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Singer Rob Halford notes that Judas Priest's summer tour of the United States is essentially the second leg of a tour that began last year in support of the band's 2008 concept album, "Nostradamus."

But for a band that is still promoting a current studio album, the group sure has focused attention in some different directions.

First and foremost, Judas Priest's summer tour is being built around a notable upcoming anniversary for the band. Next year will mark the 30th anniversary of "British Steel" - an album that marked a turning point in Judas Priest's career.

To celebrate, the group is starting its show by playing that 1980 album in its entirety front to back.

In addition, Priest's tour coincides with the release of the new concert CD, "A Touch Of Evil Live," an 11-song set of fan favorites from throughout the Priest catalog that were never included on the band's previous live releases. The songs were recorded during Judas Priest's tours in 2005 and 2008. Halford said the idea of doing "British Steel" came about because the band wanted to make this part of the tour a different animal than last summer's shows.

"We were thinking about what we were going to do on this continuing world tour that in essence is still about 'Nostradamus' to a great extent," Halford said in a recent phone interview. "We were up in Germany on the European tour earlier this year when this discussion about the upcoming American tour took place. Someone mentioned that the 'British Steel' was 30 and it took us literally seconds to say. 'Why don't we play it live?' That was, wow, what a simple, but great idea. And that's how it all began."

For the rest of the set, the band, which also includes guitarists Glen Tipton and K.K. Downing, bassist Ian Hill and drummer Scott Travis, figures to work in a few songs from "Nostradamus," and quite possibly some material fans won't expect.

"I think we're going to look at the vaults and pick out some of the tracks that either we may have never played live or we're going to kick the tires on and bring them back again," Halford said.

Pivotal album

That Judas Priest would want to celebrate "British Steel" makes sense. It's not only one of the best albums in a catalog that extends back to 1974, but a pivotal release in the group's history.

Prior to "British Steel," Judas Priest was only modestly popular in the United States and had only first come to America for a tour in 1978.

"That was just a dream come true, like it is today for a lot of British bands," Halford said of the opportunity to tour the states, even if it meant ending up on some odd concert bills. "(We were) opening up in some very strange scenarios. Judas Priest opens up for REO Speedwagon, opens up for Foghat, opens up for Head East, just wonderful memories. But that's what we were doing then. We certainly were very hungry as far as wanting to make the band grow."

Some more sensible pairings, such as an opening slot for Kiss, had helped Judas Priest begin to build a presence in the states. And Halford recalled the band being told that the group might be just a radio hit away from breaking through in a big way.

Although Halford said Judas Priest never tried to write radio singles, "British Steel" turned out to be the right kind of album for commercial success. "It was a very immediate, straight-forward recording session, very minimalistic in terms of production, but acoustically it sounds phenomenal," Halford said. "The sonics and the dynamics on the record are mind blowing."

Part of the reason "British Steel" came out the way it did was probably a product of the circumstances that surrounded the making of the album.

It was recorded at the home previously owned by John Lennon in Tittenhurst Park near London, and Judas Priest arrived there having far less than a full album full of new songs. So much of "British Steel" was hammered out during jam sessions at the Tittenhurst Park home.

"Living After Midnight" was one of the songs that was written during the course of recording, and it was representative of the vibe of the project.

"Glen was in the room where John Lennon recorded the 'Imagine' song, that wonderful piece of video where he was playing the piano and Yoko is walking around opening the drapes. That was the room," Halford said.

"Glen had shut it up and was playing away at three in the morning. My bedroom was above that room and I was kept awake and I went down and he said 'I've got this great riff. Check this out.'

"Lots of really cool things like that, just very immediate, spontaneous musical adventures took place in the 12 weeks or so we were at John Lennon's house," he said.