While the '80s may have been littered with many second-rate pop-metal knockoffs of little musical merit, Judas Priest, decked out in leather and studs, always stood tall above the pretenders as the genuine article of metal greatness. Along with Iron Maiden, they helped lead the way of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and are certainly one of the best and most influential metal bands ever. The Best of Judas Priest: Living After Midnight provides fans with a collection of late-'70s/early-'80s hard-rocking classics by one of the best in the metal business. This collection focuses on the hits of Judas Priest's career, which came mostly during the early '80s, their artistic and commercial peak. Tracks like "Living After Midnight" and the MTV favorite "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" showcase one of the band's biggest strengths, which is the ability to be melodic without losing any of their intensity or edge. The band had the ability to make you sing along while they were bludgeoning you over the head with a heavy guitar attack. Live tracks like the fist-pumping "Heading Out to the Highway" and "Tyrant" feature great performances by Rob Halford, who is one of the most gifted and distinct vocalists in heavy metal history. These tracks prove that Halford's soaring vocal range is no studio creation. The brutal "Metal Meltdown" and the epic "Victim of Changes" prominently display the twin guitar attack of K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton. Many of the guitar tracks laid down by this duo throughout its career helped provide a blueprint for many shredders that followed. In true metal form, this album rarely gives you a chance to come up for air, and despite the fact that some early classic cuts are missing from this album, The Best of Judas Priest: Living After Midnight is a fine collection of top-rate British heavy metal by one of the true masters.While the '80s may have been littered with many second-rate pop-metal knockoffs of little musical merit, Judas Priest, decked out in leather and studs, always stood tall above the pretenders as the genuine article of metal greatness. Along with Iron Maiden, they helped lead the way of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and are certainly one of the best and most influential metal bands ever. The Best of Judas Priest: Living After Midnight provides fans with a collection of late-'70s/early-'80s hard-rocking classics by one of the best in the metal business. This collection focuses on the hits of Judas Priest's career, which came mostly during the early '80s, their artistic and commercial peak. Tracks like "Living After Midnight" and the MTV favorite "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" showcase one of the band's biggest strengths, which is the ability to be melodic without losing any of their intensity or edge. The band had the ability to make you sing along while they were bludgeoning you over the head with a heavy guitar attack. Live tracks like the fist-pumping "Heading Out to the Highway" and "Tyrant" feature great performances by Rob Halford, who is one of the most gifted and distinct vocalists in heavy metal history. These tracks prove that Halford's soaring vocal range is no studio creation. The brutal "Metal Meltdown" and the epic "Victim of Changes" prominently display the twin guitar attack of K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton. Many of the guitar tracks laid down by this duo throughout its career helped provide a blueprint for many shredders that followed. In true metal form, this album rarely gives you a chance to come up for air, and despite the fact that some early classic cuts are missing from this album, The Best of Judas Priest: Living After Midnight is a fine collection of top-rate British heavy metal by one of the true masters.false2025-11-08 00:53:01The Best of Judas Priest: Living After Midnight20022002-12-162002-12-1678Hard RockHeavy MetalMetalRock111981219964933a74ac3-a1af-4449-bc1c-0f9404d753da6b335658-22c8-485d-93de-0bc29a1d0349404e2bbc-4764-3a5f-a9c9-33381a338520/media/data/media5/Music/Judas Priest/The Best of Judas Priest_ Living After Midnight/folder.jpgJudas PriestJudas PriestJudas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the pioneers of the new wave of British heavy metal movement, and are cited as a formative influence on various heavy metal subgenres, notably speed metal, thrash metal, and power metal. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in the latter half of the 1970s, the band had struggled with poor record production and a lack of major commercial success until 1980, when their sixth studio album British Steel brought them notable mainstream attention.
The band's membership has seen much turnover. During the 1970s, the core of bassist Ian Hill, lead singer Rob Halford and guitarists Glenn Tipton and K. K. Downing saw a revolving cast of drummers, before Dave Holland joined them for ten years from 1979 to 1989. Since Holland's departure, Scott Travis has been the band's drummer. Halford left Judas Priest in 1992, and after a four year hiatus, they regrouped in 1996 with Tim "Ripper" Owens, formerly of Winter's Bane, replacing Halford. After two albums with Owens, Halford returned to the band in 2003. Downing left the band in 2011, replaced by Richie Faulkner. The current line-up consists of Hill, Tipton, Travis, Halford and Faulkner; although Tipton remains as an official member of Judas Priest, he has limited his touring activities since 2018 due to Parkinson's disease, with Andy Sneap filling in for him. Hill and Tipton are the only two of the band to appear on every album.
Halford's operatic vocal style and the twin guitar sound of Downing and Tipton have been a major influence on heavy metal bands. Judas Priest's image of leather, spikes, and other taboo articles of clothing was widely influential during the glam metal era of the 1980s. The Guardian referred to British Steel as the record that defines heavy metal. Despite a decline in exposure during the mid-1990s, the band has once again seen a resurgence, including worldwide tours, being inaugural inductees into the VH1 Rock Honors in 2006, receiving a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2010, and having their songs featured in video games such as Guitar Hero and the Rock Band series. In 2022, Judas Priest were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame via the Award for Musical Excellence.