Painkiller (Judas Priest album)

Painkiller
Studio album by Judas Priest
Released 3 September 1990 (1990-09-03)
Recorded January–March 1990
Studio Miraval Studios, Correns, France and Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, Netherlands
Genre Heavy metal,[1][2][3] speed metal[1][4]
Length 46:08
Label Columbia
Producer Chris Tsangarides
Judas Priest chronology
Ram It Down
(1988)Ram It Down1988		 Painkiller
(1990)		 Jugulator
(1997)Jugulator1997
Singles from Painkiller
  1. "Painkiller"
    Released: September 1990
  2. "A Touch of Evil"
    Released: March 1991
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Sputnikmusic5.0/5.0[1]

Painkiller is the 12th studio album by British heavy metal band Judas Priest, released in September 1990. It is the last Judas Priest album to feature lead singer Rob Halford until his return for the 2005 album Angel of Retribution and the first to feature drummer Scott Travis.

Recording

Painkiller is the first Judas Priest album to feature drummer Scott Travis, who replaced long-time drummer Dave Holland in 1989. Travis was previously a member of Los Angeles band Racer X. The album was recorded at Miraval Studios, Brignoles, France in early 1990 and mixed at Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, the Netherlands later that year. It was produced by the band and Chris Tsangarides, marking the first time since 1978's Killing Machine that Judas Priest had not worked with Tom Allom and the first time since 1976's Sad Wings of Destiny that Judas Priest and Tsangarides worked together.

Release

Despite the album being finished in March 1990, the album's release was delayed due to the pending, much-publicized subliminal message trial that began on 16 July 1990. The band was the subject of a civil lawsuit alleging their recording was responsible for the suicide attempts of two young men in Reno, Nevada on 23 December 1985. The case was eventually dismissed on 24 August 1990. With the trial behind them, the band finally released the album on 3 September 1990 on LP, cassette and CD.

The album was certified Gold by RIAA in January 1991. A remastered CD was released in May 2001, including a live recording of "Leather Rebel" and a previously unreleased song, "Living Bad Dreams". The album received a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards, losing to Metallica's cover of the Queen song "Stone Cold Crazy".

Reception

Critical reaction to Painkiller has been overwhelmingly positive, especially from the metal community. On metal-archives.com, the album holds an average score of 92% based on 26 reviews.[5]

Halford's departure

Following the tour for this album, singer Rob Halford left the band in May 1992 and maintained little contact with his former bandmates throughout the 1990s. The reason for this was growing tensions within the band, along with Halford's desire to explore new musical territory by creating a new band of his own, Fight, which forced him to legally leave Judas Priest to allow this creation to be sold. Judas Priest remained inactive for several years after Halford had gone; however, the band would eventually re-vamp, record, and tour, recruiting new singer Tim "Ripper" Owens in 1996, who would perform on the studio albums Jugulator and Demolition.

Track listing

All tracks written by Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford and K. K. Downing, except where noted..

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Painkiller"6:06
2."Hell Patrol"3:35
3."All Guns Blazing"3:56
4."Leather Rebel"3:34
5."Metal Meltdown"4:46
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."Night Crawler"5:44
7."Between the Hammer & the Anvil"4:47
8."A Touch of Evil" (Tipton, Halford, Downing, Chris Tsangarides)5:42
9."Battle Hymn" (Instrumental)0:56
10."One Shot at Glory"6:46

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1990) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[6] 60
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[7] 22
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[8] 7
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[9] 27
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[10] 19
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[11] 19
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[12] 14
UK Albums (OCC)[13] 26
US Billboard 200[14] 26

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
Canada (Music Canada)[15] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[16] Gold 500,000^
Worldwide sales: 2,000,000

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. 1 2 3 Stagno, Mike (4 August 2006). "Judas Priest – Painkiller". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  2. ↑ Sharpe-Young, Garry (2007). Metal: The Definitive Guide. Jawbone Press. pp. 39–40. ISBN 9781906002015. All in all, Painkiller put Judas Priest back at the top of the heavy metal pile.
  3. ↑ Popoff, Martin (2004). The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time. ECW Press. pp. 63–4. ISBN 9781554902453.
  4. 1 2 Huey, Steve (4 August 2006). "Judas Priest – Painkiller". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  5. ↑ "Judas Priest - Painkiller - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives". www.metal-archives.com. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  6. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  7. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Judas Priest – Painkiller" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "Officialcharts.de – Judas Priest – Painkiller". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  9. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Judas Priest – Painkiller". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Judas Priest – Painkiller". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  11. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Judas Priest – Painkiller". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Judas Priest – Painkiller". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  13. ↑ "Judas Priest | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  14. ↑ "Judas Priest Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  15. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Judas Priest – Screaming for Vengeance". Music Canada.
  16. ↑ "American album certifications – Judas Priest – Screaming for Vengeance". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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