English Article: Judas Priest The Metal Band

About a week ago, I wrote an English article about Iron Maiden, another metal band. So far, only few people have ever read it. It's OK, I'm not dissapointed. Just relax... because I know that not all people like metal music. That's why I wrote it in English so that I can practice my writing skill rather than to get as many readers as possible. 

This time, I'd like to write a British metal band called Judas Priest. It's also an "old school" metal band, but considered as one of the most influencing and inspiring metal bands in the world. Judas Priest was formed in Birmingham (England) in 1969 by Al Atkins (vocalist) and Ian Hill (bassist). They changed the band formation many times. 

The vocalist and guitarist came in and go out of the band several times. Their best-known formation since 2003 is this: Rob Halford (vocal), K. K. Downing (guitar), Glenn Tipton (guitar), Ian Hill (bass), and Scott Travis (drums).

The name Judas Priest was derived from a song titled called The Ballad Of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest (1967) written by Bob Dylan. Their first 5 years were not easy. In fact, the band almost broke up in early 1970's. 

In 1973, Rob Halford joined in the band (replacing Al Atkins). They also added one more guitarist to make the sound better and more powerful. Glenn Tipton joined in so that there were 5 members of the band. Their first studio album: Rocka Rolla was released in 1974, but sadly it didn't get too much attention from the public.

Their first monumental album was British Steel (1980), ranked no. 3 in UK and no. 34 in USA. Their next album: Screaming For Vengeance (1982) was also also a big hit. It ranked no. 11 in UK and no. 17 in USA. 

They performed in many live shows, including Live Aid in 1985, with many other musicians and bands. In 1990, they released another "big hit" album: Painkiller. It ranked no. 24 in UK and no. 26 in USA. Those 3 albums received platinum, double platinum, and gold from both UK and USA.

Until 2018, Judas Priest has released 18 studio albums. Their latest album: Firepower (2018) was awarded as Best Album by Planet Rock Awards. They also won many other awards, such as: Grammy Award in 2010 as Best Metal Performance for the song Dissident Aggressor, Kerrang! Award for category Hall Of Fame (2007) and Inspiration (2015), Lifetime Achievement Award for Rob Halford (vocalist) from Loudwire Music Awards, Metal Hammer Award as Maximum Metal band in 2018, Best Album for Angel Of Retribution in 2005 from Golden Gods Awards, and also won as Best British Band in 2011 and 2018. Wow...

In 2007, they released a double-compilation albums titled Judas Priest: The Essentials. These 2 CDs album contain 17 tracks (in CD 1) and 17 tracks (in CD 2). All of them are their best songs, such as: Living After Midnight, Breaking The Law, Jawbreaker, Metal Gods, The Hellion, Electric Eye, Freewheel Burning, Ram It Down, Turbo Lover, Painkiller, Delivering The Goods, The Sinner, Heading The Highway, Judas Rising, and You've Got Another Thing Coming. I have these compilation albums in both CD and MP3 form... yes!

Judas Priest ever had a live show in Indonesia. It was on December 7th 2018 in Ecopark Ancol (Jakarta). Did you go there? I didn't because I don't like live show. But I saw the documentary photos from internet about that concert, before and during the show, including some photos showing Rob Halford wearing batik shirt. Nice...

OK, that's all about Judas Priest from me. Just keep our spirit up during pandemic, OK? Try using "metal spirit". Who knows it can increase our body immunity to the maximum point... hahaha.