Call for the Priest...Judas Priest

Sometimes albums and songs slam their way into my head and the sounds get stuck there, crying out, "Play me!" In Daejeon as well as for the last couple of weeks, it's been AC/DC; now it's Judas Priest. They're my favorite metal band and I've had the privilege of seeing them live twice. Rob Halford can belt it and the I'm always in thrall of Glenn Tipton and KK Downing's dueling guitars. To me, they exemplify everything excellent about metal: the driving tempos, the fantastic imagery, and the spectacle of the live show. I blame an old friend from back home for getting me into them. He was always talking about them and playing their riffs on his guitar, so I learned some of them. To this day, "Living After Midnight" ranks as a favorite to play along with.

Despite having listened them for a decade, I've yet to hear everything they've done--I started with Unleashed in the East and Screaming for Vengeance and jammed everything up until Turbo. I played those first two for a long time as a teenager before moving on to the classic British Steel, the underrated Point of Entry, and the earlier works of Sad Wings of Destiny, Sin After Sin, and (the exellent) Hell Bent for Leather. 

Unleashed in the East is one of the best live albums out there and has all the best songs from before they exploded in popularity. It's a snapshot of what they sounded like before 1980's British Steel. 

So, which of those LPs have graced the headphones? Screaming, Unleashed, and Hell Bent For Leather.

Catch up on Kpop?

Maybe.

I haven't had much motivation to listen to it lately. Even my favorites 2NE1 haven't graced the stereo in months. Until this morning, that is. Listening to their disappointing new single "Falling in Love" brought to mind that no, they weren't always this obvious, this American, this nasal, and this club-baiting. CL's earlier single "The Baddest Female," should have been warning enough, but actually, the last track on their (excellent) second EP, "Don't Stop The Music" was the harbinger of change. On the EP, it was a not-so-good final track, so it got skipped more often than not because it sounded too much like an obvious club song.

2NE1 still stands as the best of the Kpop groups, and while it's foolish to expect them to remain the same, these changes don't bode well for them. Their rock and roll-style hard driving attitude of yore has shifted to cloying "ghetto fabulous" platitudes.* Whereas it used to be "We're badass because we do what we want," now it's "We're badass because we're rich and we're in the club." Well, great. They must've been clamoring for those fake 80s drum beats and shots of them looking rich and bored.

"Falling in Love"

CL - "나쁜 기집애" / "The Baddest Female"

"Don't Stop The Music"

"내가 제일 잘 나가" / "I am the Best"

Hard driving. A mission statement.

*R noted this point.