JUDAS priest

Sad Wings Of Destiny

(1976)

The birth of the metal gods as we know them

“THIS WAS the first Priest album I got into. Their first record, Rocka Rolla, was more classic rock, but this defined the style that they became known for. It’s where they found their niche. It was the point where they started to turn into the heavy metal legends they are now.

“Musically, it was completely different to everything else that was around at the time. The guitar tone on Victim Of Changes and Island Of Domination – which is a personal favourite – stands out. They defined heavy metal, guitar tone-wise. It’s the start of that classic sound. And no one else sang like Rob Halford back then – the grandiose operatic vocals. The only thing that compared was Queen, with the four-part harmonies and Freddie Mercury’s voice. But no one had done it with music that heavy – Zeppelin were doing something similar, but not in the way Priest were.

“I’ve always said that if an alien landed on Earth and asked you to play them a band that defines heavy metal, you’d play them Priest. Their influence is huge and it still lives on today.”