Sad Wings of Destiny
| Sad Wings of Destiny | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Judas Priest | ||||
| Released | 23 March 1976 | |||
| Recorded | November–December 1975, Rockfield Studios, Wales | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 39:12 | |||
| Label | Gull | |||
| Producer | Jeffery Calvert, Max West & Judas Priest | |||
| Judas Priest chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Sad Wings of Destiny is the second album by the British heavy metal group Judas Priest, released in 1976.
The cover art for the album, titled Fallen Angels, was illustrated by Patrick Woodroffe. It is best known for introducing the pitchfork-like symbol known as the "the Devil's tuning fork", as worn by the angel.[2]
Sad Wings of Destiny was Judas Priest's second and final studio record made while under contract with Gull Records, an independent UK company. Despite critical acclaim, the band was struggling financially due to lack of support from the label. Shortly after changing management, the band severed their ties with Gull and signed with Columbia Records. Consequently, Judas Priest lost all rights to the recordings on their first two albums and to all demo recordings made during the sessions while under contract with Gull.[3] Sad Wings of Destiny was initially published and distributed by Janus Records in the United States.[4]
Whilst the band lost the rights to recording royalties, they obtained copyright ownership of the songs themselves, many of which became staples for their live shows. "Victim of Changes", "The Ripper", "Tyrant" and "Genocide" appear on Judas Priest Unleashed in the East, a live album released by CBS in 1979. "Diamonds and Rust", a Joan Baez song originally recorded for Sad Wings, but omitted from the final album, was re-recorded for Sin After Sin, their first CBS release, and also on Unleashed. Gull later released the band's original recording of "Diamonds and Rust" on a 'best of' album and their rerelease of Rocka Rolla.
The track "Genocide" mentions the title of the next album, Sin After Sin, in the middle of the song. Glenn Tipton's piano playing features prominently on Sad Wings of Destiny, especially on "Epitaph," a song that features no guitar.
The tracks "Victim of Changes" and "Dreamer Deceiver" were co-written by vocalist Al Atkins, who fronted the band in the early 1970s before being replaced by Rob Halford.
In 2012, "Sad Wings of Destiny" and "Rocka Rolla" were remastered for the first time.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
[edit] Original (Gull) LP track listing
| Side A | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Victim of Changes" | Al Atkins, Halford, Downing, Tipton | 7:47 | ||||||
| 2. | "The Ripper" | Tipton | 2:50 | ||||||
| 3. | "Dreamer Deceiver" | Atkins, Halford, Downing, Tipton | 5:51 | ||||||
| 4. | "Deceiver" | Halford, Downing, Tipton | 2:40 | ||||||
| Side B | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Prelude" | Glenn Tipton | 2:02 | ||||||
| 2. | "Tyrant" | Rob Halford, Tipton | 4:28 | ||||||
| 3. | "Genocide" | Halford, K.K. Downing, Tipton | 5:51 | ||||||
| 4. | "Epitaph" | Tipton | 3:08 | ||||||
| 5. | "Island of Domination" | Halford, Downing, Tipton | 4:32 | ||||||
On the sleeve of the original pressing by Gull Records, the tracklisting puts side B before side A, suggesting that "Prelude" would serve as the opening song.[5] However, the actual LP opens with side A. There has been some confusion among Priest fans regarding what order the band had intended for the tracks, and whether it was the LP or the tracklisting that was mixed up by the label. This has never been cleared up.
[edit] CD Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Victim of Changes" | Atkins, Halford, Downing, Tipton | 7:47 |
| 2. | "The Ripper" | Tipton | 2:50 |
| 3. | "Dreamer Deceiver" | Atkins, Halford, Downing, Tipton | 5:51 |
| 4. | "Deceiver" | Halford, Downing, Tipton | 2:40 |
| 5. | "Prelude" | Tipton | 2:02 |
| 6. | "Tyrant" | Halford, Tipton | 4:28 |
| 7. | "Genocide" | Halford, Downing, Tipton | 5:51 |
| 8. | "Epitaph" | Tipton | 3:08 |
| 9. | "Island of Domination" | Halford, Downing, Tipton | 4:32 |
The 1995 CD reissue by Repertoire Records had track 3 labeled as "Dream Deceiver" rather than "Dreamer Deceiver", this was later changed back to its original title on the 1998 release by Snapper Music. None of the reissues of Sad Wings of Destiny are endorsed by Judas Priest. [6]
[edit] 2012 Remastered track list
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Prelude" | Tipton | 2:02 |
| 2. | "Tyrant" | Halford, Tipton | 4:28 |
| 3. | "Genocide" | Halford, Downing, Tipton | 5:51 |
| 4. | "Epitaph" | Tipton | 3:08 |
| 5. | "Island of Domination" | Halford, Downing, Tipton | 4:32 |
| 6. | "Victim of Changes" | Atkins, Halford, Downing, Tipton | 7:47 |
| 7. | "The Ripper" | Tipton | 2:50 |
| 8. | "Dreamer Deceiver" | Atkins, Halford, Downing, Tipton | 5:51 |
| 9. | "Deceiver" | Halford, Downing, Tipton | 2:40 |
While not an "Official Statement" on the issue it would seem to indicate that this is the order in which the band intended the albums tracks to appear in. [7]
[edit] Personnel
- Rob Halford: vocals
- K.K. Downing: guitar
- Glenn Tipton: guitar, piano
- Ian Hill: bass guitar
- Alan Moore - drums
[edit] Cover versions
- Overkill performed "Tyrant", on the album Coverkill.
- Iced Earth covered "The Ripper" for a bonus track on digipak editions of their 1996 album The Dark Saga. The song later appeared on The Melancholy EP and the 2008 reissue of Something Wicked This Way Comes.
- Icarus Witch also covered "The Ripper" for their 2010 album Draw Down the Moon.
- Gamma Ray covered "Victim of Changes" in Tribute to Judas Priest Album.
- Mercyful Fate covered "The Ripper" on the Judas Priest cover album A Tribute to Judas Priest: Legends of Metal.
- Skyclad covered "Dreamer Deceiver" for a tribute album.
- Reverend Bizarre covered "Deceiver" for their 7" EP Dark World/Deceiver.
[edit] References
- ^ Huey, Steve. Sad Wings of Destiny review allmusic.com. Retrieved on 2011-06-29.
- ^ Judas Priest Info Pages - Sad Wings Of Destiny
- ^ Judas Priest Info Pages - Sin After Sin.
- ^ Allmusic.com entry for this album
- ^ http://ximmix.mixeriksson.com/index.cfm?sidoID=698&postID=1039&Action=ViewAlbum&albumID=60&excl=1039
- ^ JudasPriest.com :: Discography
- ^ http://www.metalstorm.net/events/news_comments.php?news_id=15625
[edit] External links
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