Rob Halford - lead vocals; K. K. Downing - guitar; Glenn Tipton - guitar; Ian Hill - bass; Dave Holland - drums
Opening with the crunch of dual Marshall-amped guitars, Judas Priest rocks out with "Out In The Cold" and "Locked In" for this memorable King Biscuit Flower Hour Show. The band made their U.S. break-though with British Steel in the early '80s, and were one of the biggest metal bands in the world (a crown they would hand down to Metallica around this time).
Since this was still a few years away from singer Rob Halford's unceremonious departure, the band was rockin' hard as a solid steel ramrod pounding against the doors of the enemy's fortress. All the Priest classics are here, including "Breaking The Law," "Love Bites," "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll," "Rock You All Around The World," and "Turbo Lover." A particular highlight is the band's pumped-up version of "Green Manalishi," written and originally recorded by the Peter Green period lineup of Fleetwood Mac. They close the show with the triple whammy version of "Living After Midnight," "You've Got Another Thing Comin'," and an encore of "Hell Bent For Leather."
Originally formed in 1968 in Birmingham, England, Priest drew their influence from Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, another Birmingham band that had started just a year earlier. When this show was cut 12 years after the band's inception, only K.K. Downing and Ian Hill remained from the initial lineup.
Their 1978 breakthrough album, Stained Class, had established Judas Priest as metal superstars, clad mostly in black leather and chains. Other hit albums soon followed, including Hell Bent for Leather, British Steel and the platinum double live album, Unleashed in the East. Those LPs, along with a number of FM radio hits such as "Breaking The Law" and "Living After Midnight," would firmly establish Judas Priest as kings of metal around the globe.
In 1992, lead vocalist Rob Halford revealed he was gay and left soon afterwards to explore music more in the vein of Nine Inch Nails. The group carried on with a singer named "Ripper" Owens, who they found in a Judas Priest clone band (and whose story is immortalized in the Mark Wahlberg film Rock Star).
When the band's back catalog was revamped in 2003, Halford returned to the fold, and Owens left amicably. They released a new studio album in 2005.