PRIEST IS BACK... with a timemachine

12.9.

Wow! Tipton catching the last few drops from a beer bottle while being plugged in while Hellion is already playing from the intro tape, Halford hitting 'em high notes and bathing in sweat just after a couple of songs, Hill with his only move, leaning with his bass from side to side, K.K. Downing keeps messing up the guitar parts ever so slightly while being the rock star hot shot to the full and Holland hitting the drums with the most awkward, stiff upper lip style I've ever seen (even Charlie Watts looks more flexible than this guy!). This is the fantastic bonus dvd you get with Screaming for Vengeance 30th anniversary edition - and it's worth every penny! Unlike the earlier British Steel Anniversary Edition which included one of their newest tours, this bonus material is at the heart of the matter - you really feel like being in 1982 (or 1983) all over again, possibly the highest point of the 80s' Priest (yeah, I like the 70s best and Painkiller follows near behind, but this ain't half bad, I assure you). Yes, Priest kicked ass even in the 80s!

"Fetch the Scream Eagles..." - Priest's Saints In Hell 1978

Now, Holland is by far the worst drummer Priest ever played with after the early days (since Sin After Sin they only had good or great drummers like Simon Phillips (though he wasn't a member, only a studio musician), Les Binks (my favourite) and Scott Travis (probably the most technically skilled of these). But still I enjoy seeing Holland with his stiff, silly looking style... And singing background vocals on Breaking the Law... yeah, it seems to take me back to a time which I've never actually even lived (well, I was alive in 1983, but a very, very small child - or baby actually, so I hardly understood Judas Priest back then). Now think if they had removed these Holland sections away (covered the film material with shading, for instance). Holland has been accused of child-molesting in the 2000s, so in our hypersensitive era (and greedy, wanting to avoid any problems posed by court cases) that could be more than enough reason to remove such ex-members. That's what was done to Ozzy's solo albums (though the members were never accused of child molesting or anything criminal, only demanding their royalties). These parts were finally restored in the 2011 remastered editions, but still the Blizzard of Ozz 30th Anniversary set includes very little photos or comments about Kerslake and Daisley.

This version I snapped from a music store in Tokyo

What I love about these older records is that they inevitably sound old - they have a different and warmer sound from these modern death metal discs. That is why faking history (Orwell's 1984?) seems so wrong. You should not tamper with the past. Not because it sounds worse, but because it might not sound worse. I guess younger Ozzy fans might actually enjoy these new versions like "You can't kill rock 'n' roll" with its' longer intro as much or even more than the old versions - which would make all us older fans ancient relics. This sort of propaganda and white-washing of the history has happened in politics and religion, but rock should be about integrity and honesty, about freely expressing yourself and defying all authorities- even if you end up sounding like an idiot. I do not believe rock music is art or should be admired by anyone - if you like metal, then cool, listen to it and enjoy, if you don't like it, then fine, do something you enjoy. For me it's a way of life and a guiding force whereas many would follow the word of God. But I am free to think for myself, free to choose my own path and make stupid mistakes by myself. I don't need to hide behind any false or real idols - that is why this honesty stuff, for me, is so bloody important.