Judas Priest‘s Rob Halford and Ian Hill recently sat down with Ultimate Classic Rock’s hard-hitting brother site Loudwire for a lengthy chat, during which they talked about everything from new guitarist Richie Faulkner and the band’s current trek — possibly their last “major world tour” — to the ‘The Chosen Few’ compilation disc and plans for a new studio album.

Judas Priest recently released a best-of compilation with a twist — on ‘The Chosen Few,’ the tracks included were selected not by Priest but by artists from other bands. “We had no idea what anyone was going to pick,” explained Halford. Added Hill: “It was totally up to them. It’s our only compilation album where we had absolutely no control whatsoever of what’s going on it.”

That approach led to some interesting selections — including Klaus Meine from Scorpions and Corey Taylor from modern-rockers Slipknot both picking the classic Priest track, ‘You’ve Got Another Thing Comin.’ “That [those two] should both like that particular track … really shows you the way that metal has this amazing generational crossover to two totally different worlds.”

As for a new album, Halford says the addition of new guitarist Richie Faulkner will have a major impact on the disc’s sound. “It’s a real metal classic album for Priest, and it’ll be interesting to see how Richie is going to inject his style in his writing. He’s the new kid on the block and he’s 31. [laughs] We’re in our 60’s you know … so he’s going to bring that into the writing side of what we do. It’s going to be very cool to see where we’re going to go.”

“There’s about 10 or 12 songs that Glenn and I mapped out — four of which were recorded and mixed and are ready to go,” he continues. “Originally we were going to release one or two tracks to support this tour but our label asked us to hold off until next year. So we’ll go back and re-record those songs and put Richie in there and then see what else he can bring into the rest of the material. It’s going to be great. It’s going to be a classic Priest album.”

Do Priest have a schedule in mind for actually releasing the new album? Is it really possible that their current trek could be their last “major world tour?” Be sure to check out Loudwire’s interview with Halford and Hill in its entirety for more on these subjects and other nuggets of wisdom from Priest here.

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