UNBELIEVABLE - AN ENCOUNTER WITH KK DOWNING AND IAN HILL OF JUDAS PRIEST

Wow, it was totally unbelievable. I ran into Mr. K.K.Downing ( Lead Guitarist) and Ian Hill (bassist) of JUDAS PRIEST last week (21/2/09) at the rest area coffee shop in Swindon on our way back from Bath / Stonehenge to London. It was like a dream come true. After listening to almost all of their songs for almost 25 years, finally I met them face to to face. You know what , there are unbelievably friendly and down to earth. The best part they still maintain their identity of wearing black leather jackets and blue jeans. Actually during that day, Judas was scheduled to perform in Wembley together with Megadeth.

I wish I could talk to them a bit longer but considering my family waiting inside the car, I had to cut it short. It was really satisfying when KK and IAN were so impressed and grateful when I told them that I like JUDAS latest album called NOSTRADAMUS. Ada jugak fan dia tersesat kat London. The best part, they are aware that they have a lot of fans in Malaysia but unfortunately never got a chance to perform there. Looking they way thing goes in Malaysia, memang tak de can la JUDAS PRIEST nak perform kat Malaysia.

A bit on JUDAS PRIEST. I think all rockers know that Judas Priest is an English heavy metal band formed in 1969 in Birmingham. Judas Priest's core line-up consists of bass player Ian Hill, vocalist Rob Halford and guitarists Glenn Tipton and K. K. Downing; their current drummer is Scott Travis. They have been cited as an influence on many heavy metal musicians and bands. Their popularity and status as one of the definitive heavy metal bands has earned them the nickname "Metal Gods" from their song of the same name.Judas Priest were one of the first heavy metal bands to modernize the twin-guitar sound, with the duo of K. K. Downing and Glenn Tipton. They combined this sound with Rob Halford's unique vocal style create their own unique style of heavy-rock. They are cited often for their influence on heavy metal and the root sound of the guitar work in speed metal and thrash metal.

Along with Kiss, Queen, and Def Leppard, Judas Priest were the inaugural inductees into the "VH1 Rock Honors." The ceremony took place May 25, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and first aired on May 31, 2006. Their presentation was preceded by the band Godsmack performing a medley of "Electric Eye"/"Victim of Changes"/"Hell Bent for Leather", and Priest themselves played "Breaking the Law", "The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown)" and "You've Got Another Thing Comin'", before which Halford rode a Harley onstage. On April 6, 2006, the Associated Press announced the event by saying "the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame looks to be getting some competition."

Since that day, I have been listening back all the back catalogues of PRIEST. Unbelievable, until today I am still thinking about that moment. I wish Glenn Tipton and Rob Halford were there as well.

To KK and Ian...Thank you for your kindness and being so humble eventough you guys are Heavy Metal Legend And Rock and Roll Hall Fame. Judas Priest - Hell Bent For Metal.

My Salute To you.

HIT PARADER SALUTES THE 80S -THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL DECADE IN METAL HISTORY

Salam to all my friends and my blog readers. Please enjoy your long break during this Chinese New Year. Unfortunately, here in London, business as usual...No public holiday for Chinese New Year.

Before I start writing for this edition, I wish to share with you all that the United Kingdom government has officially declared yesterday that the country is in RECESSION. To tell you the truth it is so scary to see what is happening here in UK. A lot of business outfits have been closed down, many people are jobless and pound sterling is losing value...pergh habis la duit gua. One big thing that struck me the most in relations to music is the closing down of the flagship store of Zavvi Record in the heart of Picadilly Circus in London. Zavvi record was previously known as Tower Record and Virgin Record. This 4 storey record store used to be my hub and hanging up place for musics materials.Their collections of CDs, DVDs, musics books are awesome. I can easily spend three hours inside there without realizing. Anyway, the recession has taken its toll. I personally saw the demise of the flagship store yesterday at Picadilly Circus. I felt so ackward yesterday at the circus with the closure of the store. Anyway, luckily another big music store i.e. HMV music still there. That will save me to continue looking for my next set of collection...Lega.

