Recently, legendary Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton, always a man of many words or interesting stories, was kind enough to take a break from his decidedly hectis schedule to speak with us regarding, among many other things, the group's Tim 'Ripper' Owens era, the return of original frontman Rob Halford and the re-release of his acclaimed solo release Baptism Of Fire…

Todd: What was the main motivation behind the re-release of Baptism Of Fire and the release of Tipton, Entwistle & Powell?

Glenn Tipton: “…In 1994, there was no Judas Priest, as you well know…the future looked bleak. We took a couple of years off. I think we all needed a break at that point. I started to want to write again and had no idea of which direction I would go in. I put pen to paper and started to write with no direction in mind or no musicians in mind, really. When I got a batch of songs together, obviously it took me a while to get in a direction I was happy with, I approached Cozy to see if he wanted to work on the album and he said that he would. We needed a bass player, and John’s name popped up. I played him the songs and he said he’d love to work on them. …At the time, Atlantic (Records) was interested in doing something, so I took them the songs. They loved the songs, but they felt, which was understandable at the time because music had changed a lot, that the songs were going to be hard to market. What they wanted me to do was go and mix the album with some young guns and mix the old and the new together. …I didn’t have a lot of choice at the time. I had to just go through the motions of doing that, and that’s what I did. It turned out to be a really god album, so in a way they were right. They left the first batch of songs on the shelf. I’d always felt there was some really strong material in there. Cozy and John’s playing was just phenomenal on there. I always felt that people should get the chance to listen to it. So…when we decided to re-release Baptism Of Fire…I felt that those tracks should see the light of day. …We mixed those tracks and suddenly I had two albums on my hands. We decided to release them together…why not, ya know? We didn’t want people to think we were trying to re-sell it. We just put them out there together. I think the main difference is…Baptism Of Fire is a little bit more of a Nu Metal. …Edge Of The World is more of a traditional Rock record and is something I’m very proud of.”

Todd: At this point, how has the writing process for the next Judas Priest record progressed? Is all going as planned?

Glenn: “We’re about to begin… We’ve had a month off…we had January off. We finished (the tour) in December in Russia. We had been out for two years, so we covered lot of territory. We decided to take a short break. In the meantime, we’ve been putting a few ideas down as individuals, as we always do. Half way through this month, myself, Rob and K.K. will get together to start the writing process for the next album.”

Todd: Overall, would you consider the reunion album and tour to be a success?

Glenn: “It was phenomenal…just to get back together and begin writing together. We’re very lucky that we’ve this formula that just works. There are a lot of better musicians out there that are better than me. I’ve been fortunate to land in a band where it all just sort of gels. We’ve got a special formula in terms of writing and we’ve got a certain magic as five musicians onstage together. When you get that blend together, you should feel proud to be a part of it, and I am. I’m proud of my role in Pries, but I’m also proud to be in the band. We’re back together, and the energy and enthusiasm is greater than ever at the moment. We had a tremendous tour, starting with Ozzfest. That couldn’t have been better. It was great bill with us and Sabbath. I think it was the ultimate Heavy Metal bill. …We played parts of South America that we had never played. We played Russia, Estonia, the Ukraine. They have a great audience over there…totally Metal. …It was a great way to end the tour.”

Todd: Realistically, how many more Judas Priest albums can your fans expect? As a group, do you consider the reunion to be long term or short term?

Glenn: “We look at the reunion as a new start…a new beginning. It’s not about doing just one album. I don’t know…two or three, I think. That’s what I hope. You never know what’s around the corner, ya know? …Speaking for myself, and I’m sure Ken and Robert are excited about it, I can’t wait to get started on the next one.”

Todd: When you entered the studio to record Angel Of Retribution, did you initially find it hard to work together after such a long absence?

Glenn: “No. We made a conscious decision right form the start of the writing process to enjoy ourselves. There was a lot of pressure and a lot of expectation. The whole Metal world was watching us, waiting to either pounce on it and rip it to bits or congratulate us. There was a lot of pressure, so we were like ‘…look, we’re going to go in there, write naturally and enjoy it…’ And I think that comes across in the album.”

Todd: I agree that it has an overall natural feel to it…

Glenn: “It reminisces in places and it’s also got some innovative moments as well. All in all, it’s a very relaxed album. It’s a very typical Priest album. It’s a reunion album, but it’s got a little bit more as well. I think if people look at it like that, it’s a very enjoyable piece of Metal.”

Todd: What was the main catalyst behind Rob re-joining the group?

Glenn: “We had a meting around three years ago this June or July…I’m really horrible with dates…to talk about the box set. Out of the blue, the subject came up about reuniting and before you knew it…it took about a millisecond for everyone to say ‘…let’s do it…’ Deep down inside, it’s what we all wanted. We all knew that if we didn’t do it now, we never would. I remember driving away from the meeting thinking ‘…well, we’re back together…’”

Todd: I had always hope that it would happen. Was there bad blood between everyone towards the end?

