39 Years Ago Today, Metal Fans Took to the Road With Judas Priest

On February 26, 1981, Judas Priest released their seventh album, Point of Entry. Priest's preceding album, British Steel, broke new ground for them and significantly widened their fan base. The commercial success of British Steel pushed the band to pursue a more "radio-friendly" direction.

Judas Priest recorded Point of Entry at Spain's state-of-the-art Ibiza Studios between October-November 1980. Featuring some certified Priest classics including, "Desert Plains"(which still makes some rare concert appearances), "Hot Rockin' "(released as a single), "Solar Angels", "Don't Go", and the first single(a song Priest STILL performs in concert on a regular basis), "Heading Out to the Highway":

Needless to say, a lot of hard-core fans didn't like the more melodically-styled approach that Priest tried with Point of Entry, and album sales reflected that. Priest did like recording at Ibiza Studios however, and returned to record their eighth album there. Screaming For Vengeance saw Priest return to a more harder-rocking sound and proved to be the band's big commercial breakthrough and spawned the hit, "You've Got Another Thing Comin' ", which became one of their signature songs.

I like Point of Entry and feel that it's very underrated and underappreciated. I don't know....Perhaps because it was the first Judas Priest album that I heard in it's entirety. It was my musical introduction to the "Metal Gods" and holds a certain fondness for me almost 40 years after it's release. Happy Anniversary!