"Hell Bent for Leather" redirects here. For the song, see Hell Bent for Leather (song)

Hell Bent for Leather (song)

"Hell Bent For Leather" is a song by the heavy metal band Judas Priest from the album Killing Machine. It has been used by singer Rob Halford for his entrance on stage on a motorcycle ever since 1982 when the band permanently dropped the song previously used for this routine, "Tyrant", from its...

.

Killing Machine is the fifth studio album by British heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 band Judas Priest

Judas Priest

Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...

, released in November 1978. The album saw Judas Priest head towards a more commercial style; however it did still contain the dark lyrical themes as heard in their previous albums. At about the same time, the band members adopted their now-famous "leather-and-studs" image. Killing Machine was retitled Hell Bent for Leather for US release, as the US branch of Columbia/CBS did not like the "murderous implications" of the album title. "The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)" an early Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...

 cover, was added to the running order in the US.

The album was remastered in 2001, with two bonus tracks added (three in the UK). The bonus track "Fight for Your Life" was the "original" version of Judas Priest's "Rock Hard Ride Free" from their Defenders of the Faith

Defenders of the Faith

Defenders of the Faith is the ninth studio album by British heavy metal band Judas Priest. It was recorded at Ibiza Sound Studios, Ibiza, Spain and mixed from September to November 1983 at DB Recording Studios and Bayshore Recording Studios in Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida. The LP and cassette tape...

album. "The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)" is considered a bonus track on the UK remaster, but a regular track on the US version.

In 2010, audiophile

Audiophile

An audiophile is a person who enjoys listening to recorded music, usually in a home. Some audiophiles are more interested in collecting and listening to music, while others are more interested in collecting and listening to audio components, whose "sound quality" they consider as important as the...

 label Audio Fidelity released a limited-edition 24-karat gold CD of the album. Mastering was done by Steve Hoffman. This does not contain the bonus tracks from the 2001 edition.

This is the first Judas Priest album where Glenn Tipton incorporated the guitar technique of tapping

Tapping

Tapping is a guitar playing technique, where a string is fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion of being pushed onto the fretboard, as opposed to the standard technique being fretted with one hand and picked with the other...

 into his soloing style. This is also the final album for drummer Les Binks who had joined the band in late 1977 for the recording of Stained Class, he is credited with helping develop the traditional Priest percussive sound.

Track listing

Personnel

• Les Binks
  Les Binks
  James Leslie Binks , is a Northern Irish heavy metal drummer, who is most notable for having been the drummer for Judas Priest.-History:...
  
   – drums
• K.K. Downing – guitar
• Rob Halford
  Rob Halford
  Robert John Arthur "Rob" Halford is an English singer-songwriter, who is best known as the lead vocalist for the Grammy Award-winning heavy metal band Judas Priest. He is nicknamed the "Metal God" as a tribute to his influence on metal, and after the Judas Priest song of the same name from 1980's...
  
   – lead vocals
• Ian Hill
  Ian Hill
  Ian Hill is a founding member and bassist for the Birmingham-based Grammy award winning heavy metal band, Judas Priest....
  
   – bass
• Glenn Tipton
  Glenn Tipton
  Glenn Tipton is one of the Grammy Award-winning guitarists for the heavy metal band Judas Priest...
  
   – guitar, keyboards

Charts

Billboard (USA)

Year	Chart	Position
1979	Pop Albums	128