Glenn: “It got that way. I think it’s inevitable, at know? It did start to go that way and we didn’t speak to each other for a while. It got quite viscous. But we all love each other in this band. We’ve been through thick and thin together. You could never drop that side of things. We’re all very close. We’ve fought a lot of battles on the same side. Just because we were on opposite sides for while doesn’t mean that all can’t be forgiven and forgotten. And that’s exactly what we all did. We love Rob to death and he loves us all. …I think that we all knew it was inevitable that we’d all get back together at some point.”

Todd: When you were going through the process of auditioning singers to replace Rob, were you surprised by the amount of material you had to choose from?

Glenn: “No…not really. Obviously being the singer for Priest is a desirable position. …There were a lot of people out there that were capable that applied, but there were also a lot of people that were nowhere capable that also applied. So what we did was have our office sift through and short lists and then we listened to the sort lists. A lot of women applied, as well. I think everybody sort of felt they had a chance, but obviously some had no chance at all. There were some really good singers in the applications, but we really knew we hadn’t found one. We’d almost given up. We had almost given up, really. We had been looking for almost two years and had listened to tape after tape and had watched a lot of videos and DVDs. It was just wearin’ us down and we thought ‘…look, this just isn’t going to work. we haven’t found a replacement for Rob and we never will…’ Lo and behold, Ripper showed up and amazed us all. They were good years, the Ripper years. I’m proud of Jugulator and Demolition. We did a great live album and we did some great touring. In all honesty, if we hadn’t gone through those years, I don’t think Priest would still be around. I think we would have dried up and would not have gotten back together again. They were important years in their own way.”

Todd: Did you need to prove that you could still play together as a group without Rob?

Glenn: “…It kept us fit, kept us active and kept our confidence going. That’s all we needed. And Tim…I can’t say enough about Tim. He’s a great lad. He’s a very talented singer. I know he’s got his own album coming out soon and I’m sure he’ll have success in his own right because he’s a real professional, hard working guy with a great voice. …Tim took it on the chin when we told him about Ron re-joining the group. He was the first to say that he was all for it. He took it like a real gentleman.”

Todd: Do you have any plans to tour in support of either of your solos discs?

Glenn: “Not at the moment. When I first started working with John and Cozy, we had intentions of going out because there was no Priest at the time. I have to repeat that because solo albums can be done for the right and the wrong reasons. Mine was done at a point where there was no Priest. I’m musically quite prolific and that’s what I wanted to do. To carry on musically, ya know? Obviously, fate took a hand and John and Cozy are no longer with us and then Priest got back together. I think the fans would be peeved if my total full concentration wasn’t on Priest. Everybody’s looking forward to the next Priest album and that’s what I’m going to dedicate my time to. …My full attention will be on Priest for the next year because we want to do something very special for thee next album. And I think that’s what everybody would want, ya know? …We’d been gone for fourteen years prior to this reunion, and a lot of people want to see us back out there.”

Todd: Do you think the next Priest album will be better than Angel Of Retribution simply because you’ll have had more time together as a group?

Glenn: “I think it will be better (laughs). I’m can’t say anything else, really because I can’t turn round and say it’s going to be worse. …We’ve got something special planned for the next album and if we can pull it off, I think it’s going to be phenomenal. …I’m really excited about the writing process. I can’t wait to get together with Rob and K.K.”

Todd: When you tour in support of the next disc, will there be a specific portion of your catalog that you’ll be focusing on?

Glenn: “…Picking our set list is always the hardest thing that we have to do. We’ve made a conscious decision to bring some real surprises back next time we go out. I think that’s what everybody wants, ya know? On the reunion tour, everybody wanted to hear “Living After Midnight”, “Breaking The Law”, “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” and “Victims Of Changes”. …Next time out, we’ll be doing so new old stuff and some stuff off the new album as well.”

Rising In The East (DVD) (2006) *

Baptism Of Fire (2006) **

Tipton, Entwistle & Powell (2006) **

Angel Of Retribution (2005) *

Metalogy (Box Set) *

Live In London (2003) *

Demolition (2001) *

‘98 Live Meltdown *

Jugulator (1997) *

Metalworks ‘73-’93 (1993) *

Painkiller (1990) *

Ram It Down (1988) *

Priest…Live (1987) *

Turbo (1986) *

Defenders Of The Faith (1984) *

Screaming For Vengeance (1982) *

Point Of Entry (1981) *

British Steel (1980) *

Unleashed In The East (1979) *

Hell Bent For Leather (1978) *

Stained Class (1978) *

Sin After Sin (1977) *

Sad Wings Of Destiny (1976) *

Rocka Rolla (1974) *

* as a member of Judas Priest

** as a solo artist

judaspriest.com