On February 26, 1981, "Judas Priest" released their seventh studio album, "Point Of Entry".
This album is the "sandwich album" between "British Steel" - the 1980 commercial breakthrough album, and "Screaming for Vengeance" - a milestone album in Heavy Metal that came out in 1982. This is why there is sometimes a tendency to skip this album and we are here to try and change that.
While not as conspicuous as the other two "giants", "Point Of Entry" does not have hits like "Breaking the Law" on the one hand or "You've Got Another Thing Comin" on the other, but it is still an album that came out during the band's heyday so it was important for us to mention it.
Following the commercial success of "British Steel", the band decided to continue in the more music-friendly direction, intending to complete their break into the mainstream and various radio stations.
After finishing the tour of the album "British Steel", the band started working on their next project, only that unlike previous albums this work was done in the studio, without any prior preparation and without any materials or ideas ahead of time. The idea was to be as spontaneous as possible, while trying to recreate what was happening on stage, with free "live" music.
Reinforced by the "British Steel's" commercial success, the band was able to afford to record in an advanced studio with state-of-the-art equipment, so it was decided to fly the equipment and the recording team to the studios in Ibiza, Spain.
It turns out that the recording studio and the state-of-the-art equipment, had a big impact on the final product, as the sound on this album is more alive, clean, and tight than the previous albums.
In terms of musical material, the song structures are less complex, the riffs have become simpler, and the musical style span around friendlier "Metal-Pop". The rhythms are slower, the playing of K. K. and Tipton is more restrained and the solos are shorter and minimalist, compared to previous albums. Rob Halford also limits himself and is less rampant with his insane range of vocals.
Three singles were released from this album.
The excellent opening track "Heading Out to the Highway" that tries to follow the success of "Living After Midnight".
The slow and catchy "Don't Go" with the New Wave influences especially during the verses, with the broken riff, the guitar sound, and the loose bass playing.
"Hot Rockin'" that the band continues to include in their setlists even 4 decades later.
These three songs were also accompanied by video clips, with the goal of commercial breakthrough.
The album also features the excellent "Desert Plains" with the melodic-power combination, which is one of the greatest songs in Priest's entire repertoire, and "Solar Angels", which begins with the chorus/flange guitar effect and abounds with fighter jets sounds. These two tracks are without a doubt the highlights of this album and of "Judas Priest" in general.
But from here on this album fails to produce songs at the same level as the ones we already mentioned, and maybe that's also why it's pretty much disappeared between the two big albums that came before and after it. "Troubleshooter, "You Say Yes, All The Way" and "On The Run" did not survive the test of time and became forgotten tracks from the heyday of one of the pioneers of Heavy Metal.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music.