10 Terrible Rock Songs That Killed Classic Albums

In the early ‘80s, Judas Priest was still writing the rulebook for what heavy metal was supposed to be. Although Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin definitely had the trappings of a traditional metal band, Priest were the ones who claimed the throne, writing songs that were equal parts heavy and high energy on albums like Hell Bent for Leather and Sin After Sin. As the New Wave of British Heavy Metal was dawning though, Priest went for the throat on British Steel, starting with one of the single doofiest songs they would ever record.

While Priest have been known to make a handful of decent ballads on pretty much every single record, United might be too simple for its own good, talking about the fanbase that Priest had cultivated throughout the years and establishing the brotherhood mentality of heavy metal. A great premise to write a song around for sure…except they don’t really write the rest of the song.

As much as the chorus might hit you like a ton of bricks, the rest of the song just feels lackluster by comparison, almost sounding like the band is tired in the studio and wanted to just put another anthem track on the record to wrap things up. That’s not to say it wasn’t successful though, having a spot right alongside songs like Breaking the Law and Living After Midnight as one of Priest’s most memorable tracks. If you look back on the more epic tracks that Priest have made though, this sounds more like they wrote a great chorus and decided to call it a day.