Judas Priest

The Band, they maybe don't see it, but we, as outsiders, know, that not reconciling with Ken is their biggest mistake. They are in their Twilight Years, soon their Ride of the Life will be over. It's a shame it to end on a such negative note.
Just think for a minute, Rob definitely has the power to say "we need bring Ken back". But that does not happen. There's too much water under the bridge.
 
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The tension between KK and Glenn started from the early days (Stained Class era), iirc from his book. I'm just glad that this situation with the 4-piece band was resolved.
Yeah. But things were cool between them around Jugulator, with KK in creative control for a change and Glenn tagged along.
 

KK's finally piped up. Amazed he didn't mention being shocked and saddened that Priest didn't ask him to come back, instead he's just bemused that Priest could even think about going as a quartet, which is hard to disagree with.
 
I think KK would be better off doing his own thing rather than hankering for a return to the circus
I think Priest's live lineup lacks legitimacy (even more so as a quartet). You can do without KK or Glenn, as Richie is the man. You can't really without both in my book. Glenn trying to play along to a couple of tracks a few gigs is just a small bandaid on that front. Not easy to admit since Priest and Maiden are my two favorite bands.
 
I think Priest's live lineup lacks legitimacy (even more so as a quartet). You can do without KK or Glenn, as Richie is the man. You can't really without both in my book. Glenn trying to play along to a couple of tracks a few gigs is just a small bandaid on that front. Not easy to admit since Priest and Maiden are my two favorite bands.

The whole idea of 50 years of Judas Priest performed with a bunch of standins is not credible to me. It’s not like some bands where one member IS the band, like Megadeth with Mustaine. Priest needs Glen and KK. They’ve been the spine of that band for decades and I find it infuriating that all these grumpy old sods can’t put their petulant gripes to one side for the sake of their legacy.
 
KK's finally piped up. Amazed he didn't mention being shocked and saddened that Priest didn't ask him to come back, instead he's just bemused that Priest could even think about going as a quartet, which is hard to disagree with.
He has a band now and I guess he finally moved on. I completely agree with what he said.
You can do without KK or Glenn, as Richie is the man. You can't really without both in my book.
Yep. KK and Glenn are as iconic as Rob's voice for the band.
 
So Rob had claimed it was his idea to go as a four piece and it’s because they started as a four piece. Which I think is a pretty weak excuse for a legacy staining decision which was most likely financially motivated. The idea that fans were crying out to see the pub band era of Priest is just fanciful nonsense.


JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford has admitted that it was his idea for the group to announce its plan to embark on the next leg of its 50th-anniversary tour as a quartet. "That all came from me, it didn't come from the band," Halford told Billboard, explaining that he thought since the band was founded as a four-piece it would be appropriate to return to that for a 50th-anniversary celebration. "Of course, that blew up in my face, didn't it? To have done something like a four-piece now would've been just not right, ridiculous, insane, crazy, off my rocker, have a cup of tea and relax. It's kind of water under the bridge now. I think my heart was in the right place, but I'm not the first musician to have a crazy idea."

On January 10, JUDAS PRIEST revealed that it would perform as a four-piece when it returns to the road in early March. A few hours later, the band's touring guitarist Andy Sneap, who co-produced the group's 2018 album "Firepower", released a statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET in which he said that he was "incredibly disappointed" by PRIEST's decision to carry on as a quartet and thanked the Halford-fronted outfit for the "mind-blowing" opportunity to share the stage with one of his favorite bands. Meanwhile, PRIEST fans were understandably upset about the band's decision to forgo its classic twin-guitar attack sound and made their feelings known on social media. Some even called for the return of guitarist K.K. Downing, who joined PRIEST in 1970 and remained in the group until 2011.



On January 15, JUDAS PRIEST released a statement announcing that it was reversing its decision to tour as a four-piece, explaining that the bandmembers "decided unanimously" to continue their live shows "unchanged" with Rob, Ian Hill (bass), Richie Faulkner (guitar), Scott Travis (drums) and Andy.

Sneap, who is also known for his work in NWOBHM revivalists HELL and cult thrash outfit SABBAT, began touring with PRIEST four years ago after longtime guitarist Glenn Tipton — who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease eight years ago after being stricken by the condition at least half a decade earlier — announced in early 2018 he was going to sit out touring activities in support of "Firepower".

Hill is the sole remaining original member of PRIEST, which formed in 1969. Halford joined the group in 1973 and Tipton signed on in 1974. Rob left PRIEST in the early 1990s to form his own band, then came back to PRIEST in 2003. Downing parted ways with the band more than a decade ago and was replaced by Faulkner.


Last month, Downing said in an interview that it was "very, very strange" for PRIEST "to even think about" the possibility of going out as a quartet. "I'm like everybody else. I'm totally bemused," he told the "Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen" classic rock show. It was just so extreme and insulting in a way, I guess, and insulting to Glenn as well. It was kind of a slap in the face, saying, 'Okay, you two guys did it, but we think just one guy could do what…' It kind of made us and everything that we've done and created, saying it was all superfluous, really, and didn't really have the value that… I'm sure Glenn will agree with me that it does have a value."

Last November, JUDAS PRIEST announced the rescheduled "50 Heavy Metal Years" North American tour dates for March-April 2022. Support on the trek will come from QUEENSRŸCHE.
 

I'm glad to hear and see that Richie is fine.

Some curious bits from the interview:

They are still working on the new Priest album. At the moment, he would say that the album is more progressive in places and in places it's got the swagger of the Killing Machine album. It's not Firepower II.

He said that he probably would have been able to handle Priest's songs with one guitar. He also wished the things with KK were good and he thinks the problem is personal, not creative or for money. If KK ever comes back, he will be willing to move over, if it is necessary.

Michael Schenker and Tony Iommi are the two guitarists he would like to play with.

He shared his opinion about Janick - he said that Janick is pretty underrated, he does a great job for Maiden and he has written fantastic songs for the band. He also said that he is still trying to learn some of those dance moves that Janick does. :lol:

''Reckless'' is a song he would like to play live during the 50th Anniversary tour. In fact, the song was in the short list for the setlist of this tour, but for some reason it didn't feel right live, just like ''Solar Angels'' for the Firepower tour. From the Ripper era, he mentioned ''Hell Is Home'' and ''Cathedral Spires''. They try not to play long songs live, because they usually have to make room in the setlist for them by removing two other songs.
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In other news, he is working on his debut solo album:

 

I'm glad to hear and see that Richie is fine.

Some curious bits from the interview:

They are still working on the new Priest album. At the moment, he would say that the album is more progressive in places and in places it's got the swagger of the Killing Machine album. It's not Firepower II.

He said that he probably would have been able to handle Priest's songs with one guitar. He also wished the things with KK were good and he thinks the problem is personal, not creative or for money. If KK ever comes back, he will be willing to move over, if it is necessary.

Michael Schenker and Tony Iommi are the two guitarists he would like to play with.

He shared his opinion about Janick - he said that Janick is pretty underrated, he does a great job for Maiden and he has written fantastic songs for the band. He also said that he is still trying to learn some of those dance moves that Janick does. :lol:

''Reckless'' is a song he would like to play live during the 50th Anniversary tour. In fact, the song was in the short list for the setlist of this tour, but for some reason it didn't feel right live, just like ''Solar Angels'' for the Firepower tour. From the Ripper era, he mentioned ''Hell Is Home'' and ''Cathedral Spires''. They try not to play long songs live, because they usually have to make room in the setlist for them by removing two other songs.
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In other news, he is working on his debut solo album:

I really like Richie. He's just a good dude.
 
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