The Stained Class album, released in early 1978, strongly utilized such concepts and found the band delving into darker realms. Effectively meshing Halford's eerie falsetto shrieks with sinister riffs and driving rhythms, Stained Class explored some very ominous concepts. "Heroes End" lamented the fact that many great artists are only given their due after they pass away, "Savage" chronicled the twisted motives behind missionary work, while the desperate ballad "Beyond The Realms Of Death" voiced the anguish of someone who wants to die. This latter track featured a blistering solo from Tipton which is now famous amongst Priest devotees.

"Judas Priest throughout the 70s were considered a very dark band by our record company," Downing explains. "There was basically somebody every other week who would have a hit success with a cover, so they thought it was a quick trip to the top to do a cover. Fortunately for us, that never happened. But we did a good enough job with the covers that they became likable songs in concert. Lots of people to this day probably hear us play those songs and think that they are actually Judas Priest songs." The Stained Class tour was their longest yet, hitting America, the UK, and Japan. The band were building a loyal following and went back into the studio to record a new album months later.

Their first serious breakthrough album would be this next record, Killing Machine, which was released at the tail end of 1978. It was issued as Hell Bent For Leather in the States with a bonus cover of Peter Green's "Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown)". This powerful new studio creation focused on shorter songs - none past four-and-a-half minutes while earlier tunes ran as long as eight and-a-half - and a more straightforward attack. Tunes like "Delivering The Goods" and "Running Wild" had a nastier tone to them. This was the period when the leather-and-studs came into play, creating a more powerful image suitable to their music, while Halford began riding a Harley Davidson onstage for "Hell Bent For Leather". The group even filmed a couple of promo performance videos for the songs "Take On The World" and "Killing Machine".

Their momentum was steadily gaining. The drums and guitar-driven anthem "Take On The World" became a hit single in England, hitting number 14. "Evening Star" would also hit the UK charts, and the album cracked the Top 100 albums in the U.S. Priest toured with Kiss in the States and were gaining fans worldwide. "I remember when we went to Japan at that time, we were like the fucking Beatles," recalls Downing. "We used to get thrown out of hotels because there were thousands of fans everywhere. They would chase us down the street, throwing themselves at the car. It was bizarre that a heavy metal band created this teenybop sort of reaction."

Priest captured the magic of their Japanese tour on the legendary Unleashed In The East (Live In Japan). Classic cuts like "Genocide," "Tyrant," and "Exciter" were featured on what some critics feel is the greatest live heavy metal album ever. "In retrospect, [with] a lot of the stuff that we did early on, we didn't quite realize their potential or how they would end up as classic albums," muses Tipton. "Unleashed was one of them. It was our first live album, so we didn't know what to expect or what we would do. We just went out there and did our thing on stage."

Some insiders jokingly refer to it as Unleashed In The Studio. "We touched up some of the vocals on the album, because when Rob did the album, his voice was shot," Tipton confesses. "We were honest enough to admit that, but then suddenly we heard that a lot of things were touched up. But literally it was a few vocal bits and pieces." Unleashed also marked the beginning of a ten-year relationship with producer Tom Allom, whose producing talents would help to vividly capture their music on tape throughout the 80s.

In 1979, drummer Les Binks - Priest's fourth drummer in five years - had had enough of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle and decided to call it quits. Many fans wonder what happen to the talented Binks, who seems to have vanished off the face of the earth. "I think he went into a vegetarian clinic in New Mexico," Tipton recollects. "We haven't seen him since. The only way that you can find out is sometimes large areas of bean plantations have been attacked in the night, and we think that that's Les."

As had occurred frequently in the past, the group needed a new skinbeater, and this time it was former Trapeze drummer Dave Holland who stepped in to take over the hot seat. He would cement a more straightforward rhythmic foundation for the band than his predecessors. Once again a full unit, Priest came out the following year with their most accessible album to date, British Steel, their first studio recording to gain them serious international recognition and touring ability. It also marked the beginning of the Tipton/Halford/Downing writing triumvirate that penned nearly all of their future material, with Halford providing the lyrics and vocals to the riffs and arrangements.

An interesting mix of commercial anthems - "Living After Midnight," "Breaking The Law," and "United," all of which were successful UK singles - and more brutal, fast-paced rockers - "Rapid Fire" and "Steeler" - British Steel showcased a diverse band who would never stick to a mold. This album's dichotomy would also sum up the band's relationship to the mainstream, for most of their best work was not played on radio or MTV. Nevertheless, their more mainstream songs were drawing them attention and bringing them to headlining status on tour.

To help promote the album, Julian Temple directed their first conceptual video for "Breaking The Law," a tongue-in-cheek affair in which the band rob a bank in order to steal a gold record, of which British Steel became their first. Temple would work with the quintet on numerous videos over the next few years, including "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" and "Freewheel Burning," begetting a trend of conceptual videos for metal bands.

Another milestone for Priest was their 1980 appearance at the first Castle Donington "Monsters of Rock" festival, second on the bill to Rainbow, performing before an audience of 60,000 people. "In that time, it didn't mean a lot to us," Tipton remarks casually. "Every gig we did was big. We did two nights in Washington [in] 22,000 seaters, 3 nights in New York, 4 nights in L.A. So we just took stuff like that in our stride. In a way, that's when you do good shows." According to Hill, Donington is "good for you to build audiences, because a lot of people traveled from Europe as well. A lot of European press get there, too. On the other side, it's just another show, you know. At the time, you don't look upon it as being beneficial to your career."

Priest were now spearheading what is now known as the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, in which like-minded bands like Saxon, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, and numerous others began expanding the genre. "All of those bands were support bands to Priest at one time or another," states Downing. "We came to America, and suddenly it was a good idea to be on a show with Judas Priest. It seems to be a good thing that everybody that supports Judas Priest goes on to bigger and better things - like Pantera on the Painkiller tour - which we're happy about, because we had our turn when we were supporting Led Zeppelin, Foghat, and REO Speedwagon."

Following the successful British Steel tour, the metal monsters soon returned to the studio to create Point Of Entry, an unexpected yet interesting detour into more progressive terrain with touches of the blues-based sound which inspired their debut. Some fans were disappointed, although Priest still hammered out classic metal anthems like "Heading Out To The Highway," "Hot Rockin'," and the enigmatic "Desert Plains". Even though many critics and fans were confused by its direction, *Entry* was still one of their most successful albums. Again their conceptual videos garnered them attention - and received frequent airplay on MTV - and Halford's antics became more outrageous. In the "Hot Rockin'" video, the band members lit their instruments on fire and Halford set fire to his boots and microphone.