Rocka Rolla [Import]

Judas Priest | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 8, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Repertoire
• ASIN: B000025QMT
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,938 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. One for the Road

2. Rocka Rolla

3. Winter/Deep Freeze/Winter Retreat/Cheater

4. Never Satisfied

5. Run of the Mill

6. Dying to Meet You

7. Caviar and Meths

Editorial Reviews

Reissued 1974 album. The Birmingham Metal gods' debut LP, originally released in 1974 by Guil Records, now has the addition of the 'Diamonds And Rust' single as a bonus track to give a total of 11 cuts that show the early years of this internationally successful five piece.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Barroom fighter, ten pint a-nighter, Definite 99", June 13, 2005

By 

mwreview "mwreview" (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Rocka Rolla was Judas Priest's debut LP released in 1974. It features the mainstays of the band Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing, Ian Hill, and, of course, the legendary Rob Halford on vocals (he is credited as "Bob" Halford on the packaging for this release). It was John Hinch's turn on the musical drummer stools for this one. For fans of 1980s Priest, Rock Rolla is a mixed bag of classic rockers, soft ballads, catchy radio tracks, experimental riffs, long epic anthems, and short songs that run together. The overall sound demonstrates a definite Black Sabbath influence with darkness and depth. Rocka Rolla rocks, but it rocks in the classic 1970s hard rock sense, not in the adrenaline-pumping aggression of 1980s Priest masterpieces like Defenders of the Faith.

The debut begins with "One for the Road," a quintessential Black Sabbath style opener. It has a plodding beat but does pick up the tempo. "Rocka Rolla" is the most recognizable track on this album. A television performance for this song can be found on the DVD Electric Eye. "Rocka Rolla" is "hella killa" from the cool opening guitar riff to the addictive chorus. The next three tracks run together to give the impression of a long, epic piece. "Winter" (1:41) offers a quiet background intro that builds up into a dark, very Black Sabbath sounding track. At the drum solo it switches to "Deep Freeze" (1:20) so that, unless you are watching the CD track counter, you may not even realize the song has changed. It then moves into "Winter Retreat" (3:27) that begins with distorted, experimental guitar sounds with strange, dark sound effects (very Black Sabbath-like) then becomes a very pleasant song for the last minute. It is a laid-back relaxing number that is all too brief.

"Cheater" is a driving, classic rocker with harmonica provided by Halford. The guitar riff sounds like "My Sharona" by the Knack. The lyrics are about a man finding his girl in bed with another man. "Never Satisfied" is a classic, raw, stripped-down rocker. It is one of my favorites. Offering a change of pace is "Run of the Mill," a soft epic number running 8:30. The powerful ending with the beautiful keyboards really enhances this piece. "Dying to Meet You" (6:15) is another slow track but picks up around the 4:00 mark and offers Halford's signature wails and breakneck speed vocals. The album ends with a 2:00 instrumental "Caviar and Meths." This track was the concert finale used in the early years of Priest when Al Atkins was the vocalist. It was cut on this album. The entire piece is available on Atkins' solo project Victim of Changes and it is difficult to tell they are the same track because Atkins' version is a 7:00 rocker with vocals.

As a whole, Rocka Rolla is an excellent debut and this version has the bottlecap cover which is much cooler than the cover they have for the remastered version. It has a lot to offer; something for everyone. Fans of 1980s Judas Priest should give it a try and fans of 1970s classic rock should definitely pick it up.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ROCKA ROLLA TO ANGEL OF RETRIBUTION, September 3, 2007

By 

Donald M. Barajas Jr. - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rocka Rolla (Audio CD)

i chose to do this review for several reasons. in your editorial views it
is stated this originaly was put out by guil records. though it seems to
be a bit picky i mention it because gull records would not sign priest do
to the fact they didnt think they would ever make it. a 2nd try by priest
was also denied and the band already thought of throwing in the towel.they practiced under a pub in birmingham england after it closed &
charged very little to play there. rob,ian,kk and glenn survived on beans
and crackers and slept there overnite until the pub would open. finally a
break thru of sorts. after 2 tries, gull gave them a shot. they recorded
rocka rolla and played on the " top of the pops " on bbc. ( pickup the
making of british steel where u can see them play rocka rolla, deciever,
and take on the world. U HAVE TO SEE THIS !!! although rocka rolla only
sold just over 1000 copies ( i have one ) gull gave them the okay to go
with their 2nd release "sad wings of destiny". when i first listened to it
i was blown away. its a masterpiece to me. albums that you can play all
the way thru without skipping songs is very very rare. although they still
struggled w/ gull they finally got picked up by columbia and the rest is history as all u priest fans know. the rocka rolla album had 2 interesting
things. one was that the cover of the album featured the top of a glass
bottle of pop with rocka rolla on top of the cap design. in the early
1980's, the company of coke or coke a cola told priest they had to remove
that design off the album because it compared to close to the top of a
bottle of coke. there is now a new design on that cover with an evilish
type of flying machine on it. another little trivia is that on rocka rolla
rob halford used bob halford on the back cover and in the credits. on sad
wings of destiney he used robert halford and then he went on to rob halford since then.rocka rolla is a great album and the song dying to meet
u about a soldier in war and the terror only one could imagine if they
were in that position really grabs on to you and holds on and then the
soldier returns to find almost equal terror as he tries to shed those
horrible memories. again , its a great album and i suggest u pick it up
and add it to your collection. watch for priests next release that is a
concept album about the mystery and predictions on nostradomus. to all
priest fans , i know its been 10 yrs but angel of retribution is as if
rob never left. its meavy metal a its best. cd id do out in 2007.
don barajas, author

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic, May 10, 2005

By 

JG "JG" (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

An incredible record, even more so being a debut. This release shows more breadth of style than any other from JP. Very heavy at times, and very melodic (more so than any later release) at others. Rocka Rolla is steeped in the psychadelic 60s, while at the same time foreshadowing the modern heavy metal era. If I could have one JP record, this would be it.