Back to today's edition...yeah everybody remember 80s rock scene right. For me it was the golden years of metal plus the most controversial decade in hard rock history. "From the first flowering of the New Wave of British Metal, through the emergence of the West Coast Metal Explosion, right up to the wall-shaking energies of the Power Metal Assault, nothing ever got the music world more excited than the over the top, amp busting, mousse abusing sounds of 80s metal. Some may still decry that era as hard rock's nadir-a time when the primal, blues glories of pioneers such as Led Zeppelin and Sabbath were bastardized by a heartless,soulless horde of guys in tight pants and BIG hair. Others however, will correctly note that it was also a period of amazing artistic and theatrical expression. From Van Halen to Motley Crue, from Metallica to Bon Jovi, from Whitesnake to W.A.S.P., the parameters of the metal realm were never more expansive or more exclusive." Here is my heartfelt salute to 1980s!

A. WEST COAST EXPLOSION
1) MOTLEY CRUE - wild in the street
2) RATT - the Rocking rodent
3) POISON- Let's see action
4) GUNS N' ROSES - Blood and Thunder
5) LITA FORD - Queen of Noise
6) DOKKEN - Friendly Fire
7) QUITE RIOT - The Noize Boys
8) W.A.S.P. - Calculated Chaos
9) BON JOVI - Band On The Run
10) KISS - You Wanted the Best
11) SKID ROW - Living On The Edge
12) AEROSMITH - America's Band
11) DIO - Dragon Slayer
13) PANTERA - Triumph & Tragedy
14) VAN HALEN - Rockin' The World

B. INTERNATIONAL METAL MASTERS
1) SCORPIONS - Continental Noble Man
2) OZZY OZBOURNE - King of Kings
3) DEF LEPPARD - High & Mighty
4) WHITESNAKE - A Charmed Life
5) IRON MAIDEN - The Machine Roar
6) JUDAS PRIEST - Hell Bent For Metal
7) AC/DC - The One and Only
8) SLAYER - The Crunch Bunch
9) METALLICA - Legends Personified
10) ANTHRAX - Noo Yawk Rules
11) MEGADETH - Mustaine's Business

C) DON'T FORGET THEM
1) TWISTED SISTER ( Dee Snider is the best)
2) WARRANT ( Cherry Pie)
3) STRYPER ( The Yellow and Black Attack)
4) TESLA ( Highly Talented)
5) ACCEPT ( Balls to the Wall)
6) MOTORHEAD (Ace of Spade)
7) WHITE LION ( Mike and Vito - Sweden meets Brooklyn)
8) EUROPE ( The Final Countdown)
9) EXTREME ( More Than Words)
10) SLAUGHTER ( Up All Night)
11) L.A GUNS ( Hollywood Vampires)
12) CINDERELLA ( Nobody's Fool)

My apology if there are omission of other great bands ( too many to remember). However, looking at those names mentioned above, how could we deny that we are still really hungry for their music. It has been for almost 20-29 years now, but amazingly their musics still sounds great and refreshing. 80s rock rules.

Ok...got to go...See you in the next edition.

Cheers.

JANUARY 2009 - LONG COLD WINTER

Salam to all my friends and my blog readers. Wish you guys Salam Maal Hijrah and a happy NewYear. It has been a while now since the last time I updated my blog. My apology as i need time to settle down since my transfer to London. Finally today, i manage to find time to write something to share with you all.

Actually, since the last quarter of 2008, there were a lot of events or incidents happening here in london from freezing cold winter, credit crunch, football managers being sacked, demonstrations, and so on. Come to think of it, I can verify that London is really a "happening" city. Basically, you are free to do what you think or like and nobody give a shit.

The rock scene in london during this long cold winter is pretty quite and not much. We shall wait for summer. There will be a lot of rock concerts here in london. What interest me is the return all all classics 80s bands rock concert here. Looking forward to that. Well, I shall save this rock things in a later stage as there are a lot of things that I wish to share with you all.

