Glenn Tipton Quotations

And because of the reunion I think we've got more energy and enthusiasm than we've ever had. And it's genuine. I think the fans can detect when you're genuine, when you love what you do, and we love to be there on stage. That's what we thrive on.

We love not just Judas Priest music, but we love heavy metal and we love to get out on that stage every night and perform. It's a joy to be able to do it.

I've got the luxury to tailor make the songs so I can sing them.

You can have a bad day, but as soon as you set foot on that stage it's joyous.

I think we all appreciate it now just how lucky we are to be in a band like Judas Priest.

The hardest part is to travel, and to be away from your family.

Shortly after that, we got management problems over in England, and Judas Priest asked me to join.

You have to get to know your voice and its strengths and play on those. It took me quite a long time.

I'm a married man and I've got two children, and you have to do sacrifices.

There are right and wrong reasons for doing solo projects, and this album was done for the right reasons. At the time there was no Judas Priest and I certainly wasn't going to hang my hat up on my musical career.

But this is what I want to do, and it is what I will continue doing until Judas Priest finishes, which, at the moment, I can't see that yet. It could be three years or five years, who knows?

If you're not enjoying yourself, you can't really look as if you are.

It was about working with other musicians, but more than that it's about exploring musical areas that you could never do with the band you're in, in my case Judas Priest. You could tackle musical areas and lyrical areas that wouldn't be appropriate for Priest.

It'll be basically a live album, but it will also include songs, Judas Priest songs, the audience have never heard before, because we felt we wanted to give the kids something else, something they haven't already bought.

Then I decided I couldn't just crawl in the corner and die, so I started putting pen to paper and wrote some songs. I had no idea what for or who I was going to work with. I tried to find my way and direction.

Yes, we are fortunate because as a band we've always been on the up, always getting more successful.

A lot of bands that reunite do it for the wrong reasons. They do it for the bucks and everybody can sense it.

I started out myself rather late you see, I was 18.

My vocal ability is very limited, but I'm fortunate in that I can write the songs around my vocal limitations.

There are a lot better musicians than me out there that just haven't had the luck to fall into everything like I have.

I have a lot to do with the writing, and also the production, but it would be wrong of me to say that I'm the most important member of the band, because everybody is important the way I see it.

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.

We're going to maintain our friendship with Ripper. He's a great guy, in fact he sent us an email yesterday, saying he agrees with the decision, you know, because he is a big Priest fan as well, like we all are in a way. He is such an incredible vocalist he is bound to go on to greater success in his own right. Once people know he's free I'm sure he'll be in demand.

We've never been to Chile before. The lobby is full of Priest fans. They're holding the albums and wearing our T-shirts.

Now we can play less, and to more people doing bigger venues in America, so that gives us more time, so I have to live in two places.

Yeah, but on the U.S Tour we threw a new song into the set almost every night. Ofcourse, you can't do too many new songs every night as they've never heard it.

We knew there were a lot of expectations but we didn't let the pressure get to us. We just had fun with it -- we just do what comes natural and enjoy the ride. We're fortunate to have a great chemistry. When we get together, we get the Judas Priest sound -- that's success.

But then, you never know. It really depends on what I want to do at the moment, and I don't believe in pre meditating what I'm gonna do.

Each country has its own character, but heavy metal fans all over the world have a lot in common. It's fantastic.

It was very British, basically we had a meeting at Rob's house in Birmingham to do the box set. The subject of getting back together came up and we realized that's what we wanted. We decided right then, we're back together.

Priest's music is timeless, though we've evolved. We're doing something right if we've got the stalwart fans and the kids who found the band on their own.

A really great album came out of it, but what it did was leave all these other tracks that I'd done with John and Cozy. I always knew that Cozy was a great drummer, but I never realized what good a bass player John was, until he came down to the studio and started to play. I always felt that these tracks were valuable tracks, and deserved to see the light of day.

It is very reminiscent of our other albums. It's a reunion album, though it is quite poignant.

After that we'll do some Russia dates. I'm looking forward to those -- we've never been there before.

I never took a lesson until I was 20, and I'm glad I had those years living the life of a normal person. I don't consider that time wasted.

I write a lot of stuff, and some of it I don't even present to Judas Priest. But having said that, my first love is to play Judas Priest music.

In my first bands I was a singing guitar player, but if you heard any of those songs you wouldn't describe me as a singer. But I can make it work.

Yeah, but on the U.S Tour we threw a new song into the set almost every night. Of course, you can't do too many new songs every night as they've never heard it.

Back in 1994 there was no Judas Priest.

Too much down time makes us miss home.