Judas Priest are one of the most important bands in all of heavy metal. With 50+ years of metallic majesty under their belts, the Priest machine is still rolling strong today. Many of us here at Metal-Rules.com are huge fans of the band so what better band to kick off a new series of album rankings?! We therefore asked staff to rank all their studio albums from favorite to least fav and then we tabulated the results to bring you the list. 14 staff responded providing their ranked lists and while none of them exactly match, there is a clear consensus among the lists as to what belonged near the top vs. the bottom.
Before we get into the rankings, here are their albums in order of release date:
| 1974 | Rocka Rolla Released: 6 September 1974 Label: Gull |
| 1976 | Sad Wings of Destiny Released: 23 March 1976 Label: Gull |
| 1977 | Sin After Sin Released: 8 April 1977 Label: Columbia |
| 1978 | Stained Class Released: 10 February 1978 Label: Columbia |
| Killing Machine (released in the US as Hell Bent for Leather) Released: 9 October 1978 Label: Columbia |
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| 1980 | British Steel Released: 14 April 1980 Label: Columbia |
| 1981 | Point of Entry Released: 26 February 1981 Label: Columbia |
| 1982 | Screaming for Vengeance Released: 17 July 1982 Label: Columbia |
| 1984 | Defenders of the Faith Released: 4 January 1984 Label: Columbia |
| 1986 | Turbo Released: 15 April 1986 Label: Columbia (#26641) Format: CD, CS, LP |
| 1988 | Ram It Down Released: 17 May 1988 Label: Columbia |
| 1990 | Painkiller Released: 3 September 1990 Label: Columbia |
| 1997 | Jugulator Released: 28 October 1997 Label: CMC International |
| 2001 | Demolition Released: 31 July 2001 Label: Atlantic |
| 2005 | Angel of Retribution Released: 28 February 2005 Label: Epic |
| 2008 | Nostradamus Released: 17 June 2008 Label: Epic |
| 2014 | Redeemer of Souls Released: 15 July 2014 Label: Epic |
| 2018 | Firepower Released: 9 March 2018 Label: Epic |
The Rankings
1. Painkiller (1990)
2. Defenders of the Faith (1984)
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3. Screaming for Vengeance (1982)
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4. British Steel (1980)
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5. Killing Machine (1978)(AKA: Hell Bent For Leather) |
6. Stained Class (1978)
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7. Firepower (2018)
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8. Sad Wings of Destiny (1976)
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9. Sin After Sin (1977)
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10. Angel of Retribution (2005)
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11. Redeemer of Souls (2014)
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12. Ram It Down (1988)
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13. Point of Entry (1981)
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14. Turbo (1986)
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15. Jugulator (1997)
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16. Nostradamus (2008)
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17. Rocka Rolla (1974)
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18. Demolition (2001)
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