Over 45 years in music, 17 studio albums and 45 million records sold. Judas Priest's only constant member talks about the band's storied history, the evolution of heavy metal, and the 30th anniversary of their seminal classic Defenders of the Faith.
Metal's shining moments in 2014 include a long-awaited reunion, a culmination of a nearly 20-year career, and a sophomore outing that rose to the occasion.
Adrien Begrand, Dean Brown, Brice Ezell, and Benjamin Hedge Olson
Hot on the heels of the iconic metal group's new album Redeemer of Souls, Sound Affects combs through Priest's vast and astounding back catalog to round up its greatest tracks.
All heavy metal bands burn out eventually, but when and how they end matters most. A good death counts for a lot in the genre, because it marks the final point in a band's quest for immortality.
Regardless of the original album's use of unimaginative filler, and irrespective of debates about which Priest album truly reigns supreme, there's every reason to leap at this 30th anniversary edition of Screaming for Vengeance.
The Chosen Few makes for a nice treat, but hardly an essential one. This is just another in an increasingly long line of Judas Priest compilations, and there are more comprehensive and interesting Priest collections available.
Put as simply -- and starkly -- as possible, many beautiful babies were thrown out with the bath water by hidebound critics who were content to sniffingly dismiss the more ambitious (pretentious!) works that certain bands were putting out as a matter of course in the early-to-mid-‘70s.
Greatest hits albums don't offer much that's exciting to longtime fans. Greatest live hits albums offer even less, especially for fans of a band with as much recorded live material as Judas Priest.
