Judas Priest w/ Saxon and Black Star Riders

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Judas Priest

British heavy-metal titans helped reinvent the genre with their massive 1980 album, British Steel, a stripped-down, straight-ahead assault on the eardrums. The dual guitar attack of Glenn Tipton and former member K.K. Downing drove the album, while Rob Halford’s amazing vocals (the guy has a four octave vocal range) pushed the material well over the top. What is perhaps most remarkable is that British Steel came out just one year after Hell Bent for Leather, and two years after the equally strong Stained Class. Time hasn’t dulled the band any. This month the group released their 18th album, Firepower, which reunited them with producer Tom Allom for the first time since 1988’s Ram It Down. The band has bragged that the title track may be the fastest song they’ve ever performed.