Judas Priest
The 50 Best Albums of 1982
Looking back at 1982 in music, the headline is obvious: Thriller Sells A Bajillion Copies, Becomes World’s Biggest Album. But is it the year’s best album? Funny enough, Michael Jackson‘s sixth LP hardly even affected the charts that year — it snuck out in late November, just as Men at Work’s 1981 blockbuster, Business as Usual, began its commercial stranglehold in the U.S. Only one record on our list, Fleetwood Mac‘s chart-targeted Tusk follow-up, Mirage, hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200. (Doesn’t it seem weird, looking back, that Prince‘s 1999 peaked at No. 9?) Lots of fascinating shit was happening in 1982, and you didn’t always find it on the radio. On our list, we included everything from early hip-hop (Grandmaster Flash) to horror-punk (Misfits) to lo-fi synth-pop (Solid Space). Revisit...
Rock Hall of Fame 2022: Carly Simon, Eminem, Dolly Parton, Beck Lead Nominees
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has unveiled its contenders for the Class of 2022. The ballot features seven first-time nominees including Carly Simon, Eminem, Dolly Parton, Duran Duran, Beck, Lionel Richie, and A Tribe Called Quest, as well as Kate Bush, Devo, Judas Priest, MC5, New York Dolls, Rage Against The Machine, Pat Benatar, Fela Kuti, Eurythmics, and Dionne Warwick. Artists eligible for this year’s ballot had to have released their first single or album in 1996 or earlier. Eminem is the only artist on this year’s ballot nominated in his first year eligible (his debut album, Infinite, was released in 1996.) “This year’s ballot recognizes a diverse group of incredible artists, each who has had a profound impact on the sound of youth culture,” said John Sykes, chairman of the Rock ...
Christmas Stalkings: What to Buy for the Music Fan in Your Life
As the stockings get hung by the chiminea with care in hopes that Papa Noel soon will be there, you might be hard-pressed to find gifts that will bring true joy to the music-obsessive in your life. Especially if they seem to have every new album or box set that comes out. But fear not, dear consumer, as SPIN has spent these first days of the holiday season in search of the coolest gift ideas with the music fan in your life in mind. From action figures of your favorite rappers to choice box sets to quality cannabis to spirits made from spuds, the 2021 holiday season is a cornucopia overflowing with possibilities for the music fan who seems to have everything. For the Fabs fan on your list, it’s not a question of what to get them this year but how much are you willing to get them, as this se...
The 50 Best Live Albums of the 1970s
The concert industry exploded in the 1970s, and the live album, a stopgap project once reserved for only the biggest artists, became a compulsory ritual and a pivotal moment for many artists. Live albums captured legendarily loud bands like The Who and The Ramones in their natural element. Once obscure regional acts like Bob Seger, KISS and Cheap Trick exploded into the mainstream with live albums. The Band, The Stooges, and Velvet Underground put their final gigs on vinyl. Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young (as his ongoing archive series shows), and Jackson Browne recorded entire sets of new songs onstage. The Grateful Dead released several official live albums (and continue to do so) that only made fans want to bootleg shows on their own more. With the 50th anniversary of a landmark live album, Th...
Leather Pants and Chicken Wings: The Real Stories Behind Live Aid
Take it from Rob Halford: It is difficult pulling leather chaps over sweaty legs. The Judas Priest frontman would learn that lesson anew when his band arrived at the since-demolished John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia to perform as part of Live Aid, which unfolded on two continents 35 years ago today. “It was an absolutely boiling, scorching, muggy day — I remember that,” Halford recalls of the ambitious, 16-hour-long benefit concert experienced globally by more than a billion people in over 140 countries. “As I was putting my leathers on, I was going, ‘Oh, here we go again … mad dogs and Englishmen going out in the midday sun.’” As Live Aid was happening, Halford — like all of the big-name musicians and actors who’d brave the Philly summer heat that sweltering day — knew that the fir...
Dave Grohl, Jack Black, and More Honor the Late Ronnie James Dio in Video
The late, great Ronnie James Dio would have turned 78 today (July 9). Though he wasn’t around to celebrate, his longtime pals did instead. In a video that was released by the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund, a number of Dio’s peers and friends honored the late-singer in footage that was compiled from over the years. Dave Grohl remembered the singer as “one of the greatest singers of all time,” and cited seeing him perform on TV when he was “13 or 14 years old” as one of the reasons why he wanted to become a musician. “He would give all of his time, energy and love and attention to do good things,” he said. Jack Black agreed, saying that Dio was one of the greatest heavy metal singers of all time and that he “such a sweet, genuine dude.” Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler an...
