Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton was a guest on Eddie’s Sirius/XM’s Trunk Nation radio show on October 27th. Highlights from the interview appear below and has been transcribed exclusively for EddieTrunk.com.
Discussing the legacy of Defenders Of The Faith, which is celebrating its 30 anniversary:
“I think with the success of Screaming For Vengeance, you look at our other albums and you tend to think that perhaps they didn’t reach the market screaming. But in retrospect, a lot of people came back and said, Ram It Down was a great album, Defenders was a great album. Everyone of our albums, I think has some gems on there. The album itself might not be the strongest of all the Priest albums, but its got good songs to offer. A good example is Point Of Entry. I know people weren’t sure about that album when it first came out but it’s got Hot Rockin’ on there, its got Solar Angels and its got Desert Plains. So, if we didn’t experiment a little bit, we wouldn’t have those Priest classics. So, it’s all about trying to push the borders and boundaries further apart and that’s what we have always tried to do.”
Speaking about Turbo being very experimental at the time when it was released in 1986:
“Yes, Turbo, again, was experimental which is what we love to do and we brought in synth guitars. People didn’t exactly condemn us for that, but they didn’t quite understand what we were trying to do at that time. Not everybody, but some people sort of said, ‘Oh, we’re not sure about the synth guitars.’ But then, of course, other people started to use them. When you hear us play Turbo [Lover], even now, and we’re playing it in the set at the moment, it’s one of the strongest songs in the set and everyone sings along with it. So, you’ve got to keep on experimenting and trying different things and going down different paths. But…the songs will always have the character of Judas Priest and that’s the most important thing.”
Talking about Rob Halford’s voice still being strong after all these years:
“It’s amazing….Rob couldn’t be singing better. I don’t know how he does it, really. He’s not a youngster anymore, but he can still hit those high notes. His voice is as strong as ever. But working with him on the album [Redeemer Of Souls], I noticed how strong his voice still is, it’s phenomenal how his voice has held up throughout the years. He’s in tremendous form.”
On where the next generation of iconic, great classic bands will come from:
“I think probably naturally evolution will solve that problem. There’s a lot of great bands out there. I do believe that everything goes in circles and I see a return to that classic style of metal. I think everybody..branches off, they experiment and they try different paths to go down and that’s great offshoots of metal. Even if you go back to Punk, Death Metal or Black Metal, it’s just people experimenting, but it usually finds its way back to the mainstream of what is [classic] heavy metal. Actually, there are some very talented musicians out there and great bands. I think maybe some of them have yet to find themselves and it does take some time to do that sometimes. But, I am sure that void will be filled…I don’t believe in life without metal.”
Answering whether or not he saw K.K. Downing’s recent comments wishing the band luck:
“No, I didn’t no….[But], that’s really nice. It’s really nice of him.”
Discussing what he will do if and when the band ever decides to retire:
Glenn: “I like to travel a lot. I am also a home[body]. I love the country life. I like the countryside. I like animals. I’ve got lots of interests. I even make and crash model airplanes…I’ve got a few weird interests Eddie.”
Eddie: “Wait, you make airplanes and then crash them??”
Glenn: “Well, I’m trying to fly them and then crash them….model helicopters. I am not a successful pilot, I’m afraid. They don’t usually last many seconds. Hours of work for seconds of destruction. There’s a good title for the next Priest album….”
Glen should be celebrated as one of the ICON’s of Metal. He is criminally underrated as both a song writer and a guitarist. I just saw Priest last week in SC, and they totally kicked ass! Glen and the boys were in top form, and the place was ROCKING!! I have seen them several times over the years, and they have never let me down! REDEEMER OF SOULS is one of their best albums, and everyone needs to be checking it out!
Keith, couldn’t agree with you more. In my mind, he was a far better player than Eddie Van Halen or any of those other guys. He’s ALWSYS been my guitar hero and THE reason I picked up guitar in the first place, when I saw the YGATC video on eMpTyV back in 82. Glenn came first, when these guys were still drawing with crayons. Show me ANY solo that surpasses those that Glenn created for Beyond the Realms of Death or All Guns Blazing. It’s impossible.
“I DON’T BELIEVE IN LIFE WITHOUT METAL”. After the interview, Glenn goes home and turns on “make believe ballroom time” by the Glenn miller orchestra.
glenn is my all time favorite guitar player. the twin axe attack of him and k.k. is what got me into the priest and why i picked up a guitar. as a matter of fact, when i was a senior in high school back in 1991, i custom ordered a black hamer guitar with the mirrored pick guard and maple neck just like glenn’s. Price? $1600. That was alot of flipping chicken since i worked at kfc at the time. lol. of course my parents weren’t exactly thrilled with my purchase though. haha. but glenn is a true gentlemen and would love it if he could appear on TMS.
