Judas Priest Albums for song lyrics and biography.

Judas Priest is a heavy metal band formed from Birmingham, England. It was formed by Ken "KK" Downing and Ian Hill. The band's classic line-up consists of vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton, and Ian Hill on bass guitar. They epitomize the classic heavy metal genre, particularly the NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) movement, and have influenced hundreds of musicians and bands. Their popularity and influence earned them the nickname "The Metal Gods". One of the originators of heavy metal, Judas Priest are best known for their twin-lead-guitar sound and the complex guitar duets of K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton. Rob Halford's high-pitched screams, and lead vocals were also well known. However, the band's biggest musical innovation is the dual 'rhythm guitar', which is the accompaniment, or riff, which plays an essential role in all hard rock genres and especially in heavy metal. Although Wishbone Ash and The Scorpions have had two guitarists each and to some extent did play harmonies and dual leads prior to Judas Priest, none had played dual rhythm consistently as an integral part of their music. Dual rhythm consists of two guitarists playing the same exact melody (riff) simultaneously, often on the same exact octave, which is slightly different from traditional harmonies. There may be minor differences in sound, tone, tenacity, and an occasional deviation from the melody for a very short period. Since Judas Priest introduced this new style of rhythm guitar with their first release "Rocka Rolla", it has become a standard feature of heavy metal. Another important aspect of their style is inserting very melodic solos, or "lead breaks", between fast riffs. This is best displayed in "The Sentinel", "Electric Eye", "Night Crawler", and "Hellrider".

Many people, including influential musicians and members of prominent hard rock and heavy metal bands, believe that the foundation for what would define "pure" heavy metal were three early Judas Priest albums Sad Wings of Destiny, Sin After Sin, and Stained Class. The band played louder and faster than most rock groups at the time and brought a more "metallic" sound to their guitars. The songs varied from extremely simple and straightforward tunes such as "The Ripper", "One For The Road", and "Starbreaker", to fairly structured. Judas Priest's guitars often changed from fast and loud to slower tempo and softer tunes in one song, such as in "Victim Of Changes", "Run Of The Mill", and "Beyond The Realms Of Death".

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The album Killing Machine (retitled Hell Bent for Leather in the US) saw a slight change of direction towards shorter, more "poppy" or "Americanized" songs, especially lyrically. The following release, British Steel took an even sharper turn in the same direction, and was perhaps the first heavy metal album to record radio-friendly songs with pop hooks, in a concise format, pioneering an approach used by many others to taste commercial success, such as Quiet Riot, Dokken, Twisted Sister, Accept, and Def Leppard. All of them used dual lead guitar. However, Priest are perhaps the only one of these bands to retain a definite heavy metal sound, despite the commercial twist to it. Songs like "Living After Midnight" and "Breaking the Law" are excellent examples of this style.

Judas Priest next album, Point of Entry, is harder to define - the sound was very "raw" and the songs were somewhat moody, and paced at a slower than usual tempo. Subsequent albums Screaming for Vengeance and Defenders of the Faith once again set high standards in intensity and production, and continued to influence the sonic shape of heavy metal. Turbo found the group introducing a "synth-guitar" sound to their metal template, but Painkiller found them successfully exploring speed metal. Their latest release, Angel of Retribution also contributed to the current revival of classic heavy metal, after the fade of grunge, alternative, thrash, indie and other temporary trends. It contains songs in their classic style like "Judas Rising" and "Hellrider", as well as mid-tempo songs with clear and prominent drums and less prominent guitars in "Worth Fighting For", "Wheels Of Fire", a ballad, and an over 12 minute epic - something they haven't done since their concert in the early 70'es.

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Judas Priest have influenced countless musicians in three musical generations, both in sound, technique and image. Many bands including Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Children of Bodom, Dokken, Helloween, Stratovarius, Poison, Napalm Death, Dream Theater and Pantera cite Judas Priest as an influence.

K.K. Kenneth Downing and Ian Hill knew each other almost since birth, as they lived nearby, attended the same nursery and school. Their friendship drew closer in their early teens as they shared similar musical interests, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, and the Yardbirds, and both started to learn playing an instrument.

