What if 'Twin Turbos' happened?

A Judas Priest thought experiment.

Over 35 years after its release, Turbo remains a point of contention not only for Judas Priest fans, but also for the band itself, as Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing still can’t quite settle on what exactly happened.

Here’s what we know: Priest’s 10th album was conceived and recorded after the band solidified its status as arena headliners around the world, and the group was fully established as one of a handful of quintessential heavy metal acts. Over the previous 6 years, they had amassed a reputation as a bulldozing live act, garnered a handful of radio hits and saw their videos get decent MTV airplay.

However, behind the scenes there was drama and uncertainty in the Priest camp, and all of these considerations would make their way to the finished product one way or another:

• Tipton and Downing expanded their partnership with Hamer Guitars, who in turn shared prototypes of the synth guitars they were getting ready for production

• Although Priest had no trouble filling large venues, there was a widespread feeling among the band- especially K.K.- that their record sales, despite being respectable for a heavy metal band, weren’t matching their ticket receipts

• As they were pondering their commercial status, Downing and Tipton saw other heavy rock bands hitting pay dirt by lightening up their sound, emphasizing melodies and adding more synths to the mix

• Last but not least, in the midst of severe cocaine addiction and living with the stress of being a closeted gay man singing in a heavy metal band during the ‘80s, Halford hit rock bottom after his lover killed himself. After a stint in rehab, a newly sober Rob returned to Priest at Compass Point to begin writing and recording their next album

With all of this in the air, the group set about conceiving what they hoped would be a game-changer: a shiny opus that elevated the game for them as a band, and maybe even for metal as a whole. Such thinking naturally lent itself to proposing a double album entitled Twin Turbos, which would marry the classic “Priest-style heavy metal” they were known for to the latest advances in recording technology, those aforementioned synth guitars and a general desire to play ball and aim for mainstream acceptance and accompanying record sales.

Musical ambition and selling out in equal measure, more or less.

And indeed, some 20 songs made it at least as far as the demo stage before CBS Records intervened and made it clear that while they were all for Priest going mainstream, there was no way they would release a double album. And so the band homed in on the 9 numbers they deemed most accessible and released the streamlined (in both title, songs and approach) Turbo in 1986.

Another minor wrinkle was that CBS was interested in one track in particular, flagging “Reckless” as a potential inclusion on the soundtrack to an upcoming film titled Top Gun. Priest was initially open to the idea, but the implication was that including the track on the soundtrack to a movie with no major stars would’ve meant excluding from their own album. Therefore, the band opted to hold on to “Reckless”, posting at it as Turbo’s closing track.

The actual quality of the material remains up for debate and opinion, but the outcome was clear: once again, Judas Priest embarked on a massive tour (dubbed Fuel for Life) that played to packed houses all over the world, especially in America, where Turbo charted in the Top 20 (matching their previous peak) on its way to Platinum sales. However, Priest and CBS were aiming for at least triple Platinum, and Turbo ultimately didn’t sell any better than most of their other ‘80s albums: whatever new fans they may have gained from aiming for the middle were offset by annoyed diehards shaking their heads in annoyance at the hairspray, synths and ballads. Feeling a bit disheartened by the experience, Priest retreated to more straightforward heavy metal on Ram It Down, but their run as a dominant metal force had come to a close.

So the single-album Turbo didn’t work out the way anyone hoped; arguably not creatively, and certainly not commercially. Meanwhile, not only was Top Gun an era-defining blockbuster, but its soundtrack spawned 3 hit singles and sold over 9 million copies in America alone.

But what if Priest got the make the album they originally planned? What if Twin Turbos had been recorded and released as intended? What would it have looked and sounded like, and how might it have been received?

Let’s give it a shot…

There’s not much need to guess which tracks would’ve made Twin Turbos: assuming Priest wouldn’t have written more songs in post-production, we could create a playlist going off what we know was demoed in 1985 and 1986. Even better, there isn’t any mystery as to what the additional songs sound like, as 4 eventually made their way to Ram It Down while almost all of the other remaining numbers appeared on subsequent album reissues. By now, only two tracks from the Twin Turbos sessions (“Under the Gun” and “Fighting for Your Love”) remain unreleased.