I don’t believe in men without hats
Wait, is this the “real” Elliot? 😉
Absolutely the most underrated guitarist in history. His influences are so deep, he is a first generation metal guitarist, so he harkens back to the blues concept of headcutting. Listen to the primal force of his solos, this more than just being clever. They are like an epiphenomenon, rather than self referencing love notes. That attitude is always there, no matter what technique he employs. This is a direct effect of the blues. He has such a vast pool of musical languages to draw from: the blues, and its macro realizability : the deep South of America, England, and Chicago. He has a tunefulness of the big band jazz era horn players…The blueprint for his songs are very much of the Pete Townshend school of both composition and rhythm guitar. His rhythm guitar playing is as good as Townshend’s. Now, he covers all the bases, except this one crazy corner, that being the Hendrix psychedelic explosions of molecular chaos….hence Mr. Downing. The bedrock of that rhythm section was another epiphenomenon. Then put the Lawrence Olivier of metal, the great dramatist, who could out sing everybody: notes opera singers can’t hit with the grit and believability of the blues singers, is there anyone as convincing as Rob Halford? He could sing the dictionary and make it sound Shakespearean. The best band in history, and they were ours.
I think part of the reason he’s underrated is because in the guitar player polls half the fans would vote for Glenn and half for K.K. There is no singular Jimmy Page or Ritchie Blackmore type of guitar hero in Priest because they have two guitar gods. Glenn & K.K. were the best tandem ever, IMHO.
You are exactly right. And it is unfortunate. If people would step back and look at things objectively, they would see that his position in Priest shouldn’t count against him. This is no slight on KK, KK actually does some things Glenn can’t….think about that for a second. But goodness, if any hot shot guitar player emerged who played like Glenn back in the day, the press would have been falling over themselves in their praise…And the thing with Glenn, he kept upping his game, every single album…The lead guitar work in “All Guns Blazing,” is a perfect example, that is an up-ratchet, that is, in technique and format, on not only his work, but everyone else’s….It’s almost criminal this guy doesn’t get the proper recognition.
100% agree on your assessment of the tandem question. Maiden gets more accolades because they employ more double guitar parts, more harmonies, etc. But Priest has always had the quality over quantity axiom. So, when they did do counterpoint, or harmony, it was at a much higher level of musicality. Not to mention their great duels. It’s not even a close call is it? Thin Lizzy would be my second choice, Maiden comes in at number three.
That’s a really tough question, to pick “the best” tandem between KK/Glenn and Adrian/Dave (sorry Janick, you came along too late and I just can’t put you in the same category). I do think if you had to pick THE definitive classic metal guitar duo it has to be between Priest and Maiden. I think Smith and Murray have the edge in melody and perhaps “musicality” – probably due to using more 2 line harmonies, but Glenn and KK are more “metal”, aggressive, and do the “dueling solos” like no other. Which is not to say they don’t have their melodic moments, they certainly do. I’d also say I think Glenn and KK’s (and I guess Ritchie too) boundaries are wider. They can comfortably do everything from bluesy prog rock to borderline thrash metal – and they have. Maybe Maiden’s duo can too, but I don’t think they’ve pushed the envelope of their sound as far as Priest has over the years.
Well, put up anything on Defenders’ side 1 against Maiden and I don’t think it’s even a close call. On that album’s first side they made a deliberate move to answer Maiden. Maiden does employ more double guitar parts, but some of them are so elementary and ill-fitting. In other words, they’re these very odd, progressive rock melodies. They repeat themselves a lot too. Priest had a higher editing standard. Plus, there’s just the flat out chops of KK and Glenn. Priest really understood the American psyche as well, but always put a European flavor to it…kind of like this smokin’ hot Russian gal I met, when she would do that fake American accent…I better stop. But the analogy I think applies to Priest’s music.
Quite frankly, you can’t compare the two bands, because they incorporate such different approaches to the dual guitar system. Priest was my favorite band growing up, Maiden was a close 2nd, and although I’ll get scorched for this, Maiden wins this battle hands down if based purely on talent. Murray and Smith are two of the top players in metal, period. Adrian Smith is unlike any other player out there. His ability to pull notes from seemingly out of the air is unchallenged. Probably the most underrated player to date. Glen and KK are great players, Glen especially. But their technique as players was not as pure as Smith and Murray. But Glen and KK made up for it by their seemingly telepathic ability to play together. KK was not as strong a player as Glen. Whereas Murray and Smith are equally talented, but in different ways. If you play guitar, you know a Glen solo from a KK solo. Whereas with Maiden, it wasn’t as easy to figure out. Defenders is the definitive Metal album and the solos are just as important as Halford’s voice on that album – which is saying something. Perhaps Priest were better at creating memorable solos (ie. Screaming for Vengeance). But from a pure technical basis, its not even close in my opinion.
