Judas Priest - British Steel (1980)

Judas Priest - British Steel review by Pritham 'metal farmer' Dsouza

Track Listing:

1. Breaking The Law
2. Rapid Fire
3. Metal Gods
4. Grinder
5. United
6. Living After Midnight
7. You Don't Have To Be Old To Be Wise
8. The Rage
9. Steeler
10. Red white and blue(bonus)

Lineup:

• Rob Halford
• Glenn Tipton
• K.K. Downing
• Ian Hill
• Dave Holland

Judas Priest is credited with giving us 2 of the highly abused college band anthems in Breaking the law & living after midnight in this 1980 classic British Steel. while the former has a laughable music video, which shows the band robbing a bank with guitars for guns, the latter is a favourite party song anywhere, anytime.

Metal God simply rules with its anthemic overtones, ultra cool rhythm section again mid paced, while tracks like Rapid fire and steeler is straight on fast & hard.

the most surprising track is United, where Rob sings about the brotherhood of metal & how we must stand united against its enemies... (pop music?)

the riffs on Grinder makes u wanna look for meat, and You Don't Have To Be Old To Be Wise is pretty much self explanatory.

a superb masterpiece here and please do yourself a favour and get this one now.
the latest re issue contains a new track Red white and blue, which is actually a patriotic song.

my rating
9/10

Judas Priest - Sin After Sin (1977)

Judas Priest - Sin after Sin review by Pritham Dsouza

Lineup:

• Rob Halford
• Glenn Tipton
• K.K. Downing
• Ian Hill
• Simon Phillips

Track Listing:

1. Sinner
2. Diamonds And Rust
3. Starbreaker
4. Last Rose of Summer
5. Let Us Prey/Call For The Priest
6. Raw Deal
7. Here Come The Tears
8. Dissident Aggressor

If 1978' Stained class is their best effort till date, then their second best is 1977's Sin after Sin. One album had all the styles that makes it a unique gem. rock, metal, ballads this album had it all.
generally, the entire mood of the album is realised on the opening track, and here we have Sinner, which is well over 6 minutes long & that was a gamble that actually paid off. its like 2 awesome tracks in one. Joan Baez cover Diamonds and Rust is performed in a fantastic style, with Robs vocals sounding very soulful and convincing. Starbreaker is another catchy song where u can hear Rob clapping when the chorus is on! really surprising that this song was not given the credit it deserved.
Last Rose Of Summer and Here come the tears are 2 ballads here. Rob sounds like a heart broken ghost who screems his guts out looking for love on the latter, while the former surprsingly didnt become a radio hit.

Dissident Agressor is the heaviest song they played and it should come as no surprise that a decade later it was covered by the angriest band of all time Slayer

an interesting aspect here is they moved on from the relatively unknown record label Gull to heavy weights CBS, and this was a very impressive debut on a major record label.

Sin After Sin is forever

my rating
10/10

Judas Priest - Stained Class (1978)

Judas Priest - Stained class review by Pritham Dsouza

Lineup:

• Rob Halford
• Glenn Tipton
• K.K. Downing
• Ian Hill
• Les Binks

rack Listing:

1. Exciter
2. White Heat, Red Hot
3. Better By You Better Than Me
4. Stained Class
5. Invader
6. Saints In Hell
7. Savage
8. Beyond The Realms Of Death
9. Heroes End

what can be argued as the finest heavy metal album of all time, Judas Priest must have been surprised at what their 4th album had managed to achieve.

whether it was their decision to move away from the previous rock n blues sound in their earlier 3 efforts, or the addition of the exceptionally talented time keeper Les Binks who went on to be their driving force for the next 2 albums Hell Bent For Leather & Unleashed In The East is for time to judge,

this album was released the same year Van Halen made their debut with the multi platinum selling debut, but if one compares it with any other release that was out at that time, this by far is the heaviest & darkest album by a mile.

a highly complex album, Judas Priest laid down the basics for how true heavy metal is supposed to be played. Loud, Fast, complex, dark and In your face. this one also had its share of controversies thanks to Better By You Better Than Me with its so called subliminal message which resulted in a tragic suicide of one of the fans. Then u have the double bass drum assault on Exciter, the vocal histrionics of Rob on Savage, tribute to Black Sabbath with Saints In Hell and a truley power ballad with Beyond The Realms Of Death, with its complex guitar arrangements, and epic solos.
the bonus track Fire Down Below even has a Flemenco style solo by Tipton.

there are no stand out tracks here as the entire album is just brilliant from the word go. But the most haunting track has to be easily Beyond The Realms Of Death, which sounds very doomy & disturbing. Rob showing his vocal range in this slow paced track which has a great build up to a total head banging experience.

