JUDAS PRIEST Bassist IAN HILL Talks Band’s Enduring Appeal - “We Have Always Tried To Improve Ourselves, Make Our Performances Better, And At Least Keep The Music Current”

Mark Dean of Rock ’N’ Load has issued a new interview conducted with Judas Priest bassist Ian Hill. Read an excerpt below:

Q: How do you define the enduring appeal of Judas Priest as a band and the genre of heavy metal?

Ian: “I think it is because we have been versatile for one. In the nineties, heavy metal sort of fragmented. It went into a grunge band, or a speed band, or a death band, or a goth band. There were all these different side-streams, if you like. I think our appeal has been that we have been able to a little bit of all of that. Of course we have always tried to push on as well with every album and tour; we have always tried to improve ourselves, make our performances better, and at least keep the music current. I think it has stood as well.”

Q: Looking back at the musical legacy of the band, how do you view that? Does it fill you personally with a sense of pride? Do have albums that you like and others that you don’t, or is it just viewed as a body of work?

Ian: “Mainly as a body of work, there are a various avenues that we went through. In the early days I mean heavy metal was undefined then, it was something that evolved over a decade really. It didn’t really happen overnight, that all probably came together with the British Steel album in 1980. That’s probably when it all gelled and came into place. That sort of avenue went right the way up progressively with each album and each tour up to probably Defenders Of The Faith. After that we did an experimental Turbo album which used a lot of guitar synth on that. After that we went with a harder edge with Ram It Down and Painkiller. Then the band split there for a while and Rob went off and did his own thing. We carried on then with Ripper, and Rob came back in 2004 and we carried on from where Painkiller left off with Angel Of Retribution.”

Read more at Rock ’N’ Load.

Fonte: Bravewords.com