Turbo

Hmmm. In the pantheon of Judas Priest this is most certainly not their best effort and many people hate it. Which is a bit unfair I think. The reason I give this five stars is because it's lead to the superb Judas Priest 'Live' album which represents Priest at their commercial and musical peak.I always think of this in terms of three albums. Screaming for Vengeance - which is when Priest utterly nailed the sound of metal once and for all, then Defenders that some consider it their best (I prefer Screaming) and this one - which rounds off that period in time when Priest were on the rise. Maybe because the album cover is similar in style.But, no getting away from it, 'Turbo,' is a real departure from JP's previous output. And it works. For the time and space it was conceived. And that means in some way those of us who like this album probably do because it represents a bit of our youth and a time when metal in it's various forms was actually wildly popular across the globe. It is unmistakably mid 80's in sound and production. It's clearly Judas Priest trying to tap into a more hair metal sound and become a bit more radio friendly. And it kind of works.In my opinion the two standout tracks are Turbo and Out In the Cold. Turbo in particular is a great song that's actually pretty heavy. I'm sure that if this was done again it wouldn't take much to make it very heavy indeed.The rest of the songs vie between slightly cheesy and out and out aimed at the radio. Despite that, they all hang together well and as a whole makes this album far more consistent than Ram It Down which started a more back towards the heavier sound.Overall an album that got a bad press from the hard core but actually is pretty good.

I will start by admitting that I am a big time Judas Priest fan. In my opinion, this album is seriously underrated. Every time you meet a metal fan, they'll typically point out to Turbo as if it was a sort of an embarassment in an otherwise impeccable musical career. Well, I beg to differ with this view. It is true there is an attempt to become more commercial in style in general, as opposed of just having one or two hits as in previous albums. Yet, this is not a simple sell out, or cheap music just to sell. Judas Priest are magnificent musicians and each song in Turbo is a quality, honest, direct song. From the sing along "Rock you all around the world", to the 80's beats of "Locked in" and "Hands Off", to the desolation of "Out in the Cold", to the climax with the anthem "Reckless", no doubt one of the finest Judas Priest songs in all of their career, this album is just very very good. Do not let yourself get influenced by biased commentators who expect every album to sound the same. Judas Priest dared to try and offer something new to their fans and they succeeded.This is not Painkiller, Screaming for Vengeance or Defenders of the Faith. This is Turbo and it was supposed to be a different album to everything else they made.

It was the eighties with big hair and synthesisers and, time for new sounds. Albeit being different, this album still hits the mark. The songs are powerful and ooze Judas Priest with ever present great guitar riffs and solos.

Judas Priest's tenth studio album was released to a pretty negative reaction back in 1986. Their previous two albums Defenders Of The Faith and Screaming For Vengeance had been strong and heavy releases which established a certain expectation in terms of style.Turbo didn't fulfill these expectations; in fact it was a departure of sorts. The album incorporated glam and hair metal influences, synths, big reverby production and all the other trademarks of the mid to late eighties that serve to date music from that period really easily.Turbo was very commercial and people didn't like that. The album has been called a sellout, false metal, downright rubbish and much worse.I actually like the album; it is something of a guilty pleasure for me. I still recommend that people try before they buy; this is not an album for everyone. I hear and understand everything that is wrong with the record and why people hate it, but just personally don't find it in me to dislike the album.Tracks like `Parental Guidance,' `Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days,' and `Private Property,' are unbelievably cheesy I agree, but they are fun and I like listening to them. If you don't mind a bit of commercial music then disregard the huge amounts of negative press that this album receives, believe me it is only a disagreement over style; the actual quality of the album isn't taken into account.While the aforementioned tracks were glam/hair metal influenced and the title track is synth filled, the other tracks like `Locked In,' `Hot For Love,' or `Reckless,' are all fairly strong songs and contain a lot of the style from the previous four Priest records, take away the production and certain flourishes here and there and those songs would fit well into many of the more loved Priest albums.If you are new to Judas Priest, don't start with Turbo. If you frequently use phrases like `sell out,' `not metal,' or `false metal,' then give Turbo a miss, you won't like it. If however style doesn't bother you and you just want more music from Judas Priest then give it a try a least, you may enjoy it, I sure did.

I am a 90s metaller. As such I was weaned on Metallica, Megadeth, Sepultura etc. etc. Now that they are considered classic metal I've decided to give the true classic metal bands a turn. 'Priest seemed uncool in my teens and I never listened to them. I have to say I'm loving catching up on their back catalogue. If you are a Priest newbie I recommend starting with 'Defenders of the Faith' and 'Screaming for Vengeance'. They are both era defining records. 'Turbo' is too. But to put it in context I'd nickname this album 'Screaming for 80s'. This album almost defines the stereotype of 80s Metal. It is fast becoming a favourite!