Hey Folk’s! To keep things interesting round these parts I have decided to start a new series called “Impact Albums” in which I will discuss how an album by an artist/group has resonated with me through years and in some instances decades! Some of these albums I have reviewed but have decided to redo and rewrite them from a different angle. Course when I started this Blog over Three and a half Years ago I was posting like a lunatic and now over time when I reread some of them it’s like “damn I should have said this in my review” Well here we go….
Summer of 1981 and as per the family protocol we would go camping for a few weeks every summer to a campground called “Sibley Provincial Park’ about an hours drive away from Thunder Bay. Basically there was nothing around the park as once you were there you were there to stay as my parents would bring enough food/propane/you name it to make us last out there.
Isolated I suppose is the word I’m looking for!
For myself it was loading up on a ton of batteries to make sure my trusty Walkman would survive the ordeal! Vinyl was my deal but knowing I was going to be away from my record collection for two weeks I had to get something new and with that months allowance it came in the form of a cassette copy of Judas Priests “Point of Entry’.
At home I had Unleashed In The East the live album from Priest which I had purchased shortly after Priest’s no-show opening for KISS back in October of 1979.
For some goofy reason I never bought 1980’s British Steel until about 5 years after its initial release! Who knows what I was thinking! Clearly I was not thinking but come Summer of 1981 I needed new rock and Point of Entry was going to make or break my two weeks of isolation away from the comfy confines of my home!
Point of Entry was Priest dabbling with a commercial hard rock like sound. It’s basically an exact left turn from the pure Metal Live Sound of 79’s Unleashed!
Songs such as Heading Out To The Highway/Desert Plains perhaps could be classified as Classic Priest of yesteryear but it was songs like Don’t Go/You Say Yes/Hot Rockin/Solar Angels and my personal favourite Turning Circles simplified a change in direction perhaps a more modern rock sound with a tinge of perhaps what was going on in the early 80’s. The production is a fine mix of raw and polish. All of Point of Entry in my book is awesome!
For the hardcore Priest Fan Point of Entry might be the blip on the Metal Radar of Priest as they really ramped up some heaviness on 1982’s brilliant Screaming For Vengeance. I love Screaming as it could and may be at one point another written post about it by itself but for me if you ask me on any day of the week what my favourite Priest album is it could be Point of Entry or Screaming For Vengeance! Perhaps a coin toss is in order?!
DEke’s Various Points of Entry through the Decades..
I originally purchased P.O.E on Cassette Summer of 1981. Purchased on vinyl early 1983. Followed that buying it on CD around 1990 or so and finally reacquiring it as a reissue on Vinyl November 2017!
Not my favourite but it’s a good album for sure. As good as British Steel in my book. Pre-British Steel Priest is the best Priest though! Les Binks rules!!
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Binks is on fire on Unleashed In The Studio…er…I mean ‘East’ haha…
For sure the pre British Steel stuff is classic as well but for some reason POE just resonates with me at a certain level….
Why? Have no idea it just does….
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That’s cool, I get that. Lots of great stuff on it. Desert Plains is one of my top Priest tracks.
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Great idea for a series. I can’t wait to see what else you cover. Love a bit of Priest
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Awesome ..thanks for joining along!
Friday I have another one coming up with an album I have never reviewed…I couldn’t even believe it that I hadn’t scribbled a post about it!
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Some days ‘Desert Plains’ is my fave Priest track.
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That opening riff is the money shot!
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Love the idea for the series, Deke! Really personalizes the album.
Point Of Entry… I didn’t think I had it, but iTunes says I do! Have I even played the damn thing? Guess I better!!!!
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Guess you better!
haha
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If this was about the Who, you could have said You Better You Bet!
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I really like your new series, Deke!
Love how you’ve come full circle with this album and all its incarnations. I don’t know the album, but I definitely enjoyed your review.
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Thanks for checking in Danica …appreciate it!
Priest is known as HEAVY….but this album is more Melodic but with a kick in the ass at times…if that makes sense…haha
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Absolutely, that makes sense!
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I’m liking this new series, Deke. It’s interesting how certain albums resonate even all these years after first hearing them, eh? Even if they’re not widely considered a high point.
Anyhoo, I don’t know this one… but I might have to at least give it a listen or two, eh?
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Thats the whole point of me doing this. Try something different and get the creative juices flowing. Plus it’s fun to share some info on albums that may not be the biggest albums in one bands career but for myself they are huge…
Have a good day MR J
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You too, Deke!
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I love this album. How it sits there between British Steel and Screaming for Vengeance with its lesser known (but as good) tunes. Cheeky!
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Yup you got that right! For some it’s just there and is an album that for Priest isn’t discussed much but for me and you it’s huge!
Great to see!
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Huuuuge impact on me. Huge. I have a story coming up, purely by coincidence, about collecting Priest tapes back in highschool.
I wish I kept this one memento from the record store. A weird guy traded in a CD copy of Point of Entry. Inside was a piece of paper. On the paper was sketched the “white boxes” from the back cover and an explanation of what he thought they were, including grave stones and buildings. I don’t know what happened to that piece of paper…I know I took it home and put it with my copy because it was so absurd and weird. But it’s not there any more…spooky.
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Awesome look forward to it Mikey….The sound of this one on vinyl is wicked….just love it
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Can’t really remember the songs on the album. Strange hey. Need to revisit it. Thanks for sharing your story
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Dude, get on it, then you tube the live stuff, brilliant
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I Love this album, from start to finish, i was at the local record store, bargain basement bin had cassettes, with the cassettes inside, I stole this and Iron Maiden, Iron Maiden. being so young and only ever got in Beast and POM, thought to my self Bruce sounds different!! lol
Point of Entry stayed in my walkman for a year, i still give it a run, the songs, the riffs are timeless, classic album
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I’m on it as I type
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Great series debut DeKE!
I like this impact albums idea quite a bit – neat bonus stats at the end too, you’ve got all the listening formats covered!
And don’t worry about being a few years late to the British Steel party, I just arrived this year 😀
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Ha thats awesome Geoff about getting British Steel! Never to late for British Metal my friend!
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