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June 1985 •
Twin Turbos
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August 1985 •
FUEL FOR LIFE: • November 1985 • March 1986 |
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1986
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HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT |
TURBO
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"Turbo
is Ford perfect! I was thinking of the car as a way of representing how well
the current album's done in England!"
"Many bands that
emerged around the same time as Priest - such as AC/DC and Status Quo - have
been very successful by staying the same. But Priest always takes risks, and we
like to break new ground. In 1986, for example, we used guitar synths on the
Turbo album - which, at the time,
was embracing state-of-the-art technology."
"Judas Priest doesn't let the term 'heavy metal'
limit our artistic scope."
"I think TURBO just showed the versatility of the
band, that we were capable of doing different material. We always tried to avoid
the area of repetition." |
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Management: Bill Curbishley, Trinifold Management |
Writing sessions with Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford and K.K. Downing begin October
1984 in Marbella, Spain
Certification: RIAA Gold June 10,
1986 ; Platinum July 24, 1989 |
"Turbo Lover (Hi-Octane Mix)" produced by Freddie
"The Hellion Kid" Bastone |
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Artwork by Doug Johnson
Once again, album cover artist Doug Johnson was called upon to produce the Turbo cover art, which was a detour from the "creatures" he had made for the previous two releases. For this album, Doug presents quite a sexual image of racy cars and racy women. Turbo lover indeed! |
Director: Wayne Isham
Even though Judas Priest were famous for their use of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle on stage throughout most of their career, the motorcycles used in these videos were actually Honda Rebels! These videos are currently available on the ELECTRIC EYE DVD 2003 Sony Music Entertainment/Columbia Music Video (UK Cat. # 2021939, US Cat. # CVD 51411) |
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MAY 1985: Halford, Dio and Iommi 1985 would be a quiet year for Priest on the tour circuit, as they spent time over in Phoenix, Arizona where Rob Halford made his home, recording demos at Chaton Studios and writing ideas for their next album. But it would prove to be quite a busy year for Rob Halford. An admirer and good friend of Tony Iommi and of Ronnie James Dio, Rob would find himself involved with projects for both artists: On May 20 and 21, 1985, Rob lent his vocals to Dio's famous charity recording of "Stars" on the Hear 'N' Aid album.
Also in May of '85, Tony Iommi found himself without his former Sabbath mates, as well as stranded on a solo project without a singer. In the end, label pressures caused Seventh Star to be a Black Sabbath release instead of an Iommi solo album, and Glenn Hughes got the vocal slot for the entire album, but at the early planning stages, ideas were kicked around about bringing a few high-level singers in, among them the names of fellow Brummies Robert Plant and Rob Halford, whom Tony would talk to later on about it:
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JUNE 1985: TURBO sessions start After the huge success of the Defenders Of The Faith world tour, plans got under way to release a double-live album. But Judas Priest were also approaching their 10th anniversary with CBS Records and realized this would be the 10th studio album of their career as well, so to commemorate the event, they decided to hold off the live album and pursue a new studio release instead:
British pop music success had always been a driving factor for Priest from the very beginning. The production team known as 'Typically Tropical' had produced SAD WINGS OF DESTINY in '76; BRITISH STEEL produced two highly successful hits in 1980, helping push music videos and MTV into the forefront of pop culture; and 1982's SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE saw the band's first platinum success, landing them on such world-wide arenas as US Festival and Live Aid. Throughout their career, Judas Priest have demonstrated that a major key to their success has always been to take a melodic approach to heavy metal, while at the same time, remaining the heaviest and fastest of them all. This time around, the guys were going to lighten up a bit and be in a celebratory mood - in one interview they joked that they were even beginning to depress themselves with their dark songs! But they were determined now to celebrate their first decade with an effort that would be fun, experimental and a crowd-pleaser:
But Turbo finds Priest as innovators and leaders of a technical revolution in an all new environment - a digital world ready for a commercial breakthrough. As new innovations in digital recording were becoming available at the time, producer Tom Allom and the band were intent on using the technology (including synth guitars - a first for heavy metal) to its fullest to enhance the overall sound capabilities of the new album. With writing sessions completed in Spain, the band flew to the beautiful Bahaman island of Nassau in the summer of 1985 and entered Compass Point Studios, one of the world's first studios to use Sony Digital recording equipment and decks... In fact, TURBO is noted as being the first all-digitally recorded heavy metal album!
