"With the departure of Atkins, Downing and Hill went out and recruited two new members, drummer John Hinch and his lead singer from his band, Rob Halford, who was also the brother of Hill’s then girlfriend. The band then played gigs all through 1973, and in 1974 made their first tour of Europe, all still without a record contract. On their return to England in April of 1974, they signed a deal with Gull Records, and began preparations to record their debut album. It was at this time that the band decided to fill out the group with a second guitarist, and so recruited Glenn Tipton to join the band. However, as this came at the time when the songwriting had been completed, his contributions to this album were minimal, and would become more important down the track.

And so, after five years, one dissolution, one rebirth, countless changes in personnel and a long apprenticeship on the gigging tour, Judas Priest finally had their chance to show what they had to offer on vinyl, with the album that became their debut opus, “Rocka Rolla”".

On this episode we are going to talk about “Rocka Rolla” by Judas Priest, the band’s debut studio album released 50 years ago this week, on today’s episode where we ask ‘where would you be without music, you would be nowhere at all’ on Music from a Lifetime.

"This has been a very long winded explanation of my discovery of this album, but I feel it is important, because of the momentous occasion that it was. It was my first Iron Maiden album, and first experience of both the band and heavy metal as a genre. Is it a simple and accurate statement to say that my life changed that day forever? Probably, but a more accurate one was that over the proceeding eight weeks of the summer holidays of 1985/86 my whole world changed. The album grew with me at different stages, the rollicking opening of “Aces High” and the intangible opera of “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” the first to cast me under their spell. Then came that middle solo sequence of the title track, one that is still so amazing to the present day. The urgent charging of both “2 Minutes to Midnight” and “Flash of the Blade”, driving relentlessly forward. The utter bombasticness of “Back in the Village”, and the amazing instrumental influences of “Losfer Words”. And finally, the sheer underrated brilliance of “The Duellists”, once again through that middle solo section with the three guitarists and the drummer putting together an amazingly connected interlude. Each piece of that puzzle came to me in different times, and eventually combined to become the whole, the album that is “Powerslave”".

On this episode we are going to talk about “Powerslave” by Iron Maiden, the band’s 5th studio album released 40 years ago this week, on today’s episode where ‘the reasons for the carnage cut their meat and lick the gravy’ on Music from a Lifetime.

"The title “Risk” apparently came about from a quote by Lars Ulrich, either in a magazine article or a TV interview, where he claimed that Mustaine and Megadeth had to take more risks with their music if they wanted to achieve the kind of success that Metallica had. Well thanks very much for that Lars, way to stuff up TWO bands for the price of one.

With the disastrous direction (in my own opinion) Metallica had taken on their last two studio albums “Load” and “Reload”, the announcement of a new Megadeth album had been a welcome relief. It was a great feeling to know that I could expect more of the same from this band, that no matter how bad things were getting, there was no way Megadeth could record an album as uninteresting and boring as “Reload”. Wrong. Dave Mustaine was apparently quoted as saying “If anyone else’s name was on the cover of this album, it would have sold millions”. Also wrong"

On this episode we are going to talk about “Risk” by Megadeth, the band’s 8th studio album released 25 years ago this week, on today’s episode where ‘I'm running in quicksand, something's haunting me’ on Music from a Lifetime.

"As a result of this, the management cancelled Motley Crue’s tour of Europe in 1988. In fact, they held what was basically an intervention to tell the band this news, and that they would have to change their ways if they were going to change the course of their lives. Following this, all four members of the band entered drug rehabilitation in order to kick their habits and move forward as a band.

Once they all came out having completed their time, Motley Crue faced a clear vision of the immediate future, certainly clearer of mind. And the writing and recording of their new album to follow up “Girls Girls Girls” became their main prerogative. Along with clear minds, the band also brought in Bob Rock to produce the album. Rock of course was currently on an upward trajectory having been involved in engineering the recent blockbuster albums by Bon Jovi and Aerosmith, and in producing the albums by Blue Murder and The Cult. He made two decisions when it came to recording this album that were to be direct factors on its success. Firstly, the band relocated to a studio in Vancouver in Canada, in order to get the band away from the influences that were obvious in their hometown. Secondly, each of the members performances on the album were recorded individually without the other members in the studio. This came about firstly to reduce the infighting that was a regular occurrence with the band in the studio, but also in order to focus on each individual’s performance and allow them to do so without the usual distractions".

