I’m leaning toward the latter. I mean come on, Stained Class was a damned good album, especially for its time. You could argue that they sold their souls to the media in the 80s, but in the 70s they were a rockin’ band! I’d say most of what they did before 1980 was pretty awesome, and the influence of that material can be seen in countless bands since.
Legend. Absolutely legend.
Heck, any band that sticks around for thirty years deserves credit just for holding it together that long. Even the ones that suck. 
I’m your turbo lover…
Yeah, baby!!
Sure, they’re easy targets for making fun, but make no mistake about it – They are royalty in the kingdom of METAL.
Just in case you were referring to me, I wasn’t making fun. I love that song.
I’m down with JP.
Priest, Sabbath, and Maiden–go to any metal site and ask the people there what they think, and you’ll find that those three bands are still pretty much worshipped.
Absolutely a legend. Still one of my favorite bands.
Definitely legends. They were actually my first concert – August 16, 1983 at the Philly Spectrum – Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Fastway. Talk about a kick-ass night for a 15-year-old metalhead.
How about calling them cheesy heavy metal legends 
There’s a new DVD of them which has both their film clips through the 80’s and the ol’ Priest Live video. Really funny stuff that is also really amazingly rocking.
Classic heavy metal is cheesy- that’s part of what makes it so great. So as Junior Spaceman implies, the best answer is “both.”
Sin After Sin, Stained Class, Screaming for Vengeance- cornerstones of the genre. Always found Live to be outstanding, too, and a perfect summation of their middle period, 1980–1986.
I wasn’t, was just saying in general.