Tom Allom had been instrumental in putting great sound effects on Judas Priest records since 1980's British Steel, but in those days, there were no digital samples or other convenient ways of producing those effects. Now the band once again teamed with Allom, giving him the opportunity to venture along with Priest into uncharted waters and new frontiers...
Well-known veteran recording engineer Bill Dooley was also
called upon to dial the knobs for the Turbo album. Bill was a graduate of
Boston, Massachusetts' Berklee College of Music in 1976 and has been involved
with Atlantic, A&M and Village Recording Studios (among others). Dooley has also
racked up credits on hundreds of major record releases as a session and
mixing/mastering engineer. |
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TWIN TURBOS:
Initially, Judas Priest were set to do something really special for this
release - a concept of sorts: |
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"CBS refused to release a double album described as a
'journey through the history of metal' and the new Judas Priest release will
be a more regular single album."
"The concept originally was we were going to try and do like a 'history of
Priest', and we wrote 19 tracks and we were going to do a double album. It's
Priest's 10th album and we wanted to, as a gesture, give the kids something, but
unfortunately, when we came to put it together, we couldn't logistically put it
out for the price of more than one album and we didn't feel that was achieving
what we started out to do, which was to donate something to the kids and our
fans who'd stuck with us through 10 years.
"For the first time in our career we'd actually written enough songs for a
double album. I wanted to call it 'Twin
Turbos', but that didn't work out so we put all the most commercial stuff
on one album. We were probably aware that it would be hard for some Priest fans
to accept but we wanted to have an album with a consistency of style throughout.
Previously, they had all been very varied."
"Actually, we talked quite extensively about it, and then we recorded 19
tracks for a double album, which we wanted
Turbo to be at the time. Then we
picked nine tracks that we thought were a bit different, sat down and rearranged
them and really tried to capture a slightly different feel. We wanted a change,
but not too much of a change either, we just wanted to do something different.
But, of course, when you do that you have to expect a bit of apprehension from
people, which we got. But I guess
Turbo is eventually turning out
to be our most successful album to date, so we can ignore them anyway. Also, in
retrospect, everybody has come back to us and said that they had been a bit
skeptical at first, but now they realize it's really the way to go. We are proud
of the fact that some people look at Judas Priest as frontrunners, really!"
"I think during the writing process, we always thought that we had been so
prolific with the ideas, and it's always great for a band to do a double album.
We liked the idea, but just putting the strongest ideas together that had some
sort of flow, like Turbo did,
seemed to be a stronger idea at the end of the day." "At the time of Turbo, we
had all these songs and it didn't come about for what ever reason. The record
company said, 'No, it's got to be a single album', so we said, 'OK, what do we
do? We got 20 songs, 10 of which were
Turbo and 10 of which were other
songs. 'Ram It Down' for example from the
Ram It Down album was one of
those songs - there was 'Monsters Of Rock' and a couple of other things on there
you know? Probably bits and pieces. The rest of it we sort of discarded because
as time moves on...we just said, 'Let's start fresh.'" "We heard all sorts of things about
Turbo,
which can only be expected when you do something which is a step forward, an
advancement in a certain musical direction using synth guitars. Some people
liked it, some didn't. Some people, when they like something, say strawberries
on cream, don't want it to change. They don't want you to try anything different
We can appreciate that... We thought
Turbo
would take us flying into the charts and be very well received by the radio
stations and general media more so than
Defenders of the
Faith was. It didn't
really work out like that for some reason. I suppose Priest are just
unacceptable even though Scorpions have become accepted and Quiet Riot and
Twisted Sister were, but Priest have never really broke through in the big style
like that. If anything, our fans prefer us that way. We are something of a cult
band, if that's the right word." "We are fortunate because as a band
we've always been on the up, always getting more successful. Sadly, I've seen a
lot of bands hit that sort of peak and then eventually start supporting again,
