Al Atkins - Victim Of Changes (1989)

Judgement Day (1990) / Victim Of Changes [Atkins/Downing/Tipton/Halford]
Line-up: Al Atkins, Paul May (guitar), Pete Emms (bass) and John Anthony (drums).
Thanks to Pete Emms for the previous upload to KZbin.
Al Atkins' discography:
Al Atkins - Judgement Day (1990)
Al Atkins - Dreams Of Avalon (1991)
Al Atkins - Heavy Thoughts (1994)
Al Atkins - Victim Of Changes (1998)
Al Atkins - Demon Deceiver (2007)
Holy Rage - Holy Rage (2010)
Atkins May Project - Serpents Kiss (2011)
Atkins May Project - Valley Of Shadows (2012)
Atkins May Project - Empire Of Destruction (2014)
Al Atkins - Reloaded (2016)

[@The1WhoKnowsTheTruth]

I respect Al Atkins for his vocal contributions to early Priest, he co-wrote this gem here. Now with that being said.......we all must admit that Halford (with his incredible range) took this song (and many others) to heights that would never have been reached by Al. Same thing Dickenson did for Maiden. And I am a big DiAnno fan.

[@Nissardpertugiu]

I dont agree at all for Bruce . Bruce is too light for Dianno stuff . He has not hot feel in voice , and not as Agression . If you take Battlezone , Paul has more wide spectrum range that Bruce could ever dream as texture . Later In killers its leaning hardcore . Bruce cant do all theses different styles .

[@irmaodebanco8079]

Dianno was just great, what a pity he didnt last some more albums. His voice and style were unique. Iron is too Bruce nowadays, just more of the same all the time.

[@felixg12]

Have to agree 100% but wow as a DiAnno fan like myself you have to appreciate the rawness of this track were listening to here wow its cool.

[@Modafinil]

@@Nissardpertugiu Paul is brilliant on Maiden's first albums.

[@twikirobot6897]

Bruce sucks singing the Paul songs.

[@KevinWolffart]

Priest fan since '81 and think Halford is one of the greatest singers of all time in any genre. Having said that, I'm impressed as hell by Atkins and his style adds context to the early Priest stuff.

[@MattBarlow]

Agreed; I think the final Priest version of Victim of Changes would have benefited from the looser + a few clicks faster approach documented here. The main riff sounds more natural at this tempo, for lack of a better description.

[@Kerrfuffle]

Came to hear Al, stayed for the insane everything else. Wew.

[@Mezmer7777]

His vocal control is incredible. Definitely an interesting rendition.

[@oisinmcaleenan1078]

Christ this is one well done version of this priest classic Thes boys are insane

[@dalesdrumchannelzero1802]

This guy's voice is pretty damn bluesy. Not better or worse than Halford, just different. I like it.

[@пешеход_экстремал]

Al Atkins the quintessential 70's rock singer

[@tomcooke1853]

60 years young one of my favorite Songs ❤👍✌🏻🤙🙏🏼🇨🇦😊 Metal Head Till The Day I DIE !!!!!!

[@fistowar]

I can see Al at the local bar telling a couple chicks he just met he was the lead singer of Judas Priest

[@dbogarin88]

Nice video, thanks for sharing.

[@dougcarson5202]

Heavy Metal owes a huge debt to Al Atkins for writing Victim of Changes. Halford and Company took it to another level, but it all starts here.

[@Glamosapien]

i dno man priest wouldve been great with or without this song. victim of changed the way it came to be remembered was the masterpiece, rob is a god. al cant touch him XD is someoen like rob halford transformed a song i worked on id feel in debt to them

[@dkyelak]

Just goes to show how much work bands put into honing songs into what we eventually hear, This version isn't bad at all but Priest made it perfect.

[@carlsandberg8247]

Victim of Changes had some riffs that made it stand out from what had previously been done by Sabbath. But considering the music it wasn't t a big leap from what had already been done by Sabbath, Deep Purple or Zeppelin. What makes this song to stand out and to be the song that changed metal forever was Rob's operatic vocals. Al Atkins, on the other hand, is basically a blues rock singer. Priest wouldn't have been what they are and metal would probably never have been developed into an own genre without Halford's vocals (I doubt Iron Maiden had existed if it wasn't for Halford's vocals).

