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THE BEST OF JUDAS PRIEST
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Produced by Rodger Bain,
Jeffery Calvert,
Geraint Hughes (aka Max West),
and Judas Priest A year after Judas Priest walked out on their contract with Gull Records, David Howells released a "best of" album that the band never participated in nor approved of. The album compiled seven of the heavier and more catchy songs from the band's first two releases (though "Tyrant" is strangely left out) and introduced a new song in the form of the unreleased Gull recording of "Diamonds And Rust" from the Sad Wings Of Destiny sessions. |
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Logo Design: John Pasche
David Howells has been involved with record sleeve design for a great part of his life and for this "Best Of" release, he commissioned a young graphics school graduate named Paul Monteagle, who was building quite a reputation himself for his illustrations on record sleeves and book covers. I have heard the title of the illustration Chris Draper of the Ultimate Judas Priest site says the painting is titled "Tyrant". It is assumed the short fat armor plated metallic figure is the tyrant, while the tall figure is his right-hand man. Strange then that David Howells does not include on this album the song for which the cover illustration seems to be patterned after! |
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CD REISSUES: Gull Records was the first to issue The Best Of Judas Priest on CD (their only issue of a Priest album to CD) in 1987, and for the occasion they added two extra tracks ("Epitaph" and "One For The Road") to the disc. A special extended version called The Best Of Judas Priest - Insight Series was issued on CD in 1995 by Transluxe Records, which included an additional interview with former drummer John Hinch, rather than extra music tracks. The band has officially warned that the Insight Series should be avoided, as it contains:
Below is a chart of the most noted of the reissue
CDs (Thanks to Chris of the Judas Priest Collector's Page for CD listings and
pictures). All have background hiss and feature very similar audio (as they all
appear to use the RCA digital remaster), with variations only in volume and EQ.
A Listening Guide is provided in the chart along with personal recommendations
as an aid in finding a match to your personal preference.
After finding the version you want, try searching for this rare title at the
Global Electronic Music Marketplace:
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© 2002-2003
Steel & Leather Productions, U.S.A.