you know, which we will never do. We always put a lot of thought into the way
that we are going to go, and we always change. Each album has got a new sound or
direction, and as individuals we change as well, and I think that is what gives
us the longevity as a band. We do think about it a lot, because if you don't,
people will get fed up with you. Like if every Judas Priest album sounded the
same. Then the people would say, 'Well, we bought the last one'..." "With
Turbo,
although people were a little apprehensive about it to start with, they did
finally accept it. I think people thought we were prepared to go another
direction. Subconsciously we wanted to make the point that Priest will
never change and that if anything we will get heavier as the years go on. "I think that if we had been
ashamed of Turbo,
we would never had released it. The fact is,
Turbo
was a successful album. Particularly in America: It's gone platinum which is
over a million copies. You know, bands go through different periods musically
and image wise, and I'm happy that we've been able to do that. Again, coming
back to this feeling of not wanting to be repeating yourself over and over again
with the clothes, with the music that you play - just trying to have something
new to say all the time... We're just trying, like we've
always done, to show people that heavy metal isn't
just one dimension. It's not just like heavy riffs in A or heavy riffs in the
chord of E; you can take it lots of different ways. So, Judas Priest is 'Turbo
Lover'; Judas Priest is 'Freewheel Burning'; Judas Priest is 'Living After
Midnight'; Judas Priest is 'Victim Of Changes'.
"We felt with TURBO, if this is our time to do it,
let's go out and purposely do a really commercial album. I've never told anyone
that, but it's true. It just fit the time, ya know? It just seemed right to make
it lighter and happier, than dark and sinister; do you know what I mean? It just
flowed. Bands go through phases with how the world feels at the time."
"We’ve never been afraid to try any bell or any
whistle. We’ll give it a go. If it sounds great, then great. If it doesn’t, we
can let it go. It’s a simple as that. With TURBO, we used these guitar
synthesizers that went from a guitar and through a processor, and you could make
them sound like anything. We thought, this is a great idea. We probably went a
bit over the top with it. It had a lot of mixed reviews when it came out, and it
may have lost us some fans, but we probably gained a few as well. I think now it
is starting to be recognized as a bit of a landmark. We always get people
yelling for 'Turbo Lover' - it is one of the fans’ favorites, which surprised
me." "To tell the truth, it's just one of those things that happened because we
found ourselves in an incredibly creative period. Glenn, K.K. and I started
writing in Marbella, Spain, and it reached a point where we had in excess of two
albums worth of material. So what we did in the end was stockpile all the extra
material that didn't go on Turbo,
which we will ultimately release in one form or another." |
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AUGUST 1985: A little help from a friend Though it is not often credited in the liner notes (mostly due to legal reasons), many bands, including Priest, have used outside musicians (such as keyboard players and backing vocalists) on previous albums, and in the case of Turbo, one particular musician got to play an un-credited part in the recording of the album:
At the time, vocalist Jeff "Motorman" Martin was still in the Phoenix, Arizona heavy metal outfit Surgical Steel, who had just finished filming a part in the cult film THUNDER ALLEY and for whom Rob Halford had lended his coaching and voice to their demo the previous year. Soon after, martin would team up with guitar genius Paul Gilbert to form Racer X (who would also play host to future Judas Priest drummer Scott Travis), but in late August 1985, Rob Halford invited his friend Jeff to the Bahamas to attend the TURBO sessions:
As Jeff mentioned, Julio Iglesias was also recording an album at Compass Point Studios, which sparked a long-running rumor when music publications began reporting that Iglesias was recording a song with Judas Priest . There was even a quote by Julio himself saying the song was an "electric bolero". The reports didn't sit well with the fans at the time, and the press began saying Judas Priest had sold-out. But when the song failed to appear on the Turbo album, the story was passed off as mere rumor. And when The Re-Masters finally gave us the unreleased recording of "Prisoner Of Your Eyes", it was clear that Julio's voice was not on the song. That seemed to be the end of the story until Judas Priest paid their first-time visit to Argentina in 2001 and a journalist from a local magazine caught up with the band and asked about the Julio Iglesias rumor:
