Rocka Rolla

Rocka Rolla is probably an album that you've heard a lot about already if you are even a casual fan of Judas Priest. It was the band's debut studio album, recorded live-in-the-studio in 1974 and released to little acclaim on the small label Gull Records. The band rarely ever played anything off of it live for decades.The album has been issued dozens of times with slightly different mastering (some fans favour the louder version), different track listings, different artwork and occasionally even under a different name. Sometimes an early version of the Joan Baez cover track `Diamonds And Rust' is included as a bonus track.As a rule, you probably won't want to make this your first Judas Priest purchase. A lot of Judas Priest fans don't like this album and for that reason alone you shouldn't really try it out until you are fully invested in Judas Priest already or risk missing out on dozens of great records just by being scared off by this.The music on the album is a mixture of classic blues based rock music and a little touch of progressive rock influence, with some hints of the band's future definitive Heavy Metal sound but never any full out all-metal tracks.Songs like the eight-minute `Run Of The Mill' contain an almost Animals era Pink Floyd sound at times and `Dying To Meet You' contains the sort of Progged-Up Blues feel of the first three Jethro Tull albums. If you like this sort of music as I do then you'll probably find it an interesting addition to the Judas Priest collection that shows the band in a different light than you are used to.If you hate the sort of music that British Prog Rock bands were putting out in the 1970s, only ever listen to heavy music and find that your favourite Judas Priest album was Painkiller then Rocka Rolla may not be something that you are likely to fall in love with and should either try before you buy or avoid altogether.Of course, there are a few tracks on the album that are hard enough rock such as `Hero Hero,' `Never Satisfied' and especially `Cheater' all of which are good but ultimately still won't be enough to win the bigger doubters over. Even these harder moments aren't completely metal anyway, they are just the closest thing to it on this early album.Additionally, It has been speculated in the past that Rocka Rolla might have been a better album if the band were allowed enough time and money to record it properly and if the purportedly long and epic track `Caviar And Meths' wasn't shortened from its intended 14-minute duration to a brief two minutes.As it stands however, `Caviar And Meths' simply is two minutes and the production job simply is cheap and live, so you have to accept the album on those terms if you are going to like it and there's not much you could do to change that.Overall, your opinion of the album will largely depend on whether or not you are able to forgive how different it is from their more famous albums, and how much you like Blues Rock and Prog Rock. It may also depend on the mastering job and track order of the particular copy you get.If you can already tell that you'll hate it then feel free to ignore it and pretend that the band's first album was Sad Wings Of Destiny. If however you think you are going to be generally receptive to it, intrigued by the idea of Rob Halford's early vocal performances, of hearing KK and Glen's guitars doing something totally different and of a raw but potentially charming production job, then I'd say go for it. It is worth checking out and isn't nearly as bad as you may have heard about.

An underated debut album for sure. I've just got round to buying this on CD after having it on cassette for many years. I think it's more than the curio it's sometimes referred to as being. It's a bit of a slow burner, capturing the band in their early more hippy-ish/blues influenced times. It sounds of it's time and though some feel the production is poor, I quite like the sound of the record. I think it gives it a context and feel all of it's own compared to the albums that were to follow.It's a more reflective, mellow, melancholic and quirky album than Priest's later works and I would say has arguably more depth as result, utilising different textures and instrumental passages to give songs a more free flowing laid back feel. I find it more varied and far less formulaic than their later material and all the more evocative for it.There really are some gems on here if you're open to it. 'Rocka Rolla' is a poppy, quirky sing along track and the epic 'Run Of the Mill' is an amazing example of a melancholic ballad that builds to a suitably high-pitched finale and showcases a young Rob Halford's great vocal range.I don't see why anyone interested in how Judas Priest first began wouldn't find something of interest here. I think it's worth it for 'Run Of The Mill' alone.For me it's a quirky 5 star album, one that's really grown on me over the years. I've said enough. I can't go on.

This is one of their earlier albums, before their style was truly "heavy metal", and will take listeners of a certain age right back to the early seventies.

Had this as a vinyl, eons ago just listened to it again brill very early priest....

A++

Mint well received had it on vinyl which is well worn very good many thanks

Great

Born in 1970, rock music was a big part of my life, & seeing Judas Priest on The Old Grey Whistle Test on BBC television in the 70s, I became hooked on rock, just love Rocka Rolla.