Judas Priest – Killing Machine

Just bought it. Listening through JBL L5 in sansui au-317.
I cant compare to other vinyls since never Heard others. However this is much better than the cds I had, including the terrible remasters.
Ian's Bass is warm and you can actually follow what he is playing through the entire Record. I could hear Very distinctively robs vocals and backing vocals. Drums are great.
The package is beautiful as hell, hard cover and rich in color detail. The inner lyrics are funny, completely wrong, you can do without. Mine came without the ubi strip, i couldnt Care less, to me they only take prices higher.
Recommended pressing.

im not sure if the below statement was for me as i thought i gave a review of this classic last year, anyway i have a couple of copies of this japan lp, i have the first pressing wich also comes with a thin red obi next to the silver obi you see here, anyway this comes with a great lyric insert with lyrics in both japanese and english.... this will always be one of my favorite priest albums next to stained glass.....

Though you strayed far off from saying anything about this particular release, nonetheless, I enjoyed reading your input about Japanese releases. I agree with almost everything you said; however, I must also address a few caveats. In my not so humble opinion Japanese releases, whether vinyl or CD, are not all they are cracked up to be. Take for instance the 2nd pressing on CD of 'British Steel' (ESCA-5254) from 1991. If my hunch is correct the latter is a re-issue of the 1st pressing (25.8P-5038) in of artwork *and* sound. That said I did discover something quite unusual when I compared it to the 1st pressing on CD here in America. Firstly, they sound more or less exactly alike but with a very noticeable difference (e.g., Ian's bass has a punchier and warmer sound). Overall the differences are miniscule at best but noticeable all the same if one has ears to hear. :) Oddly enough the same cannot be said for the track, "Living After Midnight". The differences are HUGE! I would love to know if it was on the same source tape as the other tracks for the ESCA-5254 pressing or a different tape was used specifically for this track. The one on the U.S. pressing sounds more prominent, louder (though it has the same sound level as the other tracks), and has more "bite" (e.g., Dave Holland's snare and kick drum). The same track on the Japanese pressing sounds good but tame by comparison! I will come back to Judas Priest towards the end. I need to bring up other Jap. releases to drive home my point.

I now bring up the British band, Tank, and their 1st Japanese pressing of "This Means War" (APCY-8023). I will put aside any comments on the overall sound because it's a digression at best. On the other hand if one must know, and keeping things short and sweet, it sounds "flat" overall *and* lacks the desired "ooomph" even if first-generation tapes were used in the mastering process. The remastered version on Metal Mind Productions was a big leap forward. At any rate, the main point I want to bring up is that this particular release of 'This Means War' has the dubious distinction of *NOT* including the fantastic track, "The Man Who Never Was". The latter was a non-album track (alongside ''Whichcatchewedmycuckoo'') on the 'Echoes of a Distant Battle' EP which came out prior to the full-length album. I think it's too late in the ball game to start pronouncing any anathemas on the knuckleheads responsible for this sort of thing, but to not include that particular track (quite possibly my favorite TANK song) it was really STUPID! Luckily it can be found on the 'Honour and Blood' release. (I suspect the reason why was to force the hand of many or a few Tank fans who might have balked at getting 'Honour and Blood' seeing how pricey Jap. releases are.) The same applies to the Tygers of Pan Tang, John Sykes, and I presume many other artists and bands during that point in time. The bottom line in this strange version of 'Musical Chairs' is money, money, money! Donald Trump, eat your heart out!!! :P

As far as lyric sheets *and* OBI strips go I'm one of those who's not overly impressed. Yeah, it's nice to have the lyrics in front of a person especially if one knows that the U.S., U.K., European, or whatever other pressing does not include them. But anyone who has seen a good deal of lyric sheets contained in either vinyl or CD releases from Japan knows that they are not always correct. Since I mentioned them up above, Judas Priest and Tank are two prime examples: "Priest In The East" and "This Means War", respectively, come to mind. And as far as OBI strips are concerned I can take them or leave them. With the age of time I will have to say I would sooner do without them. They kind of remind me of the original long boxes from back in the 80's, and into the early 90's, that came with the CD's released here in America. I recall cutting out some of them for the front or back pictures, and some had pics. that weren't included on the actual CD booklet (e.g., 'First and Last and Always' by the Sisters Of Mercy). All in all they were a waste of paper, time, and a downright nuisance to not only some record stores but also quite a handful of the music-buying public. Luckily, the OBI strips that come with vinyl and CD releases from Japan are not as bothersome. Nonetheless, I think it's one more thing *I* -- and many others I presume -- can do without.

Last but not least, I can also mention some of the (ahem) touted audiophile quality releases under the SHM-CD category. Granted, some of them sound really good (e.g., The entire discography of the Cars), but for the most part they sound highly compressed and/or bloated in sound (e.g., most or all of the Judas Priest releases). I hate to say it, and I suppose the powers that be in Japan have not learned their lesson, but it seems we have yet another casualty in the so-called 'Loudness Wars'. And I am not talking about the Japanese HM band of the same name. ;)