Painkiller (Judas Priest song)
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| "Painkiller" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Judas Priest | ||||||||||
| Released | 1990 | |||||||||
| Recorded | 1990 | |||||||||
| Genre | Heavy metal, speed metal | |||||||||
| Length | 6:06 | |||||||||
| Label | Columbia | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Rob Halford K.K. Downing Glenn Tipton |
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| Producer | Chris Tsangarides | |||||||||
| Judas Priest singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Painkiller" is the opening track on British metal band Judas Priest's 1990 album, Painkiller, and was released as the first single off the album later that year.
The first guitar solo in the song is played by Glenn Tipton, and the second by KK Downing. this song also is noted for Rob Halford's high pitched screams throughout the song as well as Scott Travis' complex drumming. Tipton has also stated that Painkiller solo is his favorite to play.
The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance during the 33rd Grammy Awards (1991), the second year the award was presented.
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[edit] Cover versions
The song was covered by death metal band Death on their 1998 album The Sound of Perseverance. This version also appeared on the Judas Priest tribute album Legends Of Metal - A Tribute To Judas Priest Volume II. Rob Halford's original vocals were remastered and featured as backing vocals for the Death cover, and then overdubbed with Chuck's vocals.
The Brazilian power metal band Angra has covered the song too on the album Freedom Call, released in 1996.
More recently, the British thrash/power metal band Biomechanical did a cover of the song and was included in the Limited Edition of The Empires of the Worlds, featuring Chris Tsangarides, who produced the Painkiller album. In 2010, a Taiwanese metal band CHTHONIC has also done a cover of the song mixed with oriental elements and digitally released it.
The high-energy drum intro was covered by Mike Wengren of Disturbed, as an intro to their cover of Priest's "Living After Midnight".
In May 2011, 7 students from Aaron O'Keefe's music academy near Cincinnnati, Ohio, recorded a cover version of "Painkiller" at Reba McEntire's Starstruck Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. The students ranged in age from 11 to 17. A video of the recording was posted on YouTube.
[edit] In other media
- It is featured in the video game Rock Band 2. It is the final song in the "Rolling Stone Rock Immortal Setlist" and the hardest one for Guitar and Band.
- It is featured in the video game Rock Band Unplugged.
- It is featured in video game Brütal Legend during the final boss battle.
- It appears in the video game Madden NFL 10.
- It appears in the video game Guitar Hero: Van Halen where it omits the drum intro, due to licensing reasons.
[edit] Trivia
- It is listed to be the hardest overall track in Rock Band 2 and Unplugged and is the final song to be unlocked in both games.
- It is the first song in the Rock Band series to have a full "Impossible" difficulty rating for all band members.
[edit] Personnel
- Rob Halford - lead vocals
- K. K. Downing - lead guitar, backing vocals
- Glenn Tipton - lead guitar, backing vocals
- Ian Hill - bass, backing vocals
- Scott Travis - drums
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