{"id":2054520,"date":"2025-09-27T18:49:49","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T18:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2054520"},"modified":"2025-09-27T18:49:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T18:49:49","slug":"legendary-metal-bands-guitarist-discusses-latest-album-with-pittsburgh-sho-on-the-horizon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/legendary-metal-bands-guitarist-discusses-latest-album-with-pittsburgh-sho-on-the-horizon\/","title":{"rendered":"Legendary metal band&#8217;s guitarist discusses latest album with Pittsburgh sho on the horizon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"storyContent\">\n<!-- ccpa version--><\/p>\n<p>As Judas Priest continues its tour in support of last year\u2019s \u201cInvincible Shield\u201d record and marks the 35th anniversary of 1990\u2019s \u201cPainkiller\u201d album, guitarist Richie Faulkner is hoping that the new material will eventually stand beside \u201cclassic\u201d Judas Priest material.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, obviously, it hasn\u2019t had the luxury of time yet. But we try and do our best. I\u2019ve been with the band for three records now, we always try to do our best moving forward \u2014 the best performance, the best songs, the best guitar solos, the best vocals that we can \u2014 and then hopefully they stand the test of time,\u201d Faulkner said this week. \u201cThose (older) records, obviously, they\u2019re classics. They defined metal. \u2018Screaming for Vengeance,\u2019 \u2018Sin After Sin,\u2019 \u2018Stained Class,\u2019 \u2018Killing Machine,\u2019 the iconic, historic heavy metal albums. So hopefully you get new fans as well. Sometimes their first record they listen to is \u2018Firepower\u2019 or \u2018Invincible Shield\u2019 or whatever it may be. So again, it\u2019s just an honor to be included in that lineup of great music.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The veteran British metal band has been going strong for more than a half century, and they\u2019ll be playing their <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.setlist.fm\/setlist\/judas-priest\/2014\/petersen-events-center-pittsburgh-pa-73ccf201.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">first Pittsburgh show since 2014<\/a> when their co-headlining tour with Alice Cooper visits the Pavilion at Star Lake on Oct. 1. Sludgy metal veterans Corrosion of Conformity will open the show.<\/p>\n<p>For Faulkner, seeing vocalist Rob Halford still singing at a high level is \u201cincredible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe turned 74 in August, and I don\u2019t know how you do that. I don\u2019t know how the body does that, to get out there every night and sing like he does. I guess some people are born with that kind of toolbox in their throat, you know what I mean?\u201d Faulkner said. \u201cIt\u2019s been like that forever. He\u2019s a phenomenon, really, and we\u2019re lucky to still have him and his voice is still in that sort of condition. We\u2019re lucky to be out there giving 1000% behind him. So he\u2019s an inspiration, really.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a Zoom call Wednesday from Norfolk, Virginia, Faulkner spoke with TribLive about writing for the \u201cInvincible Shield\u201d album, his approach to guitar solos, songs he\u2019s like to add to the setlist, the appeal of the Flying V guitar and more. Find a transcript of the conversation, edited for clarity and length, below.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It\u2019s been 11 years since Judas Priest played in Pittsburgh, so what\u2019s it like when you hit a city that you haven\u2019t been to for a while?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We haven\u2019t been there for a while so people haven\u2019t seen us for over 10 years now in that part of the world. So there\u2019s always a refreshed energy when we hit a city like that. We\u2019re looking forward to coming down. I can\u2019t believe it\u2019s been that long. Time\u2019s been flying in the last few years, but we\u2019re really excited to come down, and we\u2019re really looking forward to it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How\u2019s it been touring with Alice Cooper so far?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oh, fantastic. Both off stage and on stage. I mean, first of all, the music spans longer than Priest\u2019s. Fantastic songs, great band, great guitar players, and then off stage as well, we all know each other. We\u2019ve passed, met each other a few years running. We always kind of criss-cross each other throughout different tours, and we get on really well. So it\u2019s a pleasure to be around them. And as I said, a pleasure to hear their music every night. So we\u2019re really enjoying it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It looks like you\u2019re currently playing \u201cGates of Hell\u201d and \u201cGiants in the Sky\u201d (from \u201cInvincible Shield\u201d) on this tour, so what stands out about those songs?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re still sort of running on the \u201cInvincible Shield\u201d record, plus \u201cPainkiller.\u201d And obviously, when you play new songs, it\u2019s less of a reaction, not everybody knows the songs yet. You play \u201cYou\u2019ve Got Another Thing Coming,\u201d it\u2019s been around for a few decades and then you play \u201cGiants in the Sky,\u201d I think people are listening more than rocking out, they\u2019re unfamiliar with it. But you can\u2019t make future classics without playing them. \u201cAnother Thing Coming\u201d was played for the first time once. So you\u2019ve got to put new music out there and get the new music going and not become sort of a greatest hits band. You\u2019ve got to put new music in, and we enjoy doing that. We enjoy creating new music and putting it out there and hopefully playing it for more tours to come.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Judas Priest - Giants in the Sky (Official Lyric Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/B_OboG6cL-I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>\u201cGiants in the Sky\u201d could be looked at as a tribute to musicians we\u2019ve lost like Ronnie James Dio and Lemmy Kilmister. Does it take on a little bit more added meaning with the death of Ozzy Osbourne earlier this year?