History Music / JudasPriest

* FiveManBand:
** TheLeader: Ian.
** TheLancer: Rob.
** TheSmartGuy: Glenn.
** TheBigGuy: Scott.
** [[SixthRanger The Fifth Ranger]]: Richie.

** TheLeader: Rob Halford.
** TheLancer: Glenn Tipton.
** TheSmartGuy: Ian Hill.
** TheBigGuy: Scott Travis.
** TheChick: Richie Faulkner.

This band provides examples of:

* OlderThanTheyThink: Many people believe Judas Priest is a NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) band like Music/IronMaiden or Music/Motorhead, but they started in 1969 which makes them one of the first metal bands like Music/BlackSabbath. This is largely because they made it big during the NWOBHM era.

* IntercourseWithYou: Many, including "Eat Me Alive", "Turbo Lover" and "A Touch of Evil".

*** "Worth Fighting For" acts as a sequel/prequel to "Desert Plains" from ''Point of Entry''.

*** "Deal With the Devil" mentions the song "Blood Red Skies" from ''Ram It Down'', "Take on the World" from ''Killing Machine/Hell Bent For Leather'', as well as "Beyond the Realms of Death" from ''Stained Class''.

** The songs / albums ''Stained Class'' and ''The Sentinel'' are mentioned in the song ''Eulogy'' from the album ''Angel of Retribution (2005)''.

'''Judas Priest''' is a HeavyMetal band that got its original lineup in [[UsefulNotes/TheWestMidlands Birmingham, England]], in 1970. Taking their name from an ensemble also called Judas Priest which split up earlier that year, lead singer Al Atkins approached K.K. Downing, Ian Hill, and John Ellis to become their singer. Atkins and their subsequent drummer Alan Moore (not [[Creator/AlanMoore that one]]) left in 1974. Ian Hill's girlfriend suggested her brother, Rob Halford, could fill Atkins's departure.

In 1990, America's MoralGuardians accused JP of SubliminalSeduction in the suicides of two teenage boys. Rob Halford responded by stating that the alleged message to "do it" didn't say what to do, and that subliminally provoking his audience to commit suicide would be counter-productive; the ideal subliminal message would have been "Buy more of our records." (And it's not as if it was even possible for it to be their fault anyway, since Spooky Tooth had written the song nearly ''ten years earlier''.) The case was, predictably, laughed out of court.

Halford left in 1992, and JP brought on Tim "Ripper" Owens in 1996 for ''Jugulator'' and ''Demolition''. Halford returned in 2003; in the interim, he had publicly come out as a homosexual after five years of rumours. The rest of the band had known the whole time.

Judas Priest released their 17th studio album, ''Redeemer Of Souls'' on July 8, 2014 to positive reception.

* '''K.K. Downing''' - guitar (1970-2011)

Rob Halford also figures heavily in ''BrutalLegend''. He voices two fairly major characters, one of whom closely resembles him, two other major characters share his surname, and there's a lot of Priest on the soundtrack.

!!Principal Members (founding members in '''bold''', current members in ''italic'')

!!Studio Discography:

* 1976 - ''Sad Wings Of Destiny''
* 1977 - ''Sin After Sin''

* 1981 - ''Point Of Entry''
* 1982 - ''Screaming For Vengeance''
* 1984 - ''Defenders Of The Faith''

* 2005 - ''Angel Of Retribution''

* 2014 - ''Redeemer Of Souls''

!!Live Discography:

* 1979 - ''Unleashed In The East''
* 1987 - ''Priest...Live!''

* 2003 - ''Live In London''
* 2009 - ''A Touch Of Evil: Live''

[[folder:Band members]]

* HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday: Rob Halford didn't officially come of out of the closet until 1998. But looking back on some old Judas Priest concert footage and music videos, many younger fans have reactions along the lines of "How could you ''not'' know that he was gay?!" Even more amusing is that many female metal fans viewed Rob Halford as a sex symbol (one famous example come from the short documentary ''HeavyMetalParkingLot'' where a female fan comments "I'd jump his bones!" in reference to Rob Halford).

