Stained Class

Untitled

Stained Class is the fourth album by British heavy metal group Judas Priest, released in February 1978.

Overview

Stained Class is the only Judas Priest album to feature songwriting by all five members of the band, however it was at this point where Glenn Tipton became the band's primary lead guitarist and would mostly share songwriting duties with Rob Halford from thenceforth. K.K. Downing's only standalone performance in Stained Class is on Savage and the rest of the album either features exclusively Tipton's playing or else duets by the two. Newly-added drummer Les Binks earned a songwriting credit on Beyond The Realms Of Death for composing the acoustic intro.

The sleeve artwork, by Rosław Szaybo at CBS Records, introduced the now-classic Judas Priest logo, replacing the Gothic Script logo which appeared on all of the band's prior albums. Stained Class was the first Judas Priest album to dent the Billboard 200 chart and was eventually certified gold in the U.S.

The album was the heaviest the band had released up to that point, with the lyrics often dark and violent, with only slight instances of progressive rock. Hereafter, the progressive rock that characterized the band's first few albums would be completely eliminated and Judas Priest completely embraced heavy metal as their sound.

"Beyond The Realms Of Death" was the only song from Stained Class to become a live staple, with 472 performances through 2012. The title track has been played just twice, in 1978 and 2005, and Exciter disappeared from 1979 until 2005. White Heat, Red Hot was frequently played in 1978-1980 but never since then and Invader, Saints In Hell, and Heroes' End have never been played live. The notorious (see below) Better By You, Better Than Me was played only 11 times, and the obscure "Savage" around five times in early 1978.

The album was remastered in 2001, with two bonus tracks added.

Controversy surrounding "Better by You, Better Than Me"

Several years after its release Stained Class was the subject of negative attention due to the infamous 1990 civil action brought against the band by the family of a teenager, James Vance, who entered into a suicide pact with his friend Ray Belknap after allegedly listening to "Better by You, Better Than Me" on December 23, 1985. Belknap succeeded in killing himself, and Vance was left critically injured after surviving a self-inflicted gunshot to the facial area.

The suit alleged that Judas Priest recorded subliminal messages on the song that said "do it." The suit was eventually dismissed. The song was originally written and performed by the band Spooky Tooth. "Better By You, Better Than Me" was a last-minute addition to the album when CBS Records insisted on including another more commercial track to liven up a record with which a majority of the songs have a very dark and sinister undertone. It was recorded in a separate session with a different producer (James Guthrie) than the rest of the album. The band was reportedly impressed with the production Guthrie did on Better By You, Better Than Me, as it stood out in comparison to the overly thin, flat sound that had plagued their albums up to this point, and they would ask him to produce their next album, Killing Machine. Little did anyone know the song would influence a series of events even darker than anything on the album.

Three weeks after the lawsuit wrapped up, the band kicked off their Painkiller Tour by playing Better By You, Better Than Me on the first concert in Burbank, California on September 13. It is Judas Priest's only live performance of the song after 1979.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

In 2005, Stained Class was ranked number 307 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time. The album is widely considered to be highly influential in the speed metal and thrash metal genres. It has also been viewed as an early indication of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement.

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Exciter"	Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton	5:34
2.	"White Heat, Red Hot"	Tipton	4:20
3.	"Better by You, Better Than Me" (cover of Spooky Tooth's song)	Gary Wright	3:24
4.	"Stained Class"	Halford, Tipton	5:19
5.	"Invader"	Halford, Tipton, Ian Hill	4:12

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Saints in Hell"	Halford, K.K. Downing, Tipton	5:30
7.	"Savage"	Halford, Downing	3:27
8.	"Beyond the Realms of Death"	Halford, Les Binks	6:53
9.	"Heroes End"	Tipton	5:01

2001 bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
10.	"Fire Burns Below" (Recorded during the 1988 Ram It Down sessions)	Halford, Tipton	6:58
11.	"Better by You, Better Than Me" (Live at Foundations Forum, Los Angeles, California; September 13, 1990)	Wright	3:40

"Invader" is the latest songwriting credit given to bassist Ian Hill within Judas Priest's catalogue. This album also features one of only two songwriting credits attributed to a Judas Priest drummer, with Les Binks being credited for "Beyond the Realms of Death". That same song would become a live staple for the band.

Personnel

Judas Priest

• Rob Halford – vocals
• K. K. Downing – guitar
• Glenn Tipton – guitar, vocals
• Ian Hill – bass guitar
• Les Binks – drums

Production

• Produced by Dennis MacKay and Judas Priest, and engineered by Neil Ross, except "Better By You, Better Than Me", produced by James Guthrie and Judas Priest, and engineered by Ken Thomas and Paul Northfield
• Art design by Rosław Szaybo
• Photography by Ronald Kass

Charts

Billboard 200 (U.S.)

Year	Chart	Position
1978	Pop Albums	104

Sales and certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)	Gold	500,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

External links

• Stained Class at the Judas Priest Info Pages site. Accessed July 10, 2005.