After the failed experiment of
Turbo
,
Judas Priest
toned down the synths and returned to the basics, delivering a straight-ahead, much more typical
Priest
album with
Ram It Down
. The band's fan base was still devoted enough to consistently push each new album past the platinum sales mark, and perhaps that's part of the reason
generally sounds like it's on autopilot. While there are some well-constructed songs, they tend toward the generic, and the songwriting is pretty lackluster overall, with the up-tempo title track easily standing out as the best tune here. And even though
backed away from the territory explored on
, much of the album still has a too-polished, mechanical-sounding production, especially the drums. Lyrically,
is firmly entrenched in adolescent theatrics that lack the personality or toughness of
's best anthems, which -- coupled with the lack of much truly memorable music -- makes the record sound cynical and insincere, the lowest point in the
Rob Halford
era. Further debits are given for the cover of
"Johnny B. Goode."
~ Steve Huey