'Unleashed in the East', 'British Steel', 'Point of Entry', 'Screaming for Vengeance' and now 'Defenders of the Faith' all in the space of five years, you can see why 'Judas Priest' are often regarded as the finest Heavy Metal band. This is yet another landmark album in a stunning back catalogue of albums and sports another string of truly unforgettable Metal tracks.

Opening in tremendous form is the blazing gem 'Freewheel Burning', just one of many 'Priest' classics here, this ones fuelled by the wondrous guitars of 'Tipton' and 'Downing' while, 'Halford' is just stunning throughout- Superb. If that wasn't enough 'Jawbreaker' follows in crunching fashion, not as pacey as the opener but still heavy and very effective, the chorus is downright fist-raising, while the instrumental break is the embodiment of 'Heavy Metal', another track of pure class. Not quite so astonishing but still extremely impressive is the anthemic 'Rock Hard Ride Free', a powerful mid tempo rocker, that while simply penned, comprise glorious guitar hooks and solos, while driven by sublime rhythm work. Better still is 'The Sentinel' a memorable early ripper, which opens with a gloomy intro only to pick up into a sublime pulsating gem, 'Tipton' and 'Downing' grace the song with divine hooks and glorious solos, while 'Rob' sounds top notch especially on the chorus and mid track slow-down. More quality follows in the shape of 'Love Bites' a nasty, mid tempo rocker which ebbs and flows flawlessly, 'Ian Hill's' basslines are powerful and effective, while the instrumental break is razor-sharp, this is all topped off with some good gutsy lyrics. Ensuing strongly is the tongue in cheek 'Eat Me Alive', a brisk paced ripper upheld by driving rhythm, sharp fret work, especially on the solo and a great snarling chorus. The tempo falls for the slightly more commercial sounding 'Some Heads are Gonna Roll', lyrically it's all a little predictable but it's very catchy and ultimately effective. The customary ballad 'Night Comes Down' follows and is reminiscent of work from 'Point of Entry', with a relaxed carefree feel, but still has a little edge, 'Rob' steals the show on this one with a stunning vocals performance. The album closes with the double shot of 'Heavy Duty' and the title track 'Defenders of the Faith', I'm not totally convinced by these, both are a tad repetitive and in the 'Manowar' ode to 'Metal' style, far from poor though but just take the edge off an outstanding album.

The first bonus track with the re-mastered version is titled 'Turn on Your Light', a fairly tame ballad, very serene and not really what you would associate with 'Priest', the pick-up towards the end does give it some respectability however. The bonus live track is that of 'Heavy Duty / Defenders', not one of my favourites, but possibly has the edge over the studio counterpart.

Another superb album, regrettably we would have to wait until 1990 for 'Priest's' next truly great album, as the experimental 'Turbo' wasn't quite what fans expected.