I hear Maiden is pretty sturdy live as well but yeah.. the Live Vengeance DVD is a must for metal heads

That's like asking me to choose between peanut butter and chocolate.

Basing this on live concerts: Maiden.

Basing this on late 70's early 80's output: Priest gets a slight edge.

Basing this on consistency: Maiden.

So I'm going to have to go with Steve Harris and company.

ok i have a friend that likes maiden better,i however prefer priest. i listen to both equally, am completely unbiased eitherway, and would have to say that they are equal, and it comes down to opinion in the end. i have the original vinyl of maiden's "no prayer for the dying" (anyone jealous/interested?) ,and i think maiden is the total shit. ...But, i think for what they are, Priest is better ,for what they are. they both pioneered, had good/bad times, and have theyre own specialties. but priest is faster, shorter, harder hitting, catchier, and they have more esoteric substance in my eyes. Rob Halford is the coolest, i think. and despite the lack of Eddie, id say it goes to priest.

you couldnt have said it better. Priest has way more substance. Maiden, although great, is more predictable and well....predictable. Priest is more diverse. Best maiden dvd: raising hell. Best priest dvd: Screaming for vengeance tour. Winner is.............Priest

I have almost everything from both bands, I've seen Maiden live and Halford live. Hands down, Maiden ROCKS.

I listen to neither of these bands, but based solely on the fact that they do a kick ass cover of "Diamonds & Rust" by Joan Baez, I choose Judas Priest.

I have seen maiden twice and priest twice one with halford and once with ripper as far as a stage show goes i say maiden kuzz dickinson just goes fucking nutts runing around on that fucking stage...
But as far as music Quallity PRIEST big time both halford and ripper out sang dickinson big time live
And as far as guitarists go KK and Glenn are way beter then dave and smith "THE ONLY TRUE GUITARISTS FOR MAIDEN"
And how can you ever compare nicko to scott travis i mean i love nicko but travis is the man how the hell do you come up with a intro like the one to painkiller {COME ON FUCKING GOD I SAY}
Both bands have had there ups and downs but i think maiden has had more downs then priest i mean really das priest really have even one bad album NO say what you will about rocka rolla but "one for the road" KICKS ASS and as for maiden well they really lost there edge after powerslave... "some where in time" was kool but powerslave was the end of the true maiden stuff... while priest was still priest in every way for the simple reason they never stuck to a sound BUT still maid it feel like priest at the same time...

winner JUDAS FUCKING PRIEST
i mean maiden kicks ass but NO ONE CAN BEAT THE TRUE METAL GODS
>>>THERE I SAID IT<<<

Punctuation is your friend.

Not too big of a fan of either but I'd have to say Priest though

OK, first of all I like the 2 bands... I think they are awesome and they practicly inevented the Heavy Metal. But my vote is fore the Metal Gods, Judas Priest. These are my reasons:

- One of the first Speed Metal songs: Exciter (Stained Class album 1978)
- The most highed vocals: Rob Halford
- Priest invented the 2 guitar solos (guitar battles)
- The most pure Heavy Metal album never recorded is British Steel (1980), and includes there anthom, Breaking The Law.
- They have changed on everyone of there albums (but always keeping there roots of Heavy Metal), for example: British Steel 1980 (Heavy Metal), Screaming For Veangance 1982 (Lots of Speed solos and the lyrics are very rare ), Turbo 1986 (A very glam-pop metal but with lot of awesome solos and riffs)
, Painkiller 1990 (Thrash-Heavy Metal, the best album of Judas Priest to me), Jugulator 1997 (Very very heavy album like Pantera), Angel Of Reetribution 2005 (Returning to the Heavy Priest style, very good album)

Thats the reasons for my vote, but of course Priest have bad things too, like the Demolition (2001) album (very nu-metal, almost Rap or Hip-op haha), or the gay songs on the Turbo album.

Well, hope you like my vote and sorry for my bad english hehe...

I love both maiden and priest...maiden being the first metal band i got into.... i have all of their albums, and love every single song. Some comments on this topic havent been well thought up...the ones sayin priests old stuff is worse than maidens old stuff....at the time of maidens old stuff...(1980) priest had released british steel...so comparisons shoudl really refer to that timeframe...this being the case...to me priest would win. Priest had to simplify things for the new drummer as he wasnt up to much. To me, maidens best albums are powerslave, somewhere in time and seventh son. These are in my opinion flawless albums...and are really maiden at their best. Priest, screamin for vengeance, defenders of the faith and painkiller are flawless. If we are going for commercial success, then yes maiden win. If we are goin for the better metal band...then priest win. Rob is the better vocalist and has the classic metal screams, the guitars in maiden (before janick) were brilliant, but priest solos have always been better for me (as im a guitarist and priests are technically better) drummin...nicko and dave are pretty evenly matched (nicko has more energy) but scott travis beats both nicko and clive. Bass players yes steve wins. But overall priest have all that is expected of a classic metal band...and in my opinion priest truly are the ultimate metal band.

hmm both gr8 but...i dunno why but i'd say Iron Maiden - they have some real gr8 stuff