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NOVEMBER 1985: Rob enters rehab With a breakthrough album in British Steel and the platinum status of Screaming For Vengeance, the members of Judas Priest were riding a tidal wave of success - while facing the pressure of trying to maintain the momentum:
Yet for all the success and excess, Rob felt alone and isolated. He struggled with the fact that he was gay and having to keep it a secret because of his heavy metal image:
Between the pressures of fame and the confusion of his feelings, Rob was sinking into depression:
After a November '85 late night rehearsal in Phoenix, Arizona for the Turbo tour (possibly when the band recorded "Heart Of A Lion" at Chaton Recordes), Rob overdosed on the powerful painkiller, but he managed to call for help and was hospitalized. But after Rob was released from the hospital, his troubles were far from over... Not long after returning from the hospital, a cataclysmic event took place that caused Rob to seek rehab for drug and alcohol abuse:
The event was too tragic and was a wake up call to Rob, who on January 6, 1986, checked himself into a rehab center in Phoenix for 33 days to deal with his alcohol abuse. But when the rest of his band mates came to visit him, Rob didn't feel they took him seriously:
Completing rehab in February, Rob emerged revitalized, with a world tour waiting in the wings to showcase his full and sober talent. As the 1987 Priest...Live! video and album would reveal, Rob was at the top of his game, jumping around on stage and belting out ear-piercing banshee screams like never before:
With a sober outlook and a new lease on life, during Priest's Canadian leg of the tour in July, Rob participated in a campaign that was right up his alley:
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MARCH 1986: Jayne Andrews comes aboard
Jayne Andrews' history in the music industry includes working for Atlantic Records as well as being the personal assistant to Emerson, Lake and Palmer before joining Trinifold Management in March of '86, where she started out as the band's personal assistant and is credited as Production Assistant for the European leg of the Turbo tour. She then progressed to Management Co-Ordinator soon after and has held that title ever since.
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Turbo Lover
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Locked In
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Private
Property
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Parental
Guidance
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Rock You All Around The World
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Out In The Cold
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1. Turbo Lover
You won't hear me, but you'll feel me
2. Locked In
3.
Private Property
4.
Parental Guidance
You say I waste my life away
5. Rock You All Around The World
We're gonna rock
6. Out
In The Cold
Give me a chance baby
7. Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days
8. Hot
For Love
9. Reckless
No one can stop me now
10. All Fired
Up
A burst of speed is all I need This song was written and recorded as a session demo
at Chaton Recorders in Paradise Valley, Arizona (near Rob Halford's residence) in late
1985.
It is now released for the first time in 2004 as part of the METALOGY
boxset.
"We were delighted to
include 'Heart Of A Lion' with the METALOGY boxset, but we will not record it
for a studio LP. It was a song that was called on the most by the fans so we put
it on the set for them. The fans are the most important part of Judas Priest;
they keep us alive and vital."
In December 1986, Jeff Martin, vocalist for Racer X and good friend of Rob Halford,
received permission from Rob to record the song
(which would appear publicly for the
first time on the Racer X sophomore
release Second Heat in 1987 and again on Extreme Volume
II Live
"This is a Judas Priest song that Racer X
covered. Jeff Martin had a demo of it and we learned it."
"Rob had played me all the tunes for the next
album, one being 'Heart Of A Lion', my favorite. When I found out that 'Heart Of
A Lion' was not on the TURBO album I couldn't believe it! I told Rob right then and there that
he's got to let me do this tune one day. Well the end of the year rolls around and Racer X are
in the studio still short of an album, and it hits me - so I call Rob to see if
it's all cool. He checked and said, 'Go on with it'. Crashing through the city streets Now you're just a breath away I close my eyes, I see your face Hear my name cried from the sky All around I hear the sound Cold heart of a lion
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Steel & Leather Productions, U.S.A.
