Judas Priest to Celebrate 50 Years of Rocka Rolla with Remixed Re-Release

Half a century. That’s how long it’s been since Judas Priest dropped their debut album Rocka Rolla. Dating all the way back to September 6, 1974, that album was the world’s introduction to what would be one of the most important and influential metal bands of all time. While they don’t really play anything off it live, it’s an incredibly important piece of history nonetheless and now five decades later they’re revisiting it.

During a recent interview with Detroit’s WRIF, Judas Priest bassist Ian Hill revealed that a new version of the classic album is being worked on. Thanks to the efforts of producer Tom Allom, who’s worked with Priest for a long time now, the album will be remixed while utilizing the original stems.

“It’s just been re-engineered by Tom Allom after all of these years. The multi-tracks were in remarkably good condition, and he’s changed some of the sounds, made it more modern and obviously remixed it. And he’s done a great job. It’s just coming out shortly, I believe. It’s only a few weeks away, I’m sure it is. Yeah, but he’s redone it. It’s gonna be re-released, which is great news. It’s finally got the production it’s always needed.”

“More modern.” Those two words are sure to get purists up in arms, but until we hear the final version we can’t really judge what they’re doing. It’s curious what Hill could possibly mean when he says sounds were changed to make a 50 year old record sound “modern.”

Bands have tried this kind of thing in the past, with some really sticking the landing, while others… well, they pull a Megadeth with their remixes… At least we’ll always have the original versions, so that’s a good thing.