Let me start with football. Well, as a football enthusiast,being in England-the land of the famous Premiere League, this is a good opportunity for me to visit all the football stadiums here. Thank God, I had managed to do that. I have visited few stadiums including Spurs, West Ham, Chelsea, Arsenal,Manchester City,Everton and the most important Old Trafford(Manchester United) and The Anfield(Liverpool). Oh man, what a feeling when I finally arrived Old Trafford and Anfield and not to forget the White Hart Lane. It was awesome. I took a chance to visit Manchester United Museum and Stadium tour by paying about 12 pounds. I tell you..it is really worth it. My next target is to go to do the same at Anfield. Attached are some photos that i managed to snap. I wished I could add more pictures but the file for each picture is too big 5mb( using my cousin SLR and I am not expert in this. My bad.

Okay, back to the rock scene...well lately, since moving to london and live just a whisper away from the immortalized ABBEY ROAD by The Beatles, suddenly I felt like checking about the Beatles. Everyday I will come across visitors come to visit this crossing and the Abbey studio. As a non Beatles generation, i must admit that I could never bother to listen to them before. 80s rock generation man...what the hell is the Beatles...Who cares. Then i started buying their CDs and to my surprise, now i know why the Beatles is voted the best band of all time. You just imagine as a 60s band, they were so innovative. Their sound and modern and songs are still fresh until today and if you don't believe me, most of the current top songs by the indies, grunge, modern rock are so Beatle likes...Unbelievable. That i started going deeper...try to find out who was the real vocalist for them. Was it Paul or John Lennon? Well it was both but i am really impressed with John Lennon. No wonder why people were so sad where he died. Now, I am trying my best to collect all John Lennon's solo CDs including the famous Imagine and The Plastics Ono Band.But you know la kan...kalau cd legend legend ni mana ada yang murah. Sekeping CD cost me 16 pounds. Anyway I still need to but the CDs. Guys, believe me....go and get this CDs. If you are not Beatles generation like me...then please start listening to the Beatles. John Lennon and the Beatles are really awesome. You just imagine if John Lennon is still alive today. Being a hard core peace activist....what would he do with this Israel thing? Lu pikir la sendiri.

Enough said about the Beatles...You know what Dokken has come with the new studio album entitled Lightning Strikes Again with new guitarist and bassist namely Jon Levin and Barry Sparks while wild Mick Brown and Don Dokken remain. You might think they will not kick ass without Mr Scary George Lynch. Wroooong. This album is awesome man. You will not miss George Lynch at all. You know what...Jon Levin really bring back Dokken's 80s sound. Trust me...you will never regret to own this album. The 80s rock is back. Who will want to dispute the fact that 80s rock was the golden years for all hard rock/metal fans. ROCK is king during that time. ROCK will never Die bro. Enough said...please check out this album. "Sweet revenge will never end this time...break the spell, all illusion...waiting for you...dream warrior" ...remember this song. Go and check it out.

After Dokken, then another 80s band released a new studio album. You remember Vito Bratta of White Lion? Sure you do....White Lion has come up with a new album entitled RETURN of the PRIDE. If you remember the classic PRIDE album with beautiful songs like Wait, Tell me, When the Children Cry, Lady of the Valley, etc. ...well this time the called it Return of the Pride. To be honest, I am bit dissapointed. This album was released without any touch of Vito. Sad to say, until today we have not heard anything new on Vito except the 2007 interview with Eddie trunk. Mike Tramp has to soldier on without him. The entire line up is new...no Greg de Angelo and Mark Lomenzo.For me, as a fan of White Lion, I still bought it. They still maintain white lion sounds but the only missing part is distinguished Vito's guitar sound. Suprisingly, Mike Tramp's vocal is better than ever. Even without Vito, i still love White lion. Thank you to Mike Tramp for still putting up new materials for 80s generation like me. Understand that they are planning to come to london. Might want to see them again. The last time I saw them live was in 1989 during the Pride tour in Dallas. Hopefully you guys can find this album in Malaysia. Even myself have to pesan from my friend while he was on business trip to US .http://www.returnofthepride.com/

Well, actually there are more things that i wish to share including Avenged Sevenfold..but lets stop here for my first article of the year. See you guys later.

Cheers.