British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST will celebrate the 30th anniversary of their classic album "British Steel" this summer (it was originally issued in April 1980) by performing the LP in its entirety for the very first time ever live on stage! In addition they will be playing some old favorites. Vocalist Rob Halford told Noisecreep, "It's like suddenly, thirty years have come upon us and we're about to celebrate. The album's technical anniversary is April of next year, but want to start the party early."

Halford added, "In today's economy, all artists have to think of something to do differently. We decided that this would be a great opportunity to do something that PRIEST has never done before, which is to play an album in its entirety. The band and the name 'JUDAS PRIEST' have both been around since 1969, so it is our fortieth anniversary, too. We seem to be in a constant celebration mode!"

According to Halford, PRIEST will make the tour a full sensory experience by recreating the "look" from the era during which they recorded the album. "We're going retro with the look of the band," Halford told Noisecreep. "In the tradition of PRIEST, we were often credited with kicking off the denim, leather, studs, whips and chains look, and there is a rich heritage with that. We want to bring that back with the stage set and other surprises."

Along with 1982's "Screaming for Vengeance" and 1990's "Painkiller", "British Steel" has long been considered one of metal's all-time classics. It was with this release that PRIEST truly broke through to the masses, with a pair of tracks that have become fixtures on rock radio — the enduring anthems "Breaking the Law" and "Living After Midnight". But like all classic albums, there is not a single weak track detected on "British Steel", as evidenced by such standouts as the perennial concert highlight, "Metal Gods", as well as "Rapid Fire", "Grinder", "United" and "The Rage", among others.

Produced by Tom Allom, "British Steel" was recorded at the Tittenhurst Park in England — which is a mansion owned at the time by former THE BEATLES member Ringo Starr, and previously owned by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. In 2001, the album was remastered and reissued with extra bonus tracks, and also was the subject of an in-depth study as part of the popular "Classic Albums" DVD series.

"British Steel" original track listing:

01. Rapid Fire
02. Metal Gods
03. Breaking the Law
04. Grinder
05. United
06. You Don't Have to Be Old to Be Wise
07. Living After Midnight
08. The Rage
09. Steeler

JUDAS PRIEST — singer Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis — remain as popular as ever to this day, confirmed once and for all upon the release of 2008's "Nostradamus", which became their highest-ever charting album in the U.S. Two years earlier, the group was the inaugural inductees into the "VH1 Rock Honors". The forthcoming summer dates with WHITESNAKE are surely not to be missed by metalheads from coast to coast, especially now that fans will be reintroduced up close and personal to the mighty "British Steel".