The band's membership has seen much turnover, including a revolving cast of drummers in the 1970s and the departure of singer Rob Halford in 1992. Tim "Ripper" Owens, formerly of Winter's Bane, replaced Halford in 1996 and recorded two albums with Judas Priest, before Halford returned to the band in 2003. The current line-up consists of Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill and drummer Scott Travis. The band's best-selling album is 1982's Screaming for Vengeance, with their most commercially successful line-up featuring Ian Hill, Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, guitarist K. K. Downing, and drummer Dave Holland. Tipton and Hill are the only two members of the band to appear on every album.
Halford's operatic vocal style and the twin guitar sound of Downing and Tipton have been a major influence on heavy metal bands. Judas Priest's image of leather, spikes, and other taboo articles of clothing were widely influential during the glam metal era of the 1980s. The Guardian referred to British Steel as the record that defines heavy metal. Despite a decline in exposure during the mid-1990s, the band has once again seen a resurgence, including worldwide tours, being inaugural inductees into the VH1 Rock Honors in 2006, receiving a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2010, and having their songs featured in video games such as Guitar Hero and the Rock Band series. In 2022, Judas Priest were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_Priest
Studio albums
Rocka Rolla (1974)
Sad Wings of Destiny (1976)
Sin After Sin (1977)
Stained Class (1978)
Killing Machine (1978)
British Steel (1980)
Point of Entry (1981)
Screaming for Vengeance (1982)
Defenders of the Faith (1984)
Turbo (1986)
Ram It Down (1988)
Painkiller (1990)
Jugulator (1997)
Demolition (2001)
Angel of Retribution (2005)
Nostradamus (2008)
Redeemer of Souls (2014)
Firepower (2018)
Invincible Shield (2024)
War
Judas Priest Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
No prayers suffice such evil foe
Black wings, the storm is gathering
And time will say
We know the power of heresy
Is on it's way
[Chorus]
Heed their warning
Gods of war
They are coming now
No man can quell the suffering
The hell and all the grief it brings
Our life is almost over now
there's nothing more
We feel the pain is everywhere
It comes and roars
[Chorus]
Gods of war
Judge and jury
Gods of war
Pain and fury now
We must hold this threat
From such panic yet
There will come a time
When we'll be saved
Our resilient heart
To confound defeat yeah!
Out of purgatory
Unto victory
We shall overcome
The war they staged
Through unyielding power
In the darkest hour
They will retreat
[Chorus]
Gods of war
Devastation
Gods of war
End creation now!
The song "War," by Judas Priest, is a powerful and ominous portrayal of the destructive force of war. The lyrics depict a sense of impending doom and an understanding of the devastating power of war. The lines, "We come in all the glory now, no prayers suffice such evil foe. Black wings, the storm is gathering, and time will say" paint a picture of a looming and unstoppable evil that no amount of prayer or hope might be able to deter. The idea of a demonic force, hinted at by the use of "black wings," further emphasizes the sense of horror.
The chorus of the song, "Gods of war, heed their warning. Gods of war, they are coming now," amplifies the sense of impending doom. The "Gods of war" seem to be the force that will bring the terror, and there is no way to stop them. The lyrics go on to describe the pain and suffering that war causes, and the sense that it is an unstoppable force, "No man can quell the suffering, the hell and all the grief it brings. Our life is almost over now, there's nothing more. We feel the pain is everywhere, it comes and roars." These lines evoke a sense of despair and hopelessness, as though the people in the song are trapped in the midst of a war that they cannot escape.
