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A Touch of Evil

 

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A Touch of Evil



 
 
"A Touch of Evil" is a song by British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 heavy metal
Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in England and the United States. With roots in blues-rock and psychedelic rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, massive sound, characterized by highly amplified Distortion , extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall...
 band
Rock Band

Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV, and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band....
 Judas Priest
Judas Priest

Judas Priest is an England Heavy metal music band formed in 1969 in Birmingham. Judas Priest's core line-up consists of bass player Ian Hill, vocalist Rob Halford and guitarists Glenn Tipton and K....
, from their 1990
1990 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990....
 album Painkiller
Painkiller (album)

Painkiller is a 1990 gold-certified album by British Heavy metal music band Judas Priest, their 12th studio album. The album was recorded at Miraval Studios, Brignoles, France in early 1990, and mixed at Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, the Netherlands later that year....
. It's one of the Judas Priest popular songs. It is the only song on the album that was co-written by producer Chris Tsangarides
Chris Tsangarides

Chris Tsangarides is a England Grammy nominated music producer, sound engineer, and mixer. He is best known for his work with many classic heavy metal bands including Gary Moore, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, Helloween, Black Sabbath, Anvil and another bands like Brazil's Angra and Yngwie Malmsteen....
 who wrote the song's guitar riff, while the rest of the song was written by the main songwriting team of Rob Halford
Rob Halford

Robert John Arthur Halford is an England singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist for the heavy metal music band Judas Priest. Halford has almost a four octave vocal range, from D2-B5....
, K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton
Glenn Tipton

Glenn Raymond Tipton is one of the guitarists for the British heavy metal music band Judas Priest. Prior to joining Judas Priest, he was in The Flying Hat Band....
. Tsangarides would team up again with Tipton for songwriting eleven years later, for Judas Priest's album Demolition
Demolition (Judas Priest album)

Demolition is British Heavy metal music band Judas Priest's 14th studio album. It is the second and final studio album to feature Tim 'Ripper' Owens on vocals....
, released later that year, on which the two of them wrote the songs "Subterfuge" and "Metal Messiah".

It is the only song on the album on which the synthesizers (which had originally been featured on several songs, but had been removed) remained part of the song.






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"A Touch of Evil" is a song by British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 heavy metal
Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in England and the United States. With roots in blues-rock and psychedelic rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, massive sound, characterized by highly amplified Distortion , extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall...
 band
Rock Band

Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV, and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band....
 Judas Priest
Judas Priest

Judas Priest is an England Heavy metal music band formed in 1969 in Birmingham. Judas Priest's core line-up consists of bass player Ian Hill, vocalist Rob Halford and guitarists Glenn Tipton and K....
, from their 1990
1990 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990....
 album Painkiller
Painkiller (album)

Painkiller is a 1990 gold-certified album by British Heavy metal music band Judas Priest, their 12th studio album. The album was recorded at Miraval Studios, Brignoles, France in early 1990, and mixed at Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, the Netherlands later that year....
. It's one of the Judas Priest popular songs. It is the only song on the album that was co-written by producer Chris Tsangarides
Chris Tsangarides

Chris Tsangarides is a England Grammy nominated music producer, sound engineer, and mixer. He is best known for his work with many classic heavy metal bands including Gary Moore, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, Helloween, Black Sabbath, Anvil and another bands like Brazil's Angra and Yngwie Malmsteen....
 who wrote the song's guitar riff, while the rest of the song was written by the main songwriting team of Rob Halford
Rob Halford

Robert John Arthur Halford is an England singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist for the heavy metal music band Judas Priest. Halford has almost a four octave vocal range, from D2-B5....
, K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton
Glenn Tipton

Glenn Raymond Tipton is one of the guitarists for the British heavy metal music band Judas Priest. Prior to joining Judas Priest, he was in The Flying Hat Band....
. Tsangarides would team up again with Tipton for songwriting eleven years later, for Judas Priest's album Demolition
Demolition (Judas Priest album)

Demolition is British Heavy metal music band Judas Priest's 14th studio album. It is the second and final studio album to feature Tim 'Ripper' Owens on vocals....
, released later that year, on which the two of them wrote the songs "Subterfuge" and "Metal Messiah".

