(from left) Judas Priest’s Scott Travis, Ian Hill, Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner. It was supposed to be a period of celebration, not turmoil, and Judas Priest seemed to be...
(from left) Judas Priest’s Scott Travis, Ian Hill, Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner.
It was supposed to be a period of celebration, not turmoil, and Judas Priest seemed to be having a great time.
Vocalist Rob Halford and guitarist Richie Faulkner had flown to New York to plug their newly completed album, Firepower, the first in which Faulkner played a major songwriting role. The band’s other guitarist, Glenn Tipton—who had not yet announced that he had been suffering for years with Parkinson’s disease and would not be joining Priest on the Firepower tour—was apparently still in England working on the final mixes with recording engineer Mike Exeter.
Whether they were ecstatic to finally be out of the studio or were simply holding their cards close to the vest, Halford and Faulkner didn’t give any indication that something was amiss. They were both upbeat and filled with enthusiasm, joking with label staff and reveling in the afterglow of their latest creation.
“I really love the song ‘Spectre,’ which has a real ‘Ripper’-esque breakdown that’s great!” Faulkner exclaims from a black couch in his record label conference room shortly after a press screening of the album. “From there, it goes into a guitar solo, and then another guitar solo and then a harmony solo. We weren’t shooting for radio play, so we weren’t bound by any formula. We just had fun with it and went where the songs took us.”
Unlike Faulkner’s recording debut, 2014’s Redeemer of Souls, nothing on Firepower feels formulaic. There’s an element of excitement and discovery throughout that Priest haven’t displayed in more than 10 years.
Faulkner admits he wrote his parts on Redeemer of Souls to fit a band template, and it’s noticeable. By