Led Zepplin is credited to be the first band to sound metal. But this is probably the very first ALBUM to be metal.

dark and haunting, yet extremely catchy this is metal at its finest.

my rating
10/10

Judas Priest - Screaming For Vengeance (1982)

judas priest screaming for vengeance review by Pritham 'metal farmer' Dsouza


Lineup:

* Rob Halford
* Glenn Tipton
* K.K. Downing
* Ian Hill
* Dave Holland

Track Listing:

1. The Hellion
2. Electric Eye
3. Riding On The Wind
4. Bloodstone
5. (Take These) Chains
6. Pain And Pleasure
7. Screaming For Vengeance
8. You've Got Another Thing Comin'
9. Fever
10. Devil's Child
11. Prisoner of Your Eyes (bonus)

after a highly successful 70's career with outstanding albums, Priest started sounding a bit different with their 1982 effort Screaming for vengeance. when i say sound a bit different, the hard rock guitar riffs & typical 70's guitar tones seem to have slowly evolved into a more metalic, more heavier sound.
the opening intro "The Hellion" which leads to the speed metal tinged "electric eye" seems to have been recorded sometime in the 90's & definitely not 1982!. a power metal track in totality, one listen makes u wanna jump in the air flashing the devil horns when Tipton & Downing start to shred. The riff is just head banging material.

"You've Got Another Thing Comin" perhaps their most favourite song they play live, is the best and biggest hit they managed to churn out.

"Riding on the wind" is typical Judas Priest tracks while the former starts with a crazy sounding drum intro a la Dave Holland and as the track progresses, it becomes very catchy, with riffs & solos everywhere. "Bloodstone" again starts with a electric guitar solo & slowly builds to a rocking track. Robs vocals are fine here.
"(Take These) Chains" actually had me fooled thinking it was a tribute to The Police, with its start and chorus. nice melodies, & strong rhythm section.
"Pain and Pleasure", "Fever" & "Devil's Child" are good tracks, where Rob vocals soars above everyone else.

all in all a great album, but as stated earlier, this album was their very first metallic sounding one. a lot of newer people got to liking them thanks to this album while the older fans didnt really know if the newer metallic approach was a good thing for them.

my rating
7/10

Judas Priest - Hell Bent For Leather (1978)

Judas Priest - Hell Bent For Leather review by pritham Dsouza

Lineup:

• Rob Halford
• Glenn Tipton
• K.K. Downing
• Ian Hill
• Les Binks

Track Listing:

1. Delivering The Goods
2. Rock Forever
3. Evening Star
4. Hell Bent For Leather
5. Take On The World
6. Burnin' Up
7. The Green Manalishi
8. Killing Machine
9. Running Wild
10. Before The Dawn
11. Evil Fantasies

CBS records had a goose named Judas Priest that laid the golden eggs, and so before they ran out ot out their creative juices, they decided to push them to release another classic in the same year they released Stained Class.

only Priest could have pulled this off, release 2 pivitol metal albums in the same year!

continuing in the same vein as Stained, except most of the songs here are more hard rock than traditional metal. there are a few radio friendly songs here like Rock Forever and Take On The World and Evening Star and the only metal tracks are Hell Bent For Leather, Running wild and Fleetwood Mac's cover The Green Manalishi.

no priest album can be complete without a ballad, and before the dawn does just that, adds a soothing factor in a album filled with gems that would please the Hell's Angels biker gang.
Its safe to say this album was responsible for the rise of a lot of Bad Boys band like Twisted Sister and Motley Crue who credit this album for their musical direction.

if u love hard rock, then this is a must own classic.

my rating
7.5/10

Judas Priest - Defenders Of The Faith (1984)

judas priest - defenders of the faith album reviewed by pritham 'metal farmer' dsouza

Lineup:

• Rob Halford
• Glenn Tipton
• K.K. Downing
• Ian Hill
• Dave Holland

Track Listing:

1. Freewheel Burning
2. Jawbreaker
3. Rock Hard Ride Free
4. The Sentinel
5. Love Bites
6. Eat Me Alive
7. Some Heads Are Gonna Roll
8. Night Comes Down
9. Heavy Duty
10. Defenders Of The Faith

Surprised with the success of experimenting with a heavier sound in their previous 1982 Screaming for Vengeance effort, Judas Priest continued with the same dedication & gave us the brilliant Defenders of The Faith album 2 years later.

metal was at its peak with so many great bands releasing or making fine debuts, and so Priest needed to keep that momentum going.

