Judas Priest

By the '90s, Judas Priest had already had a few home videos hit the shelves -- the in-concert Priest Live! and the video-clip collection Fuel for Life -- but they had yet to have their story told in documentary-style fashion. This all changed in 1993, when the 90-minute video Metal Works '73-'93 was released in conjunction with the best-of double CD of the same name. Interviews with the band's four main bandmembers -- Rob Halford, K.K. Downing, Glenn Tipton, and Ian Hill -- as well as rock celebrity admirers are intercut with live performances, promo videos, and pictures. But like other similarly styled home videos by fellow metal rockers released around the same time -- Alice Cooper's Prime Cuts, Kiss' X-Treme Close-Up -- no song is featured in its entirety, which gets kind of frustrating after a while. Also, the majority of the live clips are from a single Memphis concert in 1983 (during their Screaming for Vengeance tour), and while it captures Priest at the height of its arena-headlining power, it would have been interesting to see more varied live clips from throughout their career. The interviews touch upon such career highlights as playing the mammoth U.S. Festival and lowlights (being hit with an outrageous lawsuit), but such topics as their appearance at Live Aid or their early U.S. tours (when they opened for the likes of REO Speedwagon, Foghat, and Kiss) are either skipped over or barely mentioned. Still, it's a treat to see an early U.K. TV appearance from 1975 (Rob Halford with long hair!) and an in-depth analysis of their classic 1977 album Sin After Sin. Despite its shortcomings, Metal Works '73-'93 is still recommended for longtime fans of the mighty Judas Priest. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide