ABSOLUT ALBUM COVERS

The Artists, The Art and The Albums

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ABSOLUT ALBUM COVERS illustrates the many facets of cover art - pop and photography, eccentricity and minimalism, in-your-face realism and fantastical whimsy - Andy Warhol's infamous banana on The Velvet Underground and Nico to Brian Duffy's ambiguous Aladdin Sane, John Lennon's naked snapshot on Two Virgins to Roslav Szaybo's razor-sharp British Steel and Mati Klarwein's surreal landscape on Bitches Brew, and celebrates the creativity of the artists behind the albums.

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British Steel, 1980

Judas Priest was one of the most influential bands of the 1970's, spearheading the new wave of "British Metal" and paving the way for the leather-clad, hard-driving heavy metal groups of the 80s. With Hell Bent for Leather, their acclaimed 1979 album, Judas Priest began the task of developing their image for increased mainstream attention and streamlining their sound. British Steel, 1980's follow-up, became their first album to reach the U.S. Top 40.

The sleeve designed by Roslav Szaybo features a raw-edged razor blade imprinted with the album's title, British Steel. In the 1960s, 70s and 80s, Szaybo designed covers for many of rocks most influential bands including The Byrds, Chicago, The Chieftans and Judas Priest.

Rolling Stone reviewed the British Steel in 1980 along with two other newly released metal albums, Kiss Unmasked, and Humble Pie's Onto Victory. In the write-up, music critic David Fricke underscored that, "Heavy metal monsters rarely die but eventually collapse under the accumulated weight of their own laden riffing, Tarzan-like singing and boorish macho arrogance. [These] three new albums represent different ways of trying to avoid the inevitable."

As Fricke continued he noted, "Judas Priest deftly defy death on their latest volcanic eruption, British Steel…[it] rocks with a classic heavy-metal vengeance…fueled by the machine-gun rhythms and crackling guitar attach of punk offspring like the Ramones and the Damned. The result is a collection of killer cuts…" He added, "Judas Priest is waging a war. On British Steel they even sound like they're winning."