Rob Halford Says The History Of Metallica Is As Same As With Judas Priest

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Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford did a brand new interview with Metal Hammer. Legendary vocalist Halford recalled in the interview when he first heard Metallica and talked about its impact on metal in the 90s.

Considered one of the pioneers of thrash metal, Metallica is one of the most successful bands in terms of commercial success with their ten studio and four live albums and has sold more than 150 million copies to date. The band’s most commercially successful albums are The Black Album and …And Justice For All.

The band made their big break with one of thrash metal’s most iconic albums, Muster of Puppets. After Master of Puppets, Metallica jumped the ladder of fame and gained international fame, and was nominated for Grammy Awards for the first time with its sequel album …And Justice For All. Metallica has been nominated for twenty-three Grammy Awards, winning nine of them.

In his latest appearance with Metal Hammer, Judas Priest’s legendary vocalist Rob Halford reflected on when he first heard of Metallica. Saying that his favorite albums are still the first few albums, Halford admitted that it was incredible for such a band to come out of San Francisco.

“The first few albums are still my favorites, Kill ‘Em All, Ride The Lightning, …And Justice For All. It was great: here was a band from America, on the West Coast, who are part of the world that… maybe this will sound ridiculous, but when I was growing up, San Francisco was this hippie place. Beads and sandals and all that kind of stuff, and then you get these metal maniacs making this incredible racket! Wow!”

Rob Halford Mentions The Importance Of Metallica

Then the interviewer asked when he first met Metallica. Saying that he met them for the first time at their show in Phoenix, Halford talked about the fact that they are very nice people and the mutual respect they have for each other. And Halford also reflected on Kirk Hammet‘s feelings when performing with them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJKOadj34pk

“I saw them when they came and did some shows in Phoenix,” he answered. “They were very beautiful guys, like we all are in metal; you look at the other guys in bands and you don’t even have to say anything, you know you’ve lived the life.

“And then there is the respect. Kirk came up onstage with us [at Louder Than Life festival in September] and was like a kid in a sweet shop – ‘I can’t believe I’m up on stage with Priest playing The Green Manalishi!’”

In the continuation, he talked about Metallica‘s impact on metal in the 90s. Stating that Metallica played an important role in the increase of interest in metal at that time, like Judas Priest, Halford also shared his thoughts on The Black Album.

“If you look at the history of Metallica, much like if you look at the history of Judas Priest, it’s a band that’s responsible for an incredible surge of attention to metal,” he explains. “Their slightly controversial Black Album… it was never meant to be called The Black Album, it was just meant to be called ‘Metallica’ with the snake on the front, but that was like Priest’s Turbo album, because they cut their hair and they started to sound a little bit commercial. But really, that’s never been the case – it was just the band flexing their musical talent and having a great producer behind them. And extraordinary things came from it.”

Back in 2020, in an interview with Revolver, Rob Halford touched the Metallica and remembered the moment he went to Metallica’s Arizona show. While he talks about the band, Rob said that it was great to see them on stage.

“As a fan, I went to go and see Metallica play in Arizona, that was a blast. I’ve known those guys forever, I went with my other half, Thomas, and a good friend of ours who is a police lieutenant, James.

“It was great to see the band because, you know, if you, by the grace of God and good luck and fortune and hard work and slugging at it, you get to all these different levels, and Metallica went about as far as you can, and still are at it.”

Rob described their show as a “blast.” He also stated that all songs of Metallica are perfect.

“Their shows are gigantic. If you’ve seen them – big production. And it must be a nightmare for them like it is for us to try and pick a setlist, but their setlist was a combination of the ones that we want to hear plus the new stuff, I think it was a great show.”