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Ian Hill wasn’t even old enough to drink when he formed Judas Priest with schoolmate K.K. Downing in 1969. Until October 2026, when he announced his retirement, the bassist was the sole remaining member of the Birmingham metal legends’ embryonic line-up and their quiet linchpin. In 2021, as Priest released a lavish photo book, Judas Priest: 50 Heavy Metal Years, to celebrate their legacy, we asked Ian to look back over the band’s extensive discography and pull out 10 songs that meant the most to him.

Dying To Meet You (Rocka Rolla, 1974)

“People think heavy metal happened overnight, but it took almost a full decade to get full-flow. In the beginning it was all very eclectic – just look at Top Of The Pops in that era; Helen Shapiro one week, Cream or Jimi Hendrix the next! It was all pop music, even the blues – nobody saying ‘I won’t listen to these because they’re heavy metal’ or whatever, it was one big eclectic scene. Dying To Meet You is an extension of that – it really shows the versatility of the band with soft passages, fast passages, quiet/loud – rock, funk and jazz all in one song!”

Dissident Aggressor (Sin After Sin, 1977)

“Dissident Aggressor owes a lot to Simon Phillips’ drums, as he’d taken over after Alan [Moore, original drummer] left. His parts make the track – they’re very sparse. Even though it’s just a basic rock song and we had it done within twenty minutes or so, it has this raw rock sound that is phenomenal. The riff is wild; I love playing it live and having it rammed down your throat – it’s great! The crowd love it too, but obviously with new albums songs end up getting passed by and this one has dropped and reappeared a few times over the years.”

Better By You, Better Than Me (Stained Class, 1978)

“Better By You, Better Than Me caused us a lot of problems down the line, when we got pulled into court for subliminal messaging. We thought they were joking when someone first told us, next thing we knew we were on a plane to Reno to appear in court with all these people with placards chanting outside. Their lawyers were good, too – there were times we thought maybe we had done it! Even worse, the song was only on there because [then-label] CBS asked us to add it after the recording and it didn’t even get released as a single in the end!”

The Rage (British Steel, 1980)

“The Rage has something pretty rare for us… a bass start! It’s another one that shows our versatility, with this reggae opening before going into an epic semi-power ballad, almost two entirely different styles of song. It came about because Ken (K.K. Dowling, guitars) or Glenn (Tipton, guitars) asked me to stick something off-beat over the top and that’s what I came up with, while Dave [Holland, drums] stuck the ‘chucka-chucka’ beat over the guitars. Everything became defined over British Steel – our sound, image etc. and that basically took us up the road right to Defenders Of The Faith.”

You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ (Screaming For Vengeance, 1982)

“You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ is basically the song that broke us on radio – Europe, the USA, Japan… you name where, they were playing the hell out of it. The tour we were putting together at the time had to be scrapped so bigger venues could be booked – I think it’s the only Priest song played on AM radio and went a long, long way to breaking us in the States. We got financially secure and there was a big breath of relief that we could take more time to finesse things between records.”

Freewheel Burning (Defenders Of The Faith, 1984)

“Freewheel Burning hits top speed early and stays there from then on! We were recording that in Miami and ended up having this massive party with [producer] Tom Allom. My lasting memory is Tom sat at a piano playing Freewheel Burning and pulling faces, screaming ‘Freewheel Gurning’! Maybe you had to be there… We became very close to becoming a fad at that point and the thing with fads is they eventually go out of fashion. It was a great time though – some of the shows we did were absolutely enormous; we could play up to 20,000 people a night.”

Painkiller (Painkiller, 1990)

“You can’t have a list of Priest songs without including Painkiller. Scott Travis (drums) opened new avenues for us with faster bass-drum work that Dave – God bless him – wasn’t really capable of. Scott’s one of the finest heavy metal drummers in the world, even today he just seems to get better. Painkiller defined our new direction, though I think we could have avoided Rob [Halford, vocals] leaving if we’d handled things a bit differently to be honest. But what happened, happened – even so, it was a shame.”

Judas Rising (Angel of Retribution, 2005)

“We wrote some great songs with Ripper (Tim Owens, Priest vocalist from 1996 – 2003), who is an astounding vocalist, but when you’re trying to pick just ten songs it’s impossible to single them out! People were so excited when Rob re-joined for Angel of Retribution and it was his rightful place really, to the point where being back in the studio felt natural, like putting on an old glove. Judas Rising is the first song on that album and what a way to come back! We played it again on the last tour and people were surprised at how powerful that song still is.”

Halls Of Valhalla (Redeemer of Souls, 2014)

“Ken decided to retire before Redeemer Of Souls but we luckily found a great guitarist in Richie Faulkner. As soon as we heard him play it was all over – some of the stuff he did on Redeemer… is tremendous and Halls of Valhalla stands out as a truly brilliant production piece. I have very fond memories of playing that live – looking backstage at our crew and they were all sat in a line pretending to row! I killed myself laughing at that, but its such a mega song and I love having it in the set.”

Guardians/Rising from Ruins (Firepower, 2018)

“I honestly could have stuck the whole Firepower album on – I know people often say their latest album is best, but I do think it’s the finest album we’ve made, the pinnacle of what we’ve been doing for over 50 years. The double of Guardians as an intro into Rising From Ruins feels very apt from the back of the pandemic, but is also an epic production piece that easily could have been in a movie, especially with that piano piece to lead in. I think it makes an enormous statement about who we are now and who we’ve always been.”