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In 1970 a fairly well known local ensemble named Judas Priest broke up and the band's singer, Alan Atkins, approached Downing and Hill who accepted him as their singer and adopted his former band's name. With Downing in control, the band moved swiftly from their original bluesy tunes towards what later would be defined as heavy metal. This trio, with various drummers, continued extensive touring of Birmingham and the surrounding areas, sometimes supporting Budgie, Thin Lizzy and Trapeze, until 1974. Financical difficulties and problems with their management, Tony Iommi's company, IMA, lead to Alan Atkins' and drummer Alan Moore's departures. At the time, Ian Hill was dating a girl who suggested her brother as singer. Robert Halford was admitted in the band, and brought with him drummer John Hinch from his previous band Hiroshima. This line-up toured heavily in the UK, often supporting Budgie, and even headlining some shows in Norway and Germany.

Before the band entered the studio to record their first album, the record company suggested another musician should join them. Reluctant to add an organ or trumpet player, Downing settled on another guitarist, and Flying Hat Band's Glenn Tipton was admited to Judas Priest. According to the band, there were some technical problems during recording, but the record company refused to address them, and their debut album "Rocka Rolla" suffered of horrible sound quality. Management problems also prevailed. According to the band, producer Rodger Bain, (Black Sabbath) had too big a say in the production of the album. He left out stage classics "Tyrant", "Genocide", "The Ripper" and "Caviar And Meths". "Caviar And Meths" was cut from an 8 minute song to a 2 minute instrumental. With their next album the band had gained some more experience and confidence, fully participating in the production, as well as chosing the producers. The result was "Sad Wings Of Destiny", considered a cornerstone of heavy metal. This album featured mostly old material, including the aforementioned stage favorites and an epic "Victim Of Changes", which combined "Whiskey Woman", a stage classic since the era of the first Judas Priest (Al Atkins' band) and "Red Light Lady" brought by Halford from his previous group Hiroshima. All these songs are now considered to epitomize the very essence of heavy metal. With this line-up, Judas Priest recorded twelve studio and two concert albums to different degrees of critical and financial success. Overall, the band has sold in excess of 35 million albums globally.

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After the end of their highly acclaimed and successful "Painkiller" tour, Halford left Judas Priest due to several years of internal tensions in the band. Rumors started to circulate as early as 1991, although Halford collaborated with the band in the release of a compilation album entitled "Metal Works: '73-'93" to commemorate their 20th anniversary. He also appeared in a video by the same title, documenting their history. His departure from the band was officially announced later that year. Tim "The Ripper" Owens, who had previously sung in a Judas Priest tribute band, was hired as Judas Priest's singer. Owens' story of turning from fan to frontman were the inspiration for the film Rock Star, although Owens did not actually participate in the production of the movie. This line up released two albums, "Jugulator" and "Demolition". Critics and fans alike accused Judas Priest of "selling out" - following the current trends of thrash metal and grunge. The band vehemently denied following any trends, claiming that they were simply sounding "up to date" and "keeping up with the jones". However, very few material from these albums was played live, and in concert it sounded much more like thier traditional rock style.

After almost twelve years apart, Judas Priest and original lead vocalist Rob Halford announced their reunion in 2003. They immediately embarked on a live concert tour in 2004, and co-headlined the 2004 Ozzfest, being named as the "premier act" by almost all U.S. media coverage of the event. Both tours were extremely successful. A new studio album, Angel of Retribution, was released in March 2005 on Sony/Epic to critical and commercial success. A global tour in support of the album is currently underway. Judas Priest and 'Ripper' Owens parted amicably, and Owens is now the singer of Iced Earth.

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In 1990, Judas Priest was involved in a civil action that alleged they were responsible for the suicide attempts in 1985 of two Nevada boys, James Vance and Ray Belknap. Belknap died instantly by shooting himself in the face with a sawed off shotgun, and Vance also shot at himself, only severely disfiguring his face in the attempt. He died three years after the incident. The plaintiffs alleged a subliminal message of "do it" had been included in the song "Better by You Better Than Me" which triggered the suicide attempt. The suit was eventually dismissed on its merits, as the band had pointed out that if you were to play any song backwards and tell someone there was a message, it'll sound as though there actually is. In a television interview, Judas Priest members commented that if they wanted to insert subliminal commands in their music, killing their fans would be counterproductive, and they would prefer to insert the command "Buy more of our records."

In 1998, Halford revealed his homosexuality in an interview on MTV. His sexuality was known to the rest of the band and came as little surprise to fans. The response from the heavy metal community has been widely accepting. In August 2002 PETA sent the band's management a request to stop wearing leather onstage, as the production of leatherwear involves cruelty to animals. Judas Priest responded that they wear artificial leather, but PETA still protested that this could encourage listeners to wear real leather.