Artist: JUDAS PRIEST
Album: STAINED CLASS REMASTERED (CD)

Release date: 1978/ 2001
EAN/UPS: 5099750212820
Media type: CD

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

Considered by most fans to be one of the high points of Judas Priest's catalogue, Stained Class showcased a more streamlined songwriting style while not compromising on the band's trademark heavy metal riffs. It also introduced their classic logo, replacing the Gothic Script logo of earlier releases. This was considered by many to be the last of the four "classic" Judas Priest albums.

An unfortunate legacy of Stained Class is the 1990 civil action brought against the band by the family of a teenager who tried to kill himself after listening to "Better By You, Better Than Me" (along with a companion, who suceeded in his suicide attempt). The suit alleged that the band recorded messages on the song that, when played backwards, said “do it, do it.” The suit was eventually dismissed. Ironically, "Better..."" is not even a Judas Priest original, but a cover of a 1969 track by Spooky Tooth (written by that band's keyboardist Gary Wright).

The album was remastered in 2001, with two bonus tracks added. In 2004, UK magazine Metal Hammer named Stained Class the heaviest metal album of all time.

TRACKLIST:

01 "Exciter" (Halford, Tipton) – 5:34
02 "White Heat, Red Hot" (Tipton) – 4:20
03 "Better By You, Better Than Me" (Wright) – 3:24
04 "Stained Class" (Halford, Tipton) – 5:19
05 "Invader" (Halford, Hill, Tipton) – 4:12
06 "Saints in Hell" (Downing, Halford, Tipton) – 5:30
07 "Savage" (Downing, Halford) – 3:27
08 "Beyond the Realms of Death" (Binks, Halford) – 6:53
09 "Heroes End" (Tipton) – 5:01

Note: This is the only Judas Priest album to feature songwriting by all five members (one of Hill's few contributions to the songwriting process for the band, and the sole contribution thereof by then-drummer Binks).

2001 Bonus Tracks:
11 "Fire Burns Below" (Halford, Tipton) – 6:58
12 "Better By You, Better Than Me" (Wright) – 3:24 (Live)

LINE-UP:

Rob Halford: Vocals
K.K. Downing: Guitars
Glenn Tipton: Guitars, Keyboards
Ian Hill: Bass Guitar
Les Binks: Drums (Binks wrote the entire guitars part for "Beyond the Realms of Death")