So the challenge- and the fun- of this exercise is mapping out a running order for this semi-imaginary double album. Based on what we know of these songs, as well as the band’s intentions, we can propose a track listing based on a few assumptions, two of which take a little creative license:

1. As this was the mid ‘80s, a double-LP tracklisting would be designed with vinyl in mind. For our purposes, we will shape the album as two LPs with four sides, accounting for space limitations on each side

2. All of the tracks ultimately included on Turbo would show up here, though not in exactly the same order. Given the band’s stated intentions, it seems safe to assume that these would’ve always been a part of the double LP

3. However, not all of the 20 demoed tracks will end up on the double LP tracklist. This is for a few reasons: many if not most bands wrote more material than was ultimately used, so it is arguable that Priest wouldn’t have released everything. Also, in assembling a thoughtful sequence, some of these tracks don’t quite fit: “Monsters of Rock” was too plodding, “Red, White & Blue” was one ballad too many (and is also arguably the most boring thing they ever did), and nobody knows what “Fighting for Your Love” even sounds like. So those three were left off, leaving us with 17 tracks- still good for a double LP in the age of vinyl

4. Now a little bit of license taken: rumor has it that Priest wanted to split Twin Turbos into two distinct halves: one with the commercial songs and one devoted to more aggressive material. In the sequence laid out here, both sets of tracks are spread relatively evenly across the runtime. In this fan’s opinion, the album flows better this way

5. One more bit of fantasy casting: while overall this experiment assumes Priest got their way over CBS’ objections, there is an instance where we will pretend the label did get their way and added “Reckless” to the Top Gun soundtrack. However, we will also assume that not only did the song remain on the Judas Priest release, but it would be more overtly linked to the film with a minor title change

So with all of that said, here is one rendering Twin Turbos:

LP 1

SIDE A:

1. Turbo Lover

2. Locked In

3. Private Property

4. Out in the Cold

5. Heart of a Lion

The first side of the first disc stays pretty close to the final Turbo sequence, with the opening three tracks replicating the single album. These were meant to be the gateways to the record, and for better or worse are successful on those terms. It’s with the next tracks that a distinct feel for Twin Turbos begins to take shape: “Out in the Cold” appeared on Turbo, but a bit later in the sequence (opening up the second side). Here it appears sooner- given the number of ballads recorded for this project, it made more sense to spread them across the track listing rather than cluster them together and create what would be a rather dull middle stretch. Finally, the first non-Turbo track shows up with “Heart of a Lion” (an enjoyable anthem famously given away by Halford to Racer X in the late ‘80s once Priest had no other use for it) closing the first quartile. On the whole, this run of tracks showcases Priest’s commercial overtures by putting some of their catchiest tracks up front. After all, “Turbo Lover” was not only the album’s flagship number but remains a concert fave to this day.

SIDE B:

1. Rock You All Around the World

2. Hard as Iron

3. Hot for Love

4. Prisoner of Your Eyes

A little more energy here, with "Rock You All Around the World" kicking off with a bit more crunch and shredding, though still very mainstream compared to “Electric Eye” or “Rapid Fire”. But things really get in gear with the speed metal of “Hard as Iron” (a highlight from Ram It Down) reminding everyone what Priest was really all about. “Hot for Love” brings back the commercialism, but with enough momentum not to feel totally out of place next to what came before, while “Prisoner of Your Eyes” closes out the second side of the first half with another ballad, albeit one of their more respected ones- for a while it was considered a bit of a holy grail among the faithful, eventually appearing on the 2001 Screaming for Vengeance reissue.

LP 2

SIDE C:

1. Ram It Down

2. All Fired Up

3. Turn On Your Light

4. Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days

Now we’re really going deep, with 3 of the 4 tracks not making it to the single-disc Turbo. “Ram It Down” opens with more aggression, pretty much obliterating almost everything that came before and reasserting Priest as a quintessential heavy metal band despite the remarkable cheesiness of the lyrics. And the following “All Fired Up” largely keeps pace- surprising that it didn’t make either Turbo or Ram It Down, only seeing the light of day on the 2001 Turbo reissue. The campfire ballad “Turn On Your Light” (unreleased until the 2001 Defenders of the Faith reissue) breaks things up before the Scorpions-esque “Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days” brings us back to Turbo’s mission statement.

SIDE D:

1. Parental Guidance

2. Under the Gun

3. Love You to Death

4. Reckless (Top Gun)

Twin Turbos wraps up with an even mix of Turbo and leftover tracks. “Parental Guidance” appeared much earlier on Turbo, but in this iteration comes toward the end to offer a closing crowd-pleasing anthem. “Under the Gun” is the one track nobody’s heard, so including it here is a crapshoot, but if we go off the title alone it seems like it would be a faster and heavier number. Irascible semi-ballad “Love You to Death” was ultimately released a couple years later as Ram It Down’s penultimate track and fills the same role here. Finally, we end with “Reckless” ending the proposed double LP as it did on the released single album. On Turbo, “Reckless” was a nice dark horse that felt anthemic without trying too hard (unlike “Private Property” or “Parental Guidance”), and in any iteration makes for a good finale. The reference to Top Gun added in the title would’ve been strictly a marketing ploy to draw more interest to the album (for a second there was consideration given to even calling it “Theme from Top Gun” but that would’ve been a step too far- and besides, “Danger Zone” arguably had a better claim to that distinction).

