Marking its 50th anniversary, Judas Priest is released a remixed and remastered version of its debut album, “Rocka Rolla.” The digital release is set for Sept. 23, 2024 (pre-save here), with the CD and vinyl release following on Nov. 22.
In 1974, Judas Priest was five musicians in their 20s—Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, Ian Hill, KK Downing and John Hinch—from the Black Country, an area of working-class towns in England, and excited to have signed a record deal.
With limited funds, the band recorded during the less expensive night shift hours. The album “Rocka Rolla” was born during these sessions, under the guidance of producer Roger Bain, who was brought in by the label and previously had produced Black Sabbath.
Judas Priest learned over time how to record an album, and the experience of working in a professional recording studio helped prepare them for the next album to come, “Sad Wings of Destiny.”
But with “Rocka Rolla,” the band was not there for the mixing, the mastering process or any final approvals—they didn’t have a say when it was finished or how it ultimately sounded. Although the band felt positive about how the songs sounded in the studio, they were disappointed when they received a finished copy of the album in the mail to listen to for the first time.
“I took the record … and I put the needle onto the groove and I sat back. And I just slowly started to deflate, deflate,” Halford said. “I was so disappointed with the way it was sounding … All of us were. We’d all worked so hard to get to this place. And now this music that we know when we play live is roaring—the heavy metal is roaring even in those early primitive days—none of that was coming out of the speakers”
During Judas Priest’s 50 Heavy Metal Years tour in 2022, something remarkable was happening behind the scenes. The label that originally signed Judas Priest in 1974, Gull Records, and its owner David Howells, decided to sell the masters and publishing rights for the two albums the label owned, “Rocka Rolla” and “Sad Wings of Destiny,” and he contacted Tipton’s music publisher, Michael Closter of Reach Music Publishing.
After discussing this opportunity and collaborating with Judas Priest’s manager, Jayne Andrews, a compelling offer from Reach Music was made to Gull Records. Terms were accepted. An acquisition agreement was prepared, and after almost 50 years from the release of these albums, Reach Music and its label Exciter Records, in partnership with Judas Priest, became the owner of “Rocka Rolla” and “Sad Wings of Destiny.”
The first order of business was to retrieve the original multitrack tapes from storage (which miraculously still existed and were in usable condition for all these decades) and to begin the process of resurrecting “Rocka Rolla” from these recordings.
With the task of delving back into time and putting the tapes of “Rocka Rolla” back on the recording studio console, Judas Priest put its full faith in Tom Allom, known in the Judas Priest world for producing the iconic “British Steel” and “Screaming for Vengeance” albums, among many others.
“What we did with the multitracks is quite unusual, to completely remix an album from that era, from scratch,” Allom said. “So to clarify what we’re doing, we’re not adding anything musically. We’re not re-recording any of the musical parts. We’re remixing them, rebalancing them using the technology we have, the modern tools we have now, to sonically upgrade them and make them sound more powerful.”
Rob Halford: “I’m just thrilled … because it just goes to show you when you get an expert involved in a project, it’s likely that you have a second chance. And I think that Tom Allom is giving us a second chance here with the way that a lot of the elements were lost in ‘Rocka Rolla.’ And it’s also nice, like a really nice feeling, especially to attach it to what will be a 50th anniversary moment. It’s just a beautiful feeling.”
Glenn Tipton: “This is where it all started for us and 50 years later, we have a great re-mixed and re-mastered version of the original … and the band are still going strong!”
Ian Hill: “Recorded during nighttime sessions to save costs, over a few weeks in June and July 1974, on a shoestring budget, ‘Rocka Rolla’ was always going to have its flaws! But walking into my local record store and seeing it on a shelf amongst all your idol’s records was the proudest feeling in the world, and I thought, ‘Whatever happens now, nothing can change that!’ Now re-mixed by Tom Allom and re-mastered, ‘Rocka Rolla’ has finally got the production it deserved!”
KK Downing: “At last! This! The first Judas Priest album can be listened to and enjoyed in the way it was always intended to be!”
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