In a recent chat with Herald-Whig, guitarist Richie Faulkner talked again about Judas Priest’s decision to embark on the next tour as a quartet.
Asked if this was just a way for the rest of the band to get to pick on him as the new guy again, Richie said:
“Yeah, about a week later, we readdressed that announcement and we’ve gone back to a five-piece. But I did get that impression initially. It’s was, like, well, I’ve just had this issue; maybe they’re just test in my mettle, so to speak.
”But the fans voiced their opinion on that and we listened. We would have been crazy not to take that on board, really. So we addressed it and we’re coming back as a five-piece. We will go back to normal, basically. It’s going to be that five-piece, that twin-guitar attack Priest is known and loved for. So all’s well there.
“Priest have been such a part of our culture, really. I don’t really remember a world, as far as my kind of heavy metal music consciousness is concerned, when I didn’t know who Judas Priest was. I knew the songs, ‘Another Thing Coming’ and ‘Breaking The Law’.
”It would be interesting for sure, as a four-piece, like [Black] Sabbath or Ozzy [Osbourne], or a few bands out there. But I think the fans’ voices are important, as I said, and we listened. You’ve got to pay attention to the fans. They’re the lifeblood of this band, and any band, really that does gigs and puts out music. They’re part of what enables the life of any band. So I think that’s what you’ve got to respect and acknowledge.”