K.K. Downing - guitar; Rob Halford - vocals; Ian Hill - bass; Dave Holland - drums; Glenn Tipton - guitar
Yeah!! Unleashed in the Midwest and hell bent for leather, Judas Priest are here to run you down!! The forebears of what is most commonly understood to be pure heavy metal, Priest fought an uphill battle from the cast-iron prison of Birmingham, England to become perhaps the most respected band in the genre and the catalyst for the hugely influential New Wave of British Heavy Metal.
While Judas Priest are more popularly associated with the metal movement of the '80s, the roots of the band reach all the way back to 1968. Several changes in membership, as well as inconsistent management and production contributed to a slow ascent to their rightful seat in the metal throne. But all that time spent struggling in obscurity paid off as they stormed into the following decade with a secure line-up, delivering a string of monumental albums and radio-staple singles.
By the middle of the 1980s, Priest was still steaming ahead, and had augmented their arsenal with some keyboard textures in a bid for more mainstream appeal. Though their most recent release had been widely derided by critics (a classification most metal bands were no doubt accustomed to by 1986), Priest still logged another entry into the rock radio rotation of eternity with "Turbo Lover", and the tour that followed proved to be one of their most successful. The incomparable experience of a concert queue was even documented during their Maryland appearance in the short film Heavy Metal Parking Lot.
King Biscuit beat the filmmakers to the punch a week or so prior, however, capturing the audio for this blistering set in Kansas City. All the highway-stinking, leather-chafing hits are here, including "The Sentinel", "Living After Midnight", and even a nod to their British blues origins with a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Green Manalishi." For a lesson in all things fast and heavy, look no further.