* HellBentForLeather: TropeNamer, TropeCodifier and the source of leather's prominence in heavy metal fashion.

* SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll: Like many bands that were popular in the 1980s, Judas Priest had a reputation for drug and alcohol-fueled debauchery that went on backstage at their shows.

[[folder:Music tropes]]

* AudienceParticipationSong: "Breaking the Law" and "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" are both songs in which Halford has the audience sing the chorus for him. Often, "Breaking the Law" is sung ENTIRELY by the public. Case in point, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVeJmQVUzAw this video]].
** Several tracks, including "Take On The World", "United" and "Red White And Blue" were written with this purpose in mind. In the case of "Take On The World", the chorus even has overdubbed backing vocals to create the illusion that a crowd is singing along to it.

** "Sad wings that Heaven sent wipes out in rage!" (a reference to their second album, ''Sad Wings Of Destiny'')
** "Forged in the black country, under blood-red skies....Took on all the world; it had no choice!" ("Monsters of Rock," "Blood Red Skies," and "Take on the World," respectively).
** The songs/albums ''Stained Class'' and ''The Sentinel'' are mentioned in the song ''Eulogy'' from the album ''Angel Of Retribution (2005)''.
** "Rock Forever" (from 1979's ''Killing Machine'') has a middle section that almost sounds like a tribute to classic 1950s rock 'n' roll, particularly Danny & The Juniors' "At the Hop."
*** Similarly, their music video for "Headin' Out to the Highway" is obviously a tribute to the "drag race" scenes in classic '50s "hot rod" flicks. (Rob, of course, plays the role of the girl who starts the race.)
* CarefulWithThatAxe: Rob Halford does this ''a lot'', to the point of LoveItOrHateIt territory.
** Case in point: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_mpt8xyZVI Dissident Aggressor]].

* DarkIsNotEvil[=/=]GoodIsNotNice: "The Sentinel."

** "Victim of Changes", (7:44) and Dreamer Deceiver/Deceiver (8:40) from ''Sad Wings Of Destiny''.
** "All The Way", (7:25) from ''Point Of Entry''.
** "Prisoner of Your Eyes", (7:12) from the ''Screaming For Vengeance'' remaster.

** "Lochness", (13:29) from ''Angel Of Retribution''.

** TheLeader: Ian
** TheLancer: Rob
** TheSmartGuy: Glenn
** TheBigGuy: Scott
** [[SixthRanger The Fifth Ranger]]: Richie

* HumansAreBastards: "Stained Class"

* InTheStyleOf: Their hard rock cover of Joan Baez' ''Diamonds and Rust''. Averted live sometimes: they've played it in a more folky, acoustic fashion in concert before. Similarly, their version of "The Green Manalishi" transforms it so completely from a moody blues piece to metal that, much to the annoyance of Fleetwood Mac fans, many Priest fans wrongly assume it to be a Priest original.

** "All Guns Blazing" opens with Rob singing the first two line acapella before the instruments kick in.

* NewSoundAlbum: ''Turbo'' was far closer to GlamRock or HairMetal than the several albums preceding it, with a lot of synthesizers and commercially friendly hooks. ''Ram It Down,'' the following album, was a return to straightforward metal and actually introduced a number of elements to the band's sound which would crystalize in ''Painkiller,'' which borders on being a [[ThrashMetal Thrash]] album. Interestingly, ''Turbo'' and ''Ram It Down'' were supposedly written, if not recorded, simultaneously to be released as a double album.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and James Dean in "Heroes' End."
* NothingIsScarier: The giant carnivorous worm in "Night Crawler" is never seen by its victims, only heard.

* SerialKiller: "The Ripper" (the song, that is)

** "Worth Fighting For" from ''Angel of Retribution'' almost sounds like a really Gothic cowboy/western song, complete with a Buck Owens-inspired riff.

