Are you one of the 40 million fans who were introduced to the mighty Judas Priest by 1980’s British Steel album? Do you have fond memories of blasting “Breaking the Law” or “Living After Midnight?” If the answer is yes, then Legacy has a MASSIVE treat for you! The label is releasing the 30th Anniversary Edition of the classic metal album as a three disc set. The first disc contains the entire remastered British Steel album (released as a stand alone album in 2001), the second disc contains the band’s live set from last years British Steel celebration tour in it’s entirety (all of Britsh Steel plus a few favorites spanning from Sad Wings of Destiny to the band’s most recent studio work, Nostradamus), and the third disc rounds it all out with the DVD version of the band’s British Steel live show.
First off, this remastered version of British Steel sounds great. While it’s been out there awhile, it’s definitely worth having if you don’t already. The sound is much clearer and sharper than the original. “Grinder,” “Metal Gods,” “Breaking the Law,” “Living After Midnight,” and “United” are all classics from this album so if you are a metal fan and don’t own it then you need to stop reading this and go purchase it. If you don’t then you’ll never be able to be taken seriously while conversing about metal music.
The audio version of the live show is excellent. The band sound nearly perfect! It’s hard to believe that the band is still doing this 30 years later and sounding better than they probably did the first time around (as they are all sober now). The audience is totally into it (as you’d expect) especially during the epic “Breaking the Law.” The DVD is the same setlist from the same night and looks wonderful. Everything is multi-camera and the stage show is basic (but in a “let’s not distract from the songs” kind of way) highlighted the best during “Hell Patrol.” The guys in the band look old and they don’t move around all that much anymore but if you’ve ever seen Judas Priest live then that won’t come as any sort of shock to you.
I missed the band on this tour, and this offering makes me totally regret it. They sound unbelievably good here even if it’s not much to look at. Fans of the band and this album in particular need to own this anniversary edition as it is unquestionably the definitive version of one of metal’s most important albums.
Reviewed by Mark Fisher
