JUDAS PRIEST ANNOUNCE 50 HEAVY METAL YEARS TOUR 2020

One of heavy metal’s all-time greats, Judas Priest will be celebrating their 50th anniversary this year with a world tour coming to the US in the fall. The 50 Heavy Metal Years Tour will also feature Sabaton as openers and is being fueled by the highest charting album of Priest’s career ‘Firepower’ which peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200.

“Judas Priest are primed and ready to deliver the goods with our 50 Heavy Metal Years anniversary celebration stage show spectacular! Performing a blistering cross section of songs from our lives in metal - we can't wait to raise horns with you again at this once in a metal lifetime event!” - Judas Priest

Judas Priest originally formed in 1970 in Birmingham, England (an area that many feel birthed heavy metal). The original nucleus of musicians - Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, KK Downing & Ian Hill (along with several different drummers over the years) would go on to change the face of heavy metal. Throughout the 70's Priest were responsible for helping trail blaze metal with such classic offerings as ‘Sad Wings of Destiny’ (1976) ‘Sin After Sin’ (1977) and ‘Hell Bent for Leather’ (1978) as well as one of the genre’s top live recordings ‘Unleashed in the East’ (1979) among others.

But it was during the 80's that Priest conquered the world, becoming a global arena headliner on the strength of such all-time classics as ‘British Steel’ (1980) and ‘Screaming for Vengeance’ (1982), as well as being one of the first metal bands to be embraced by the then-burgeoning MTV, plus performing at some of the decades biggest concerts (1980’s Monsters of Rock, 1983’s US Festival, and 1985’s Live Aid) and being the first to exclusively wear leather and studs – a look that began during this era and would eventually be embraced by metal heads throughout the world. Priest’s success continued throughout the 90's and beyond with the addition of drummer Scott Travis, as evidenced by such additional stellar offerings as ‘Painkiller’ (1990) ‘Angel of Retribution’ (2005) and ‘A Touch of Evil: Live’ (2009) the latter of which saw Priest win a Grammy Award for a killer rendition of the classic 'Dissident Aggressor'

In 2011 new guitarist Richie Faulkner came in to replace the previous guitarist who had left in 2010 - the move seemed to have reinvigorated the band, as evidenced by a show-stealing performance on the 'American Idol' TV program that also served as Faulkner's debut performance with the band (also in 2011 was the release of a new compilation 'The Chosen Few' which included Priest classics selected by some of metal's biggest names) and the 'Epitaph' concert DVD in 2013.

Priest’s next studio effort would arrive in 2014 ‘Redeemer of Souls’ which was supported by another strong tour.

In 2017 (and again in 2019) Judas Priest received a nomination for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and got ready to unleash their latest studio album ‘Firepower’ (produced by Andy Sneap and Tom Allom) which received global success and critical acclaim.

Few rock or metal acts remain as much of a must-see live attraction as Judas Priest. And the forthcoming 50 Heavy Metal Years Tour will undoubtedly drive this point home.

CONFIRMED TOUR DATES:
   
9/9/2020 in Oxon Hill, MD at MGM National Harbor
9/11/2020 in Uniondale, NY at Nassau Coliseum
9/12/2020 in Ledyard, CT at Foxwoods Casino Arena
9/14/2020 in Philadelphia, PA at The Mann Center
9/15/2020 in Newark, NJ at Prudential Center
9/17/2020 in Charlotte, NC at PNC Music Pavilion
9/18/2020 in Orlando, FL at Central Florida Fair - Rebel Rock Fest
9/21/2020 in Grand Rapids, MI at Van Andel Arena
9/23/2020 in Detroit, MI at Fox Theatre
9/24/2020 in Youngstown, OH at Covelli Centre
9/26/2020 in Chicago, IL at Rosemont Theatre
9/27/2020 in Minneapolis, MN at The Armory
9/29/2020 in Milwaukee, WI at Miller High Life Theatre
9/30/2020 in St. Louis, MO at Saint Louis Music Park
10/2/2020 in Oklahoma City, OK at The Zoo Amphitheatre
10/3/2020 in Dallas, TX at Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
10/5/2020 in Austin, TX at HEB Center
10/6/2020 in San Antonio, TX at Freeman Coliseum
10/8/2020 in Albuquerque, NM at Sandia Resort and Casino
10/9/2020 in Denver, CO at The Mission Ballroom
10/11/2020 in Salt Lake City, UT at Vivint Smart Home Arena 
10/13/2020 in Phoenix, AZ at Arizona Federal Theatre
10/15/2020 in Los Angeles, CA at Microsoft Theater
10/17/2020 in Las Vegas, NV at Zappos Theatre at Planet Hollywood

