Heading Out to the Highway
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"Heading Out to the Highway" is a song 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 ...
from their 1981 album '' Point of Entry''. It was released as a single later that year, and was the band's first single to reach the US
Mainstream Rock chart Mainstream Rock is a music chart in '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched i ...
, peaking at No. 10.


Inspiration

On the lyrics, singer Rob Halford said,


Background

Although being featured for
VH-1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communic ...
's Top 40 Driving Songs, a live version was included on The Best of Judas Priest: Living After Midnight, which was not endorsed by the band. Other live versions appear on the
live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
s '' Priest...Live!'', '' Live in London'', the DVD Live at US Festival and the second disc of the 30th Anniversary Edition of the album Turbo. The song was covered by American
alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With r ...
band
Stone Sour Stone Sour is an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand ...
on their covers EP '' Meanwhile in Burbank...'', and
White Wizzard White Wizzard is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, formed in 2007. They have released one EP and four albums: ''Over the Top'' released in 2010, ''Flying Tigers'' released in 2011, '' The Devil's Cut'' released in 2013, and '' Inf ...
on the limited edition of ''
Over the Top Over the top may refer to: Music * "Over the Top", a 2017 song by Hey! Say! JUMP * ''Over the Top'' (Cozy Powell album), 1979 album by British drummer Cozy Powell * ''Over the Top'' (Infinite album), 2011 album by South Korean band Infinite * ...
''. It is playable on the music video game ''
Rock Revolution ''Rock Revolution'' is a music video game developed by Zoë Mode and HB Studios and published by Konami. The game was released on 15 October 2008 for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. As with similar titles, the game uses various c ...
''.


Reception

In the United States, the song peaked at number 10 on the ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
Top Tracks Classic Vinyl is a Sirius XM Radio channel focusing on classic rock music mostly from the late-1960s to the mid-1970s, with the channel's name meant to indicate that it consists of music that first appeared on vinyl records. This encompasses musi ...
chart. ''
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
'' said, "More cynical minds would call this "
Living After Midnight "Living After Midnight" is a song by English heavy metal band Judas Priest. It was originally featured on their 1980 album '' British Steel'', which was their first gold album in the United States selling more than 500,000 copies (and eventua ...
Part Two", but it’s actually the superior song, rigidity replaced by a much more relaxed groove, its ebullience a clear reflection of the band’s
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 ...
surroundings, where the album was written and recorded. Perfectly suited for summertime listening, it’s nothing but fresh air and optimism, driven by a great opening riff."


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 ...
– guitar *
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 ...
– guitar *
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 guitar *
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


Charts


References

1981 singles Judas Priest songs Songs written by Rob Halford Songs written by Glenn Tipton Songs written by K. K. Downing Music videos directed by Julien Temple 1981 songs Columbia Records singles {{metal-song-stub