By 1988, Judas Priest was floundering. They had tried to
re-invent their sound on
Turbo, an experiment which wasn’t a total failure but could
hardly be called a success. It’s safe to say that
Turbo polarized longtime Judas Priest fans — it’s hard to
sit on the fence regarding that disc. Judas Priest needed to do
something to stave off the bleeding.
Their answer,
Ram It Down, was a half-hearted attempt to win back the
loyal fans. Unfortunately for Rob Halford and crew, this disc is
most notoriously remembered for their limpid cover of Chuck Berry’s
“Johnny B. Goode,” easily one of the worst cover songs I’ve ever
heard in my life. (Most people don’t remember this cover was
originally done for the movie
Johnny Be Good, a box office flop starring Anthony Michael
Hall.) Let us speak no more of this musical dog turd.
More often than not on this disc, Judas Priest sounds like they
were being dragged back into a form of music they no longer wanted
to play. Tracks like “I’m A Rocker,” “Monsters Of Rock” and “Love
Zone” all sound tired and uninspired. Even the title track falls
completely flat — not a good sign as it leads off this disc. Judas
Priest often put one of the strongest tracks on their albums as the
leadoff number; if this was their way of saying that “Ram It Down”
was a strong track, you just know you’re in for a rough ride.
Yet one can’t totally write off
Ram It Down as being a throwaway disc. As cliched as the
title is, “Heavy Metal” does turn out to be a halfway decent effort
that dares to suggest the spark of creativity was still alive
somewhere in the band. If only there were more worthwhile moments
on this disc; the sad fact is, “Heavy Metal” is probably the best
track out of the whole lot of 10.
Also, there are occasional moments when the guitar work of K.K.
Downing and Glenn Tipton does seem like there is some emotion
behind the playing — for all of the attention payed to Halford as
front man, the guitarists often were the unsung heroes of this
group. But without more solid songwriting efforts to back up their
playing, it’s pretty much all for naught.
If
Turbo signalled a stumbling point on the road of Judas
Priest’s career,
Ram It Down was the moment when they fell on their faces. It
would be two years before the Priest would re-emerge with
Painkiller, but this disc dared to suggest that the ride was
winding down for Judas Priest.
