Sad Wings of Destiny is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 26 March 1976 by Gull Records.

The centrepiece "Victim of Changes" is a nearly eight-minute track featuring heavy riffing trading off with high-pitched vocals, extended guitar leads, and a slow, moody breakdown toward the end.

Judas Priest formed in September 1969 in industrial West Bromwich, Birmingham by lead vocalist/founding Al Atkins and bass guitarist/co-founding Brian "Bruno" Steppenhill, who chose the band's name, wanting one similar to Black Sabbath's.

[5] The bands were contemporaries and were both from Birmingham, though Judas Priest failed to find a significant audience until Black Sabbath began to fade from the spotlight.

[7] By the time Judas Priest's first album, Rocka Rolla, was released in 1974, there had been so many lineup changes that K.K Downing and Ian Hill were the only remaining original members.

[12] The band had yet to develop the studs-and-leather image that was to become their trademark; instead, they wore contemporary mid-1970s fashions, including high-heeled boots and frilled shirts, and a long-haired Halford donned a pink satin top which he later said he borrowed from his sister.

[15] During the recording of Sad Wings of Destiny, band members restricted themselves to one meal a day, and several took on part-time work: Tipton as a gardener, Downing in a factory, and Hill driving a delivery van.

[16] Recording took place over two weeks in November and December 1975 at Rockfield Studios in Wales[17] with producers Jeffrey Calvert and Gereint "Max West" Hughes, and Chris Tsangarides as co-engineer.

[18] Calvert and Hughes were the main members of the pop group Typically Tropical who topped the UK charts in 1975 with "Barbados",[19] Gull's first hit.

[20] Sad Wings of Destiny was released 26 March 1976,[33] and seven days earlier "The Ripper" appeared as a single backed with "Island of Domination".

Sad Wings of Destiny arrived at the same time as other influential metal albums from the late 70's – the same year saw the release of Rising from Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow and Virgin Killer from Scorpions.

[36] Downing described how the disappointed feelings the group had over Gull's management influenced the dark themes that appeared on Sad Wings of Destiny.

[21] In Rolling Stone Kris Nicholson gave the album a positive review, comparing it favourably to Deep Purple's Machine Head of 1972.

During the Sad Wings sessions, Howells encouraged the band to work on a heavy metal cover of "Diamonds & Rust" by folk singer Joan Baez, but it did not appear on the album.