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT: judaspriest.com

Author John Tucker on This Weeks Focus on Metal

Episode 44 - From Rocka Rolla to Painkiller

Author John Tucker joins us this week to discuss his latest book “Judas Priest, Every Album Every Song, from Rocka Rolla to Painkiller”. 

f you’re interested in John’s history and to see some more of his books or photography head over to JohnTuckerOnline.co.uk

Classic Priest

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Review - "Battle Cry" Judas Priest (Epic 2016)

This one was actually on my list of metal DVDs to purchase and it was even on my Amazon wish list so it was nice when the DVD version of this showed up in the post courtesy of a very cool PR guy.
Having seen this tour live when they passed through town I was very much looking forward to revisiting a great concert experience albeit on a much larger scale. I was not disappointed.

First off the sound mixes on this are awesome. The 5:1 mix is truly ball rattling and the Dolby surround mix ups the ante even more. The one dig I'll give on the mix is that Rob's vocals are a bit buried. I mean you can hear them but damn it's the metal god those pipes should be front and center.
What was front and center was Richie Faulkner. This DVD really shows off how well this guy has fit in with the band and also the energy he brings live. This is exactly what we experienced when we saw them live as well. Richie is just having a blast and it's obvious that Glenn is more than happy to hang back a bit and let him shine.

The tracklist on this is flawless. The Priest always make sure to feature new stuff live and this tour didn't let up on that. The show recorded live at Wacken in August of 2015 features five tracks off of Redeemer of Souls. Add to that all the classics (ok not all of them this is Priest) and you have a killer ninety plus minutes of pure metal. They also throw in three bonus tracks from a show in Poland. So a total of twenty most excellent Priest performances.

There's a spot towards the end of the show where there's a teenage fan right at the rail and he's just bawling his eyes out. This kid is just overwhelmed with the emotions of seeing Priest live. That about sums up this DVD. We are really in a great time for metal DVDs and this is another great one. Just crank this up and be overwhelmed by the majesty that is Judas Priest. Considering that most of those guys are getting up there in years its amazing to watch BLAZE through Painkiller and still come back and finish with Living After Midnight.

Do yourself and your metal ear and eye holes a favor and get yourself a copy of "Battle Cry".

Review - Judas Priest "Defenders of The Faith 30th Anniversary Edition" (Columbia/Legacy)

It's hard to believe that Judas Priest's classic "Defenders of The Faith" is thirty years old. It's amazing, thirty years since the Metallian became a part of the metal landscape. Not only that but a lot of the tracks from that album continue to be favorites of the faithful and fixtures of Priest's live set. With "Screaming for Vengeance" being such an insanely strong album these guys had a huge mountain to climb in regards to the followup for that album and Defenders delivered. To celebrate this thirty year milestone on March 10th Columbia/Legacy will be releasing a three CD expanded version including the original disc completely remastered by Tom Allom.

Although the release isn't out until March 10th Columbia/Legacy kindly allowed Focus on Metal to have a preview of the upcoming release and here's the lowdown. Thankfully Tom didn't do anything in the remaster that bows down at the altar of modern recording. There's no massive increase in Ian's bass and the drums have not been kicked up to Slayer levels. The focus remains exactly where the focus on the original mix was set. Tom was the original producer of Defenders and he clearly knows he got it right the first time. I do hear small tweaks though. Rob's vocals now have a bit more reverb/chorusing on them. I'm not sure the average person would realize it and that's the beauty of what Tom has done here. Of course when you are reviewing a release you tend to really listen to everything so you do pick up the small stuff. There's also a lot more mid presence on the remaster. Priest has always been a metal band that not afraid to embrace the middle of the EQ curve and what Tom has done here in that regard makes it all sound fresh and powerful. As far as the remaster is concerned I'll give it a solid 10 out of 10. Definitely feels like putting on a comfortable guitar and discovering it still has some great riffs in it.