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Of course, yeah, unfortunately. When we play \u201cGiants in the Sky,\u201d on the backdrop we have some of the greats that we\u2019ve lost over the last couple of decades. Unfortunately, we had to add Ozzy to it. He\u2019s an icon, always will be. His music will always live on. He was a friend of all of us in the band. The boys in the band knew him well. They grew up in the same area. So we put him up on the screens to pay tribute to Oz as well. But again, his music lives on so he\u2019ll never be forgotten.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Did you feel any pressure when it came to writing this album because the band has such a storied legacy?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I think that\u2019s part of it. I think you always feel pressure, but it\u2019s a healthy pressure. I think it\u2019s, you challenge yourself, because the legacy is so strong, you\u2019ve got to try and make the next one even stronger, or there\u2019s no point doing it really. So we always try to make it better. And I think it achieved the highest chart position in the UK the band have achieved, which is an achievement in itself. And then, as I said, on the tour, we have young people coming, and they seem to stay young. Every time we come through a couple of years later, they\u2019re still the same kind of age group down there. So it\u2019s an indication that you\u2019re doing something right with the new music, and that\u2019s an incredible feeling. They\u2019re singing along to the old songs, they\u2019re singing along to the new ones, and that\u2019s an incredible thing to be a part of. We\u2019ll see what happens if there\u2019s a next one.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How did the writing process for this one go? Did you feel more confident bringing ideas to the band?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I always feel insecure. There\u2019s always a moment of insecurity. You get your best ideas and you put them down and then me, Glenn and Rob will get together and show each other those ideas. Every time it happens, I put them on and I think, well, what have I done? Why did I put this? This is a rubbish idea because of your insecurities. You think they\u2019re the best ideas. And as soon as you put them on, you get so insecure. But all of us are the same. Rob says he\u2019s the same. Glenn says the same thing. But then you get those ideas and you put them together and you work together as you do and you come out with an album, hopefully. So it always starts with that insecurity, but it builds and hopefully becomes a monster of an album that they\u2019ve done for over 50 years.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you feel more comfortable now than a couple of years ago at least or when you first joined the band?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, I think you can imagine the first time you go in, compared with the third time you go in the writing session, you\u2019re more familiar on a personal level. You\u2019re more trusted. You know each other more so you can, not take more risks, but you can trust each other\u2019s judgment and you\u2019re not as afraid or insecure to put those ideas down. You trust the process a lot more. So, yeah, I think it does become a little bit easier, but there\u2019s still that pressure, you\u2019ve got that long legacy, as you said, you\u2019ve got to come up with something that not only fits in with it, but adds to it. But it\u2019s a healthy pressure, and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a bad thing at all.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h5>Related<\/h5>\n<p>\u2022 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/triblive.com\/aande\/music\/morrisseys-1st-pittsburgh-show-in-12-years-taps-into-smiths-catalog-solo-career\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Review: Morrissey&#8217;s 1st Pittsburgh show in 12 years taps into Smiths catalog, solo career<\/a><br \/>\u2022 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/triblive.com\/aande\/music\/qa-biohazards-billy-graziadei-on-reunion-of-classic-lineup-ahead-of-tour-opener-in-new-kensington\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Interview: Biohazard&#8217;s Billy Graziadei on reunion of classic lineup ahead of tour opener in New Kensington<\/a><br \/>\u2022 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/triblive.com\/aande\/music\/2025-pittsburgh-area-concert-calendar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2025 Pittsburgh area concert calendar<\/a><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong>With the album, when it comes to the guitar solos, what are you hoping to accomplish with them?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s always been a hard thing for me to have my own voice. I played in cover bands when I was younger, and so you make a living emulating everyone else. So you emulate everyone else, but you haven\u2019t got your own voice. So it\u2019s always been a challenge for me to have my own voice. So I always try and add a little bit more of whatever my voice is on the guitar solos. Something that if someone put the record on, they can identify it as mine. I don\u2019t know if I ever achieved that. That\u2019s not really for me to say. That\u2019s for the listener to decide really, but I always try and do that, something that has my character in there somewhere, if that\u2019s possible to do, if that makes sense.<\/p>\n<p><strong>So you\u2019re still maybe trying to figure out your own voice\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, I think I always will be. I think your voice and character changes as you grow older, your tastes change, and you change as a human being. So I think that\u2019s going to change as the journey continues. But always it\u2019s, what am I going to say? And especially with this legendary band, after over 50 years, Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing, they had such strong voices. What\u2019s going to be my voice as part of this legacy? It\u2019s an important thing. So I always try and achieve something that stands on its own, hopefully, alongside those two greats.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Are there any solos on this album that you\u2019re particularly proud of? For me, when I listened to it, I thought \u201cPanic Attack\u201d was pretty killer.