kicker_of_elves wrote: Wed Dec 31, 2025 12:13 pm Sad Wings of Destiny, Sin after Sin and Stained Class is a trifecta that is pretty hard to beat by any standard. Priest, no WF.

Yup, second only to Sabbath as far as 70s metal goes and while their 80s was more inconsistent, I wouldn't want to live without Screaming for Vengeance or side 1 of Defenders of the faith. Meanwhile, it may not be a cool opinion here but I really dug Painkiller too (well, songs/riffs/solos, wish dude would have laid off the double kicks at times)

jakethesnake wrote: Wed Dec 31, 2025 12:20 pm

kicker_of_elves wrote: Wed Dec 31, 2025 12:13 pm Sad Wings of Destiny, Sin after Sin and Stained Class is a trifecta that is pretty hard to beat by any standard. Priest, no WF.

Yup, second only to Sabbath as far as 70s metal goes and while their 80s was more inconsistent, I wouldn't want to live without Screaming for Vengeance or side 1 of Defenders of the faith. Meanwhile, it may not be a cool opinion here but I really dug Painkiller too (well, songs/riffs/solos, wish dude would have laid off the double kicks at times)

Agreed. Not gonna lie, Turbo has its moments.

Yeah, Dio doesn't have enough good material as a band to compete with Priest and the way they reinvented themselves over time. I do adore Holy Diver though, Ronnie was a fantastic singer (I would take him over Halford, personally).

But yeah, it's Priest.

Turbo sucks. Painkiller is overrated by metalheads but was better than most of their 80s music. I like what they've done in the last ten years or so.

enframed wrote: Wed Dec 31, 2025 1:15 am

rsmurphy wrote: Tue Dec 30, 2025 10:02 pm Boundaries need to be drawn because it is impossible to speak on Dio without mentioning his other bands - Rainbow, Sabbath...so is it strictly Dio? Either way I'm voting Dio. Probably doesn't help my case that my favorite Priest song is Before the Dawwwwwwwwn

Look out!

Only Dio. I was not considering Rainbow and Sabbath in my creation of this dome.

Still Dio. Better musicianship all around - Vivian Campbell, Vinny Appice, Sarzo...Priest is great and Halford is the business, but Dio is more melodic and poetic even as he is given to fantasy those lyrics are great. Saw Priest a couple of times and they were on fire. Never saw Dio unfortunately.

rsmurphy wrote: Wed Dec 31, 2025 12:59 pm

enframed wrote: Wed Dec 31, 2025 1:15 am

rsmurphy wrote: Tue Dec 30, 2025 10:02 pm Boundaries need to be drawn because it is impossible to speak on Dio without mentioning his other bands - Rainbow, Sabbath...so is it strictly Dio? Either way I'm voting Dio. Probably doesn't help my case that my favorite Priest song is Before the Dawwwwwwwwn

Look out!

Only Dio. I was not considering Rainbow and Sabbath in my creation of this dome.

Still Dio. Better musicianship all around - Vivian Campbell, Vinny Appice, Sarzo...Priest is great and Halford is the business, but Dio is more melodic and poetic even as he is given to fantasy those lyrics are great.

Agree with all of that.

Dio is goofy as fuck. Ronnie was by all accounts a solid dude but his "icky elf" stage persona never did jack for me.

I used to scoff at Priest because of the corny metal fans I grew up around, and because that Mercyful Fate style singing was not my jam. But over time I have learned to love Halford and co. Painkiller is an easy answer to "what's your favorite JP album/song/era" but that's because it's good.

All trad metal is goofy as shit but some of it is good too. I don't like anything Dio has done or been a part of. Sabbath should have just quit instead of saddling up with new singers.

Judas Priest > Dio, WF0

Vivian Campbell would play some ripping ass solos. He really downgraded going to lame Def Leppard.

Early VC (better than Metallica's version):

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=weh1q ... bLADsbmD8e

This gets complicated. First because I agree it's a total apples to apples comparison. Both have great songs, insanely good drummers and obviously incredible singers.

The operative dates make it hard. Judas Priest sound like a 70s rock band that found a fifth gear in the engine that no one noticed before and just invented power metal inside of a garage. Dio sounds like he brought it back to the lab and synthesized a weapons grade version. Part of this is the undeniable Sin After Sin was released in 77 while Holy Diver doesn't even come out until 6 years later. So yeah The Last in Line has jaw dropping urgency and production, he's kind of using some innovations other people cooked up.

I feel like Scorpions should be a dark horse contender in this. Maybe not apples to apples, but at least apples to pears. They started doing some of this shit even earlier (and yes they also shifted into hairspray band earlier too). They also kind of invented the "I can play classical guitar" dramatic intro that both the other bands fooled with and Metallica would later make millions on.

It's Judas all day long.

losthighway wrote: Wed Dec 31, 2025 5:38 pm I feel like Scorpions should be a dark horse contender in this. Maybe not apples to apples, but at least apples to pears. They started doing some of this shit even earlier (and yes they also shifted into hairspray band earlier too). They also kind of invented the "I can play classical guitar" dramatic intro that both the other bands fooled with and Metallica would later make millions on.

I will gladly Scorpions over Dio and Priest at their proggiest nu classical rock and poppiest hook-driven rock. And they had Uli Jon Roth and Michael Schenker, not that I'm trying to whip this up into a contest between technicality and precision, but come on! Scorps rule. Their deep shit rules, their pop metal rules. A great band all around. Just ducky.