Redeemer of Souls

Judas Priest released their first album (Rocka Rolla) in 1974. Forty years later, they issued their seventeenth studio album, Redeemer of Souls, taking care to retain their classic sound on the title track. "It's instantly Judas Priest as soon as it comes in, guitarist Richie Faulkner told us. "It's very instant and very direct. It's simple, but it's what you'd expect from a Judas Priest song. It was the first song that got put out to the public just to let you know that Priest is back and this is what it's about, really."

Lead singer Rob Halford created a character for this song, which can be seen on the album cover. "It's another song of empowerment for me in the lyrical message," he told us. "It's got the little bit of the fantasy element, creating a figure, this redeemer of souls. What is he? He's not a destructive guy, he's coming to bring that redemption with Metal, and I think that's a very iconic type of representation for Judas Priest."

There is on Old West theme on this track that runs concurrently with the extraterrestrial concept. This makes some sense when you consider where Halford found inspiration for the lyric: the 2011 movie Cowboys & Aliens. Keeping with the Old West motif, we hear about a showdown at "high noon." Guitarist Glenn Tipton said: "It's a very natural Judas Priest song. And I love the high noon reference, as well, which to me typifies that god, half-molten metal, half-human walking down some sort of deserted cowboy town with tumbleweeds and dust and dirt. That's the picture it conjures up for me." (Here's our full interview with Judas Priest.)