Night Crawler

Painkiller
Studio album by Judas Priest
Released	3 September 1990 (1990-09-03)
Recorded	January - March 1990, Miraval Studios, France and Wisseloord Studios, Holland
Genre	Heavy metal, power metal, speed metal
Length	54:38
Label	Columbia[1]
Producer	Judas Priest and Chris Tsangarides
Judas Priest chronology
Singles from Painkiller
"Painkiller" Released: 1990 "A Touch of Evil" Released: 1991 "Night Crawler" Released: 1992

Painkiller is the twelfth studio album by British heavy metal band Judas Priest. The album is regarded as one of the band's best releases and is identified as a major influence in the early development of power metal due to its simultaneous speed and melody.[citation needed]

Recording

The album was recorded at Miraval Studios, Brignoles, France in early 1990, and mixed at Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, the Netherlands later that year. This is the first album to feature drummer Scott Travis who replaced long-time drummer Dave Holland in 1989. Travis was recruited from another band, Racer X.

This album was Judas Priest's attempt to move into a heavier speed metal sound, which was a departure from the less-well received sound of Turbo and Ram It Down. Several of the songs from this album have been played on every tour since its release. The title track has become one of Judas Priest's signature songs, with songs like "Metal Meltdown", "Leather Rebel", "A Touch of Evil", "Nightcrawler" and "All Guns Blazing" becoming fan favorites.

The Painkiller itself is one of a series of fictional messiahs created by Judas Priest. The Painkiller is described as a metal messiah sent to the world to destroy evil and rescue mankind from destruction.

Packaging

The Painkiller is believed to be inspired by the fallen angel from the Sad Wings of Destiny album cover that Judas Priest recorded early in their career. He also makes an appearance along with the Hellion (from Screaming for Vengeance), the goggled face from Killing Machine (Hell Bent for Leather in the US) and the Metallian (from Defenders of the Faith) on the cover of Metal Works '73-'93.

A very similar character is on the cover of Angel of Retribution, also a metal angel, but with a slightly less smooth appearance and with the Judas Priest cross on his chest rather than on his shoulders.

The most noticeable feature of the Painkiller, besides his metal body is that he 'rides the metal monster'; a motorcycle with a dragon for the chassis and two circular saw blades for wheels.

Releases

The original LP, cassette and CD versions were released on 3 September 1990. A re-mastered CD was released in May 2001. The album received a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance at the 20 February 1991 33rd Annual Grammy Awards.

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, as well as 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 many years after Halford had left. 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 songs written and composed by Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford and K. K. Downing, except where noted. 

Covers

• The title track was covered by the American death metal band Death on their album The Sound of Perseverance, as well as by Brazilian power metal band Angra, Spanish band Saratoga, and Argentinian band Patán on the Acero Argentino: Tributo a Judas Priest tribute album. In their own Mirada Eléctrica: Tributo a Judas Priest, the band Luzbel covered it too. British metal band Biomechanical covered the song and was included in the Limited Edition of The Empires of the Worlds.
• "Hell Patrol" was covered by Spanish band Avalanch and Argentinian band Mistica Power on the Acero Argentino: Tributo a Judas Priest tribute album.
• "All Guns Blazing" was covered by Argentinian death metal band Serpentor on the Acero Argentino: Tributo a Judas Priest tribute album, as well as by German power metal band Silent Force on the "Infatuator" album.
• "A Touch of Evil" was covered by Lion's Share, the Argentinian band Lörihen on the Acero Argentino: Tributo a Judas Priest tribute album and the Italian band Vision Divine on their 9 Degrees West To The Moon.
• "Night Crawler" was covered by Dementra, Radakka and Cryptic Wintermoon.
• "Metal Meltdown" was covered by death metal band Aurora Borealis and by Maley on the Acero Argentino: Tributo a Judas Priest tribute album. Anorexia Nervosa also did a cover of it.

References

1. ^ a b http://www.allmusic.com/album/r10654/review
2. ^ Stagno, Mike (2006-08-04). "Judas Priest - Painkiller". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2012-05-08. 
3. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Judas Priest – Screaming for Vengeance". Music Canada. 
4. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Judas Priest; 'Screaming for Vengeance')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. 
5. ^ "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