Judas Priest

It took several years of line up changes and poorly received album releases before Judas Priest developed their signature sound, with the 1977 album "Sin After Sin" establishing the band internationally through their dual lead guitar attack, punishing pace and driving riffs which went on to define the evolving sound of metal.

The classic line up consists of vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton and bassist Ian Hill. The 1980 album "British Steel" featured the hits "Breaking the Law" and "Living After Midnight" which garnered Judas Priest mainstream success. Their penchant for wearing leather and chains popularised this fashion statement in metal, influencing acts for years to come.

"Screaming for Vengeance (1982)" peaked at number 17 in the American charts, selling over a million copies, with the band being at the peek of their popularity, achieving great success with the renowned hit "You've Got Another Thing Comin'." The musical style is full of aggressive, fast paced guitar riffs and they also popularised the use of double bass drums, making for rapid rhythms. Their music helped influence the development of thrash metal, which was the next big sub-genre of metal to grow, with bands like Metallica and Megadeath pushing the speed and ferocity of their music to new extreme levels.

Judas Priest's career was hit by controversy, following an incident involving two American teenagers who, having been listening to Judas Priest and drinking beers, decided to make a suicide pact. Judas Priest were deemed responsible for their self-inflicted gunshot wounds due to supposed subliminal messaging that was featured in their song "Better By You, Better Than Me." This incident resulted in a civil action suit that lasted for a month before eventually being dismissed by the judge. The trial became the subject of a 1991 documentary titled "Dream Deceivers: The Story Behind James Vance vs Judas Priest."

After an eleven year break, Judas Priest reunited in 2003 and have continued touring and releasing albums since. They were inducted into the VH1 Rock Honors in 2006, as well as being awarded with the title of the second "greatest metal band of all time," with Black Sabbath taking the number one spot. More recently, the band have released their album "Redeemer of Souls," which has spurred an international tour in support of its release, achieving the band's first top 10 album in the US.