Judas Priest – This is an Icon when it comes to the heavy metal world! From Birmingham England, they formed in 1969. They have sold over fifty million albums to date and from what it looks they are no way near retirement.
It’s been said by record labels and millions of fans that they are the best metal bands of all time.
1980’s
Despite their newfound fame in the late 1970s, they struggled. And it was not until 1980 did they hit major commercial success. It was the album British Steel that ultimately brought them the attention needed. To be one of the biggest metal bands in the world.
Over the years the band has seen a lot of turnovers. This includes drummers and even Rob Halford the singer in 1992. He was replaced with Tim “Ripper” Owens formerly of the band called Winter’s Bane in 1996. And was able to accomplish 2 albums with Judas Priest.
His career was not long-lived when Rob Halford returned to the band in 2003. Today the band members are Rob Halford Glenn Tipton on guitar and Richie Faulkner bassist Ian Hill. And an amazing timekeeper Scott Travis.
Best Selling Album
The best-selling album produced was Screaming for Vengeance, it was the commercial success brought by that album. The only two members to appear on all their albums are Glen Tipton and Ian Hill. In addition when you bring Halford’s operatic vocals and dual electric guitars you get a sound that becomes a profound influence on past and present metal bands.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
They used a lot of controversial clothing, spikes, and crazy taboo articles of clothing. And in the 1980s helped spark the glam metal era. Considering the decline in exposure in the 1990s Judas Priest has bounced back and seen a resurgence including touring the world. They were inducted into the VH1 Rock Honors in 2006 and received a Grammy Award for the Best Metal Performance in 2010. They even made the gaming world with games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band series. In the year 2022, they made their ultimate challenge reality by being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Rocka Rolla Album
Judas Priest went into the studio with Black Sabbath producer Roger Bain. The debut single “Rocka Rolla” in the month of August followed up with the entire album by September of the same year. That album was full of Rock, Heavy guitar riffs, and progressive styles. Judas Priest experienced technical issues with the recording of the album, and it made for poor sound quality The famous producer who worked with Black Sabbath and lots of other big names tried to make changes and the band did not agree with them and they ended up with a poor recording.
International Tour
They decided to take the album and do an international tour to help with the distribution and kicked it off in Germany, the Netherlands, and the rest of the world after that. They were damaged by negative reports from several local reviews from the press. The album was a complete flop from the time of its release. This caused the band to be in dire financial straits. They attempted to make a deal with Gull Records, but it was declined a decision they would regret.
Major label debut (1977–1979)
Judas Priest recorded a masterpiece when they came out with Sin After Sin in 1977 at The Who’s Ramport Studios with the Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover as the music producer. The album featured some significant techniques developed for heavy metal. This album was also the reason double-kick drumming was started. That is a metal thing as far as drumming, it is not used very often in other genres of music. The album also included a kick ass track called Diamonds & Rust that was written by a folk singer named Joan Baez. Sin After Sin was released in April 1977 It was their very first record deal with a major label CBS and it was the first of eleven to go gold
Mainstream success years (1979–1991)
After the making of the album Killing Machine in the year of 1978 ended up being the release of the worldwide tour “Unleashed In The East” It was the first of many to go platinum. The band was accused of using studio enhancements and over-dubbing and was said it was a live album. They continued with their antics and became increasingly progressively heavier. 1980 came and they released my favorite album British Steel This album was more mainstream and the songs were made shorter and the radio stations around the world all played hits like “United”, “Breaking the Law”, and “Living After Midnight” Then in 1981 they released Point of Entry and followed the same format.
1982 was a year to remember
1982 was a year to remember with Judas Priest because they mastered another album Screaming for Vengeance and the entire album was a fucking hit in the United States. Boy was it! It was also one of my major influences with electric guitar just like so many other guitarists today and to come. This was such a success it hit double platinum.
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