Album
Painkiller
Painkiller is the twelfth studio album by Judas Priest, the English heavy metal band. It came out on 17 September 1990, following a highly publicised trial earlier that year in which Rob Halford and the band were cleared of civil charges over the attempted suicides of two young men in December 1985. The court found them not liable, and the record arrived with that business behind them.
It matters in the band's story for two changes. It was the first Priest album with drummer Scott Travis, and it was the last with Halford on vocals until his return for Angel of Retribution in 2005. Its sound leans towards speed and thrash metal, which sets it apart from much of what came before it, such as Turbo and Ram It Down. For anyone tracing how Priest handled the turn into a new decade, this is the record to hear.
Painkiller: tracklist, credits and charts
10 tracks · 46:08Tracklist
- 1PainkillerDowning, Halford, Tipton6:06
- 2Hell PatrolDowning, Halford, Tipton3:37
- 3All Guns BlazingDowning, Halford, Tipton3:58
- 4Leather RebelDowning, Halford, Tipton3:35
- 5Metal MeltdownDowning, Halford, Tipton4:50
- 6Night CrawlerDowning, Halford, Tipton5:45
- 7Between the Hammer & the AnvilDowning, Halford, Tipton4:49
- 8A Touch of EvilDowning, Halford, Tipton, Tsangarides5:45
- 9Battle HymnDowning, Halford, Tipton0:56
- 10One Shot at GloryDowning, Halford, Tipton6:47
- Produced by
- Judas Priest, Chris Tsangarides
- Recorded at
- Studio Miraval (Correns, France and Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, Netherlands), Wisseloord Studios
- Recorded
- January–March 1990
- Mixed at
- Wisseloord Studios
- Engineered by
- Attie Bauw, Patrice Rouillon Tsernsoff de Gironville
- Label
- Columbia
- Length
- 46:08
Line-up
- Kenneth Downing · electric guitar
- Ian Hill · electric bass guitar
- Glenn Tipton · electric guitar
- Scott Travis · drums (drum set)
- Rob Halford · lead vocals
Singles
- “Painkiller” · 3 September 1990
- “A Touch of Evil” · 11 March 1991
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1990 | 26 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1990 | 26 |
| German Albums · 1990 | 7 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1990 | 13 |
| Swiss Albums · 1990 | 14 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) · 1990 | 15 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1990 | 19 |
| Swedish Albums · 1990 | 19 |
| Austrian Albums · 1990 | 22 |
| New Zealand Albums · 1990 | 27 |
All 12 charts
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1990 | 29 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1990 | 60 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada · 1990 | Gold |
| Japan · 1996 | Gold |
| United States · 1990 | Gold |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
80.6
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
6.1k
ListenBrainz listeners
133k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
49k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 17 September
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1977
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1977
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1978
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1979
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1980
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1981
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1981
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1984
Turbo
1986
Priest…Live!
1987
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1988
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1993
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1993
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1996
Jugulator
1997
Judas Priest Live Meltdown 1998
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The Best of Judas Priest: Living After Midnight
1998
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1998
Judas Priest Bloodsuckers 2001
Bloodsuckers
2001
Demolition
2001
Live in London
2003
Metalogy
2004
Angel of Retribution
2005
The Essential Judas Priest
2006
Judas Priest Visions 2008
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2008
Nostradamus EP
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Nostradamus
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A Touch of Evil: Live
2009
The Chosen Few
2011
Single Cuts
2011
The Complete Albums Collection
2012
Redeemer of Souls
2014
5 Souls
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Battle Cry
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Invincible Shield
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 1990-09-17; musicbrainz + wikidata 1990-09-03 (14 days apart, likely another territory)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 3 September 1990 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 17 September 1990 | |
| Wikidata | 3 September 1990 | |
| US release | 1990 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 3 September 1990 | earliest UK or European date |
19 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XE | Columbia | 5099746729028 | other |
| — | XW | Columbia | other | |
| 1990 | CA | Columbia | 074644689129 | other |
| 1990 | US | Columbia | 07464468912 | other |
| 1990 | XE | CBS | 5099746729011 | other |
| 1990 | US | Columbia | other | |
| 3 September 1990 | GB | CBS | 5099746729028 | original |
| 13 September 1990 | JP | Epic/Sony | 4988010515928 | other |
| 21 August 1997 | JP | Epic | 4988010767426 | other |
| 2001 | AT | Columbia | 5099750213926 | other |
| 21 February 2002 | GB | Columbia | 5099750213926 | remaster |
| 19 March 2002 | US | Columbia | 696998638228 | other |
| 2004 | XE | Columbia | 5099750213957 | other |
| 6 July 2005 | JP | Sony Records International | 4571191051752 | other |
| 23 February 2009 | GB | Columbia | 886974767428 | other |
| 15 February 2012 | JP | Metal God Entertainment | 4547366063486 | remaster |
| 9 October 2013 | JP | Sony Records International | 4547366202205 | remaster |
| 1 December 2017 | — | Columbia | 889853909216 | other |
| — | — | Columbia | 074644689129 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · upscaled: minor: best source 1400x1400, upscaled to 1500 (x1.07)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 1400×1400 | upscaled: minor: best source 1400x1400, upscaled to 1500 (x1.07) |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |