Black Sheep Albums: Judas Priest's Turbo
Way, way back in the day, before I really started to get into Judas Priest, Turbo was probably the most infamous metal album I had ever heard of. Various scary words were tossed about to describe it:
DRUM MACHINES
SYNTHESIZERS
POP MELODIES
DISCO BEATS
Shit, any metal band throwing those things on an album was pretty much suicide, I thought.
Mind you, at the tender age of 12, I was feeding myself a steady diet of nothing but Slayer. It was Kerry King's love for Priest, not Beavis and Butthead singing "Breaking the Law" that got me to pick up Sin After Sin. I gradually picked up the other gems of the Priest catalogue, carefully avoiding Turbo like a curse. I enjoyed the title track, which I had on a greatest hit compilation, but I certainly didn't want to hear the rest of it. With downright amazing albums like Screaming for Vengeance, British Steel, and Stained Class, I had not need for it. And really, Turbo is really a weird album, and one that sounds the most dated.
In 2005, I saw it going for one cent on Amazon, and figured it was time to round out my Judas Priest albums. And instantly I realized how wrong I was to have ignored it thus far. What the album lacks in depth and maturity it more than makes up for with its successful experimentation, not entirely unlike what ZZ Top was doing around this time. And more importantly, it doesn't really turn its back on what Judas Priest was all about.
"Turbo Lover" is really a great track, and an excellent way to kick the album off. And it's gives you a good idea what's in store: layered, processed guitars, robot drums, and alien voice synthesizers. Though the chorus is radio friendly, the five plus minute length isn't, so it's got a touch of epicness to it. The song builds beautifully, coming to a nearly orgasmic explosion with the first chorus, and tapering off to a chill midsection, clearly included to help one visualize the butt in slow motion. Then it really comes to a climax with a fiery guitar solo and explosive chorus.
"Locked In" could have come off of Defenders of the Faith, had it not been for the synthesized guitar lines. And what a wonderful chorus it's got! The lead break is absolutely savage, proving that KK Downing and Glenn Tipton could accurately use the technology at their disposal. "Out in the Cold" is the obligatory ballad, a brooding, midpaced number. If one were to ever get lost on a distant, icy planet, and have to look for females, this would be the song you'd listen to. It's not as sappy as previous Priest ballads, but it's got hooks. And synth. Is that guitar in the verse, or the voice of our future metal masters?
The last two songs are great. "Hot for Love" sounds almost desperate, like Rob Halford and the band have got a serious case of nut cramp and need to blow off some steam. "Reckless" was, apparently, supposed to be the theme song for Top Gun, but somehow didn't end up on the soundtrack. That would have added a little more food for thought about various theories on the real meaning behind that 80's film. But "Reckless" is a perfect closer, and one of the best songs Priest has ever put out--driving, anthemic, and full of defiance.
Yeah, there's a little bag of musical excrement on here in the form of "Parental Guidance," "Private Property," and "Wild Nights, Hot and Crazy Days." These all sound like rejects from one of KISS' 80's albums, with their bombastic choruses, silly lyrics, and simple riffs. Party songs are they, but lame are they too, far too lame for this space cadet. You might play this at some summer chick's condo, and it would go nicely with the sound of 20-somethings vomiting from too much Don Julio tequila, miscreants throwing furniture in the pool, and angry neighbours threatening to call the police. As a dose of nostalgia of that summer of 2005 it's a great reminder, but not much else. Garbage, and useless at that. "Rock Around the World" slightly redeems itself only for the fact that it's the most aggressive and fastest song on the album, but it's no "Freewheel Burning."
The only slouch on here musically is drummer Dave Holland, who may as well be a machine. In a few parts, the drumming sounds like it could have come directly from a mid-80's Genesis album with that gated sound. But as I've said, Glenn Tipton and KK Downing tear through their solos like always...it's just that here, they're patching them through a mountain of 1980's cutting edge technology computers. Yes, the metal gods who are Judas Priest have entered the Matrix for this one. Rob Halford's permanently supreme vocal work is the most organic element on here, and let's us know that the machines have yet to fully conquer the human race, as he commands the digital metal cacophony with strict discipilne.
Turbo is not Priest's best work, with pretty much every album which came before blowing it to bits. But it's far from the worst. No, that dubious honour goes to either Jugulator or Demolition, which tried too hard to be "tough." On it's own, Turbo is a perfect mix of the technologically advanced, anthemic synth rock of Asia, with the gritty riffs of Judas Priest. If it had been released on its own, Turbo may have slipped through the cracks; as a Judas Priest album, it's tainted by the bands inherently excellent legacy as godfathers of metal, and thus was innately doomed from its inception.
Do I care, though? Hell no. I'm going to go listen to it now, and recall those days of Don Julio and flying lawn furniture.
Nate Jacobs's "black sheep" albums are albums that significantly deviate from the standard output of a band. Most are just weird, a lot of them suck big time, but a few of them are absolute gems.
