The Best of Judas Priest by Judas Priest, album cover
Album · Compilation

The Best of Judas Priest

Released 1977
Popularity21.6

The Best of Judas Priest is a compilation released in 1977 on the Transluxe label. It gathers selected songs from the band's first two records, Rocka Rolla and Sad Wings of Destiny, putting the earliest chapter of their story onto a single release.

For anyone tracing how Judas Priest began, it makes a handy way in. Those two albums came before the run that took the band from Sin After Sin and Stained Class through to British Steel and Screaming for Vengeance. Here you can hear the Birmingham-born heavy metal sound still taking shape, from the debut's rawer beginnings to the bolder step forward on its follow-up.

The Best of Judas Priest: tracklist, credits and charts

16 tracks · 53:28

Tracklist

  1. 1Dying to Meet YouKenneth Downing and Rob Halford6:14
  2. 2Never SatisfiedAl Atkins and Kenneth Downing4:49
  3. 3Rocka RollaDowning, Halford, Tipton3:05
  4. 4Diamonds and RustJoan Baez3:19
  5. 5Victim of ChangesAtkins, Downing, Halford, Tipton7:47
  6. 6Island of DominationDowning, Halford, Tipton4:17
  7. 7The RipperGlenn Tipton2:50
  8. 8DeceiverDowning, Halford, Tipton2:48
  9. 9Halford Finds Priest (interview)5:34
  10. 10Priest Finds Audience (interview)3:34
  11. 11Dual Guitars (interview)1:09
  12. 12Songwriting (interview)3:03
  13. 13What’s in a Name (interview)Downing, Owens, Tipton0:42
  14. 14Gull Records (interview)2:03
  15. 15Whiskey Woman / Victim of Changes (interview)1:11
  16. 16Rob Halford (interview)1:03
Produced by
Rodger Bain, Jeffrey Calvert, Judas Priest, Max West, Jeffery Calvert, Geraint Hughes
Recorded at
Basing Street Studios, Trident Studios, Rockfield Studios
Recorded
1974–1975
Mixed at
Morgan Studios
Engineered by
Vic Coppersmith‐Heaven, Jeffrey Calvert, Dave Charles, Chris Tsangarides
Labels
Transluxe, Gull
Length
53:28

Line-up

  • Kenneth Downing · electric guitar
  • Ian Hill · electric bass guitar
  • John Hinch · drums (drum set) · guest
  • Glenn Tipton · electric guitar
  • Rob Halford · lead vocals, harmonica
  • Alan Moore · drums (drum set)

Peak chart positions

ChartPeak
UK Albums Chart · 202683
UK Rock & Metal Albums · 20261
German Rock & Metal Albums (Offizielle Top 100) · 20267
Scottish Albums · 20268
Swedish Hard Rock Albums (Sverigetopplistan) · 20269
Swiss Albums · 202610
French Rock & Metal Albums (SNEP) · 202614
German Albums · 202618
Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ) · 202621
Austrian Albums · 202625
All 14 charts
US Album Sales · 202633
Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 202643
Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 202660
French Physical Albums (SNEP) · 202664

From MusicBrainz and Wikipedia. Only what the sources record is shown.

21.6
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
9
ListenBrainz listeners
9.8k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
783
Deezer fans (all editions)

More from Judas Priest

Full discography →

The best of 1977

All of 1977 →

Releases and pressings

How we know the release date sources disagree on the year (1977, 1978)
SourceDateNote
MusicBrainz1977
Wikipedia infoboxFebruary 1978
Wikidata1977
1 editions
DateCountryLabelBarcodeKind
1995USTransluxe789505780029other
Cover art sources

deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)

SourceSizeVerdict
deezer ✓1200×1200upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
fanarttv1000×1000upscaled
coverartarchive758×1190rejected