Personnel: Rob Halford (vocals); Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing (guitar); Ian Hill (bass); Dave Holland (drums). Includes liner notes by Judas Priest. Digitally remastered by Jon Astley. Judas Priest attempted to take the mainstream rock world by storm with 1986's TURBO, with its melodic tendencies and polished production. It performed respectably on the charts but wasn't the big crossover smash the band had hoped for. 1988's RAM IT DOWN proves that the real Priest was always lurking just under that high-gloss rock sheen. Resuming the band's previous straight-ahead heavy metal direction, RAM IT DOWN is not as lethal-sounding as its follow-up, 1990's PAINKILLER, and it has one or two relapses into pop-metal territory, including a cover of Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode." However, with highlights such as the title track and "Blood Red Skies," the album shows that Judas Priest was well on the way back to its previous heavy metal glory days.
