The Essential Judas Priest by Judas Priest, album cover
Album · Compilation · 20 years old this year

The Essential Judas Priest

Released11 April 2006
Popularity17.1
Also cited25 September 2006

The Essential Judas Priest is a two-disc compilation from the English heavy metal band, released on 11 April 2006 through Columbia. It gathers 34 songs from across their career, running right up to Angel of Retribution, their latest album at the time. It leaves out the Tim "Ripper" Owens years and anything from their debut, Rocka Rolla, so the story it tells is the one that runs from Sad Wings of Destiny through to their 2005 return.

The set has been reshaped a few times since. A 2008 limited edition stretched it to three discs, and a 2010 Blu-spec CD swapped "Victim of Changes" for "Nostradamus" on the first disc. In 2015 it came back with the same artwork but a very different track list, with "Nostradamus", "Dragonaut" and "Redeemer of Souls" replacing "United", "Hot Rockin'" and "Out in the Cold". It suits anyone wanting a broad overview of the band's classic period.

The Essential Judas Priest: tracklist, credits and charts

34 tracks · 2:34:54

Tracklist

  1. Disc 1
  2. 1Judas RisingDowning, Halford, Tipton4:16
  3. 2Breaking the LawDowning, Halford, Tipton2:36
  4. 3Hell Bent for LeatherGlenn Tipton2:43
  5. 4Diamonds and RustJoan Baez3:27
  6. 5Victim of ChangesAtkins, Downing, Halford, Tipton7:46
  7. 6Love BitesDowning, Halford, Tipton4:49
  8. 7Heading Out to the HighwayDowning, Halford, Tipton3:47
  9. 8Ram It DownDowning, Halford, Tipton4:51
  10. 9Beyond the Realms of DeathLes Binks and Rob Halford6:53
  11. 10You've Got Another Thing Comin'Downing, Halford, Tipton5:10
  12. 11JawbreakerDowning, Halford, Tipton3:28
  13. 12A Touch of EvilDowning, Halford, Tipton, Tsangarides5:45
  14. 13Delivering the GoodsDowning, Halford, Tipton4:17
  15. 14UnitedDowning, Halford, Tipton3:36
  16. 15Turbo LoverDowning, Halford, Tipton5:33
  17. 16PainkillerDowning, Halford, Tipton6:06
  18. 17Metal GodsDowning, Halford, Tipton4:01
  19. Disc 2
  20. 1The HellionDowning, Halford, Tipton0:42
  21. 2Electric EyeDowning, Halford, Tipton3:40
  22. 3Living After MidnightDowning, Halford, Tipton3:32
  23. 4Freewheel BurningDowning, Halford, Tipton4:25
  24. 5ExciterRob Halford and Glenn Tipton5:33
  25. 6The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)Peter Green3:24
  26. 7Blood Red SkiesDowning, Halford, Tipton7:53
  27. 8Night CrawlerDowning, Halford, Tipton5:45
  28. 9SinnerRob Halford and Glenn Tipton6:46
  29. 10Hot Rockin'Downing, Halford, Tipton3:18
  30. 11The SentinelDowning, Halford, Tipton5:05
  31. 12Before the DawnDowning, Halford, Tipton3:24
  32. 13Hell PatrolDowning, Halford, Tipton3:36
  33. 14The RipperGlenn Tipton2:52
  34. 15Screaming for VengeanceDowning, Halford, Tipton4:46
  35. 16Out in the ColdDowning, Halford, Tipton6:27
  36. 17RevolutionDowning, Halford, Tipton4:42
Produced by
Judas Priest, Roy Z, Tom Allom, James Guthrie, Judas Priest, Roger Glover, Jeffrey Calvert, Max West, Dennis MacKay, Chris Tsangarides
Recorded at
Sound City Studios, The Old Smithy Recording Studios, Startling Studios, CBS Studios, Utopia Studios, Ramport Studios, Rockfield Studios, Ibiza Sound Studio, Chipping Norton Recording Studios, Studio Miraval, Wisseloord Studios, Compass Point Studios
Recorded
1976–2005
Mixed by
Stan Katayama, Tom Allom, Bill Dooley, Kenneth Downing, Glenn Tipton
Mixed at
Wessex Sound Studios, Morgan Studios, Bayshore Recording Studios, Beejay Recording Studios, Wisseloord Studios, The Record Plant
Engineered by
Joe Barresi, Roy Z, Louis Austin, James Guthrie, Mark Dodson, Jeffrey Calvert, Dave Charles, Chris Tsangarides, Henrik Nilsson, Bill Dooley, Neil Ross, Attie Bauw, Patrice Rouillon Tsernsoff de Gironville
Labels
Columbia, Columbia / Sony Music
Length
2:34:54

Line-up

  • Don Airey · keyboard · guest
  • Kenneth Downing · electric guitar
  • Ian Hill · bass guitar, electric bass guitar
  • Glenn Tipton · electric guitar, background vocals, keyboard
  • Scott Travis · drums (drum set) · guest
  • Rob Halford · lead vocals
  • Dave Holland · drums (drum set)
  • Les Binks · drums (drum set) · guest
  • Simon Phillips · drums (drum set) · guest
  • Alan Moore · drums (drum set) · guest

Peak chart positions

ChartPeak
Finnish Albums · 200621
Swedish Albums · 200623
Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 2006138

From MusicBrainz and Wikipedia. Only what the sources record is shown.

17.1
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
1
ListenBrainz listeners
7.1k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
—
Deezer fans (all editions)

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Releases and pressings

How we know the release date wikipedia + wikidata; also seen: 2006-09-25 (musicbrainz)
SourceDateNote
MusicBrainz25 September 2006ignored lone early release dated 2006-04-11
Wikipedia infobox11 April 2006
Wikidata11 April 2006
US release11 April 2006earliest US date
UK / Europe release25 September 2006earliest UK or European date
8 editions
DateCountryLabelBarcodeKind
2006XEColumbia828767665627other
11 April 2006USColumbia827969255421original
25 September 2006GBColumbia828767665627other
26 August 2008USColumbia886973099728other
23 December 2009JPSony Records International4547366051742other
2010—Sony Music UK886977707728other
27 March 2015ALColumbia886445069891other
22 May 2015DESony Music UK888750858528other
Cover art sources

fanarttv · upscaled: major: best source 1000x1000, upscaled to 1500 (x1.50)

SourceSizeVerdict
fanarttv ✓1000×1000upscaled: major: best source 1000x1000, upscaled to 1500 (x1.50)
coverartarchive800×800upscaled