Album
Ram It Down
Ram It Down is the eleventh studio album by Judas Priest, released on 13 May 1988. It followed Turbo from 1986 and came two years before Painkiller. It was the last record to feature drummer Dave Holland, who had been with the band for years, so it marks the end of one chapter in the Priest story.
The band took it out on the Mercenaries of Metal Tour across Europe and North America, and the album went gold within a couple of months, passing 500,000 shipments in July 1988. A 2001 remaster added two bonus tracks, which gives fans a reason to revisit it. It is worth hearing as the bridge between the band's mid-eighties sound and the harder edge that arrived next.
Ram It Down: tracklist, credits and charts
10 tracks · 49:39Tracklist
- 1Ram It DownDowning, Halford, Tipton4:49
- 2Heavy MetalDowning, Halford, Tipton5:58
- 3Love ZoneDowning, Halford, Tipton3:59
- 4Come and Get ItDowning, Halford, Tipton4:07
- 5Hard as IronDowning, Halford, Tipton4:10
- 6Blood Red SkiesDowning, Halford, Tipton7:51
- 7I’m a RockerDowning, Halford, Tipton3:59
- 8Johnny B. GoodeChuck Berry4:39
- 9Love You to DeathDowning, Halford, Tipton4:37
- 10Monsters of RockDowning, Halford, Tipton5:31
- Produced by
- Tom Allom, Kenneth Downing, Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford, K. K. Downing
- Recorded at
- Ibiza Sound Studio (Ibiza), Puk Recording Studios, Gjerlev
- Recorded
- December 1987 – March 1988
- Engineered by
- Henrik Nilsson, Bill Dooley
- Labels
- CBS, Columbia
- Length
- 49:39
Line-up
- Kenneth Downing · electric guitar
- Ian Hill · electric bass guitar
- Dave Holland · drums (drum set)
- Glenn Tipton · electric guitar
- Rob Halford · lead vocals
Singles
- “Johnny B. Goode” · 18 April 1988
- “Ram It Down” · 1988 (NL)
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1988 | 24 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1988 | 31 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) · 1988 | 3 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1988 | 5 |
| Swedish Albums · 1988 | 5 |
| Swiss Albums · 1988 | 8 |
| German Albums · 1988 | 9 |
| Austrian Albums · 1988 | 14 |
| Dutch Albums · 1988 | 25 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1988 | 30 |
All 12 charts
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1988 | 34 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1988 | 43 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada · 1988 | Gold |
| United States · 1988 | Gold |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
65.5
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
1.9k
ListenBrainz listeners
69k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
12k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 13 May
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Full discography →
Rocka Rolla
1974
Sad Wings of Destiny (Original 1976 Masters)
1976
The Best of Judas Priest
1977
Sin After Sin
1977
Stained Class
1978
Killing Machine
1978
Unleashed in the East: Live in Japan
1979
British Steel
1980
Judas Priest Turn Me Loose 1981
Turn Me Loose
1981
Hero, Hero
1981
Point of Entry
1981
Screaming for Vengeance
1982
Judas Priest Judas Priest 1983
Judas Priest
1983
Defenders of the Faith
1984
Turbo
1986
Priest…Live!
1987
Painkiller
1990
Genocide
1993
Metal Works ’73–’93
1993
Judas Priest Judas Priest 1996
Judas Priest
1996
Jugulator
1997
Judas Priest Live Meltdown 1998
Live Meltdown
1998
The Best of Judas Priest: Living After Midnight
1998
’98 Live Meltdown
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
Visions
2008
Nostradamus EP
2008
Nostradamus
2008
A Touch of Evil: Live
2009
The Chosen Few
2011
Single Cuts
2011
The Complete Albums Collection
2012
Redeemer of Souls
2014
5 Souls
2014
Battle Cry
2016
Firepower
2018
Invincible Shield
2024
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Terrifying / Blue Sky Mine / It's Party Time (Tonite)
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Alice in Chains · 1990
British Steel
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Judas Priest · 1978
Sin After Sin
Judas Priest · 1977
Tribute
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Greatest Hits
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Rock in a Hard Place
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Judas Priest Turn Me Loose 1981
Turn Me Loose
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The Original Fleetwood Mac
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Unleashed in the East: Live in Japan
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 1988-05-13; musicbrainz + wikidata 1988-05-17 (4 days apart, likely another territory)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 17 May 1988 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 13 May 1988 | |
| Wikidata | 17 May 1988 | |
| US release | 17 May 1988 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 17 May 1988 | earliest UK or European date |
14 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XW | Columbia | 5099750213728 | other |
| — | US | Columbia | 886977301520 | remaster |
| 1988 | XE | CBS | 5099746110819 | other |
| May 1988 | XE | CBS | 5099746110826 | other |
| 17 May 1988 | US | Columbia | 074644424423 | original |
| 17 May 1988 | CA | Columbia | 074644424416 | original |
| 17 May 1988 | XE | Columbia | 5099746110826 | original |
| 22 June 1988 | JP | Epic/Sony | 4988010218256 | other |
| 21 March 1991 | JP | Epic | 4988010526023 | other |
| 21 February 2002 | XE | Columbia | 5099750213728 | remaster |
| 19 March 2002 | US | Columbia | 696998638129 | other |
| 6 July 2005 | JP | Sony Records International | 4571191051769 | remaster |
| 2010 | GB | Back on Black | 803341319349 | other |
| 15 February 2012 | JP | Metal God Entertainment | 4547366063509 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · upscaled: major: best source 1417x1394, upscaled to 1500 (x1.08)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 1417×1394 | upscaled: major: best source 1417x1394, upscaled to 1500 (x1.08) |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |