Coming off an era which saw several Judas Priest albums that have gone down as some of the greatest in the entire history of heavy metal (namely, 1980’s British Steel and 1982’s Screaming for Vengeance), the band from Birmingham knew that their next release had to “deliver the goods,” to cement their standing as the leaders of metal. And deliver they did, with their platinum-certified 1984 release, Defenders of the Faith, which spawned such headbanging classics as Freewheel Burning, Jawbreaker, The Sentinel, Some Heads Are Gonna Roll, and Love Bites.
And on March 10th, 2015, a newly expanded three-CD version of the album will be unleashed via Columbia/Legacy, which includes the original ten-track album remastered by producer Tom Allom, and a complete live recording from the Defenders tour, recorded at the Long Beach Arena in California, on May 5th, 1984.
The 21-track concert (split up over two discs) perfectly balances the then-new material from the group’s ninth studio offering overall, including such classics as Metal Gods, Breaking the Law, Sinner, Electric Eye, The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown), Victim of Changes, and You’ve Got Another Thing Coming, among many others.
As the band states in the liner notes to the reissue, “It’s 30 years since we released ‘Defenders of the Faith’ – we’re very proud to say it has become a classic that’s beloved by Priest fans throughout the world”
Judas Priest continues to “defend the faith” to this day, as the group recently issued their seventeenth studio album, Redeemer of Souls, which sees the band’s popularity amongst metalheads remain as strong as ever, as it debuted higher than any other previous Priest release (at #6 on the Billboard 200). And on the group’s current tour, quite a few classics from ‘Defenders’ are being performed for the first time in years.
And soon, fans will get a chance to re-experience vintage Judas Priest, with the Defenders of the Faith reissue.
CD1: Defenders of the Faith‘ Re-Mastered
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
CD2: Live at Long Beach Arena, California 5th 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 5th 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
19 Responses
Awesome!! Can’t wait to hear the live tour discs. This is the Priest during the pinnacle of their careers, and I’m fortunate to be able to say “I was there” to see them on this tour. Hail the Mighty Priest!!
This is SUCH huge news!!! I have plenty of bootlegs from their tour, but to get a real, live re-mastered and mixed version?? HELL YES! Thank you, Priest!!!! Love this album dearly.
This show is a total Priest classic!! A buddy of mine in east texas fluke-ishly recorded it off a dallas radio station (Q102-170 miles away from our hometown-just had a sick signal that night) back in the day and it became a mandatory player for our high school lunches-I’ve been unable to find a good copy since. There was a badass DJ that hosted the show named Steve Downs who did a killer interview w/ Rob just before the band took the stage (hope that’s included?). The band were absolute kings of the scene at that time and this tour was the last one that featured a primarily old school guitar sound which ofcourse went way south on Turbo. IMO, Defenders (the album) doesn’t stand up that well against most everything that came before, but it still out paces Turbo and much of what came after. This is a real special toast to the fans. I’m stoked!!
James Perkins
Houston, Texas
Yes, can’t wait for the live discs. Nice to see the full concert included and not just a few tracks. I remember this tour as I was at Madison Square show in NYC. It was the legendary night when the seat cushions were hurled all over the place. The first few that were thrown I thought were frisbees, then I realized what they actually were. It wasn’t long before Halford was having to step around and eventually on top of them. The band seemed very unfazed by the whole thing and the crowd was certainly NOT throwing them in response to a sub-standard Priest performance, ’cause they were killer that night. Good times!
Hi Mike,
I was at that legendary MSG show too. It was my first ever live show, what a way to start my concert going experiences 😀 I left with a piece of seat foam-LOL!
Dana from ET.com 😉
I’m jealous of both of you!
Dana, that was your first ever rock concert? At MSG? Wow!! What a start!!
I hate to date myself, but indeed it was Harry. 🙂
I was lucky my parents let me attend any shows after that-LOL!
D 🙂
Dana, you’re parents were obviously cooler than mine were about going to concerts. I was 14 before my mom let me go to a concert with just my friends, which was to see Krokus. Before that, she made my dad take me to concerts that I threw a fit about wanting to go to, including seeing Judas Priest on the tour for Screaming For Vengeance when I was 12. He HATED that show, which I thought was kind of funny. We saw Van Halen the year before and he thought they were great, but he hated Priest.
Well James, I hate to date myself, but I was around that age for the Defenders tour.
Funny story, I bought two tickets to see Metallica on their Master of Puppets tour because that was my best friend’s favorite band. She ended up getting grounded and couldn’t go with me after I bought the tickets for her-LOL! So, my poor mother got stuck going with me-LOL!
There she was wearing her fur coat while lined up with me in front of what used to be the Felt Forum at MSG. She was talking to the people on the line, and one of the guys says to me, “You have the coolest Mom on the planet, you couldn’t get mine within a thousand yards of this place.” It is true, but I was so embarrassed at the time and felt bad for my Mom who had to get stuck taking me.
Cheers,
D 🙂
March 10th, 2015, faith will be defended once again, courtesy of JP! Until then, all we can do is Rock Hard, and Ride Free! 😉