In a recent interview with Victor Rocks, Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford discussed the remixed and remastered version of the band’s classic debut album, ‘Rocka Rolla,’ released to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
The rocker was asked if the remixed version of the album proves that Priest was a heavy metal band from the debut. “When Judas Priest began its metal life all those years ago, we said from day one, ‘We want to be a heavy metal band. We want our sound of heavy metal around the world from the very beginning,'” the singer explained. “And that’s what we did when we began with ‘Rocka Rolla.'”
“Yes, there’s a different texture and a different experience from ‘Rocka Rolla’ to ‘Sad Wings Of Destiny’. As it is with a lot of bands, your first two or three albums are establishing who you are and what you wanna say with your metal, with your music. And that’s what Judas Priest did with ‘Rocka Rolla’. Heavy metal from day one. Oh, yeah,” he added.
The remixed and remastered version of Rocka Rolla was released digitally in the U.S. and Canada on September 13. The CD and vinyl versions of ‘Rocka Rolla – 50th Anniversary: Remixed And Remastered 1974 – 2024’ came out November 22.
As Halford explained in the press release for the new reissue, the band members were generally satisfied with their studio work, but upon hearing the first pressing of ‘Rocka Rolla,’ they were disappointed with how it sounded. “I took the record… and I put the needle onto the groove and I sat back. And I just slowly started to deflate, deflate,” Halford recalled. “I was so disappointed with the way it was sounding… All of us were — we’d all worked so hard to get to this place. And now this music that we know when we play live is roaring — the heavy metal is roaring even in those early primitive days — none of that was coming out of the speakers.”
Over the years, ‘Rocka Rolla’ was reissued without the band’s input, until a business deal in 2022 transferred the masters and publishing rights. Glenn Tipton’s music publisher, Reach Music Publishing, acquired the album and its follow-up ‘Sad Wings of Destiny’ from Gull Records owner David Howells.
Luckily, the original master tapes for ‘Rocka Rolla’ were saved, and Allom was able to remix the album, giving it ‘the production it deserved,’ as Ian Hill put it.
Judas Priest recently announced the dates for their ‘European Shield Of Pain Tour 2025.’ It will kick off on June 14 in Hamar, Norway, and conclude on July 20 in Oberhausen, Germany.
