Rapid Fire

Album: British Steel (1980)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Written by the Judas Priest songwriting triumvirate of Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, and K. K. Downing, "Rapid Fire" is a doomsday song, with Halford singing of something or someone taking a battering ram to the world. The title doesn't show up in the lyric - "rapid fire" refers to the unrelenting pace of the song.
  • This is the opening track on Judas Priest's sixth album, British Steel, a heavy metal landmark. The band recorded it at Tittenhurst Park, the estate in England the Ringo Starr owned at the time and was previously occupied by John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
  • Guitarist K.K. Downing recalled to Billboard magazine: "It's unusual in the way it starts in that it kind of gets going pretty fast. Traditionally, Priest was into a big intro, but this was straight-ahead 'Let's go!' which was really unique for Priest."
  • Downing added: "The song structure is quite unusual, really. It goes to the C twice, then goes down to G. I'm like, "Why did we do that? What were we thinking?" Even I don't know, to this day."

Comments: 2

  • Dan Gillespy from Courtenay BcAnother Judas Priest headbanging heavy metal classic songs that helped inspire the thrash metal scene and it does sound like its full of pure brutal rapid fire.
  • Zero from Nowhere, NjThe lead progression goes: KK/Glen/KK/Glen. I think it's about judgement day.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Kristian Bush of Sugarland

Kristian Bush of SugarlandSongwriter Interviews

Kristian talks songwriting technique, like how the chorus should redefine the story, and how to write a song backwards.

Christmas Songs

Christmas SongsFact or Fiction

Rudolf, Bob Dylan and the Singing Dogs all show up in this Fact or Fiction for seasonal favorites.

Alan Merrill of The Arrows

Alan Merrill of The ArrowsSongwriter Interviews

In her days with The Runaways, Joan Jett saw The Arrows perform "I Love Rock And Roll," which Alan Merrill co-wrote - that story and much more from this glam rock pioneer.

Gary Numan

Gary NumanSongwriter Interviews

An Electronic music pioneer with Asperger's Syndrome. This could be interesting.

The Fratellis

The FratellisSongwriter Interviews

Jon Fratelli talks about the band's third album, and the five-year break leading up to it.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.