Sad Wings of Destiny

身着黑色皮革与金属饰品便是英国重金属天王犹大牧师队（Judas Priest）带给金属乐迷的强烈感官印象，其刚猛无比的外表就如同他们的音乐一般，力道十足且不流于造作，是摇滚界的不朽传奇！在他们30年的辛苦经营之下，犹大牧师乐队的精神早已烙印在每位金属子民的心中。 犹大牧师乐队这支来自英国的金属乐队，在1970年于伯明罕成立，当时是由吉他手KK·唐宁（K.K.Downing）和贝司手伊安·希尔（Ian Hill）这两个同校好友，以及另外找来的主唱阿兰·阿特金斯（AlanAtkins）和鼓手约翰·伊里斯（John Ellis）所组成。 后来在主唱罗伯·哈福德（Rob Halford）加入后，好不容易才与英国当地的一家小公司签下合约，而且乐队又再得到一员猛将———吉他手格兰·泰普顿（Glenn Tipton），犀利无匹的双吉他就此成为乐团后来的招牌之一。但是首张专辑并没有引起太大的回应。幸好到了第二张专辑《哀伤命运之翼》（Sad Wings Of Destiny）时，引起主流大厂牌CBS的注意，慧眼识英雄地将犹大牧师乐队签了下来，并且在1977年发行了专辑《罪后罪》（Sin After Sin），从此乐队的音乐事业便一飞冲天。 1976年Sad Wings Of Destiny（命运悲伤之翼）发行了。由于是由一个小地下公司发行的，这给乐队带来了很大的压力，因为公司不能给他们提供任何支持。实际上他们还得靠白天工作来完成演出。 　　 Sad Wings Of Destiny是于1975年12月在伦敦的Morgan录音室录制的，1976年3月发行。尽管公司没有为他们提供资金，他们还是在英国进行了广泛的演出。在这困难的时候乐队成员都紧紧地团结在一起，最终国际大公司CBSColumbia提供给他们一笔资金。多年以后，这张专辑被誉为乐队最伟大的作品之一( I think it's the best)，和之后发行的Stain Class并驾齐驱。 回首过去三十年来，犹大牧师乐队在重金属方面的影响与贡献绝非一言两语可以道尽，不论未来还有什么样的音乐类型出现，始终坚持纯正重金属走向的犹大牧师乐队，必定是摇滚乐史上璀璨耀眼的一页。 The groundbreaking Sad Wings of Destiny was the first great Judas Priest album, simultaneously taking the entire heavy metal genre to new depths of darkness and new heights of technical precision and musicality. Sad Wings of Destiny sounded like little else on the metal scene in 1976 it was heavy and chillingly bleak, in an almost unrelenting way that hadn't been seen since Black Sabbath's heyday, but its arrangements were much more intricately crafted, its sonic textures more varied, its grooves tight and menacing, yet tinged with a gothic elegance under the raging torrent of guitar riffs. Just as importantly, the more prog rock-influenced sections of Rocka Rolla have been brought under control, with the extended pieces displaying a newfound focus and direction, as well as complexity. Perhaps the only flaw lies in the album's pacing, which drags down some of the momentum toward the second half by keeping the slower pieces too close together (an effect not helped by the less-than-melodic rocker Genocide). However, virtually every other aspect of the album points to a stunning artistic leap forward. The opener, Victim of Changes, was an instant metal classic, with Rob Halford delivering an electrifying performance; elsewhere, shorter songs like The Ripper and Deceiver come on like lightning-quick sneak attacks, ending before you know what's hit you. There are also two delicate, prog-style ballads, Dreamer Deceiver and the piano-based Epitaph, demonstrating a compelling emotional range. Although neither as commercially successful nor as technically flashy as subsequent releases, Sad Wings of Destiny was an important milestone in the eventual development of the progressive metal subgenre, and established a standard of excellence to which Judas Priest would adhere through the remainder of the '70s.