Greg Prato of Songfacts spoke with Judas Priest members Rob Halford (vocals) Glenn Tipton (guitar) and Richie Faulkner (guitar). Excerpts from the interview appear below.
Songfacts: How does the songwriting work in Judas Priest?
Glenn Tipton: It can be anywhere around. What we normally do is go and get our own bunch of ideas together and then we meet up, throw it into the pot and see what comes out. When the room lights up, we’re onto something – we usually end up with a great song.
So it’s very exciting with Judas Priest, because you go to a writing session with nothing and you never know what you’re going to come away with. It can be a riff that sets off somebody else’s train of thought or it can be a vocal line, or a lyric, or title, or it can even be a riff. And suddenly, a song takes shape. It’s amazing the way it does. Like a jigsaw puzzle, it just all falls into place.
Rob Halford: You start the day with nothing and then you end up with something that’s going to be around longer than you are. The most amazing part of being in any band, I think, is the creative process and seeing what you’ve got left.
Some days, you’ve got nothing. Some weeks you’ve got nothing. But in the general sense of the word, when we would get together there’d always be a spark, so that you’d have a reference to go back to the next day or maybe a week later.
You can’t rush writing music, because if you do rush it, it generally just only has that sense. Some songs will come together very, very simply, but generally, the ones that are really well composed do take a lot of thought, especially when you’ve got hundreds and hundreds of songs already in the vault that are established and part of your repertoire. You’re always trying to better yourself in that respect, so it isn’t easy. It’s not easy, especially 40 years later.
Songfacts: I could imagine.
Rob: Yeah. That’s why I’m so proud of this record. It’s not just another Priest record. It’s a very strong classic metal statement from the band.
Songfacts: Let’s discuss the title track of Redeemer of Souls.
Rob: It’s another song of empowerment for me in the lyrical message. It’s got the little bit of the fantasy element, creating a figure, this redeemer of souls.
What is he? He’s not a destructive guy, he’s coming to bring that redemption with metal, and I think that’s a very iconic type of representation for Judas Priest.
The whole song for me is very unique in its sound and what’s coming through the speakers. If you’re a Priest fan, you go, “That’s my band. That’s why I love this kind of music.” And the statement is there in the four minutes that you hear, and this is what I want from Priest in 2014.
Glenn: I just think it typifies Priest. The rhythm of it is very reminiscent of things we’ve done before. We haven’t tried to repeat anything – it’s just what comes naturally from us.
That’s what I like about that song: it’s a very natural Judas Priest song. And I love the high noon reference, as well, which to me typifies that god, half-molten metal, half-human walking down some sort of deserted cowboy town with tumbleweeds and dust and dirt. That’s the picture it conjures up for me.
Rob: I was thinking Cowboys & Aliens [a 2011 film about a spaceship that lands in the Old West]. Everybody thought that movie sucked and I loved it!
Richie: To me, Redeemer of Souls, the title track, it came about very naturally, as the guys have said. It’s instantly Judas Priest as soon as it comes in. It does have elements of earlier Priest, as they order it. It’s the same band. It’s very instant and very direct. It’s simple, but it’s what you’d expect from a Judas Priest song. It was the first song that got put out to the public just to let you know that Priest is back and this is what it’s about, really.
Songfacts: One of my favorite older Judas Priest songs is Dissident Aggressor. How did you come up with that title?
Rob: It’s about the Berlin Wall in 1970 something or other. I couldn’t sleep, so I went out for a walk. I went to the Berlin Wall and I walked up on top of a boxy-looking post thing.
Glenn: A watchtower-type thing.
Rob: Watchtower thing. It was in November, it was freezing cold, and I was looking over from West Berlin, which is all brightly lit up – pubs were up and everything. And the East side was just dead. It was pitch black, no lights were on, and there were these Russian guys looking back at me in binoculars. That was the seed for what that song talks about, about “I know what I am in Berlin.”
Read more at Songfacts.
Judas Priest’s new album, Redeemer of Souls, is available for purchase today (July 8th).
source: songfacts.com
18 Responses
Dissident Aggressor, from the Sin After Sin album: Now THAT is a classic album. Isn’t great that that album is a legendary piece of heavy metal history and it was released in 1977 and now here we are in 2014 and Priest are still going strong and are about to release a new album and go around the world again to spread the joy of metal?
ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY JUDAS PRIEST!
Glenn nailed it – “it’s just what comes naturally from us”, exactly! Fuck “experiments”, I hate when band experiment. Stick with what works, it’s not “playing it safe”, it’s playing it right. If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it! Judas Priest has the formula that works, and Redeemer Of Souls has all the ingredients that makes that formula work!
Went To NYC to CD signing. Rob, Glenn and Richie were really friendly and interacted with the crowd. They all shook hands with everyone and Richie mocked my Bronx accent and Halford liked my (THE) WHO shirt. Halford thanked everyone for buying REDEEMER OF SOULS. It was a very positive experience for me and thank you Dana and Eddie for advertising in advance. You guys sing Rob’s praises and he came across as a good guy. I’m glad I have all of their CDs, cassettes and records. Money well spent. Now as for REDEEMER, it is very solid. I’m thinking STAINED GLASS with a touch of PAINKILLER. Scott Travis is a top drummer and kicks ass on this one. Typical PRIEST with a 2014 production quality. STATEN ISLAND CLOWN, I say go for it, I know you love PRIEST. If any other bloggers were there, I was the guy who looks like Ted Kennedy with (THE) WHO shirt on. Good to see you guys.
STAINED CLASS, sorry.
Ted Kennedy at 40, not now obviously.
You’re lucky Richman, wish I was able to make it there, but unfortunately I wasn’t. But October is only 3 months away! BTW, I’m a Who fan too! 🙂
I think in ten years I’ll see “Redeemer Of Souls” as a classic.
Amen to what both of you guys said above!!