It is the only song on the album on which the synthesizers (which had originally been featured on several songs, but had been removed) remained part of the song. These synthesizers were played by rock veteran keyboardist Don Airey
Don Airey

Don Airey has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, succeeding Jon Lord. He has had a long and productive career, playing with such acts as Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull , Whitesnake, Colosseum II, Sinner , Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth, Rainbow , Divlje jagode and Living Loud....
. Between the slow drums and the eerie keyboards, the song was given a chilling sound, making it a sort of pseudo-ballad.

The song's lyrics deal with demonic possession
Demonic possession

Demonic possession is often the term used to describe the control over a human form by Satan himself or one of his assigned advocates. Descriptions of demonic possessions often include: erased memories or personalities, convulsions, ?fits? and fainting as if one were dying....
, black magic
Black magic

Black magic or dark magic is a form of Magic that draws on assumed malevolent powers. It may be used for dark purposes or malevolent acts that deliberately cause harm in some way....
, and temptation to commit acts of evil. However, according to Halford himself, as cited in Metal Hammer in January 2004, the lyrics deal with a love-related theme, although metaphorically.

The song features a classically-inspired
Classical music

Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of Western art history Religious music and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 9th century to present times....
 guitar solo
Guitar solo

Guitar solos are a melodic passage, section, or entire piece of music written for an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. Guitar solos, which often contain varying degrees of improvisation, are used in many styles of popular music such as blues, rock , metal and jazz styles such as swing and jazz fusion....
 by Glenn Tipton.

A music video
Music video

A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a pop music or rock music song with lyrics. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings....
 was made for the song, vividly depicting each element of the song's lyrics. The video shows a young boy having various visions of things, while flashing images of the band playing the song in between, similar to the way the band are seen in the "Painkiller" video. The song was edited for the music video, and was cut from 5:45 to 4:54, and--among other things--a notable amount of Tipton's guitar solo was cut out from the song.

Personnel

  • Rob Halford
    Rob Halford

    Robert John Arthur Halford is an England singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist for the heavy metal music band Judas Priest. Halford has almost a four octave vocal range, from D2-B5....
     - vocals
  • Glenn Tipton
    Glenn Tipton

    Glenn Raymond Tipton is one of the guitarists for the British heavy metal music band Judas Priest. Prior to joining Judas Priest, he was in The Flying Hat Band....
     - lead guitar
    Lead guitar

    Lead guitar refers to the use of a guitar to perform melody lines, fill , and guitar solos within a song structure.In rock music, heavy metal music, blues, jazz and fusion bands and some pop music contexts as well as others, the lead guitar lines are usually supported by a second guitarist who plays rhythm guitar, which consists of accompan...
  • K.K. Downing - rhythm guitar
    Rhythm guitar

    Rhythm guitar is the use of a guitar to provide rhythmic chord al accompaniment for a singer or other instruments in a musical ensemble. In ensembles or "bands" playing within the country music, blues music, rock music or Heavy metal music genres , a guitarist playing the rhythm part of a composition supports the melodic lines and solos play...
  • Ian Hill
    Ian Hill

    Ian Hill moving there in 1955 is a founding member and bassist for the Birmingham-based Heavy metal music band, Judas Priest.Hill learned how to play the double bass from his father, a bass player for local jazz acts....
     - bass
    Bass guitar

    The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum.The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and Scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, whic...
  • Scott Travis
    Scott Travis

    Scott Travis is the drummer for legendary British Heavy metal music band Judas Priest and American hard rock band Racer X ....
     - drums
    Drum kit

    A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as cowbell s, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single drummer....


with:
  • Don Airey
    Don Airey

    Don Airey has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, succeeding Jon Lord. He has had a long and productive career, playing with such acts as Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull , Whitesnake, Colosseum II, Sinner , Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth, Rainbow , Divlje jagode and Living Loud....
     - synthesizer
    Synthesizer

    A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing a variety of sounds by generating and combining signals of different frequency....


See also

  • Touch of Evil
    Touch of Evil

    Touch of Evil is an American police procedural film, written, directed and co-starring Orson Welles. Paul Monash and Franklin Coen also wrote scenes for the film....
     (1958 film)