JUDAS PRIEST's ROB HALFORD: 'I'm In This To Make Quality Music That's Going To Stick'

July 28, 2015

In a brand new interview with MLive, JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford spoke about how the heavy metal scene of today compares to the way it was in the mid '80s, when metal was enjoying its heyday on both sides of the Atlantic.

"It's a different landscape today vs. the past," he said. "There's only one IRON MAIDEN, and only one BLACK SABBATH, of sorts. What we crafted in the '70s and '80s was our feeling. I think it's natural for new metal bands to strive to find their own direction. I personally could look around and see acts like [Jimi] Hendrix, DEEP PURPLE, etc. ... the beginnings of the metal scene, to an extent. We learned from the masters in some respect."

He continued: "To me, it's always been about quality, not quality. I'm in this to make quality music that's going to stick, where you can look back 5-10 years from now and say it still sounds pretty darn good. I'm not dismissing the incredible talent out there now. People are in a band to make their dreams come true, and it's really tough."

JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Glenn Tipton recently said that he was proud to have had an influence on the current crop of up-and-coming artists, many of whom in turn have an impact on PRIEST's work.

He said: "I think there's still some great young bands around. We've got a lot of respect for the younger bands. You can still learn from them, because they're creating new parts of heavy metal. Every year, every decade it changes, but the backbone is still heavy metal."

He added: "If we've inspired some young bands, that's great, and it makes us proud. We're not stupid, we listen to the young bands as well, and we learn from them. We don't copy them, but we get inspired."

JUDAS PRIEST is continuing to tour in support of its latest album, "Redeemer Of Souls", which was released in July 2014. The follow-up to 2008's double-disc concept album "Nostradamus" was billed as a return to JUDAS PRIEST's heavy-metal roots.

"Redeemer Of Souls" sold around 32,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 6 on The Billboard 200 chart.

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