Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Judas Priest - Ram It Down (1988)
Making my full return to The Guardians has leveled up my motivation to explore more releases from all of the clan's different genres; heavy metal, power metal, symphonic metal, and neoclassical metal. For classic heavy metal, I still haven't gotten a lot of appeal for the more popular bands that helped develop the genre, but releases like this one by Judas Priest, Ram It Down, show that these kinds of bands and albums should never be taken for granted...
The band had already released 10 albums before this one, and they were having tons of commercial success with global tours and arenas. They were having the time of their lives, but at what cost? The heavier metalheads were turning away from the band because they were dissatisfied with their more mainstream sound in Turbo. However, what they didn't know was, Turbo was meant to be part of a double album titled Twin Turbos, an idead turned down by their record label. The speedy heavy metal material written for what would've been the second Twin Turbos disc ended up recorded for its own album, Ram It Down. All pounding heaviness and melody, with no synths in sight!
The opening title track is filled with energetic speed that was missing in Turbo. It has massive soloing by guitar duo Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing, alternating between each other, similar to how DragonForce would do it 15 to 20 years later. And this is the album before the pinnacle of Judas Priest's career that is Painkiller. After that is "Heavy Metal". You might think it would maintain their metal redemption based on the song title and the intro solo, but it just leads to what sounds like a Turbo B-side. I'm talking about the industrial percussion behind the riffing, as well as the vocals sounding a little odd. At least there's some more kick-A soloing midway through. Adding in a bit of their 70s roots is "Love Zone". Then "Come and Get It" has a little more of the Turbo sound bled through.
Their later speed is hinted further in "Hard as Iron", particularly in the bass and drums. What a shame this wasn't a live staple because it's perhaps the best track here. An absolutely underrated kick-A speedy tune, again an early sign of Painkiller! "Blood Red Skies" is an 8-minute industrial-infused epic. Apparently it was originally over 10 minutes long but ended up trimmed a bit. That would've surpassed "Run of the Mill" from their 1974 debut Rocka Rolla as their longest song at the time. Anyway, the first minute sounds more like a soft ballad, then electronic beats come in alongside dark riffing. Rob Halford's vocals range from his usual falsettos to unusual whispers. Strange but I like it. In fact, that song would've fit quite well in a Terminator movie soundtrack. "I'm a Rocker" is another solid anthem, describing the life of a rockstar. That would've fit well in one of the Back to the Future movies. Speaking of which...
"Johnny B. Goode", the Chuck Berry classic that people know from the first Back to the Future, is given a metal makeover. Some love it, some hate it. I'm one of the people who love it, especially the soloing melody. All that's missing is the epic shredding performed by Marty McFly at the end of his version. "Love You to Death" is the one track that doesn't have much business here. The doomy "Monsters of Rock" ends the album with a more appropriately fitting tale of heavy metal than in the song "Heavy Metal".
It's strange how well some albums turns out for me when I don't expect them to. I thought Ram It Down would be a heavier take on the glam cheese from Turbo, but it's more of a somewhat polar opposite than a total counterpart. The rapid drums and guitars help fire things up, alongside the vocals and bass. I would've loved this album a lot if not for a couple tracks that almost come out as stinkers. That being said, the fist has really slammed down like the one in the iconic cover art made by Mark Wilkinson, pounding with metal anthems that are both either popular or in need of attention. Any kind of metalhead should give this offering some listening....
Favorites: "Ram It Down", "Hard as Iron", "Blood Red Skies", "Johnny B. Goode", "Monsters of Rock"