So, what might’ve happened…

The big questions: would Twin Turbos have garnered a better reception, and would it have sold more (which is what Priest and CBS were really after)? Well, it’s safe to say it would’ve technically sold more, as double albums were counted as two units. So it would’ve gone at least double platinum, since all of the diehards would’ve shown up as they did for what was actually released.

But how would it have been received- by fans and mainstream audiences (let’s leave critics out of this, since they always hated metal, especially in the ‘80s)? Hard to say. This was still a very commercial-sounding album from a band known for barnburning heavy metal, and the audiences that were beginning to latch on to thrash metal around this time would’ve still seen Twin Turbos as a sellout. But this version would’ve at least partly put those more mainstream tracks in context, and the heavier material was as aggressive as anything that came before, albeit with slicker production. The double LP concept would’ve allowed Priest to offer a diverse balance of tracks, with each side having its own personality and the overall runtime not getting bogged down in one particular approach. In other words, Twin Turbos could’ve been Priest’s magnum opus- nobody would’ve ever called it their best album, but there is a decent chance fans would’ve been more appreciative of the ambition and sprawl.

What about those outside the faithful? Best guess is this wouldn’t have resonated more than Turbo, since this was longer and included some heavier tunes. But maybe something like “Prisoner of Your Eyes” or “Turn On Your Light” would’ve been serviced to radio and MTV, and with power ballads dominating the charts perhaps Priest could’ve caught that wave. And they would’ve likely picked up at least a handful of bucks from the Top Gun halo. Maybe, just maybe, this could’ve been the big break Priest was aiming for: it probably wouldn’t have been a Slippery When Wet-type blockbuster (sorry, Glenn and K.K, but Jon Bon’s hair and teeth were untouchable), but 3-4 million units shifted wouldn’t be completely out of the question, and that would’ve made Twin Turbos their biggest seller by far.

…and then what?

Perhaps a more interesting thought experiment would ponder what could’ve/would’ve happened afterwards. After all, in this scenario 3 of the tracks from 1988’s Ram It Down would’ve already been released, so the band would’ve had less upfront material to work with. But also, if Twin Turbos had done well, would they have tried to replicate that success, or would they have tried something different, perhaps aiming to respond to the younger and more extreme metal acts gaining traction around then? Again, hard to say, because Ram It Down was at least partly a reaction to Turbo not ringing up blockbuster numbers, and because Rob Halford was aware that bands like Metallica and Megadeth were hot on their heels. That said, it’s perfectly plausible that some of the songs demoed in 1987- most notably, the mid-paced “Thunder Road” and icy ballad “Fire Burns Below”- would’ve been added to the follow-up, since they played like natural continuations of Twin Turbos. And sadly, their hilariously ill-conceived cover of “Johnny B. Goode” would’ve probably made Ram It Down anyway- after Top Gun, the lure of another movie hit would’ve been too much for CBS, if not the band and their management, to pass up. Still, Rob, Glenn and K.K. would’ve needed to write more songs, and maybe those would’ve been heavier? Or maybe they would’ve poofed their weaves even more, even as Rob’s hairline was noticeably thinning?

What seems certain is that however that late ‘80s follow-up turned out, Priest were beginning to get left behind: Metallica headlined arenas in 1989 on the back of the blistering and progressive …And Justice for All, and while Poison was doing just as well, sitting between the two would’ve been an uncomfortable fit for anyone, and ultimately Ram It Down did fall between those poles: Priest’s ostensible return to straight-up heavy metal included its share of commercial pandering (“Love Zone”, “Come and Get It”) and needed a drum machine to attempt the velocity of thrash metal.

But however Ram It Down (or whatever it would be called, since “Ram It Down” was used one album earlier) ended up, it feels like things would’ve reverted to the mean, at least as far as how things actually played out: Twin Turbos or not, Priest faced a potentially career-killing lawsuit from the parents of two teenagers claiming their music contained subliminal messages encouraging them to take their lives, and the subsequent fallout- along with a desire to reassert their metal bonafides- informed what would become Painkiller. And then everything else that happened…

At the end of this very long treatise, one is left with the feeling that while Twin Turbos would’ve been a different beast than Turbo, and there would’ve been short-term implications, the overall impact would’ve been pretty similar to what actually happened. At the same time, this would’ve definitely been a more interesting album, and one that we as fans would’ve continued to pore over for years to come.

And in that case, we’d probably debate endlessly about how to cut out the excess (or the hair metal, or the ballads) and carve out a perfect single album from the “best” tracks. Oh, the irony…