Sad Wings of Destiny is the second album by the British heavy metal group Judas Priest, released in 1976. It was the album that would establish the band as a major force in the heavy metal scene (at a time when hard rock and heavy metal music was in a general decline in popularity), and ultimately moved them closer to commercial success. Alongside later albums such as British Steel, Screaming for Vengeance, and Painkiller, Sad Wings of Destiny is a favorite album amongst Judas Priest fans. It is considered by fans and critics alike to be the most important and influential heavy metalalbum since Black Sabbath'sself-titled debut in 1970. Whilst the album contained some of the band's early stage material (for instance, "Victim of changes" dated back to 1972, and was originally titled "Whiskey Woman"), it was a definite progression in style from their debut album Rocka Rolla. It was also a step forward from the style of early Britishheavy metal, especially on tracks such as "The Ripper", "Tyrant" and "Genocide". The cover art for the album was drawn by artist Patrick Woodroffe; its title is "Fallen Angels". The art was likely inspired by the Milton epic poem Paradise Lost, which involves the theme of angels falling to Hell. The album was the only one by Judas Priest not to feature a title track up until 1980's British Steel (counting "Sinner" as the title track of 1977's Sin After Sin). However, when vocalistRob Halford left to form his solo band Halford, the band's debut album featured a song named "Sad Wings" as a bonus track. During the chorus of the song, Halford sang the words "Sad Wings of Destiny". However, it is unlikely that the song had any other relations to Judas Priest, as it was credited to being written by the band's guitarists, Patrick Lachman and Mike Chlasciak, rather than any Judas Priest members.
"Island of Domination" (Halford, Downing, Tipton) – 4:32
The 1995 CD reissue by Repertoire Records had track 3 labelled as "Dream Deceiver" rather than "Dreamer Deceiver", this was later changed back to its original title on the 1998 release by Snapper Music. All re-release and reissues of this album reverse the Side A & Side B track-listings of the original Gull Records version. None of the reissues of Sad Wings of Destiny are endorsed by Judas Priest.[1]
