Lightning Strike

Frontman Rob Halford explained the meaning of this song: "It's all about how you're able to react to confrontation. Don't let these things beat you down. Lightning is striking because it's the light that pulls you out of darkness."

This is the lead single from Firepower, the first Judas Priest studio album to be produced by Tom Allom since their seminal 1980s records. Allom produced every Judas Priest release from 1979's Unleashed In The East to 1988's Ram It Down. Bassist Ian Hill told Revolver: "Tom Allom has been with us since 1979, so his knowledge of ourselves and our music in general is immense. We went back to the organic way of recording where it's all of us in a room and we got to play together." Andy Sneap (Saxon, Accept) was also part of the production team. "Tom Allom has got this classic metal thing," frontman Rob Halford said, "and Andy is a bit more of a 'modern metal producer,' but his thinking is a little bit different to Tom's. And I think to get this balance between that classic old school metal to what Andy's world is was just a remarkable coalescence."

Singer Rob Halford stated about "Lightning Strike": "To me, the overall concept of this song is to use the element of a lightning strike to pull away and tear apart at an individual, at a body of people, maybe an organization, maybe an administration, that is kind of leading you, or leading us, into potentially a destructive place. You're kind of spinning that effect round, and you have the right to react and to do something about it. So that, in essence, is what this song is all about."