[@hellfire8883]

I definitely appreciate hearing the mans version who co wrote the song. Cool arrangements. Al sounds similar to Paul D'ianno original iron maiden frontman. Judas Priests live verson from summer of 83 takes the cake although i really appreciate this.

[@eddievanhaIen]

The material for Maiden's first two albums was already written before Paul Di'Anno joined the band. ''Early years (1975-1978)'' The original line-up in december 1975, included Steve Harris with singer Paul Mario, guitarists Terry Rance and Dave Sulivan and drummer Ron Matthews. Day left in October 1976, he was replaced by Dennis Wilcock.

[@vbathory3757]

Weird Al Atkins at his best 😊

[@alfredoscaiola8848]

Giuro che non conoscevo questa formazione dei Judas Priest col cantante Al Atkins. Grazie della testimonianza.👍🤘🔥

[@nikki78225]

This is a great version of the song, kind of a blend of Whiskey Woman and Victim Of Changes. They kept the bluesiness of the original but made the riffs for imaginitive as with the Priest version. Thats very good

[@gabrielstern4992]

For those referring to the song in it's original arrangement as bieng called victim of changes it was not titled that but called whiskey women. But after left and Rob came in it was still called whiskey women it was only after Glen Tipton joined and whiskey women was combined with a song rob wrote called red light lady which was a Hiroshima song that and Glen added a slow guitar solo that the song became victim of changes. So the slow stuff in victim of changes with the lyrics she was wonderful she was mine was from red light lady and the slow stuff with the second, solo from Glen. Anyway Atkins voice to me sounds like Ian Gillan from deep purple much more bluesy based and this song in its original form sounds like it could have been a Ian Gillan deep purple song. Where rob Halford transformed this song into a much more or more progressive rock theatrical like performance. That's the diference.

[@stewartkeith1544]

Mullet and a telecaster even. WoW 😳

[@jasonbala7858]

Great version by original singer Alan Atkins.

[@lartistafred]

Hello Amazing to hear Judas first singer He looks like Weird al Jankovic !

[@mgtowlite7414]

No. Weird Yanko was in school when AA was singing. So the kid grew up to look like *him!*

[@traumaturgist]

The guitarist (lead, not singer) on this is pretty damn good.

[@jamesigou9033]

I love this arrangement.

[@allancoffee]

This reminds me of that old school ZZ-Top... 🤘🕶️🎸

[@stevenwilliams4172]

i like this, very professional

[@brubakersflatcakes9755]

Amazing.

[@karendizefalo8950]

Superb!!!

[@BryanMccomb-sg7qw]

His voice is very 1970s like Paul Rogers still good

[@4everywhere.inJapan]

To make it easy … Atkins are a Hard Rock Vocal , his vocal are more a rhythm style , that fits to his voice . Halford are a Heavy Metal vocal , his vocal are more melodic style that fits to his metamorphosis vocal and high pitch. Both good on their own style , besides it …it’s about preferences, in my taste ., I do prefer melodic dramatically style , like Halford , Gilan & David Byron . Cheers 🍻

[@damagecase4266]

Phil Lynott called from the grave. He wants his glasses, ‘stache & mullet back

[@osiruskat]

When did Phil have a mullet. He had a well shaped afro but did have the porn stache.

[@james1stful]

Yall made me learn this on my guitar!!! Great job boys!!! Love Pauls playing for sure!

[@marcioestaliano6449]

Great Al Atkins !!! \m/

[@canousi]

a great crushin' heavy , version !!!

[@alcampbell469]

Wow, this is great. Thanks for uploading it. I have always loved this song and Atkins is just great.

[@patrickr.300]

Just found out he was the original singer of JP, yeah I got schooled and I'm old school. I like this version as well as the Halford one.

[@ryandrake7818]

No way Rob could song this Song the way he does and play guitar too!! Only Terry Kath was able to do that !! Al's Version is real good esp with him playing Guitar too!

[@ralfwuttke7775]

Geil gespielt !!

[@ronyecastro5041]

Excelente versión... super!

[@careful...Icarus]

Digging this. Although I have heard tracks with Al before and have a comp of his stuff,Ive never seen video of him and his band. Always got a kinda Rhett Forrester in Riot vibe from Al.

