JUDAS PRIEST – Ram It Down
Judas Priest – Ram It Down [Remastered] (2001, Sony Music/Legacy Recordings)
Original Release: 1988, Columbia Records
Track List:
1. “Ram It Down” … 4:48
2. “Heavy Metal” … 5:58
3. “Love Zone” … 3:58
4. “Come and Get It” … 4:07
5. “Hard as Iron” … 4:09
6. “Blood Red Skies” … 7:50
7. “I’m a Rocker” … 3:58
8. “Johnny B. Goode” … 4:39
9. “Love You to Death” … 4:36
10. “Monsters of Rock” … 5:30
BONUS TRACKS
11. “Night Comes Down” (Live) … 4:33
12. “Bloodstone” (Live) … 4:05
Band:
Rob Halford – Vocals
K.K. Downing – Guitar
Glenn Tipton – Guitar
Ian Hill – Bass
Dave Holland – Drums
Produced by: Tom Allom, Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing, Rob Halford
A lot of people have denounced Priest’s mid-late 80s output, but I love it. Is it cheesy? Yes, but when have Priest *ever* been able to not veer into the cheesezone every once and a while? Much like with Turbo, this album is a bit commercial sounding, but still is a good heavy metal release.
Supposedly, Ram It Down was actually intended to be the second album of a planned double album release called Twin Turbos. One half would be pop & synth and the other half would be a bit heavier. Priest got cold feet on releasing a double album, so the end result was 1986’s Turbo (lighter commercial metal) and 1988’s Ram It Down (heavier commercial metal).
“Blood Red Skies” is an epic and classic Priest cut and “Ram It Down” kicks off the album with a great scream from the Metal God. The whole album isn’t as great as these two songs, but Ram It Down is definitely fun, slick heavy metal and a guilty pleasure and I also think the album art is some of the coolest I’ve ever seen.
By the way, Priest did their remasters right– they gave us BONUS TRACKS! Something I wish KISS would’ve done. “It’s remastered, but it again!” No thanks, give me something I can use.
Highlights: “Ram It Down”, “Heavy Metal”, Blood Red Skies”, “I’m a Rocker”, “Love You to Death”
Lowlight: “Johnny B. Goode”. The movie was so bad I couldn’t even finish watching it, and while I can actually get through the whole song, it’s not much better than the movie. Judas Priest had no business covering Chuck Berry.
March 21, 2009 at 8:56 am
This was like a continuation of the TURBO record and there are some good songs on here: Ram It Down, Hard As Iron, Blood Red Skies, Heavy Metal. Unfortunately this is the “Johnny B Goode” record, a song they never should have done. Priest always stood out and now they were just another band, I thought it was the beginning of the end. Then they released PAINKILLER and then it was!
Steve
Heavy Metal Addiction
March 23, 2009 at 2:20 am
This album remains as one of the fav Priest albums ever (my fav is still Painkiller). Yet, I didn’t like the re-masters series, including this one.
March 28, 2009 at 9:43 pm
What didn’t you like about the remasters, Mix Max?
And yes, PAINKILLER rules. My fave as well!
November 2, 2009 at 12:27 pm
[...] favorite song and it has an ’80s Priest vibe sounding like something could have come from Ram It Down or Defenders of the Faith. “Wheels of Fire” takes it back even further, sounding like [...]
November 26, 2009 at 9:26 pm
[...] While I had no problems with Guy Speranza on vocals, I much prefer Tony (his first album with the band), but I think each one was perfect for the type of metal the band was playing at the time. Tony has greater range though and that shows on “Run for Your Life”, which is actually my favorite song on the album. It sounds like the band was going for a Judas Priest vibe, right down to Moore’s vocals and the song would fit in well on Ram It Down. [...]