Summary

The article "Rate-A-Record" reviews new songs by Judas Priest, Lana Del Rey, and Ace Frehley, inviting readers to rate them on a scale of 35-98 and share their thoughts in the comments.

Abstract

In the latest edition of "Rate-A-Record," the author critiques recent releases from iconic heavy metal band Judas Priest, pop superstar Lana Del Rey, and KISS co-founder Ace Frehley. The article not only provides embedded Spotify and YouTube links for the songs "Trial By Fire," "Take Me Home, Country Roads" (a cover of John Denver's classic), and "10,000 Volts," but also offers personal ratings and insights into the author's journey as a fan of each artist. The author encourages readers to engage by rating the songs and commenting on their own impressions, fostering an interactive music discussion.

Opinions

The author has become a "superfan" of Judas Priest, influenced by fellow writer Paul Combs, and highly rates their new song "Trial By Fire" with a 96.
Lana Del Rey's rendition of "Take Me Home, Country Roads" is musically different from the original, and while the author is not very familiar with her work, they give the cover a 93 and anticipate liking it more over time.
Ace Frehley's "10,000 Volts" receives the highest praise from the author, who admits a strong bias due to longtime fandom, rating it a 98.
The author is intrigued by the diversity of the songs and is curious to see the readers' ratings and comments.
The article tags several friends and regular participants of the "Rate-A-Record" feature, inviting them to share their opinions.
The author reveals a personal connection to the music by mentioning ownership of an Ace Frehley Funko Pop figure and expresses enthusiasm for the upcoming album release.

Rate-A-Record: New Songs by Judas Priest, Lana Del Rey, & Ace Frehley

Listen to these songs and then let us know what you think of them

For this edition of Rate-A-Record, I’m including new music that has been released in the last few weeks by classic heavy metal band Judas Priest, contemporary superstar Lana Del Ray, and Ace Frehley, who is perhaps best known as being one of the founding members of the legendary rock band KISS.

While the releases are all new, one of them is a cover version of a very famous John Denver song that is over 50 years old.

If you want to play along with this edition of Rate-A-Record, I ask you to listen to the songs and then head to the comments section of this post and rate each of them on a scale of 35–98.

However, if you’d prefer to share what you think of the songs without using that numerical scale, that’s fine too. Whatever works for you works for me!

Because people seem to be split on how they prefer listening to music in posts like this one, I’m including Spotify and YouTube versions of each song.

Trial By Fire — Judas Priest

While I’d always enjoyed the hit songs I knew by Judas Priest, it’s only been in the last few years that I’ve deep-dived into their music and become a ‘superfan’ of them. My fellow music-loving writer pal Paul Combs has been raving about Judas Priest here on Medium for years, so he’s at least partially responsible for turning me on to them. Thanks, Paul!

Take Me Home, Country Roads — Lana Del Rey

Although she’s been very popular for several years, I’m almost completely unfamiliar with the music of Lana Del Rey. When I saw that she was remaking this classic song that was originally released by John Denver in 1971, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Musically, it’s a lot different than the original — but that certainly doesn’t mean that I dislike it.

What do I think of this new version? Well, my ratings of each song are near the end of this post.

P.S. to my writer friend Lark Morrigan, who I know is a huge fan of John Denver: I’d be very curious to learn what you think of this remake!

10,000 Volts — Ace Frehley

Although I’ve been a fan of KISS for the majority of my life, it’s only recently that I’ve begun exploring the solo works of their original lead guitarist (and occasional lead vocalist) Ace Frehley. Since initially leaving the band in the early 1980s, he’s released eight albums. While I haven’t listened to all of them yet, I’ve loved the majority of what I’ve heard so far (especially the Frehley’s Comet album from 1987.)

“10,000 Volts” is the title track from his next album, which will be released in 2024.

So, what do I think of the three songs from above? Here are my ratings for them:

Trial By Fire: 96

This song totally rocks! Singer Rob Halford and the rest of the band sound great on it.

Take Me Home, Country Roads: 93.

I like this song more each time I hear it, so my rating will very likely rise over time.

10,000 Volts: 98

I loved this one right from the first time I heard it. The music is great and I think Ace’s voice sounds awesome on it.

Since I’ve been a fan of him for so long, I admittedly have a slight (okay, more than slight!) bias here for Ace over the others. As seen in the photo at the top of this post, I’ve even got a Funko Pop figure of the guy!

So, what do you think of the three songs from above? Please let me know in the comments.

All are welcome to play along, but I want to tag some of my friends here who have played along with my Rate-A-Records in the past:

Kerry Purvis, Laura Lind, Alex Markham, Mark Holburn, Francis B., Arpad Nagy, Steven Hale, Robert Gowty, Jeffrey Harvey, Rodrigo S-C, Aaliyah C Humphrey, and The King of Rate-A-Record himself — Terry Barr.

Thank you for reading! If you’d like to connect with me outside of Medium, you can also find me on X, Substack, YouTube, Instagram, Threads, and Goodreads. I’m also the host of the Gotta Pop podcast. Links to all of those things can be found here.