Rob Halford Explains Why Judas Priest's 'Turbo' Was Different

(Radio.com) Judas Priest recently released a special 30th anniversary edition of their 1986 album "Turbo," which is viewed as the most controversial album of their long career. Frontman Rob Halford spoke to Radio.com about the album and how history has treated it.

Halford explained in the interview some of the reasons why the album had a different sound for the group. He said, "One of the major things was that for the first time in many, many years, we were able to take our time in making a record. Prior to that, we'd just been bashing them out at a ferocious speed. When I look back at how we were able to accomplish what we did, and the quality of the work, it's quite remarkable."

When pressed on the differences, he elaborated future. "We had all these new ideas, like using guitar synthesizers and so forth, and we were just very interested and intrigued by what we could do with these new inventions. To have these sounds, it was an exciting time. We were coming off of back-to-back big records, [1982's] Screaming for Vengence and [1984's] Defenders of the Faith, and I think we were just looking, as much as ever, for a new experience. And that happened in the '80s for a lot of bands, not just Judas Priest. We got caught up in all that. It's a unique album in our catalog, nothing comes remotely close to it."

Halford then explained the fans reactions when the band performs the album's title song live. "Once Glenn [Tipton, guitarist] plays that opening 'Turbo Lover' sound, everyone goes nuts. It just goes to show you that time can give you a different perspective on something that was controversial, and now is enjoyed with affection." Read more of the interview here.

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