JUDAS PRIEST CELEBRATES 40 YEARS OF HEAVY METAL DOMINANCE WITH EPITAPH, 23-SONG LIVE CONCERT BLU-RAY/DVD
CLOSING NIGHT OF “EPITAPH WORLD TOUR” – THE BAND’s FINAL WORLD TOUR – RECORDED AT LONDON’S HMV HAMMERSMITH APOLLO IN MAY 2012
BLAZING LIVE VERSIONS OF AT LEAST ONE SONG FROM EACH OF JUDAS PRIEST’S 14 CLASSIC ALBUMS FROM 1974 TO 2008
Blu-ray or separate DVD available everywhere May 28, 2013, through Legacy Recordings
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Judas Priest, the heavy metal legends whose influence on generations of musicians and metalheads is incalculable, celebrate their 40th year as recording artists this year with the release of the live concert EPITAPH. A unique live career retrospective, EPITAPH will be released on Blu-ray and separate DVD on May 28th through Legacy Recordings, a division of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. This release precedes a new studio album by Judas Priest which the band are working on now.
Judas Priest’s current lineup comprises lead singer Rob Halford, lead guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis.
Heavy metal historians will regard EPITAPH as the most far-reaching live concert recording in the band’s career. The set revisits the climactic closing date of the 50-week “Epitaph World Tour,” captured live at London’s HMV Hammersmith Apollo on May 26, 2012. Adding to the drama is the fact that this was Judas Priest’s final large-scale world tour ever. EPITAPH’s 23 tracks represent at least one song from every one of the band’s 14 studio albums, from 1974’s Rocka Rolla (“Never Satisfied”) to 2008’s Nostradamus (“Prophecy”).
In the special case of British Steel, four songs are featured: “Rapid Fire,” “Metal Gods,” “Breaking The Law,” and perennial set closer, “Living After Midnight.” Others exempted from the one-song-quota are the LPs which appeared before and after British Steel. The first of these is 1979’s Hell Bent For Leather (UK title: Killing Machine) which lends the title song as well as “The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown).” The other LP is 1982’s Screaming For Vengeance, source of “The Hellion,” “Electric Eye,” and “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming.”
“They have epitomized the genre with their Harley riding frontman, rapid-fire guitar assaults, and spectacular stage shows,” wrote journalist Bryan Reesman in his liner notes for 2004’s leather-bound, metal-spiked Metalogy box set. “Influential, innovative, and exuberant in expression,” he wrote, “they are the true Metal Gods who have been as unwavering in their desire to expand the boundaries of their music as they have been in crossing international borders to deliver it to their disciples.”
“Unabashedly committed to their cause, and unrepentant in proclaiming themselves a true heavy metal band even when others have shied away from the term, Judas Priest have forever been defenders of the faith.”
EPITAPH by JUDAS PRIEST
(Columbia/Legacy: Blu-Ray 88765481119, DVD 88883715539)
Selections: 1. Battle Hymn (L) • 2. Rapid Fire (F) • 3. Metal Gods (F) • 4. Heading Out To The Highway (G) • 5. Judas Rising (M) • 6. Starbreaker (C) • 7. Victim Of Changes (B) • 8. Never Satisfied (A) • 9. Diamonds And Rust (C) • 10. Prophecy (N) • 11. Night Crawler (L) • 12. Turbo Lover (J) • 13. Beyond The Realms Of Death (D) • 14. The Sentinel (I) • 15. Blood Red Skies (K) • 16. The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown) (E) • 17. Breaking The Law (F) • 18. Painkiller (L) • 19. The Hellion (H) • 20. Electric Eye (H) • 21. Hell Bent For Leather (E) • 22. You’ve Got Another Thing Coming’ (H) • 23. Living After Midnight (F).
Album Index:
A – from Rocka Rolla (originally issued 1974, on Gull Records)
B – from Sad Wings Of Destiny (originally issued 1976, on Gull Records)
C – from Sin After Sin (originally issued 1977, on Columbia Records)
D – from Stained Class (originally issued 1978, on Columbia)
E – from Hell Bent For Leather (originally issued 1979, on Columbia; aka Killing Machine in UK)
F – from British Steel (originally issued 1980, on Columbia)
G – from Point Of Entry (originally issued 1981, on Columbia)
H – from Screaming For Vengeance (originally issued 1982, on Columbia)
I – from Defenders Of the Faith (originally issued 1984, on Columbia)
J – from Turbo (originally issued 1986, on Columbia)
K – from Ram It Down (originally issued 1988, on Columbia)
L – from Painkiller (originally issued 1990, on Columbia)
M – from Angel Of Retribution (originally issued 2005, on Epic Records)
N – from Nostradamus (originally issued 2008, on Epic)
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(Source: http://www.JudasPriest.com/)
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LONG LIVE JUDAS PRIEST.
Stone.
Judas Priest and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal or (NWOBHM) took me by storm back in the Summer of 1982. Honestly, I was aware of the “British Steel” album from Judas Priest then, yet nowhere near Metal schooled about this band as I should have been. It was in 1982 when I was beginning to delve deeper into the world of Heavy Metal… Judas Priest basically opened the gates of Metal for me to enter… and enter I did. I have never looked back. Of course, after my very first listen to my buddies “Screaming for Vengeance” album, I rushed over to my nearest Caldor department store and bought my own copy. This album then had me salivating for more of “The Priest”. In short time I owned every available album from this mighty band, choosing “Stained Class” to be my favorite all time Judas Priest album – this opinion stands Metal tall to this very day. This “Screaming for Vengeance” album initiated me to own the entire catalog of Judas Priest, it initiated me to seek out and enjoy more Metal bands and their powerful music. Judas Priest was the Metal band, this was the Metal album that had me realize that Metal was to be my life long favorite music genre. Metal case closed.
Without question, as I look back now, “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin'” was the break out, commercial success song, that was instrumental in carving Judas Priest into the Metal giant and Rob Halford into the Metal God of today. That is cool with me, this song was necessary for Judas Priest to break into the hum drum FM radio environment, that was existing back in 1982. When I first heard “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin'”, it was as if my entire body went on an adrenaline trip that was truly foreign to me. All I can remember is – I never felt such intensity envelope my body and mind like this song did. And to think, if this song riveted me in such a manner, what did listening to the rest of this album do to my senses? It was Heavy Metal euphoria, back in 1982. To be perfectly clear, this album was Heavy Metal 101 for me. Before “Screaming for Vengeance” was discovered by me, Kiss, Cheap Trick, AC/DC and Foreigner were the heaviest bands I ever listened to.
Rob Halford, the “Metal God” of the Metal music world, formed an incredible band in the Summer of 1992 named Fight. Sure, Rob Halford will forever be known as the super famous and powerful lead vocalist for Judas Priest, yet the Metal music that he created with Fight is superior stuff for me. I so very highly recommend Fight to all Metal fans, especially fans of Judas Priest, Pantera and Thrash Metal. I purchased the Fight CD/DVD – “War of Words – The Film”, (released Summer of 2008), whoa was this one powerhouse band. “Into The Pit” is a straight to your face – all out – Thrash Metal tune that does not let up or give in. “Immortal Sin” is more of a Heavy Metal/Metal track that carries along with dark lyrics and vocals courtesy of Rob Halford. “Kill It” is a very aggressive track, again I am amazed at how ahead of their time Fight really was musically. Overall, the songs on “War of Words” are very relevant to what is being created today by the Thrash Metal and Metal community. Rob Halford was joined with Scott Travis on drums in Fight, (Scott Travis being a long time & current drummer for Judas Priest).
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