* TropeCodifier: The band is largely responsible for the modern style of heavy metal. Depending on your definition of "heavy metal", they may also count as the TropeMaker or even the UrExample. They, along with Music/IronMaiden, Music/BlackSabbath, Music/{{Motorhead}}, Saxon, Music/{{Accept}} and a few others, are one of the most popular and influential bands to play the original style of metal.
* VampiresAreSexGods: "Love Bites"
* WarIsHell: "Dying To Meet You / Hero, Hero" from ''Rocka Rolla'':

[[folder:Misc tropes]]

* MarketBasedTitle: ''Killing Machine'' was issued in UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates under the title ''Hell Bent For Leather'' - the U.S. branch of their label thought the original title sounded too violent, so a different song became the TitleTrack.

* FilkSong: ''Blood Red Skies'' is quite obviously inspired by ''{{Terminator}}''.

** "Lochness" almost sounds like a GenreThrowback to the very earliest metal of IronButterfly or DeepPurple.
* SpySatellite: "Electric Eye".

* EarthShatteringPoster: The cover of ''Ram It Down''.
* FallenAngel: On the cover of ''Sad Wings of Destiny''.

** TheLeader: Rob Halford
** TheLancer: Glenn Tipton
** TheSmartGuy: Ian Hill
** TheBigGuy: Scott Travis
** TheChick: Richie Faulkner

* MarketBasedTitle: ''Killing Machine'' was issued in the U.S. under the title ''Hell Bent For Leather'' - the U.S. branch of their label thought the original title sounded too violent, so a different song became the TitleTrack.
* SigilSpam: Judas Priest are among the few bands to actually ''have'' a sigil of sorts - i.e. a simple, recognisable logo that is not a stylized version of their name. The "Judas Priest cross" or "Devil's Tuning Fork" dates back to their second album, 1976's ''Sad Wings Of Destiny'', and has appeared on cover art, merchandise, outfits and stage decorations ever since.

* WingedHumanoid: The cover art for ''Sad Wings Of Destiny'' and ''Painkiller''.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/m_rr_top10_judas_priest_songs_480p30_480.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The classic '80s lineup. From left to right: Ian Hill, Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford, K.K. Downing and Dave Holland]]

* MarketBasedTitle: ''Killing Machine'' was issued in the U.S. under the title ''Hellbent For Leather'' - the U.S. branch of their label thought the original title sounded too violent, so a different song became the TitleTrack.

[[caption-width-right:350:Judas Priest's current lineup. From left to right: Ian Hill, Scott Travis, Rob Halford, Ritchie Faulkner and Glenn Tipton.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:The classic 80s lineup. From left to right: Ian Hill, Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford, K.K. Downing and Dave Holland]]

[[caption-width-right:350:The classic 80s lineup. From left to right: Ian Hill, Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford, KK Downing and Dave Holland]]

On the 20th of April 2011 the band announced K. K. Downing had left. While this was a shock the band will go ahead with the tour and continue working with new guitarist Ritchie Faulkner, who has previously worked with Lauren Harris, daughter of [[Music/IronMaiden Steve Harris]].

Judas Priest have just completed work on their 17th studio album, which is called ''Redeemer Of Souls''. It came out July 8, 2014 to positive reception.

!!Current Members:
* Ian Hill - bass (1970-Present)
* Rob Halford - lead vocals, harmonica (1973-1992, 2003-Present)
* Glenn Tipton - guitar, synthesizer, piano, keyboards (1974-Present)
* Scott Travis - drums (1989-Present)
* Richie Faulkner - guitar (2011-Present)

!!Former Members:

* Al Atkins - lead vocals (1970-1973)

* K.K. Downing - guitar (1970-2011)
* John Ellis - drums (1970-1971)

!!Principal Members (Founding members in '''bold''', current members in ''italic''):

* '''Al Atkins''' - lead vocals (1970-1973)

* '''K.K. Downing''' - guitar (1970-2011)
* '''John Ellis''' - drums (1970-1971)
* ''Richie Faulkner'' - guitar (2011-Present)
* ''Rob Halford'' - lead vocals, harmonica (1973-1992, 2003-Present)
* '''''Ian Hill''''' - bass (1970-Present)

* ''Glenn Tipton'' - guitar, synthesizer, piano, keyboard (1974-Present)
* ''Scott Travis'' - drums (1989-Present)