United

Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford calls this song "an us-against-the-world anthem." It was inspired by the unpopularity of the Conservative government in the UK at the beginning of the 1980s. Halford explained to Billboard magazine: "There was a feeling of the vast population of the British public being united against a government we felt was uncaring. It was also a kind of kickback to the way we were being ignored by various elements of the press in our home country because the punk movement was dominating everything. We wanted to send a rallying call out to the metalheads, not only in the UK but everywhere."

This was the third single from the British heavy metal band Judas Priest's sixth album, British Steel. The album was a leap forward for the band, who became headlining arena-fillers for the first time after its release. It was their first album to make the Top 10 in the UK (#4), and their first to sell a million copies in America. One key change in the songwriting: All the tracks were written as a team by Halford, K.K. Downing, and Glenn Tipton. They recorded it at Tittenhurst Park, where John Lennon lived and worked. The room where Lennon wrote "Imagine" was their primary work area.