashed in the East is Judas Priest’s first live album, recorded live in Tokyo, Japan during the Hell Bent for Leather Tour in 1979. It was released in September 1979 and became the band’s best-selling album up to that point, reaching the US Top 100 and the UK Top Ten., eventually the album became one of the five Judas Priest albums to gain a RIAA platinum certification.

To which extent the album was really live remains a matter of contention, with the album sometimes being called Unleashed in the Studio. Years later, after he had left Priest, Rob Halford noted in various interviews that the music was indeed live, but that his vocals had been ruined in the original recording and were later dubbed in a concert-like studio setting.

Track listing

Personnel

• Rob Halford: Vocals
• K.K. Downing: Guitars
• Glenn Tipton: Guitars
• Ian Hill: Bass Guitar
• Les Binks: Drums