Judas Priest could easily rest on their laurels at this stage of their highly successful and influential career. However, the legendary metal band – singer Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis – refuse to do so as evidenced by the arrival of their eighteenth studio album overall – Firepower, which can be pre-ordered here.
Set for release on March 9th through Epic Records – the album is comprised of fourteen tracks of pure and highly inspired metal. To mark the occasion Priest has reunited with producer Tom Allom (the man behind the board for all of the band’s releases from 1979-1988, including such stellar classics as Unleashed in the East, British Steel, Screaming for Vengeance and Defenders of the Faith) and with Grammy Award-winning producer Andy Sneap also helping to raise the sonic bar even higher.
“Tom Allom has got this classic metal thing,” explains Halford. “And Andy is a bit more of a ‘modern metal producer’ but his thinking is a little bit different to Tom’s. And I think to get this balance between that classic old school metal to what Andy’s world is was just a remarkable coalescence.” “Tom Allom has been with us since 1979, so his knowledge of ourselves and our music in general is immense,” adds Hill. And according to Travis Priest returned back to a recording method that worked incredibly well on the band’s earlier classics – “We went back to the organic way of recording where it’s all of us in a room and we got to play together.”
The album’s first single, Lightning Strike will be available worldwide today (January 5th), watch the video below.
Full album pre-order and a PledgeMusic pre-order will also begin the same day which includes exclusive limited autographed colored vinyl, autographed vinyl test pressings, an exclusive Judas Priest t-shirt and an extremely limited number of Judas Priest autographed guitars.
Firepower track listing:
1. Firepower
2. Lightning Strike
3. Evil Never Dies
4. Never The Heroes
5. Necromancer
6. Children of the Sun
7. Guardians
8. Rising From Ruins
9. Flame Thrower
10. Spectre
11. Traitors Gate
12. No Surrender
13. Lone Wolf
14. Sea of Red
For more information, visit judaspriest.com.
24 Responses
It’s not the 1980’s get with the times people. Modern rock isn’t good. Well then why do some festivals get 60000 people. Plus the idiots that run classic rock radio won’t support the classic bands doing new music, because they don’t wanna lose their sheep of listeners. I dislike the format all people wanna do is hear the radio hits. So people rather go backwards and stay stuck in a certain era.
I thought it was pretty beastly. Richies damn good. To me it seems like his new blood is paying off with some good chemistry which leads to good music.
I am a huge fan of the mighty Priest. The fact that here we are 40 years into their career and they are still putting out absolutely killer music is insanely remarkable. I just don’t understand why so many people seem to complain about it so much. It is 2018, not 1982. Wouldn’t it be boring if Priest continued to release Screaming For Vengeance and British Steel over and over? All of the Priest records since Halford’s return on Angel have been killer and yes including Nostradamus which I felt was absolutely brilliant. Yes K.K. is gone and that blows. But Richie has stepped in and done a tremendous job helping with song writing and his playing is just as good as K.K. If it weren’t for Ritchie we probably wouldn’t have any new Priest music. And oh yeah, Rob still has it unlike many of.his fellow singer peers this far along in their respective careers. And yeah, the newer Priest material still kicks the ass of the majority of new shit being played on your local rock (crock) station. I also would like to know how many of you who are armchair producers, song writers and band managers have any experience either being in a band, working for a.band, promoting a band, producing records, etc? I often see a lot of comments that say this band should do this or that band should do that. I have experience in some of it and I can tell you firsthand it would be impossible to please everyone. When I would write songs with my former band, we wrote shit that we enjoyed playing and listening to. The fact that other people liked it is simply a reward and honor to be appreciated for something that you did. I can guarantee you most bands will say the same thing.
Frankly, that chord progression is staler than the earwax in Steve Harris’s ears for God’s sake…they never would’ve put something that cliched or hackneyed on any record they did in the 80s…The Sentinel, Electric Eye, and Jawbreaker sound 20 years ahead of their time….now. They took it as far as they could and this stuff here is just watering down the smartest, most astute rock band in the business. I’ll say it again; these are very sharp guys, capable of something far superior and original than this. No…this here is just them pandering to what they perceive to be their “audience.” They could write this stuff in their sleep with no effort. This is Priest, this isn’t Manowar, Helloween, or even Maiden. I’m just being frank here.
I think part of the problem besides age/creativity is Priest trys too hard to be heavy .
Why not break down the songs a little and have some hooks and sing along stadium anthem songs like the old days ?
metal gods,breaking the law,you don’t have to be old,heading out to the highway,hot rockin,dessert plains,you say yes.
I could go on but, it seems like they just try and do the song painkiller over and over and that’s a great song but it gets a little repetitious and boring over and over like listening to yngwie ( yes we know you can play fast but try something different).
The last priest that was a throwback to pre Painkiller was the bonus disc on ROS.
I think they could write better but they are in this frame of mind that thinks they have to be heavy to prove something to the new bands or something .
I don’t know . Just my opinion lol
God, I love You Don’t Have To Be Old To Be Wise. Definitely, my favorite song off of British Steel. Desert Plains, off of POE, is another great one, too.