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I appreciate it. There\u2019s a couple I like. Obviously they were the final take so I was happy with them. I must have been happy with them otherwise we wouldn\u2019t have put them out. So there was something in there. I think \u201cPanic Attack,\u201d it contained everything I wanted it to. There was a bit of sweep picking in there, like Glenn\u2019s stuff and you take from different places. It had everything in there I wanted it to contain. \u201cDevil in Disguise\u201d was a different type of solo. It was more of a Ritchie Blackmore type thing. But again, I\u2019m referencing Ritchie Blackmore, so is it my type thing? I don\u2019t know. The title track was one I was really pleased with as well, \u201cInvincible Shield.\u201d It\u2019s just a bit of a bugger to play live so I should have maybe come up with something a bit simpler. There are a few that I was happy with.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You mentioned the band is also celebrating the anniversary of \u201cPainkiller.\u201d What is it about that album that still stands out all these years later?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The tours up until this point, whenever we play a song from the \u201cPainkiller\u201d record or when Rob mentions the \u201cPainkiller\u201d record, the roof just lifts off the room. So to be back playing a celebration of that record is always uplifting from our point of view and the crowd as well. And the guitar playing on that record is stunning, as we all know: \u201cPainkiller,\u201d \u201cOne Shot at Glory,\u201d \u201cHell Patrol.\u201d All those tracks are relentless guitar playing, like a master, you put that on, learn that and you\u2019ve probably got everything down in your toolbox for a heavy metal guitar. It\u2019s great to play live because you can\u2019t mess it up, you\u2019ve got one shot at it, you\u2019ve got to get it right or close to right the first time. So it\u2019s a bit of a challenge as a guitar player, but it\u2019s really fun to play and the audience loves it, too.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Judas Priest - You&#039;ve Got Another Thing Coming (Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WtuoFv4dcwM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>With such a long history to pull from, there are songs that aren\u2019t going to be played every night just because you only have a certain amount of time. What are the hidden gems that you wish you could sneak in there every now and then from the band\u2019s past?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cReckless,\u201d I think, from the \u201cTurbo\u201d record is one I\u2019ve always wanted to do. I think we rehearsed it on the Redeemer of Souls tour, but for some reason we never brought it out onto the live set. I\u2019d like to do that one. \u201cEat Me Alive\u201d is a good one. \u201cRam it Down\u201d is a good one. There\u2019s tons of them. Just those three, just off the top of my head, I\u2019d love to attempt those, maybe on the next tour.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It looks like you\u2019re sort of partial to the Flying V guitar. What is it about that guitar, that shape, that just fits with or lends itself to heavy metal?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a great question, because it really does (laughs) lend itself to heavy metal. It\u2019s kind of pointy, but it\u2019s a beautiful thing. Obviously, K.K. Downing used one. I am a big Michael Schenker fan. Randy Rhoads, who\u2019s known for a version of the V with Jackson. James Hetfield used the V back in the day. There was just something about it that was a departure from the norm back in the day when it came out, when guitars were kind of more an acoustic shape, the curves and stuff. When that came out, and the Explorer, it was a revolution, really. You\u2019ve got good access to the high frets on a V. You can put it between your legs and play to get up to those higher (frets), it\u2019s just comfortable. But I also play the Les Paul a lot and the Explorer on stage. So I vary, obviously, around. But when I joined Priest, obviously, after K.K., I mean, Priest is known for a flying V. So how could you not play a flying V on stage? I\u2019ve played the V for my entire career so far with Priest. I love it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-style: italic;\">Mike Palm is a TribLive digital producer who also writes music reviews and features. A Westmoreland County native, he joined the Trib in 2001, where he spent years on the sports copy desk, including serving as night sports editor. He has been with the multimedia staff since 2013. He can be reached at <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/triblive.com\/aande\/music\/qa-judas-priest-guitarist-richie-faulkner-talks-invincible-shield-album-and-tour\/mailto:mpalm@triblive.com\">mpalm@triblive.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script nonce=\"yvt6nspK\">\n!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\nn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\nn.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\nt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,\ndocument,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\nfbq('init', '110232789685143');\nfbq('set','agent','tmgoogletagmanager', '110232789685143');\nfbq('track', \"PageView\");\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source triblive.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Judas Priest continues its tour in support of last year\u2019s \u201cInvincible Shield\u201d record and marks the 35th anniversary of 1990\u2019s \u201cPainkiller\u201d album, guitarist Richie Faulkner is hoping that the new material will eventually stand beside \u201cclassic\u201d Judas Priest material. \u201cWell, obviously, it hasn\u2019t had the luxury of time yet. But we try and do [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2054521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2054520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Legendary-metal-bands-guitarist-discusses-latest-album-with-Pittsburgh-sho.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2054520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2054520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2054520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2054521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2054520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2054520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2054520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}