1.   Freewheel Burning

2.   Jawbreaker

3.   Rock Hard Ride Free

4.   The Sentinel

5.   Love Bites

6.   Eat Me Alive

7.   Some Heads Are Gonna Roll

8.   Night Comes Down

9.   Heavy Duty

10. Defenders of the Faith

Discs two and three are a live recording from the Long Beach Arena, May 5th 1984. This date was very far into the tour for Defenders which kicked off in Demnmark on January 20th (following a mini tour of the UK in December). Priest played two nights in Long Beach and this show is from the second night. For metal heads that have come up in the last ten years the most amazing thing tho point out about this live set is that Priest played eight of the ten tracks from the new disc. With the exception of Maiden that's almost unheard of  from a veteran band. In fact the only track they didn't play on the tour at all was Eat Me Alive. These guys could go out and play this set as is today and I'm sure most Priest fans would come away extremely happy. I've long had a bootleg version of this show and i have to say that the quality on this release is far above what I've heard previously. This may become THE Priest live album. I think they could easily just release this on its own andPriest fans would buy it.

CD2 Live at Long Beach Arena, California 5^th May 1984 

1.   Love Bites

2.   Jawbreaker

3.   Grinder

4.   Metal Gods

5.   Breaking the Law

6.   Sinner

7.   Desert Plains

8.   Some Heads Are Gonna Roll

9.   The Sentinel 

10. Rock Hard Ride Free

CD3 Live at Long Beach Arena, California 5^th May 1984 

1.   Night Comes Down

2.  The Hellion

3.   Electric Eye

4.   Heavy Duty

5.   Defenders of the Faith

6.   Freewheel Burning 

7.   Victim of Changes

8.   The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)

9.   Living After Midnight

10. Hell Bent For Leather

11. You’ve Got Another Thing Coming

So audio wise this thing is a steal for the price they are charging. Having recently spent thirty dollars for a remaster/special edition of an album who's first word is Love and second word is Gun I feel pretty good about saying that this is far and above the real value for your metal dollar. Twenty bucks for three incredible discs of classic Priest audio. I should also mention that I have only been able to listen to the digital version of this so far.I'm quite sure that when my pre-ordered physical copy rolls in I'm going to be an even happier camper.

Since I've only had access to the digital copy I haven't been able to see all the packaging but I will say that the cover treatment looks great as you can see above. I expect the rest of the package will also be damn cool.

So clearly what are you waiting for? Order up your own copy of the deluxe expanded version of Defenders of The Faith and bask in the audio glory that is classic Priest.

Who can forget the immortal words inscribed on the back of the original release, "Rising from darkness where Hell hath no mercy and the screams for vengeance echo on forever. Only those who keep the faith shall escape the wrath of the Metallian... Master of all metal."

This package easily gets two horns up and a total 10 out of 10. Priest remain as always, Master of all metal.

http://judaspriest.com/

https://twitter.com/judaspriest

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialJudasPriest

JUDAS PRIEST UNLEASH TASTER FROM THEIR 17TH ALBUM, 'REDEEMER OF SOULS'

***IMAGE IS SINGLE (NOT ALBUM) ARTWORK*** For U.S. fans of Judas Priest that simply cannot wait for the July 15th release date of their latest classic metal album, 'Redeemer of Souls,' there is some relief on the way. On Tuesday, April 29th, the title track from the album will be available for purchase via iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/redeemer-of-souls-single/id863086125) and other digital service providers. And a clip of the song (plus the single's artwork) is now available to sample at the band's website, www.judaspriest.com. If you are wondering what to expect from the mighty Priest on their forthcoming album, guitarist Glenn Tipton has set the record straight. "Sometimes in the past we may have come under fire for being too adventurous musically - so we have listened!! From start to finish 'Redeemer of Souls' is 13 songs of pure classic Priest metal!!" There are only a select number of bands that have accomplished what Judas Priest has throughout their career (as well as having served as a stylistic influence on such a wide variety of bands). Soon the group - singer Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill and drummer Scott Travis - will be offering up more classic Judas Priest metal with the release of 'Redeemer of Souls' FOR FURTHER INFORMATION VISIT: www.judaspriest.com www.facebook.com/OfficialJudasPriest