[@oisinmcaleenan1078]

This is insane ,would love to have been a fly in the wall, . This is what real rock is

[@davidhoopaugh]

This is actually titled Whiskey Woman, for the record. No Caviar and Meths but, still cool.

[@davidhoopaugh]

What, no "plug me"?

[@jimilove7773]

Thanks!

[@ubusimperator3607]

I like this version. It is very interesting...

[@joseluisenriquez7803]

Great musicians along the years well

[@seanmc1967]

This Rocks ..... it's like A. ..kick ass.. version of "victim of Changes"....

[@perfeitorafael]

great guitarist

[@rollingrock2561]

The first time I hear Al's voice. Rob Halford is better, but he is good too

[@valpix8920]

yup

[@matsemoto5301]

Good, but not good enough for this song...

[@georgeglass3443]

It's all about the fun.

[@carolinaramirez5224]

Rob Halford the Best voice ever

[@jussit3909]

Wow, I wasn't aware that Al Atkins had recorded solo albums. This version of the song is actually surprisingly good! I like it very much!

[@fattahrio766]

Great singer

[@philtycholet9214]

I did never hear the Al Atkins' version of this very early Judas Priest song. Very interesting. This version don't feature the slow and smooth break almost at the end ("she's beautiful..."). Formely it was an other song and Halford did mix both.

[@ais6863]

Yes, Victim of Changes is a combination of two songs, Whiskey Woman by Al Atkins and Red Light Lady by Rob Halford; KK Downing and Glenn Tipton later contributed too to the song-writing. Al Atkins has covered the song several times, sometimes with the Red Light Lady part and sometimes without it. There's a 1973 demo version of Whiskey Woman sang by Rob Halford.

[@paulmoreno4913]

This is like listening Deep Purple covering Judas Priest

[@trillrifaxegrindor4411]

minus gillans voice,missing halfords voice

[@Yurkaman1045]

excelenteee no sabiaa, bravooo.

[@geezerbliz]

I'm surprised he never did a turn with Sabbath, Purple, or Rainbow.

[@shagstars]

he was too bluesy. He could sing for BÖC though with that voice.

[@EresiA77]

If you listen to his discography, you can feel that his voice it's to close to Paul Di'Anno (not only Maiden songs... listen his first solo career)... he can did a turn with Maiden too (to sing Di'Anno stuff)

[@JorgeRodriguez-ro1uj]

AWSOME!!!!!!...⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@christospanagopoulos5821]

This is amazing

[@felixg12]

Wow amazing!

[@БезумныйМакс-д3л]

Cool. Sounds more uniform, but it does make a classic's vibe.

[@jonmallek7746]

Al was cool but he wasn't​ setting a vocal precedent like Halford. What Halford starting doing was never done before.

[@ais6863]

Ian Gillan, Robert Plant... but yeah, Halford brought that to heavy metal, and took it to another level.

[@Nissardpertugiu]

Deep purple was metal then

[@amy-ql5wo]

Rob is similar to Ian Gillan, Robert Plant and Arthur Brown, although Halford took these elements further.

[@calebproductions5970]

God damn this band rocks

[@SicillianmanDon]

I was just searching out of the blue, who was in JP and looked him up, i wonder why he didn't release anything until1989 if he was in JP in 1969, what was he doing for 20 yrs lol He sounds pretty good.

[@jamesigou9033]

The original arrangement! Cool!

[@marcstevens8576]

Not cool, as, I guess Al was trying to make bigger off the original song that he wrote for Priest entitled "Whiskey Woman". Do look it up. Nothing against him.

[@rockdog2843]

Awesome! I dig!!

[@angryheb1]

This is fckn awesome!

[@simonward-horner7605]

Cool. Good to hear this.

[@lirianodd564]

NICE!! se escucha bastante bien

[@stallionblacklord]

Great! Great!

[@RottenXoreRecords]

🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@wfe4567]

wow

[@RottenXoreRecords]

🤘🏻

[@AportesKike]

His voice is more rock n roll

[@InsidiousOne]

And the Priest are probably writing the Painkiller at the same time.

[@matsemoto5301]

Exactly

[@boke75]

Two perspectives : one looking at the cracked rear-view mirror, the other facing the horizon through a rose-tinted windshield.

[@guydumas2729]

super bon, genre de version original

[@StevEvil666]

Different key. Never heard this before. I like that~

[@MartinKincl1993]

Groovy.