The final lines of the song, "We shall overcome. The war they staged, through unyielding power. In the darkest hour, they will retreat," seem to offer a glimmer of hope. The idea that the people can overcome the war through their own power and resilience feels like a message of empowerment, despite the grim and foreboding lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
We come in all the glory now
We are arriving with pride and power
No prayers suffice such evil foe
Nothing can stop such a wicked enemy
Black wings, the storm is gathering
A dangerous and destructive force is approaching
And time will say
Only time will tell what will happen
We know the power of heresy
We are aware of the dangers of going against tradition or religion
Is on it's way
It's arrival is imminent
Gods of war
A reference to powerful beings able to bring destruction
Heed their warning
Listen to what they have to say and act accordingly
They are coming now
They are approaching fast
No man can quell the suffering
It's impossible to stop the pain
The hell and all the grief it brings
A terrible state and all the sadness it causes
Our life is almost over now
We are running out of time
there's nothing more
There's nothing left to do or say
We feel the pain is everywhere
We can sense the suffering all around us
It comes and roars
It arrives violently and loudly
Judge and jury
A reference to powerful beings with the authority to punish
Pain and fury now
Intense suffering and anger
We must hold this threat
We need to contain this danger
From such panic yet
Despite the panic it brings
There will come a time
Eventually it will be over
When we'll be saved
We will finally be rescued or protected
Our resilient heart
Our strong and determined spirit
To confound defeat yeah!
To surprise our opponents and avoid losing
Out of purgatory
Escaping a painful or agonizing situation
Unto victory
Towards success
We shall overcome
We will win and conquer
The war they staged
The conflict they started
Through unyielding power
Using an unwavering and strong force of will
In the darkest hour
In the most desperate moment
They will retreat
They will withdraw or surrender
Devastation
Complete destruction and ruin
End creation now!
The end of everything
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, REACH MUSIC PUBLISHING, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: GLENN TIPTON, GLENN RAYMOND TIPTON, K.K. DOWNING, KENNETH DOWNING, ROBERT HALFORD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Sixus1Media
Fun story about this video: The guy who was in charge of it was a good friend of mine who hired me to be the Technical Director and character designer, putting together primarily the horsemen for his skeleton crew of animators in England. Tony, however, was fighting cancer. Had been for years. And in the midst of production on this, became incapacitated. For a variety of reasons related to that. productions all stalled. My work was done, though, until one day I get a call from a producer on it explaining what was up. I was asked if there were any way something could be put together from what they had and maybe some new shots in what little time was left. So, I stepped in to do what I could to bring home a project that was slated for six months in about 6 weeks. It was insanity. Shots go ok'ed, rough as they were. No time for re-renders and simulations. It's insane how much faster the machines are today. I am a life long metal head, though, and when asked, I thought, I at least have to try. A finished, of sorts, thing was turned in at the end and this is it. Is it "good"? Well.... honestly, I feel bad about it. I know I could have done better. We all could have. Health issues can have a real rippling effect through a production, though, at least we managed to turn in something in the tiny time frame that was left. Am I proud of it? Yes, even though I am full aware of how extremely rough it is. I'm proud for what was achieved in such a tiny amount of time. I love Priest. I do wish we had more time at the end, but most of all, I wish Tony hadn't become so ill. He was my best friend at the time. He eventually came back to animating and illustrating and we worked together on a couple things in the years after, until, in Feb 2016, his battle was finally over. Tony Luke will forever be missed. He was a friend and brother who had a profound effect on my life. Someday, perhaps, on my own, I hope to go back and completely redo this piece, to give it the love and care Tony couldn't, and that the rest of us didn't have time to because of the deadlines and contracts. I finished the work on this for Priest; I hope to go back and do a much higher quality version someday, for Tony.
@thomassibley9475
If this true. Hats off. It was not good though.
@Sixus1Media
@@thomassibley9475 it was a hard gig. Did our best under some horrible circumstances. A lot was learned
@equalityforever302
I kind of like it honestly. It gives off Fallout 1 and 2 vibes.
@alexanderfinbow
I too would love to make the video that we planned, with the epic battle scenes properly choreographed and animated.
@Frenchnostalgique
Honestly, this is one of the most interesting heavy metal music video I've seen, which aren't usually very inspired. Despite how rough it is, it has an early PlayStation vibe which feels nostalgic today, even though that wasn't really in vogue in 2008.
@alvarobayona9214
This PlayStation 1gameplay is trippy as hell. Still badass though.
@diz9606
It's PS1 ? I thought it was gamecube at first...
@Cacques
I thought it was gameboy advanced..
@LordofDarknessX
This is not a video game FMV dude.....