The English heavy metal band Judas Priest, consisting of Rob Halford as lead vocalist, Glenn Tipton and K.K.Downing as guitarists and Ian Hill as bassist, named themselves from Bob Dylan’s famous song “The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest”.
Their influence on heavy metal music is invaluable and has led many fans to call them “Metal Gods”. MTV declared them as the most important heavy metal band second to Black Sabbath alone in their impact on the genre.
Judas Priest has influenced the heavy metal scene one way or the other since early 70s. Their albums Sad Wings of Destiny released in 1976, Sin After Sin released in 1977 and Stained Class released in1978 went on to lay the foundations for later generations and led to creation of something that fans call “pure heavy metal”.
Not only was Judas Priest one of the first bands to popularize the twin guitar style but they also created their own style of heavy rock based on the foundations of lead vocalist Ron Halford’s considerable vocal talents. They played faster than most of the contemporary metal or rock bands and favoured a more metallic sound to their guitar playing. Their songs were an eclectic mix of fast and slow tempos juxtaposed with soft tunes in between.
While some groundbreaking songs like Exciter, Sinner, Tyrant, Dissident Aggressor etc have gone on to become cult favourites for their sheer speed, tempo and velocity. They have gone on to become classic heavy metal rock tracks that continue to woo fans around the world.
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