Judas Priest: 50 Heavy Metal Years is available to order now

We’re back with a brand new Tracks Of The Week! This week we’ve got another seven new and diverse slices of progressively inclined music for you to enjoy.

So Steven Wilson notches up his second win in recent weeks in TOTW with his rather creepy new video for On Chapel Slope. Pure Reason Revolution’s Annicke Shireen made second place all her own and Arabs In. Aspic came a respectable third.

The premise is simple – we’ve listened to a batch of new releases by bands falling under the progressive umbrella, and collated them together in one post for you – it makes it so much easier than having to dip in and out of various individual posts, doesn’t it?

The idea is to watch the videos (or listen if it’s a stream), enjoy (or not) and also to vote for your favourite in the voting form at the bottom of this post. Couldn’t be easier, could it? We’ll be bringing you Tracks Of The Week, as the title implies, each week. Next week, we’ll update you with this week’s winner and present a host of new prog music for you to enjoy.

If you’re a band and you want to be featured in Prog‘s Tracks Of The Week, send your video (as a YouTube link) or track embed, band photo (please, don’t forget the photo!) and biog with quotes to us here.

SKYLAKE – WIDE OPEN

This is the first time we’ve heard Dutch prog quartet Skylake, but the breezy and melodic Wide Open certainly leaves us wanting to hear more! It’s the first new music to be shared from their upcoming second album, The Deep Dive, which is released through The Rock Company on November 12.

“We poured our heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears, sanity and more into this album, and we are incredibly proud of it,” says guitraist Bert Laan. “We dived deep to refine our sound, to figure out what works and doesn’t, and ended up embracing what makes us sound like us. The result is The Deep Dive: a dynamic album featuring heavy walls of sound, lush acoustic passages, energetic and intricate rhythms, and vocals ranging from confident and powerful to delicate and vulnerable.”

BOSS KELOID – PEDESTAL

Wigan’s heavy proggers Boss Keloid are back with the lengthy Pedestal, which follows a more intricate musical path than previous single, Landslide. Both are taken from the band’s upcoming sixth studio album, Float & Aperture, which they will release through Church Road Records on October 23

“The lyrics to Pedestal explore both the positive and negative sides of isolation, as well as its causes and effects,” the band say. “The song also contains a 10-year-old riff from the Keloid archive we finally found a way to use properly. Enjoy!”

ALCEST – PROTECTION

French atmospheric dark prog duo Alcest have announced they will release their very first live album, Live At Hellfest 2022, through Nuclear Blast on December 4. They’ve released the emphatic Protection, originally from 2019’s Spiritual Instinct album, as the first taster.

For many here, possibly, the first example of the band’s music you’ll have heard, but maybe not quite as heavy as you may have feared? The album seamlessly weaves together evocative fan favourites spanning their entire career prior to 2022, tracing an emotional trajectory from their groundbreaking 2007 debut Souvenirs d’un autre monde through to 2019’s acclaimed Spiritual Instinct.

ARCANE ALLIES – AESTESIA

Berlin/Cologne-based genre-bending prog trio Arcane Allies have released the title track to their upcoming studio album, out November 20 through Crazysane Records. The band’s sound is described as pushing the boundaries between psychedelic rock, krautrock, ambient, doom, jazz and free improvisation, drawing inspiration from pioneers such as CAN, Neu! and Kraftwerk, as well as minimalist composers Terry Riley and Steve Reich.

“We wrote Aestesia about two years ago, originally as an ambient synth piece,” the band say. “Later, it became a demo for a doom project that never ultimately came together. As we tried it with Arcane Allies in the studio, the song has finally found its own way.”

SCARDUST – SYMPHONY

Cinematic prog metal quintet Scardust have shared a video for their cover of Symphony, originally by UK electronic band Clean Bandit. The band’s new cover features electronic violinist Mia Ansasno as well as singer Noa Gruman’s Hellscore Choir.

“Symphony by Clean Bandit has always felt like such a beautiful and emotional song, and we immediately felt it had the potential to become something very Scardust – combining prog metal, the Hellscore choir, and Mia’s incredible violin playing,” the band enthuse. “Sharing the adventure of Sabaton’s Legendary tour this last winter with Mia made us want to create something together again, and this song felt like the perfect opportunity.”

HYPNO5E – TRAME NOIRE

French prog quartet Hypno5e have shared a video for the wonderfully atmospheric ten-minute-long Trame Noire. It’s the title track of the band’s upcoming seventh album, which is released through Pelagic Records. At the same time, to celebrate Hypno5e’s more than two decades of existence, a complete 13LP discography box set will also be released.

“With ‘Trame Noire’, the title track of our new album, I wanted to extend into images the themes that run through my music: memory, loss, dreams and the ghosts of the past,” says vocalist and guitarist Emmanuel Jessua. “I directed the video myself, working with models, collages, drawings and various forms of superimposition. The journey through these shifting spaces, and the apparitions that inhabit them, are fragments of the character’s memories, condemned to wander through this world. He is confronted with the traces of what he has lived through, but also with his own image, which returns like another ghost.”