I had a request to do a set on ‘robots’ on The Sunrise Ocean Bender … I poked and prodded and came up with some gems … then I thought, “What about Metal Gods?” Of course, Metal Gods crosses boundaries and almost belongs in the “overlord” category, but that’s a whole other story … and neurosis. But crossing over is a lot of what this record is about. And it survived it surprisingly well. It’s is a classic. And, like every other time I’ve had a hankering to pull British Steel out, I’m blown away about how it remains vital, flaws and portents aside.
Yep, the production is anemic. The bass, as usual, is negligible. And the music is far simpler and pared down than before.
But it works. That tinny production just highlights the buzz-saw, almost robotic, guitars {Rapid Fire, Steeler}. Sure, the bass is there, but bass never was a big part of Priest and here it’s downplayed presence actually works to the benefit of the stripped down songs. Maybe in the past I wanted a more vibrant and active bass to go with some of the earlier, progressive-leaning stuff … lot off of Sad Wings of Destiny and Sin After Sin, key tunes like Exciter … but they essentially bypass all that by locking it down into a rock-hard, clock-work groove. Flip if you want, but you know what it reminds me of?
ZZ Top … engaged in that unshakable timing.
British Steel is a key cross-over record. Countless bands must have used it as a blueprint at the time. It’s nowhere near the quality, or value, but you can’t tell me Def Leppard didn’t study that thing when manufacturing Pyromania {and failing}. Or countless other bands looking to get out of the gutter and into your living room … and thus ending that NWOBHM fire that burned pretty damn bright … and died a horrible, horrible death. If not for the music, then for the work Priest put into setting the stage for what and who was too come. Much the same way that Montrose’s Montrose set the stage for American rock, for many, many bands … Van Halen? There would have been no Van Halen without Montrose.
But British Steel is responsible for some of that demise. Sure, it’s a calculated classic, but it did signal the end. For a lot of metal, and for Priest. But what makes it so interesting to me {see the “overlord” fix above to put that in context …} is how the record is savvy enough to look to their past, while retooling and looking to the future, such as it ended up. The Rage, with it’s simplified sprawl and quirkiness harkens back to earlier stretch-outs, while the production and playing on the quieter parts set the stage for Point of Entry {You Say Yes, Don’t Go} and United is basically a rewrite of Take on the World from Hell Bent for Leather, while You Don’t Have To Be Old to Be Wise is the obvious dry-run for Heading Out to the Highway, and countless other less than vibrant Priest anthems. Priest may not have been looking too far back, or as far as I would have liked, but they definitely had their eyes on the future. If nothing else, British Steel was obviously planned out to be, if not their masterpiece {it’s not}, then definitely a concise summation of where they had gotten too, and a proclamation for what’s coming down the road. Love it, or hate it, it’s a watershed record for Preist.
There. I guess that’s also the end of my apologies for hanging onto the metal/hard-rock that fired me up, and still does … if and when I can find it …
Owl :: Stone Loner
Kingdom of the Holy Sun :: Kingdom of the Holy Sun
Het Droste Effect :: Lingerland
The product of the prolific Michael Bailey, Invisible Path focuses on ‘on strengthening the spiritual bonds between people/artists through the free form electric connectivity of drone improvisations, utilizing the various instrumentation and energies of each individual.’ All with droned out cosmic sounds to show you the way…
