''Defenders of the Faith'' is the ninth studio album by English heavy metal band

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

, released on 13 January 1984 by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. The album was

certified platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

, and spawned the singles "

Freewheel Burning "Freewheel Burning" is a song by the English heavy metal band Judas Priest, appearing on their 1984 album ''Defenders of the Faith'', and released as the first single off that album. The 12" version of the single contained an extended guitar i ...

", "

Some Heads Are Gonna Roll "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll" is a song by the English heavy metal band Judas Priest. It was originally released on their 1984 studio album, ''Defenders of the Faith'', and issued as a single later that year. Background "Some Heads Are Gonna R ...

", and "Love Bites".

Recording and release

''Defenders of the Faith'' was recorded at Ibiza Sound Studios,

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, and mixed from September to November 1983 at DB Recording Studios and Bayshore Recording Studios in

Coconut Grove Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as The Grove, is the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bound by North Prospect Drive to the south, LeJeune Road to the west, S ...

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. The LP and cassette tape were released on 4 January 1984, and the album appeared on CD in July. A remastered CD was released in May 2001. Simultaneously with the album's release, the band kicked off their tour in Europe, with the bulk of concerts taking place in North America during the spring and summer. Stylistically, ''Defenders of the Faith'' did not greatly depart from its predecessor and featured a similar formula of short, up-tempo metal anthems with stadium shout-along choruses, although progressive elements returned on some tracks such as "The Sentinel". The track "Rock Hard Ride Free" is actually a re-working of a track entitled "Fight for Your Life", recorded during the 1982 ''Screaming For Vengeance'' sessions but not included on that album. The album was an immediate success, only going one spot below ''

Screaming for Vengeance ''Screaming for Vengeance'' is the eighth studio album by the English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released in July 1982 by Columbia Records. Considered the band's commercial breakthrough, it has been certified double platinum in the United S ...

'' on the US Billboard 100 Albums Chart. Some critics nonetheless objected to the lack of a standout single comparable to "

Breaking the Law "Breaking the Law" is a song by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, originally released on their 1980 album '' British Steel''. The song is one of the band's better known singles, and is readily recognized by its opening guitar riff. Com ...

" or "

You've Got Another Thing Comin' "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" is a song by English heavy metal band Judas Priest. It was originally released on their 1982 album '' Screaming for Vengeance'' and released as a single later that year. In May 2006, VH1 ranked it fifth on thei ...

, and the album's general similarity to ''Screaming for Vengeance''. The 30th-anniversary release of the album (released in March 2015) came with a double CD of a live show recorded on 5 May 1984 at the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California on their Defenders of the Faith Tour and was originally recorded for a radio broadcast.

Packaging

The cover art by Doug Johnson (who also designed the Hellion in ''

'') depicts the Metallian, a horned,

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

-like land assault creature with Gatling guns and tank tracks conceptualized by the band. The back cover contains a message:

Controversy

"Eat Me Alive" was listed at number 3 on the

Parents Music Resource Center The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was an American committee formed in 1985 with the stated goal of increasing parental control over the access of children to music deemed to have violent, drug-related or sexual themes via labeling albums ...

's "Filthy Fifteen", a list of 15 songs the organization found most objectionable. PMRC co-founder

Tipper Gore Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" Gore (née Aitcheson; born August 19, 1948) is an American social issues advocate, activist, photographer and author who was the second lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001. She was married to Al Gore, the 45th vi ...

stated the song was about oral sex at gunpoint. In response to the allegations, Priest recorded the song "Parental Guidance" on the follow-up album ''

Turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

''.

Promotion

In December 1983, the band released the "Freewheel Burning" single and performed the song in a short UK/Germany tour in the same month. In January 1984, the band embarked on the

Metal Conqueror Tour The ''Metal Conqueror Tour'' was a concert tour by English heavy metal band Judas Priest in support of the album ''Defenders of the Faith''. It ran from 20 January until 13 September 1984. Following the tour, the band took a one-year hiatus ...

across Europe, North America and Japan. On this tour, the band played every song from the album live, with the exception of "Eat Me Alive". During the band's 2008 tour in support of ''

Nostradamus Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566), usually Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed seer, who is best known for his book ''Les Prophéties'' (published in 1555), a collection o ...

