Living After Midnight All February long w/ JUDAS PRIEST BOTM!
01.31.17
That’s right Bangmasters, our band of the month for February is, JUDAS PRIEST! Here’s some cool information about the metal gods!
Judas Priest are a British heavy metal band formed in Birmingham, England, in 1969. The band has sold close to 50 million albums to date. MTV ranked them the second greatest metal band of all time. The band didn’t find commercial success or attention until 1980, when they adopted a more simplified sound on the album British Steel, which helped shoot them to rock superstar status.
Their image of leather, spikes, and other taboo articles of clothing were widely influential during the glam metal era of the 1980s. The Guardian referred to British Steel as the record that defines heavy metal. Despite a decline in exposure during the mid 1990s, the band has once again seen a resurgence, including worldwide tours, being inaugural inductees into the VH1 Rock Honors in 2006, receiving a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2010, and their songs featured in video games such as Guitar Hero and the Rock Band series.
Did You Know? Here are some interesting facts about JUDAS PRIEST!
-Their name came from the Bob Dylan song “The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest.” The phrase “Judas Priest” is also a bit of early movie and TV slang. It was uttered by actors onscreen as an alternative to saying “Jesus Christ” because the studios did not want to risk offending audience members.
-Halford is openly gay. He came out in 1998 at a time when many entertainers were reluctant to do so. Fans of the hard-rocking singer were shocked, but there was no backlash and the admission had little effect on his career.
-In 1986, two guys made a 15-minute video in the parking lot of a Judas Priest concert called Heavy Metal Parking Lot, which perfectly captures ’80s heavy metal culture and became a cult favorite in the days when viral videos were disseminated on VHS. You can see it at heavymetalparkinglot.com.
-Tim “Ripper” Owens (vocals,1996-2003) sang in a cover band before replacing Halford as lead singer. The 2001 movie Rock Star is loosely based on his life.
-The Judas Priest song “Electric Eye” was used in the temp score for Toy Story but was ultimately replaced by another piece of music.
-On January 5th 2014, the band appeared in the episode “Steal This Episode” of comedy cartoon show The Simpsons playing a parody of their song “Breaking the Law.” Their music was referred to as “death metal,” for which the producers subsequently apologized by having Bart Simpson write “Judas Priest is not ‘Death Metal'” in the opening sequence chalkboard gag.
-Halford filled in for Black Sabbath singers Ronnie James Dio and Ozzy Osbourne In 1992, Ozzy Osbourne announced a farewell tour after the critically acclaimed success of album ‘No More Tears.’ Bringing his career full circle, he invited former band Black Sabbath to open for him. The idea of this left Sabbath’s then-frontman Ronnie James Dio feeling uneasy, so he declined to participate with his bandmates. Sabbath then tapped Rob Halford to perform, making history with The Metal God at the helm.
-Halford listens to Ronnie James Dio before almost every Judas Priest show. (Rod Viper sings a mean Ronnie James Dio and Rob Halford)
Current band members:
Ian Hill – bass, backing vocals (1969–present)
Glenn Tipton – lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1974-present)
Rob Halford – lead vocals (1973–1992, 2003–present)
Scott Travis – drums (1989–present)
Richie Faulkner – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2011–present)
Top 10 iTunes
1. Breaking the Law
2. You’ve Got Another Thing Coming
3. Painkiller
4. Living After Midnight
5. Electric Eye
6. Heading Out to the Highway
7. Turbo Lover
8. Screaming for Vengeance
9. Hell Bent for Leather
10. Victim of Changes
Some of our fav’s
1. Diamonds and Rust
2. Judas Rising
3. Ram It Down
4. Locked In
5. Nightcrawler
6. The Hellion/Electric Eye
7. You’ve Got Another Thing Coming
8. Turbo Lover
9. Hell Patrol
10. Blood Red Skies