Photo: Ben Kitto
"Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and ourselves are very important in that they helped to pave the way for metal and I think broaden the horizons." says Glenn Tipton, who's speaking with Gigwise in the midst of a tour that will see Judas Priest take to Brixton Academy tonight (1 December) before hitting up mainland Europe.
Tipton rightfully encourages us to acknowledge the importance of Sabbath on metal, as they were the first band to introduce darker, more sinister sounds and themes into blues and psychedelic rock. But in the mid '70s, it was Judas Priest who carried the genre forward. In contrast to Sabbath - who did not self-identify as metal - Judas Priest are proudly all metal. They brought a distinct style that shed the blues influence that was so dominant in the late '60's and early '70s.
Judas Priest owe their success, largely, to their disregard for convention: "I think we were lucky the way we wrote and the way we sound and the way we perform collectively has its own character," explains Tipton in his thick Midlands accent. "It’s very often the quality that I quote is the most essential [in music] is recognise your style, character and talent and expand on that. That’s all we did. We sat around a gas fire with our slippers on and wrote songs and they became heavy metal classics in their own right."
Tipton's accent also reveals a lot about the reason Judas Priest sound as they do. In the '60s, Birmingham was the industrial heartland of England and home to massive steel works. The originality in their music was largely helped along by the churning sound of the factories. Growing up around such loud machinery would psychologically impact a lot of people in different ways. Remarkably, Judas Priest managed to channel it into an art form.
Tipton himself worked for British Steel. "I was a design engineer I worked in factory. I was bored," he remembers. Music soon became his way out, and at the age of 19, he picked up the guitar and began writing songs in a band who, after changing their mind several times, settled on the name The Flying Hat Band. "When we had enough songs, we finished work and went down on the road. You barely had money to get to the next gig or buy a bag of chips, that’s life you know."
Meanwhile, with The Flying Hat Band unable to secure the right management Tipton opted to join Judas Priest, who had a record deal. Life didn't change drastically for him overnight though. Judas Priest's first album, Rock A Rolla, and their second, Sad Wings of Destiny, were released on Gull Records - but they failed to sell many copies, and the label were strapped for cash. But, having left his job, Tipton was always committed to making it. "Even though it was a very long shot at the time, you always have to have belief that you could [get signed]."
That dream of a proper deal came true in 1976. Judas Priest signed a record deal with CBS Records in the UK and Columbia in the USA. Money soon changed their fortunes as they had the budget to hire Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover who produced Sin After Sin. This was the beginning of a really special era for Judas Priest: "The songs written in the early days stand up these days as when they were written which was 40 years ago," says Tipton.
Despite the nostalgia there's no doubting that the bands love for heavy metal isn't slowing down and throughout their career they've managed to produce consistently powerful albums.Their most recent, Redeemer Of Souls was their first top 10 in the US charts. This shows their influence continues to be important today. Not only have they shaped the beginning of metal as a genre - paving the way for the likes of Metallica, Van Halen, and Iron Maiden - but their new output is capturing the imagination of a whole new generation.
Judas Priest's UK tour ends at Brixton Academy tonight (Tuesday 1 December) - for tickets and more information, visit here.
