Sad Wings of Destiny dropped two years later in 1976, leading a year later to their first major studio release, Sin After Sin, on Columbia Records. It would lay the foundations for Judas Priest and a new wave of British heavy metal, followed by 50 years of heavy metal thunder on stages around the world.
“Back home in England, we had only one radio station, the BBC,” says Halford, who still relays that same wonder upon learning there were more stations nearly 50 years later. “That was my love affair. It started with the radio. I love rock ‘n’ roll radio.”
Halford’s love affair with rock ‘n’ roll radio led to sales of more than 50 million records as part of Judas Priest, five Grammy nominations and one win in 2010 for “Best Metal Performance” and a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction by Alice Cooper in 2022.
Their highest-charting album, Firepower, came out in 2018. Six years later, they’re back with Invincible Shield, which dropped earlier this year. A remixed and remastered version of Rocka Rolla hit shelves last month.
Now Judas Priest is heading back to Dallas on Oct. 26 at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory. Sabaton, a Swedish heavy metal band, will be opening.
Halford will be joined by bassist Ian Hill, drummer Scott Travis and guitarists Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap, who fills in on stage for Glenn Tipton due to health issues.
The tour supports Invincible Shield, an album that fans praise on social media as on of the best since 1990's Painkiller. Songs such as the title track, "Gates of Hell" and "Trial by Fire" prove that 50 years in the industry hasn't drenched Judas Priest's spirit but has instead led to perfection.
“It is easy to get jaded in this business and dismissive, and that is the worst thing to allow yourself to fall into because it is never lost on me how important and incredibly valuable and necessary are the fans that look after you,” Halford says. “These guys work hard and buy a ticket to the show, and the anticipation and excitement, that dimension has never been lost on me. … I’m blessed and humbled and honored to do what I do.”
The concept for the new album, Halford says, began unfolding during the pandemic. The live music industry had ground to a halt. Some bands started streaming live music for fans who were unable to attend a live show.
“Bless them for trying,” Halford says. “You need to see a band live in the flesh. It’s the ultimate testament to the relationship you have.”
Since the band lives on both sides of the Atlantic, Halford, who’s in Arizona, says they started banging things together with Faulkner and Tipton via Zoom. It wasn’t ideal, but Halford says it was what they were able to manage. All that mattered was the ability to connect and collaborate since Halford prefers writing with the guitarists.
That collaboration took about three years, and they compiled tracks such as “Devil in Disguise,” “Giants in the Sky” and “Sons of Thunder,” a classic biker song. They became part of an album that Halford says “represents Judas Priest in 2024” and proves they’re “still relevant and not resting on past laurels, though there’s nothing wrong with that.”.
When it was released in early March, fans praised Halford’s lyrics and vocals and the guitar harmonies, and offered a comparison to Black Sabbath on a couple of tracks (“Devil in Disguise” and “Escape from Reality”). Each song has been dissected by fans via Reddit much like Halford says he does to the standard song structure when he’s writing music. The title track, “Invincible Shield,” for example, was called a “real motherfucker of a song,” offering a combination of heavy riffing, a chantable chorus, exceptional guitar solo work and Halford singing clean and shrieking.
"On 'As God is my Witness,' the third of the fast cuts, the double bass drumming here just owns, one of Scott's best moments. And guess what: the beginning riff sounds a lot like the one from 'Leather Rebel.’ There are more great solo tradeoffs here that makes me think Glenn played on this once for sure. 8/10,” wrote keyser_sozer90
Kiss of Judas
Music website Metal Injection called Invincible Shield the best album of 2024 so far: “Every single aspect of the production of Invincible Shield excels. Every single sound on this record has a purpose. A whopping 14 cuts of absolute heavy metal radiance."But more importantly, it’s how that heavy metal radiance impacted fans, as one Judas Priest fan wrote on social media:
“My current favorite on the album. (“Giants in the Sky."). Amazing. Recently lost my best friend who LOVED Priest along with me. I played Priest for him as he was dying. He was 6-feet-7-inches tall. We called him ‘The Gentle Giant.’ He was so looking forward to this album. I feel like this song speaks to him and how I still feel about him. He's a Giant in the Sky. You won't ever die. Priest.”
“Giants in the Sky” also had others wondering if it were a tribute to Lemmy from Motorhead Ronnie James Dio, whom Halford claimed had a voice that struck him like a bolt of lightning. “This voice had so much power and so much character and so much energy and so much of everything that makes a great singer,” Halford told Blabbermouth in October 2020.
The same could be said about Halford, who, in his early 70s seems rejuvenated, as if he were a heavy metal vampire with a voice that hasn’t aged.
“Where does the title ‘Giants in the Sky’ come from?” Halford says. “It’s receptive, like an antenna, like picking up signals and messages and ideas. There’s a little bit of my spiritual faith and there is some kind of nebulous, like filtered in over the years. I’m a guy in my time of life who fantastically lives in the moment. It is not important about tomorrow or yesterday.
“‘Giants in the Sky,’ it’s a beautiful thought. When I’m gone will I still be a thing, will I be a giant in the sky and remembered? It is a great sky.”
