Album
Defenders of the Faith
Defenders of the Faith is the ninth studio album by Judas Priest, the English heavy metal band. It came out on 13 January 1984 on Columbia, and it followed Screaming for Vengeance from 1982. The record was certified platinum by the RIAA, which tells you how firmly the band had settled into the American market by the middle of the decade.
Three singles came from it: "Freewheel Burning", "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll" and "Love Bites". They make a good way in if you want to hear the band at this stage, sitting between hard rock and full-blooded heavy metal. Turbo arrived two years later, so this is the last Priest album before that change of direction, and it is worth hearing as the close of a run of tough, riff-led records.
Defenders of the Faith: tracklist, credits and charts
10 tracks · 38:47Tracklist
- 1Freewheel BurningDowning, Halford, Tipton4:24
- 2JawbreakerDowning, Halford, Tipton3:26
- 3Rock Hard Ride FreeDowning, Halford, Tipton5:34
- 4The SentinelDowning, Halford, Tipton5:04
- 5Love BitesDowning, Halford, Tipton4:47
- 6Eat Me AliveDowning, Halford, Tipton3:34
- 7Some Heads Are Gonna RollBob Halligan, Jr.4:05
- 8Night Comes DownDowning, Halford, Tipton3:58
- 9Heavy DutyDowning, Halford, Tipton2:25
- 10Defenders of the FaithDowning, Halford, Tipton1:30
- Produced by
- Tom Allom
- Recorded at
- Ibiza Sound Studio, Ibiza Sound (Ibiza, Spain)
- Recorded
- July–August 1983
- Engineered by
- Mark Dodson
- Label
- Columbia
- Length
- 38:47
Line-up
- Kenneth Downing · electric guitar
- Ian Hill · electric bass guitar
- Dave Holland · drums (drum set)
- Glenn Tipton · electric guitar
- Rob Halford · lead vocals
Singles
- “Freewheel Burning” · 13 January 1984
- “Some Heads Are Gonna Roll” · 19 March 1984
- “Love Bites” · April 1984 (US)
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 · 1984–85 | 18 |
| UK Albums Chart · 1984–85 | 19 |
| Swedish Albums · 1984–85 | 2 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) · 1984–85 | 10 |
| Swiss Albums · 1984–85 | 12 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 2014–15 | 13 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1984–85 | 17 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1984–85 | 17 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1984–85 | 18 |
| German Albums · 1984–85 | 21 |
All 17 charts
| Dutch Albums · 1984–85 | 27 |
| Finnish Albums · 2014–15 | 46 |
| Austrian Albums · 2014–15 | 51 |
| Spanish Albums · 2014–15 | 66 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2014–15 | 85 |
| Italian Albums · 2014–15 | 90 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2014–15 | 138 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada | 2× Platinum |
| Japan · 1984 | Gold |
| United States · 1988 | Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
74.2
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
3.0k
ListenBrainz listeners
101k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
25k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 13 January
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More from Judas Priest
Full discography →
Rocka Rolla
1974
Sad Wings of Destiny (Original 1976 Masters)
1976
The Best of Judas Priest
1977
Sin After Sin
1977
Stained Class
1978
Killing Machine
1978
Unleashed in the East: Live in Japan
1979
British Steel
1980
Judas Priest Turn Me Loose 1981
Turn Me Loose
1981
Hero, Hero
1981
Point of Entry
1981
Screaming for Vengeance
1982
Judas Priest Judas Priest 1983
Judas Priest
1983
Turbo
1986
Priest…Live!
1987
Ram It Down
1988
Painkiller
1990
Genocide
1993
Metal Works ’73–’93
1993
Judas Priest Judas Priest 1996
Judas Priest
1996
Jugulator
1997
Judas Priest Live Meltdown 1998
Live Meltdown
1998
The Best of Judas Priest: Living After Midnight
1998
’98 Live Meltdown
1998
Judas Priest Bloodsuckers 2001
Bloodsuckers
2001
Demolition
2001
Live in London
2003
Metalogy
2004
Angel of Retribution
2005
The Essential Judas Priest
2006
Judas Priest Visions 2008
Visions
2008
Nostradamus EP
2008
Nostradamus
2008
A Touch of Evil: Live
2009
The Chosen Few
2011
Single Cuts
2011
The Complete Albums Collection
2012
Redeemer of Souls
2014
5 Souls
2014
Battle Cry
2016
Firepower
2018
Invincible Shield
2024
The best of 1984
All of 1984 →
Ride the Lightning
Metallica · 1984
Powerslave
Iron Maiden · 1984
The Works
Queen · 1984
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi · 1984
Iron Maiden Christmas EP 1984
Christmas EP
Iron Maiden · 1984
Stay Hungry
Twisted Sister · 1984
Rewind (1971–1984)
The Rolling Stones · 1984
Reckoning
R.E.M. · 1984
Fistful of Metal
Anthrax · 1984
Projects in the Jungle
Pantera · 1984
Live Undead / Haunting the Chapel
Slayer · 1984
’74 Jailbreak
AC/DC · 1984
More on Columbia
The label →
Dirt
Alice in Chains · 1992
Grace
Jeff Buckley · 1994
A Momentary Lapse of Reason
Pink Floyd · 1987
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains · 1995
Black Ice
AC/DC · 2008
Power Up
AC/DC · 2020
Painkiller
Judas Priest · 1990
Ixnay on the Hombre
The Offspring · 1997
But Here We Are
Foo Fighters · 2023
Conspiracy of One
The Offspring · 2000
Rock or Bust
AC/DC · 2014
Screaming for Vengeance
Judas Priest · 1982
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 1984-01-13; musicbrainz + wikidata 1984-01-04 (9 days apart, likely another territory)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 4 January 1984 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 13 January 1984 | |
| Wikidata | 4 January 1984 | |
| US release | 1984 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 24 January 1984 | earliest UK or European date |
23 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | US | Columbia | 00074643 | other |
| 1984 | US | Columbia | 074643921916 | other |
| 1984 | US | Columbia | 074643921923 | other |
| 1984 | US | Columbia | 07464392192 | other |
| 1984 | US | Columbia | 074643921923 | other |
| 1984 | XE | CBS | other | |
| January 1984 | GB | Columbia | 5099746860226 | other |
| 4 January 1984 | JP | Epic/Sony | 696998543829 | original |
| 24 January 1984 | GB | CBS | other | |
| 1 July 1988 | JP | Epic | 4988010219857 | other |
| 1990 | XE | Columbia | 5099746860226 | other |
| 21 March 1991 | JP | Epic | 4988010525729 | other |
| 7 May 2001 | GB | Columbia | 5099750213421 | remaster |
| 7 May 2001 | XE | Columbia | 5099750213421 | remaster |
| 29 May 2001 | US | Columbia | 696998543829 | other |
| 30 May 2001 | JP | Epic | 4988010787523 | remaster |
| 6 June 2005 | JP | Sony Records International | 4571191051684 | remaster |
| 15 February 2012 | JP | Metal God Entertainment | 4547366063547 | remaster |
| 2015 | XW | Columbia | 5099750213421 | other |
| 2015 | XE | Columbia | 888430877528 | deluxe |
| 4 March 2015 | JP | Sony Records International | 4547366232769 | deluxe |
| 6 March 2015 | AF | Sony Music Entertainment UK | 886444644037 | remaster |
| 10 March 2015 | US | — | deluxe |
Cover art sources
deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1200×1200 | upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25) |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| coverartarchive | 600×600 | upscaled |