Kerry King’s List Of “Perfect” Albums By Legendary Bands
Slayer’s Kerry King was asked on “Lipps Service with Scott Lipps” podcast, to name his “perfect” albums by some of his favorite artists.
“As I picked these records, I picked the ones I’m compelled to play if I’m working out or driving,” King explained.
Judas Priest – Stained Glass
“”Stained Glass’ is the most complete Judas Priest album,” commented King. “And Rob Halford is my favorite singer of all time.”
King added ” it was on ‘Stained Class’ where they really found what the Priest sound was gonna be.”
Black Sabbath – Sabotage
“Something about the vibe on that record, it’s cool,” King stated. “I mean, they’re all cool, but something about that one. It has ‘Megalomania’, ‘Symptom Of The Universe’, which has definitely got attitude.”
“We found out that we were being ripped off by our management and our record company,” recalled bassist Geezer Butler (pictured). “We were literally in the studio, trying to record, and we’d be signing all these affidavits and everything. That’s why it’s called ‘Sabotage’ – because we felt that the whole process was just being totally sabotaged by all these people ripping us off.”
AC/DC – Powerage
Released in 1978, the band’s fifth album was their first to feature bassist Cliff Williams, following the firing of Mark Evans.
“The guys had already been in the studio for a while and we went in to do what turned out to be the ‘Powerage’ album,” shared Evans. “Just a real fiery, energetic work environment. And we had about three weeks to do it, ’cause that’s about all the money we had… It was really a tremendous experience”
Iron Maiden – Number Of The Beast
“It’s a very different vibe between ‘Killers’ and ‘The Number Of The Beast,” suggested King. “I’d probably have to go ‘Number Of The Beast’, because top to bottom, I think it’s stronger than ‘Killers’.”
Metallica – Master Of Puppets
Guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich described the songwriting process as starting with “guitar riffs, assembled and reassembled until they start to sound like a song.”
“It’s a great record,” concluded King.
It was the band’s final album to feature bassist Cliff Burton who was killed in a bus accident in Sweden while on tour.
King’s debut solo album, “From Hell I Rise” was released last May.
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