[@robertlarson8141]

Fuck yea! Nice job!

[@szemhaz8721]

I think we're all used to the Halford's version but these vocals are good as well. Just different styles.

[@neillenet291]

Love the drummers fringy sleeves, LOL.

[@tonypoore440]

Man, they're pretty tight. The lead guitarist is good, anyone know who he is? Actually all these guys are good, not Priest good, but damn, they can jam. Shame they didn't get big.

[@ais6863]

Paul May... He recorded several albums with Al Atkins... And later again as Atkins May Project... I believe they're working on a new one right now.

[@mutantkoffee]

That explorer is beautiful

[@gottlicher1979]

Looks like Paul Di'anno

[@hando88c]

He look's like Jimmy Hart

[@ghostwriter1415]

Or Toni Iommi .. the guy has a DYNAMITE voice either way. It's hard to get past RH's high-pitch falsetto-scream - "INSAAAAANE", but if you can put the JP version of the song on the back burners of your mind, then you can appreciate this version for what it is, and the more relaxed vocal energy can be equal in magnitude.

[@godetonter4764]

What about that lead guitar

[@Kgio-2112]

The mouth of the south! Little known fact... Jimmy hart was in a band called the Gentrys. They had a hit in the mid 60s , keep on dancing. Jimmy sings lead

[@Vinylfiend60]

Vocals are closer to Paul Dianno's style I think. It's a good version of the song.

[@strimbimmin328]

Sounds more like Sammy Hagar to me

[@JoeyArmstrong2800]

Sounds like Paul Rogers doing Priest. I like it!!

[@trillrifaxegrindor4411]

minus paul rogers amazing voice

[@nicknicoadams7826]

Is this really live?! This is Brilliant

[@dkyelak]

Pretty good. I prefer the Priest version though.

[@hughwitney9243]

a bit strange....but not a bad job.....gotta love the availability of all this fringe material though ….id listen to it again ….

[@kbfresh1]

hell yeah

[@mccartney2]

brilliant original original version of the song..and the songwriter singing it........ hope he made a few quid over the years off the back of it

[@MoonchildMindaugas2]

You know, this sounds like a rock'n'roll song :D

[@adrianlee3497]

Paul May looks a little like a young Dimebag.

[@PrcBox13]

My first thought when I saw him 😄

[@mikek8553]

Yeah me too

[@seantighe3077]

New Model Army t shirt worn by the drummer.

[@hermannwamser9153]

Show

[@1251wire]

Dude has a lot of albums ! I have 0.

[@lasse3412]

Atkins is fantastic. Imagine If he stayed in JP . Vow

[@SamPlaysBass49]

they would have released one album, been dropped, and never heard from again.

[@carlsandberg8247]

They would have continued an endless journey as a British bar band. 😂

[@kostaspoimenidis]

Dont want to imagine

[@joeweger1550]

Like someone said Rob the songs to a whole new level never would have been reached by Al. . They might not even got as big with all. Halford is the only voice for Priest in my opinion. When anyone thinks of Priest majority think of Halford

[@james1stful]

I learned this song on guitar but it screwed up my left wrist. I just about got it nailed tho..

[@NZealandKiwi]

I listen to this version more than the original these days

[@kevinf.7025]

Badass

[@boke75]

Who started that drumstick finger roll trick ? I know it's cliché but it still looks cool !

[@therealunclassified]

Sounds like diano

[@boke75]

Axeman is effin good. Who is he ?

[@chassy]

Sounds like any cover band, but with a good guitarist, Paul May. Respect to Al, but vocals are quite weak. I prefer is most recent stuff, still with May. The Atkins/May project.

[@croweman6515]

I think if Al Atkins had sung on "Rocka Rolla" instead of Rob Halford the album would have been much better for it, it really was produced for someone with Al's tone, and it might've saved the album a bit.

[@Lengsel7]

It didn't need saving.

[@rocktheworldforever0]

Nope

[@scottwhite2757]

Oh Really Lol !!

[@gcornell42]

I think that the song "Run of the Mill" was hand tailored for Halford's voice. That's not to take away from Atkins.

[@Coexist-ph2ye]

Sorry, but Halford sings circles around AA everyday of the week and three times on Sundays.