Warthur Hot damn! What an incredibly energetic and raw live album from Judas Priest! Coming out right before they shifted into a more commercial direction for the world-conquering British Steel, this is the perfect summation of Priest's career to this point - with Rocka Rolla being snubbed entirely and some really great takes on classic numbers from Sad Wings of Destiny, whilst the more recent album tracks sound absolutely red hot.

And for once, it's an album where if you get a CD with bonus tracks they aren't an incongruous and unwanted addition - the CD bonus tracks come from the 7" EP that supplemented the album on its original Japanese release, with tracks hailing from the same concerts, and so they fit in like a dream.

Sinkadotentree This was JUDAS PRIEST's first live album recorded during their "Killing Machine" tour of Japan in 1979. This was also the first JUDAS PRIEST album I bought, and it got plenty of air time as I drove around the "beaches" back in 1980. Four of the original 9 tracks are from the "Sad Wings Of Destiny" record which is a little surprising only because usually the album they are on tour for gets the bulk of the attention. We do get "The Green Malalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown" and "Running Wild" from "Killing Machine" though, along with three of the four bonus tracks. We get "Sinner" and "Diamonds And Rust" from "Sin After Sin" while "Exciter" is from "Stained Glass". My two faourite tracks are "The Green Malalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown)" and "Victim Of Changes". The sound quality of this live album is excellent and for me it was a great place to start.

Kingcrimsonprog Judas Priest’s Unleashed In The East is one of those live albums. Album’s like Kiss – Alive, Deep Purple – Made In Japan and Iron Maiden – Live After Death, where the performances are utterly electric and all the songs come alive more than on their studio counterparts.

Unleashed’ was released back in 1979 and consists of material from the four out of the band’s five albums from the seventies performed live in Tokyo, and works as a great compilation of Priest’s early output.

Songs like ‘Victim Of Changes,’ and ‘Diamonds And Rust,’ sound utterly astounding on this album, they have such energy and intensity. The choice of songs is great, the production is great and the band are all great both individually and as a unit.

Debate exists as to how much of the album is or isn’t actually live, for example Rob Halford claims only the vocals were overdubbed in the studio. Personally, I don’t much care either way when the album is this good. The bonus tracks on newer versions also help to redress the balance of material from Hellbent For Leather, of which there was little on the original vinyl.

Overall; Unleashed In The East represents the best of Judas Priest’s early output delivered in a dynamic and energetic fashion. It is an undoubted classic and a clear must have for any Priest fan.

rushfan4 The first live Judas Priest album finds them Unleashed In the East performing live in Japan, the best of their earliest songs from their first four albums. A highly energetic performance with them in top form. The two guitar assault with Halford's golden pipes are almost as good as it gets. The album clocks in at just under 45 minutes and with the advent these days of two and three disc live CD sets, I would really like to see them re-release this album as a full concert with the entire set, as I imagine they were probably playing at least an hour and a half to two hours sets then. Either rate, this is still a really good document of their early live shows and worth of a 4-star rating for being an excellent addition to any metal music collection.

RuneWalsh2112 The first official live album from Judas Priest is a real spectacle for fans of the band's early years.

It's a pity that it has received so much backlash over the years due to the overdubs that were added before the release. I've never cared much for the whole overdubs issue in general as long as it enhances my music experience without over-glorifying the band in question. When it comes to Rob Halford, we all knew that the man could sing so why should his work suffer when it was allegedly ruined in the original recording. At least the man did his best to replicate the live style of his performance here!

Unlike the later reissues of the album, the original version of the LP only featured two tracks off the band's latest release "Killing Machine" and instead concentrated on the second album "Sad Wings Of Destiny". This is definitely the version I enjoy the most since their latest album was never a favorite of mine.

Everyone who enjoys the pre-"British Steel" heavy metal sound of Judas Priest should give this one a go but, due to the high popularity of this release, chances are you already have!

***** star songs: Exciter (5:38) Diamonds And Rust (3:33)

**** star songs: Running Wild (2:52) Sinner (7:32) The Ripper (2:41) Victim Of Changes (7:11) Genocide (7:21) Tyrant (4:41)

*** star songs: The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown) (3:18)

SouthSideoftheSky Stand by for Exciter!

Unleashed In The East was Judas Priest's first live album and it featured material from the studio albums Sad Wings Of Destiny, Sin After Sin, Stained Class and Killing Machine. The debut is justifiably disregarded, even though it would have been interesting to hear some of those tracks in a live setting by the evolved version of the band.

Four of the nine tracks are taken from the masterpiece Sad Wings Of Destiny: The Ripper, Victim Of Changes, Genocide and Tyrant. These versions are all great and played a little bit faster than their studio counterparts. Two tracks are taken from Sin After Sin, the brilliant Sinner and the Joan Baez cover Diamonds And Rust. The latter works fine in a live environment, but it would have been more interesting to hear more of the band's own material. Also The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown) is a cover song. This one was originally recorded by Fleetwood Mac and then by Priest on their (at this point) most recent studio album Killing Machine. One other song was lifted off that album in Running Wild. This leaves only one song for Stained Class, but thankfully they picked a great one: the brilliant Exciter.

This live album is sometimes called 'live in the studio' because of it being considerably tinkered with in the studio after its live concert recording. I don't find this annoying other than in a couple of places where it becomes a bit too obvious.

While this live album is energetic and intense and brings together some of the best songs from Judas Priest's best albums, I cannot say that it is truly essential for anyone who already has the studio albums. And if you don't have Sad Wings Of Destiny, Sin After Sin and Stained Class in your collection, get them first!