On this episode we are going to talk about “Dr. Feelgood” by Motley Crue, the band’s 5th studio album released 35 years ago this week, on today’s episode where ‘I used to call her Cindy, she changed her name to Sin’ on Music from a Lifetime.

"The middle of the album doesn’t quite maintain this energy, with songs that change from the successful style of the opening, and probably overstay their welcome by being both too long and less engaging. “Malaria” is five and a half minutes of drum machine like rhythm and chanting of the song title in a long drawn out fashion that incites boredom rather than status quo. This is followed by the one real song on the album that disappoints. And – yep, you guessed it – it's the ballad. And you can’t miss it, because the title of the track is “The Ballad of Jayne”. And yes, it was released as a single, and yes it became the highest charting single by the band, number 33 on the US charts. And the video was all over MTV. But you know, is that the purpose it serves? And is that worth it for the record company and band management? Take that song off the album (and when I recorded this album to cassette back in the day I did) and this album is INFINITELY better. OK, they perform it well, and some out there may like it. Good luck to you if you do."

On this episode we are going to talk about “Cocked & Loaded” by L.A. Guns, the band’s 2nd studio album released 35 years ago this week, on today’s episode where ‘it’s never enough just to hold you, it’s never enough just to please you’ on Music from a Lifetime.

To cover for not being able to tour in 1976 the band released the concert film “The Song Remains the Same” along with the live album to accompany it, but the reception was lukewarm at best. A 1977 tour of the US saw big crowds in attendance, but it was then cut short by the news of the death of Plant's five-year-old son due to a stomach virus. It put the band on an indefinite hiatus.

It wasn’t until another 15 months had passed that the band reconvened and began to write and record their next album, and even that was made difficult through events. The album was named to describe its struggles after the death of Plant's son and the taxation exile the band took from the UK which resulted in the band being unable to tour on British soil for more than two years, and trying to get back into the public mind was therefore like "trying to get in through the 'out' door." And thus became the start of Led Zeppelin’s determined course to lift its profile once again, one that ultimately came to signal the end of more things than was expected.

On this episode we are going to talk about “In Through the Out Door” by Led Zeppelin, the band’s 8th and final studio album released 45 years ago this week, on today’s episode where ‘you swore that you never would leave me baby, whatever happened to you?’ on Music from a Lifetime.

Hi there, and welcome to Music from a Lifetime, and our next episode of 12-18-21-30-40-NOW!

These are the episodes of this podcast where our guest is interviewed about specific ages of their life and what was happening at that time. We also discuss how music is involved in those different stages of their life, and what songs remind them most of that time of their life. The ages that we discuss on each episode are 12 years of age, 18 years of age, 21 years of age, 30 years of age, 40 years of age, and then the present day. And thus comes the title of the episodes. “12-18-21-30-40-NOW!”

The hope is to mix interesting tales of life from different people, and to mix in the soundtrack of their lives to make what should become award winning podcast episodes.

Thanks for tuning in to today’s episode of “12-18-21-30-40-NOW!”, right here on Music from a Lifetime.

"Debut albums can sometimes be difficult, especially when it comes to ‘discussions’ between the band and the record company. Initially the band wanted to have the album named “Winged Assassins”, something that some fans still refer to it as today and was printed on the spine of original release vinyl albums in Europe. Beyond this, the real controversy prior to the album coming out was the song “Animal (F**k Like a Beast)”. This song was due to appear on the album as the lead off track, and as the first single from the album. However, there were a lot of problems getting that off the ground. Under enormous pressure from groups such as the infamous PMRC, and the threat that the album would not be made available for sale in the big US department store, which was a huge thing in those days, Capitol Records withdrew the song from the album and refused to release it as a single. It did get a release in the UK through Music for Nations, and, surprisingly enough, was hugely sought after as an import in the US. Eventually in 1998 when the back catalogue was remastered, “Animal” was returned to the album as the opening track. However, for us traditionalists, in our minds it does not appear on the debut album."

On this episode we are going to talk about “W.A.S.P.” by W.A.S.P., the band’s debut studio album released 40 years ago this week, on today’s episode where ‘all night, you damn the hurt and pain, and drink the devils rain, it's screaming out your name’ on Music from a Lifetime.