British Steel  Judas Priest  Columbia Records, 1980  REVIEW BY:
Jeff Clutterbuck   There are countless instances in the history
of popular music wherein certain genres remained underground,
unable to grab a more populist foothold. Yet all it takes is one
album to succeed in the all-important “crossover” and suddenly
the whole ballgame has changed. Imitators quickly try to parley
off the success of the successful, and before you know it,
albums that would have failed to sell a hundred copies two years
prior are debuting in the Billboard Top Ten.  It may seem
relatively quaint by today’s standards, but British Steel holds
an important place within the pantheon of heavy metal albums in
that it represents one of the first heavy metal records to gain
widespread acceptance with the public. While Priest’s greatest
success would occur in the following years with records like
1982’s Screaming For Vengeance, British Steel kicked open the
door for heavy metal to begin its move towards ‘80s dominance.
It would be pruden