totally shedding its hard rock sound, this one is balls out metal. lightning fast guitar solos, heavy guitar sections & epic operatic vocals, this had it all. "Free wheel burning" is just pure speed metal, with the ultra high range of Robs vocals & shredding the guitar to bits solo parts. "the sentinel",and "Jaw Breaker" are all fast paced tracks while "Eat me Alive" had its share of controversy where it was alledged that the song was about oral sex. so what? it doesnt suck? (pun intended)
"Night comes down", "Love Bites", and "heavy duty" slow down the pace a bit, but can stand on its own, thanks to the addictive melody & guitar riffs. my favorite track here " Rock hard RideFree" is just one of those songs u would want to listen to all day, while driving along an endless road. beautiful solo, fantastic sense of melody & just brilliant!

its safe to say that this was their best metal album is the entire 80's. fans were only getting worried as their music was starting to sound a bit mainstream & whether the tag "sell outs" would be conferred to the mighty Priests of metal sooner than later.

whats with the gobots meets the transformers cover anyways??
must have album nevertheless

my rating
8/10

Judas Priest - Turbo ( 1986)

Judas Priest - Turbo album reviewed by Pritham 'Metal Farmer' dsouza

Lineup:

• Rob Halford
• Glenn Tipton
• K.K. Downing
• Ian Hill
• Dave Holland

Track Listing:

1. Turbo Lover
2. Locked In
3. Private Property
4. Parental Guidance
5. Rock You All Around The World
6. Out In The Cold
7. Wild Nights. Hot And Crazy Days
8. Hot For Love
9. Reckless

1986 was the year most of the best metal bands around the globe came out with some ground breaking material. Metallica's " Master Of Puppets" Iron Maiden's " Somewhere In Time" Van Halen " 5150", Slayer "Reign In Blood" , Ozzy Osbourne "the ultimate sin", Fates Warning " Awaken The Guardian", and a host of other timeless ground breaking and genre bending classics.
so it was expected that even Priest deliver, but the whole world was not really prepared for what they were going to offer.
1986's Turbo is propably the most hated in Judas Priests otherwise most impressive back catalog. the only track that really stood out in an album filled with ultra radio friendly tracks is "Out In The Cold", perhaps there is a hidden message that it really stood out on the cold.

the only reason why this is a must have, is because even though its foot tappingly sinful, it is probably the best album to get someone interested in Priest. all the tracks are radio friendly, very mainstream. u just want to get up and dance to tracks like "Hot For Love", "Rock you all around the world", "locked in", "Parental Guidance".

the sound was the most experimental as there were synthesizers being used for the very first time. The drums were the most basic, probably done to make the fans dance instead of Headbang, but the other trade marks were all there. excellent vocal range, driving guitars, and crazy solos (check 'Locked In' for sweeps & wild shredding)

the only reason it didnt work was because the fans were totally disillusioned with what they were hearing. From a band that inspired countless other bands, with their trademark hard rock/metal act, to come up with such a lame 'commercial' record was unforgiving. the album would have been outstanding if it was made by some lesser known rock band, but fans of metal & Priest still consider this their worst output ever. they even hated the cover of what looked like the hands of a sophisticated woman "pushing the gear" in turbo mode!

harsh , really, as all the songs are excellent albeit commercial. they still sound metal and not like the glam rock pop metal bands that exploded during that time, and one really has to listen to this album with an open mind to truley enjoy it.

as Rob screams in Parental Guidance " dont you remember what its like, to loose control, put on my jacket b'fore you get too old, lets Rock n Roll!"

my rating
8/10

While Heaven Wept - Of Empires Forlorn (2003)

While Heaven Wept - Of Empires Forlorn album reviewed by Pritham 'metal farmer' D'Souza aka MorbidPitbull


Track List
1. The Drowning Years
2. Of Empires Forlorn
3. Voice in the Wind
4. Soulsadness
5. Epistle No. 81
6. Sorrow of the Angel
7. From Empires To Oceans

Members
Tom Phillips - Guitars, Vocals and Keyboards
Scott Loose - Guitars
Jason Gray - Drums
Jim Hunter - Bass

One of the oldest if not the oldest Doom band to emerge from Dale city, Virginia USA, these guys formed way back in 1989 under the name Dream Wytch and changed their name to the present one in 1991. They were mostly an underground band, but their fortunes were going to change with the release of their masterpiece, 2003's Of Empires Forlorn.
Their previous full length release was in 1998, the 4 song, 39 minute wonder Sorrow Of The Angels, but sadly the album didnt really get the credit it deserved.

