Trivia / Judas Priest

Referenced By...

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• Approval of God: The Swedish heavy metal band Portrait released a cover of "Mother Sun", a very obscure Sad Wings of Destiny-era song that was never released and only exists through live bootlegs. The band themselves were reportedly impressed by the cover.
• Creator Backlash:
  • While he did play on their most successful releases, the band probably isn't too proud of the fact that Dave Holland was their drummer since he was jailed for attempted rape.
  • The band has made it clear that they hate the albums they did with Tim "Ripper" Owens, due to them being critical failures. This has made them pretty hard to find.
  • Their first album, Rocka Rolla fell victim to both Executive Meddling and a number of unfortunate production mishaps, and the final record ended up with a '70s Blues Rock sound wildly different to the Heavy Metal that made them famous. Needless to say, after transitioning to metal, Rocka Rolla was left by the wayside.
  • In his autobiography Confess, Halford referred to Point of Entry as "Priest on autopilot" and "a slack job", saying they were more focused on partying and getting drunk in Ibiza (where they were recording) than making the album. He only had praise for "Heading Out to the Highway", "Desert Plains" and "Hot Rockin'" (and indeed, the former two are the only songs from the album to be performed live regularly).
• Denial of Digital Distribution: The band's only album to not be officially released on streaming services is Jugulator.
• Hitless Hit Album: Judas Priest have 11 albums rated Gold or Platinum in the US (One of them, Screaming for Vengeance, went 2X Platinum), yet only had one charting single listed below, though most people have heard "Breaking the Law", "Living After Midnight", and "Electric Eye" in addition to their one true "hit".
• The Pete Best:
  • Al Atkins, the very first singer and founder of the band, being in the group before any of the other members. Justified because he only sang in one demo, and had to find a normal job to support his family.
  • Any bassist or guitarist the band had before Ian Hill or K.K. Downing. Atkins' earlier lineups of the band before Hill and Downing joined in 1970 have largely been forgotten.
• Promoted Fanboy:
  • Tim "Ripper" Owens sang lead vocals for a Judas Priest tribute band before joining the real thing.
  • Scott Travis reportedly once set up his kit outside a Priest concert, hoping they would hear him and ask him to become their drummer.
• Schedule Slip: The 50th Anniversary Tour ended up becoming a 51st anniversary tour because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Shout-Out:
  • "Heroes End" obliquely references Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and James Dean.
  • "Blood Red Skies" is also a reference to The Terminator.
• Throw It In!: "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" was a last-minute addition to Screaming for Vengeance and was quickly pieced together from fragments of an unfinished song during the mixing process, as they realized that what they had could make for a great driving and summer song.
• What Could Have Been:
  • There were plans to release Turbo and Ram It Down as a double-album.
  • They also did songs in the late '80s with... Stock Aitken Waterman. Yes, the same guys who produced "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley and "I Should Be So Lucky" by Kylie Minogue, wrote songs for a metal band. The songs were never released, but it is a curiosity among Priest fans on what the songs sounded like. The wish was partially granted when a snippet of one of the songs, the cover of The Stylistics "You Are Everything", was finally put on YouTube in early August 2015.

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