Author’s note: In July 1990 I flew to the Spanish city of Marbella to interview Judas Priest. It was two months before the release of Painkiller, their long-awaited follow-up to Ram It Down, an album that had gone gold in the States but got some stick from the UK press. Some metal critics thought it too polished. They had much the same opinion of Priest’s new stage outfits on the subsequent tour. So Priest decided to take some time to come back with a killer album.
They spent a lot of that time in Europe - recording in France and mixing in Holland – but stayed for what seemed like for ever holed up together in Spain. They’d done something similar when making 1986’s Turbo, staying under one roof in Spain to avoid distractions and to focus on work. This time there was the added task of getting to know their new drummer, Scott Travis, and planning a new live show. I also remember being summoned to interview Priest in an old isolated farmhouse in the ice and snow of northern Denmark, which was chosen for its distance from any rock musician-friendly temptations, but that’s another story.