Their earlier music was your typical doom style in the vein of Solitude Aeturnus with the only difference being a lot of growly style vocals being added to songs to give it that required 'depth'.

This album however has mostly Tom Phillips singing clean with very few passages that require him to demonstrate his death vocal growls.
The music on this is absoloutely flawless, epic doom metal from the word go. There are no short songs here, all of them being epic & majestic, are not the least boring. The heavy guitars with backing keyboards gives a symphonic feel to every song. For some reason, its safe to call this album Happy Doom, coz the melody is just addictive and natural. No flashy guitar playing here, just beautiful guitar harmonies.

its very difficult to pin point the best track here, as all of them are brilliantly executed. I especially liked their tribute to the legends of Doom Candlemass with their exceptional rendition of the latters classic Epistle No. 81. However my favorite track here is Voice in the Wind which makes the hair on the back of my shoulder stand up. Not because its scary or anything, but its just very moving. its like a perfect song. Slow, melodic & epic.

its should not come as a surprise that Vocalist Tom's talents are also seen in the UK doom metal band Solstice where he plays guitars. Even though he may not have the operatic range of Messiah marcolin (ex Candlemass) or the charisma of Rob Lowe (solitude aeturnus), he has a very unique vocal range that puts him between power metal vocalists and clean doom metal vocalists.

Another record of sorts would be the fact that since their formation in 1989 to this day 2009, they have had more than 60 musicians joining or leaving the band!!

You really cant rate this band or this album in particular 'doom' like the rest, it has that x factor to keep it towering over the rest. From the heavy riffs to the opening The Drowning Years to the classical tinged meloncholic instrumental at the end From Empires To Oceans this is one album u really cant afford to miss

My rating
10/10

Download Album in Rapidshare here


Listen to Sample "Voice In The wind" here

03 - Voice In The Wind-.mp3

Grow Lettuce in Water using simplified hydroponics

Grow Lettuce in Water using simplified hydroponics by Pritham 'metal farmer' D'Souza


in my earlier posts i have showed in detail how to grow lettuce in floating bed. i had showed the procedure in making a float bed, with all imputs necessary like thermocol sheet, black plastic sheet, dishwasher sponge etc with transplanting technique.

now i plan to show the growth stages of lettuce in a step by step pictoral guide from seedling tray/tub stage to harvest stage.

i had first managed to transplant the young lettuce seedlings in grow bed which had coconut peat and rice husk as substrate as shown above.

transplanting was done when the seedlings were about 6 cm in height.

notice the roots on the day of transplanting. the photos were taken on march 3 2009.

in just a weeks time, there was rapid growth as seen above. the pic was taken on march 11, 2009


notice the height of the plant when i transplanted it from seed tray to grow bed. it was approx 6 cm.

the photo above shows me holding the same plant after it was transplanted in the float bed, just 15 days later. its height now is nearly 18 cm.
also look below and see how long the roots have grown.


the above 2 pics were clicked on 21 march 2009, 10 days later. they seem to have grown a lot more & also very healthy and green.

• remember to continuously aerate the float beds for min 2 minutes daily. i aerate it twice daily.
• lift the thermocol sheet and spalsh the water with your hand till bubbles are formed
  
• bubbles formed in aeration provide atmospheric oxygen to the roots & also destroy any insect eggs, if found.

my only concern is the lettuce though looking very healthy seems to droop & not stand upright. feedback related to this problem is appreciated.

all photos and data by pritham dsouza. to view photos in original size, click on photo to enlarge

Grow Tomatoes on your roof top without soil using simplified hydroponics

Grow Tomatoes on your roof top without soil using simplified hydroponics by Pritham 'metal farmer' D'Souza

Tomatoes are the most widely consumed vegetable in India, where it is used in a variety of cuisines. it is also very popular as puree, sauces & ketchups. however it has always been very challenging to grow tomatoes in the coastal belt as soil becomes the most important factor.
it grows well in black soils not in the coastal red soils.

since hydroponics doesnt need soil, half the battle is already won. following is how i have grown tomatoes without soil, successfully.



in the field, tomatoes are soaked in water or curds for a few days and when the seeds start to sprout, they are braodcast in raised seed beds.
the above pic shows germination just 4 days after sowing. photo taken on feb 5 2009


the above 2 pics show 99 percent germination. even i didnt expect such an amazing and excellent germination percentage. photo taken on 9 feb 2009.

even though it has reached transplanting stage, i decided to wait for some more days to see if over crowding the plants will have any detrimental effect. the only problem i had was the occurence plant hoppers which ended up spreading mosaic virus. i managed to control the problem with neem sprays daily till i didnt see any further spread.