You’re telling me that the solos for “Electric Eye,” “Freewheel Burning,” and “Reckless,” “Wild Nights” are easier to play than anything Maiden does? I play, I can play Adrian and Dave’s stuff, no freaking way can I pull off Glenn’s or KK’s. Adrian is a very tasteful player…but goodness, I need a quiet lie down .
Like I said, they’re great players, Glen especially. But if Wild Nights is an example of a classic Priest solo, you’ve proven my point. Maiden’s newer material if full of incredible playing, and I’ll even include Janick in that, even though I don’t need him in Maiden. Even go to the more classic Maiden stuff. Pull off either players’ solos in Aces High, especially Dave’s. KK’s fingers don’t work that fast and Glen was never a speed soloist, which makes him a great player as he is more melodic – similar to Adrian Smith but not as creative. Again, I don’t want to downplay the guitars in Priest, they’re my favorite band. But if you really know your playing, you’re not going to argue the point. However if memory serves me correct Shannon, you also think Dave Holland was Priest’s best drummer. Or at least better than Scott Travis.
Holland is a great drummer. If he’s so bad then why does Travis emulate his style on those songs? But that is not even relevant to the discussion. We’re talking guitarists. I play myself…and I can play Maiden’s leads. Murray does very fast trills, much like Iommi. those are difficult, but the degree of which is nothing like the maneuvering Glenn does. Never a speed soloist? Those incredibly fast picking, not cheating either, he picks all of them, runs he does, with those very intricate arpeggios? Neither Dave nor Adrian have the kind of technical ability Glenn has. KK, you don’t like the “Wild Nights” solo, I think it’s very cool, he always plays something off the beaten path…DR Maiden’s guitar work isn’t even in the same league as Priest’s. They are not even close. Maiden did some very cool sounding stuff, but they never raised the bar in the guitar solo stakes like Priest. “But if you really know your playing you are not going to argue the point.” Well, how about we pull out the guitar tabs as proof? It’s not even close.
I know what Yngwie would say.
I know what Yngwie would say too. He’d say you like to hear yourself talk Clown. ‘intricate arpeggios’???? Like he created those arpeggios? Do you know what your talking about? Or once again are you just listening to yourself talk and all the while thinking ‘gee I am so smart, let’s show the internet how smart I am’. Now I need a lie down. You’ve given me a whole new appreciation for Guitarslinger. Good night Shannon. Try and get some rest and maybe leave the internet alone for a day.
Gosh what a big baby. I hit you with facts, and that’s your comeback? LOL…this is why I moved to Alcatrazz.. and you don’t like to hear yourself talk? You are the guy who last year actually threatened to steal my identity, which is a felony, when I used my full name on here. Just because I wouldn’t take your crap. You don’t know what you’re talking about, so you throw this hissy fit…LOL….O.K DR you win, sorry I didn’t know actually explaining the mechanics of music would get your feathers all ruffled.
Oh thank you DR. Btw, why argue so much about who’s best? Again this talk is too much about technical virtuosity, when they all have their different styles, and having a regognizable own style is the much higher category, at least to my mind. They are all great bands AND soloist in their own rights. I also think that when it comes to harmony solos, Thin Lizzy is my favourite, but that is pobably because they were more rooted in classic rock and blues rather than anything metal.
It is subjective. There really is no inarguable certainty, this shouldn’t be devolving into a fight. I also play guitar, and I can play more Maiden solos than Priest. I’m not counting songs like “Living After Midnight” and “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” which have relatively simple solos (but entirely fitting for the songs). To be fair however, I haven’t tried as many Priest solos as I have Maiden – and there are many Maiden songs I haven’t learned yet. Each of the guitarists in the discussion have different styles and strengths. I’ve been playing long enough though and have enough experience to have a good idea of what’s going on when I listen to something, and how difficult something is going to be to play. From a technical standpoint, and only my opinion, is Glenn may be the “best” of the four based on the breadth of techniques he has employed over the years. “Most difficult”, or “most advanced” might be a better description than “best”. Maybe to the point of overkill sometimes. KK is the “rawest” (but in a good way), he’s usually the one with the wild whammy bar dive bombs – which can also easily be overdone. Dave Murray is one of the most fluid legato style players ever, at least in rock. I love his sound, and his style, but while he’s a master of that I don’t think he employs quite the array of tools that Tipton does. Who cares though? My favorite of the four, and the one I would prefer to be like myself in my own playing, is Adrian Smith. I feel he is the most well rounded, most melodic, and always seems to play the perfect part for whatever song it is. Does that make him, “better”? Maybe, but only depending on what your priorities as a player or listener are. Compositionally, I guess Maiden takes the lead if you consider the quantity of material that fully exploits a two guitar system vs a traditional lead/rhythm approach. But I think Priest is equally adept when they decide to do it – but they tend to trade solos more than intertwine them into the fabric of the song. Quite different styles overall though, so it’s not really directly comparable.