It took 50 years, but Judas Priest have finally perfected the way they want their debut to sound.

The British metal icons will reissue 1974's Rocka Rolla on November 22 - one of the first truly sanctioned releases of the first album by the group - with a brand-new remix from the original multi-track tapes by producer Tom Allom. "I'm just thrilled," frontman Rob Halford said in a statement. "Tom Allom is giving us a second chance here with the way that a lot of the elements were lost in Rocka Rolla. And it's also nice, like a really nice feeling, especially to attach it to what will be a 50th anniversary moment. It's just a beautiful feeling."

Long before they became pioneers of the new wave of British heavy metal, Judas Priest were a Birmingham band whose road was paved with uneven stones. Formed in 1969, the group was nearly moribund within a year until vocalist Al Atkins merged the name with a local band called Freight, in search of a singer. Atkins, guitarist K.K. Downing and bassist Ian Hill employed three drummers over three years; by the time John Hinch of the group Hiroshima was hired, Atkins decided to leave the group to try to support his family; in his stead came Hiroshima's vocalist, Rob Halford. Signing with Tony Iommi's management company and the label Gull Records, the line-up further came together in 1974 with the hiring of a second guitarist, Glenn Tipton.

Working with Black Sabbath producer Rodger Bain and a clutch of songs largely dating from Atkins' tenure in the band, Rocka Rolla was recorded down-and-dirty when bigger bands weren't using the same studios. It bears little resemblance to Priest's eventual sound or image: few speedy twin-guitar onslaughts, and a largely more progressive sound that doesn't quite capture the full might of Halford's voice or leather-studded, motorcycle-revving stage presence. Worst of all, the band were not present for the album's mixing session, and their initial pride in the sessions soon gave way to disappointment. "I took the record... and I put the needle onto the groove and I sat back," Halford said in a statement. "And I just slowly started to deflate, deflate. I was so disappointed with the way it was sounding... All of us were - we'd all worked so hard to get to this place. And now this music that we know when we play live is roaring - the heavy metal is roaring even in those early primitive days - none of that was coming out of the speakers."

The band would issue one more album with Gull, 1975's Sad Wings of Destiny, and rotated through a considerable amount of drummers even upon signing to CBS Records. Starting with 1980's British Steel - one of seven albums during the decade they'd complete with producer Allom - the band finally got their due as genre innovators, a successful live act and even a firebrand for controversy. But the experience of Rocka Rolla kept getting further into the rear view mirror - that is, until the band's 50th anniversary tour in 2022, during which they successfully negotiated ownership of their Gull masters, discovered that the original multi-tracks were still in usable condition, and worked with Allom to re-create the album the way they'd always wanted it to sound. "We're not re-recording any of the musical parts," Allom confirmed in a statement. "We're remixing them, rebalancing them using the technology we have, the modern tools we have now, to sonically upgrade them, and make them sound more powerful."

Halford, Hill, Downing (who retired from the band in 2011) and Tipton (who retired from touring in 2018 after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, but still contributes to studio material) have all offered their endorsement on this reissue of their once-ignored debut. "Rocka Rolla was always going to have its flaws," Hill said in a statement. "But walking into my local record store and seeing it on a shelf amongst all your idol's records was the proudest feeling in the world, and I thought, 'Whatever happens now, nothing can change that!'"

The Rocka Rolla remix will be released on CD and vinyl (both red and black variants) on November 22, and is available now digitally. Pre-order links are below; as an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Rocka Rolla (50th Anniversary Remix) (originally released as Gull Records GULP-1005, 1974 - reissued MNRK/Exciter Records, 2024)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Black LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Red LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. One for the Road
2. Rocka Rolla
3. Winter
4. Deep Freeze
5. Winter Retreat
6. Cheater Judas
7. Never Satisfied
8. Run of the Mill
9. Dying to Meet You
10. Caviar and Meths