'', they played many songs which had never been played live before, one of them being "Eat Me Alive". To date, this made ''Defenders of the Faith'' the second Judas Priest album from which every song had been played live (the first being ''Rocka Rolla''), followed by ''British Steel'' during the 2009, British Steel 30th anniversary tour.

Legacy

* "Jawbreaker" was covered by Rage for the single "Higher than the Sky" and also appeared on the tribute album '' A Tribute to Judas Priest: Legends of Metal'' and '' All G.U.N. Bonustracks'' CD. In 2010, "Jawbreaker" was covered by Swedish power metal band

Sabaton A sabaton or solleret is part of a knight's body armor that covers the foot. History Fourteenth and fifteenth century sabatons typically end in a tapered point well past the actual toes of the wearer's foot, following fashionable shoe shapes o ...

on the Re-Armed Edition of their album ''

Metalizer ''Metalizer'' is the third full-length release by Swedish Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Sabaton (band), Sabaton, but was actually recorded as their professional debut album (second overall) in 2002. The band's first record company, Undergrou ...

''. In 2017, "Jawbreaker" was covered by Swiss band Burning Witches on their debut self-titled album. * "The Sentinel" was covered by

Machine Head A machine head (also referred to as a tuning machine, tuner, or gear head) is a geared apparatus for tuning stringed musical instruments by adjusting string tension. Machine heads are used on mandolins, guitars, double basses and others, and ar ...

for the special edition version of their 2011 album ''

Unto the Locust ''Unto the Locust'' is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Machine Head, released in Australia on September 23, in the UK on September 26 and worldwide on September 27, 2011. The album was produced and mixed by Robb Flynn, and ...

'' as well as Heavens Gate for the Japan version of their 1996 album ''Planet E.'' * "Night Comes Down" was covered by

Katatonia Katatonia are a Swedish heavy metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström. The band started as a studio-only project for the duo, as an outlet for the band's love of death metal. Increasing popularity led them to ...

for the Japanese edition of their 2016 album '' The Fall of Hearts''.

Track listing

30th Anniversary Edition – Bonus Live CDs

Personnel

;Judas Priest *

Rob Halford Robert John Arthur Halford (born 25 August 1951) is an English heavy metal singer. He is the lead vocalist of Judas Priest, which was formed in 1969 and has received accolades such as the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. He has b ...

– vocals *

K. K. Downing Kenneth Keith Downing Jr. (born 27 October 1951) is an English guitarist and a former member of the heavy metal band Judas Priest. Early life and career Downing was born in West Bromwich, West Midlands. In the late 1960s, he developed a p ...

– guitars *

Glenn Tipton Glenn Raymond Tipton (born 25 October 1947) is an English guitarist. Often noted for his complex playing style and classically influenced solos, he is best known as one of the lead guitarists for heavy metal band Judas Priest. Early life and ...

– guitars *

Ian Hill Ian Frank Hill (born 20 January 1951) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and the sole continuous member for the heavy metal band Judas Priest. Biography Hill learned how to play the double bass from his father, a bass player ...

– bass *

Dave Holland David “Dave” Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years. His extensive discography r ...

– drums ;Production *Produced by

Tom Allom Thomas James Allom is an English record producer and sound engineer. His best-known work was in the 1970s and 1980s, working with artists such as Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Krokus, Loverboy, Def Leppard, Kix and Rough Cutt. Allom is a membe ...

*Engineered by

Mark Dodson Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fin ...

, assisted by Christian Eser, Bruce Hensal, David Roeder, Ben King, and Buddy Thornton *Cover design by Doug Johnson, based on a concept by Judas Priest

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1984 albums Albums produced by Tom Allom Columbia Records albums Judas Priest albums