JUDAS PRIEST — Rocka Rolla (review)

JUDAS PRIEST — Rocka Rolla album cover Album · 1974 · Hard Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
siLLy puPPy
Yes this album sees JUDAS PRIEST very much in their formative years experimenting with different ideas and staying close to their influences and although this is far from the peak of their career, I have always rather enjoyed listening to this album for its quirkiness and reminder that while metal was still in its inchoate stages of development, there were many strange ideas that would be abandoned in favor of faster and heavier riffing which would create the first true heavy metal music.

ROCKA ROLLA which is the debut album by JUDAS PRIEST was released all the way back in 1974 and has a clear bluesy hard rock a la Led Zeppelin influence throughout most of its tracks but there are many surprises as well which is probably why this album doesn't get as much love as the others following. One strangeness occurring here that I have always adored is the psychedelic freakout frenzy that makes up the heavy psych / proto-metal tracks “Winter,” “Deep Freeze” and “Winter Retreat.”

I put this album in the same category as I do the debut albums by Rush and the Scorpions, that being an anomaly in their respective careers that would never be repeated yet are performed extraordinarily well. This album was actually recorded live in the studio and although the production is not the best in the world, its the rawness and melodic deliveries that keep me re-visiting this album from time to time. A mishmash of ideas to be sure but always pleasantly laid out with Rob Halford already hitting some of those high notes.

If you're only into headbanging this is surely not going to thrill you in the least but if you can embrace eclectic musical ideas that have a grain of the JUDAS PRIEST that would be developed in the next couple of years for their more popular “Sad Wings Of Destiny” then you might actually like this quirky album that shows a side of JUDAS PRIEST that really wouldn't be explored again until they dabbled in the progressive side of rock on their much later release “Nostradamus.” Maybe it's the horrible bottle cap cover that scared everyone off. By all means get the remastered version with the cool missile monster on the cover!
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Le bannissement Atmospheric Black Metal
CANTIQUE LÉPREUX
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tarantula Heart Sludge Metal
MELVINS
Buy this album from MMA partners
God Damned You To Hell Traditional Doom Metal
FRIENDS OF HELL
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Absence Melodic Death Metal
THE ABSENCE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Unextinct Technical Death Metal
HIDEOUS DIVINITY
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Fallen Ashes - Wage War (Official Lyric Video)
FALLEN ASHES
Bosh66· 8 days ago
EXISTENTIAL DEAD - Unreality (Single) 2024
EXISTENTIAL DEAD
Bosh66· 8 days ago
EXISTENTIAL DEAD - Cold Hands
EXISTENTIAL DEAD
Bosh66· 8 days ago
IRON MONKEY - Misanthropizer (Official Music Video)
IRON MONKEY
Bosh66· 10 days ago
??? (Losing ART) - "????" (Official Music Video) [HD]
漂浮者樂團
Bosh66· 11 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed