ROB HALFORD Confirms JUDAS PRIEST Won’t Play Full ‘Painkiller’ Album On ‘Shield Of Pain’ Tour

Rob Halford Live 2024

In a recent interview with Heavy Consequence, Rob Halford discussed JUDAS PRIEST‘s plans to celebrate the 35th anniversary of their iconic album Painkiller with the extensive “Shield of Pain” tour in 2025.

“It’s still in the works, but we’re gonna go and show [Painkiller] off,” Halford said. “Not in its entirety. I haven’t figured out yet whether we’re just gonna do a clump of Painkiller songs — this is the Painkiller section — or we’re gonna go, a Painkiller song, a couple of others, a Painkiller song, a couple of others. It’s all in theory in my mind at the moment, but, however, I think it’s gonna be a real thrill and a treat. And, again, a once-in-a-lifetime thing for the band. You’ll only see the show once. You’ll only see the ‘Shield Of Pain’ show once. So, we hope our fans will be on the rail and banging their heads to it.”

Rob also shared insights into JUDAS PRIEST‘s mindset as they approached the recording process for Painkiller.

He said: “The importance was we had to really go into a huddle and say, ‘We really need to show off what this band’s true heart and soul and spirit is about.’ And I’m using that in reference to some of the previous albums and some of the previous songs. Our attitude was, ‘We’re gonna make the hardest, heaviest, strongest, most energized metal album we’ve ever done,’ and we did that — we achieved it. It’s full-on. It only pulls back a little bit for ‘A Touch Of Evil’. The rest of it is just non-stop, non-stop, non-stop. We did it in Miraval Studios in the south of France. It was very isolated, so, unlike Ibiza [where Screaming For Vengeance and Defenders Of The Faith, among others, were recorded], where we were going into the clubs every night, it was very, very isolated, so we really got into the work in a very, very strong way with no interference. And so the exercise of achieving all of the components to make that album as strong as we wanted it to be was a success. And, again, a band will tell you we’ve done everything we can. Let’s see what happens. The world embraced that album.”

“It’s a beloved, revered metal album,” Rob continued. “A lot of our friends in different bands will say, ‘If you wanna hear what a metal album is all about, put on Painkiller.’ And that’s pretty cool. But our fans, as well, recognize that of all of the 19 albums that this band has ever made, Painkiller‘s still very heavily under the spotlight. And here we are, 35 years next year.”