![[Left] Richie Faulkner plays his custom Les Paul Custom while Rob Halford looks on; [right] Late-stage Ozzy-era Sabbath the first time around, with Ozzy cheering on guitarist Tony Iommi](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/sVrRxrJkHEGCKWBssDNNZe-1200-80.jpg.webp)
Judas Priest will not be playing on Saturday afternoon when the world’s biggest metal bands descend upon Villa Park in Birmingham, England, to perform at Black Sabbath’s last ever show, Back To The Beginning, but the Metal Gods have released their own tribute with a cover of War Pigs.
War Pigs is to Priest what UFO’s Doctor Doctor is to Iron Maiden; it’s the intro tape that always plays before Rob Halford and co take to the stage. But they had never covered it until now.
“We are honoured to show our love for Ozzy and Black Sabbath with our homage to War Pigs,” reads Judas Priest’s statement. “A song we play at every show around the world that fans sing along to – reinforcing their love as well for the legendary Prince of Darkness!”
Where does this rank in Priest's catalogue of covers? It's too early to tell but it's not up there with Diamonds And Rust, and it's no Johnny B. Goode, thankfully.
Priest throw everything at it. All guns blazing. They might have lost KK Downing in acrimonious circumstances (now he is one original Priest member who is playing Back To The Beginning under the renegade banner of KK’s Priest) but we have the Glenn Tipton, Andy Sneap and Richie Faulkner present and correct. Tipton is on his theatrically shaped Hamer Custom GT with the block inlays.
The whiplash editing makes it hard to tell whether Sneap is on a Jackson Rhoads or King V but we’d say the former – it’s usually a Rhoads he plays. And the reason we’re detailing the guitars is because Faulkner is playing what looks like it could be a prototype signature guitar – a Les Paul Custom finished in Pelham Blue with a white double-guard.
It’s the Faulknerisation of the original triple-humbucker Les Paul Custom, more commonly found in Ebony or white, and it’s pretty damn cool. Those three humbuckers are his signature EMG electric guitar pickups.
One thing that suggests it might not be a signature model is the fingerboard, where it is your typical LP Custom configuration, block inlays on ebony – Faulkner’s now out-of-production Custom Shop Flying V Custom had his logo at the 12th fret. Anyway, that could be worth keeping an eye on.
As will Back To The Beginning. Good luck getting a ticket. The event, which is being curated by Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, will be livestreamed. See Back To The Beginning for more details. In other Black Sabbath news, the band’s early demos – when they were still known as Earth – are being reissued.
The release collects all the demo material that the band tracked at Birmingham’s Zella Studios in 1969. You can pre-order Earth: The Legendary Lost Tapes via Big Bear Records, shipping July 25.
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