TotalRock Radio conducted an interview with JUDAS PRIEST bassist Ian Hill at this year's Wacken Open Air festival, which was held last weekend in Wacken, Germany. You can now watch the chat below. Asked which JUDAS PRIEST album is his favorite, Hill replied: "It's always the new one, isn't it? But in this case, it's true — I love this new album [2018's 'Firepower']. It's got a bit of everything — the light and the shade and the dark and the fast and the slow, the heavy and the light — that we've become known for; that variety, sort of music that we've always been known for. And this album's got all of that. From the other albums, my favorite is probably 'Defenders Of The Faith', 'cause that was the last of that line, if you know what I mean. It started off probably with 'British Steel' and really stopped there. Then we went into 'Turbo', just tried to look for something different, basically." Regarding how "Firepower" producer Andy Sneap is fitting in as the replacement for PRIEST's Parkinson's disease-stricken guitarist Glenn Tipton on the current tour, Hill said: "He's fitting in great now. Obviously, he was weary at first, but he's been at it now for a few months, and his confidence is growing, and he's performing really, really well. He always played well, but the performance is getting there as well now. He's fitting right in. He's one of the gang." PRIEST will return to the United States at the end of August for a co-headlining run with fellow classic heavy rockers DEEP PURPLE. Tipton was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease four years ago — after being stricken by the degenerative condition at least half a decade earlier — but only recently announced he was going to sit out touring activities in support of "Firepower". The guitarist, who is now 70 and has performed on every PRIEST album since the band's 1974 debut set, "Rocka Rolla", is not quitting the band, but simply cannot handle the rigorous challenges of performing live.
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