a close up of a tomato plant with distinct leaf structure. bothe the above photos were taken on 25 feb 2009.

after 1 week on march 1 2009, i decided to transplant tomatoes in sepatate growers.

since the grow bed was wider and deeper, i decided to utilize every space available to me. so i transplanted 3 plants together in the same grower as seen above. tomato has fibrous root system, so the roots will produce a number of lateral roots & spread like a very thick network in the grower.

immediately after transplanting i supplied nutrient water till the substrate was saturated and excess water started draining as seen below

transplanting was done on 1st march 2009


20 days later, the growth has to be seen to be believed. the above pic taken on march 21, 2009.

tomato successfully grown without soil.

all photos and data by pritham dsouza. to view photo in original size, click on photo to enlarge

grow orka ladies finger in flower pots without soil using simplified hydroponics

grow orka ladies finger in flower pots without soil using simplified hydroponics by Pritham 'metal farmer' D'Souza


the above photo shows okra plants and cowpea plants grown together in the same grow tub. i have exceeded the normal time for usual transplanting in case of okra. in the field, okra plants are transplanted when 3 leaf stage is seen, wneh the plant attains a min height of about 6 inches.
here i have gone against the norm & transplanted when the plants are over 10 inches long.

an individual plant gently scooped up after light watering of the tub to loosen the substrate.



the above 3 pics shows the thick root network of the plant.

i also transplanted the plants in the afternoon when the intensity of sunlight is maximum. the substrate was well drenched with nutrient water till it reaches saturation point.

the drooping leaves was because of the intense heat. it did not kill the plants, but i had to not provide partial shade if i wanted the plants to improve which i did in the photo below. the plants were transplanted on march 4, 2009


the above photo shows how the plants have started to grow and look a lot more healthier after providing shade net. the above photo was taken on march 13 2009.


okra has grown successfully in flower pots without soil.

all photos and data by pritham dsouza. to view photo in original size, click on photo to enlarge

Grow Ladies Finger Okra without soil using simplified hydroponics

Grow Ladies Finger Okra without soil using simplified hydroponics by Pritham 'metal farmer' D'Souza

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) popularly known as bhendi kai in kannada or bhendi in hindi is an annual vegetable crop. one of the most nutrient rich vegetables, the high iodine content in the fruit is used to control goitre, while leaves are used as anti inflamatory & dysentery. the dry seed contains excellent amount of edible oils & proteins, and it is extensively used in cosmetic industries & soap industries. the crushed seed is given to cattle to increase milk production


the above photo taken on feb 25, 2009 shows okra plants grown together with cowpea. germination was observed in 4 days time. in the field, the seed takes a lot of time to germinate as seeds show high degree of dormancy and generally takes up to 7 days to germinate.


a clear photo of okra seedling


the above 2 pics show me slowly lifting the plant ready to transplant in tomato boxes i converted as grow beds. one has to be careful not to damage the roots as they can snap easily. light watering must be done first, and the substrate loosened. then the plant has to be scooped up with the substrate around it intact.

a close up of the roots, well defined & good network

immediately after transplanting, nutrient water must be added till it starts to drain out
the transplanting pics were taken on march 1, 2009

the above photo shows great shoot and leaf development. notice at the growing inter nodes of the plants, flower buds have started to develop
photo was taken on march 13, 2009 just 12 days after transplanting.

the above photo was clicked at night, hence the slight drooping of leaves in the absence of light.

here bhendi is successfully grown without soil.

all photos and data by pritham dsouza. to view photos in original size, click on photo to enlarge

successful growth of indian spinach without soil

Indian spinach(basella alba, basale soppu, valchi bhajji) grown without soil on roof top using simplified hydroponics by Pritham 'metal farmer' D'Souza

in continuation of my earlier post on indian spinach, i am continuing the series of growth events below chronologically


the photo above was taken on taken on feb 11, 2009 the day i first transplanted basale soppu or indian spinach.



the above 4 photos show the development of shoots slowly appearing from the buds.

the above photo taken 14 days after transplanting clearly shows the appearance of new shoots & branching. photo taken on feb 25, 2009

the fading of green was my mistake as i had initially given light dose of nutrients. once i gave nutrients in full strength, visible lush green appearance was seen in 2 days time as seen below.
the above 2 photos show the shoot and lateral branching and excellent growth of indian spinach.

photo taken on march 13th 2009.

all photos and data by Pritham Dsouza. to view photo in original size, click on photo to enlarge