During the creation of Turbo, Priest were feeling heat from the PMRC. "I could remember mixing the album, and every night on the television they were printing Judas Priest lyrics out like 'Eat Me Alive,'" explains Downing. "Then they would go back to the PMRC hearings. We were seriously battling with the PMRC, hence [the song] 'Parental Guidance'. With the Turbo album, I hope each and every one of them crammed it up their ass when it came out, because I'm sure that they were expecting something that they could really get their teeth into and utilize. Being the true defenders of the faith, I think that we did metal music a real good turn with the Turbo album, because I think that they were out to get Judas Priest. And if they could get Judas Priest, they would get metal in general. Obviously they had another go at us with the court case later on in 1990."

Those future legal entanglements began brewing during the mid-1980s when it was publicized that two fanatical Priest fans, supposedly inspired by early albums like Stained Class, entered into a suicide pact. One of the two teens successfully shot himself, while the other seriously disfigured his face, dying three years later from a methadone overdose. Initially the teens' parents wanted to sue the band citing the lyrics as the catalyst for their sons' actions, but since the words were protected under the First Amendment, they would eventually claim that backwards, subliminal messages on "Better By You Better Than Me" - ironically the only tune on Stained Class that Priest did not write - hypnotized them into suicide. At the time, people thought it was a joke, and the band had better things to worry about.

Sales of Turbo, which was released in the spring of 1986, were consistent with Defenders. The album went going gold soon after its release and eventually hit platinum. But the tour - captured on the double album and video PriestŠLive! the following year - was even more successful. "When we did Turbo, Judas Priest had reached a point where we were such a successful live band, but it didn't necessarily show in album sales compared to other bands, be it AC/DC or Def Leppard or Quiet Riot," remarks Downing. "I could probably name 20 or 30 other bands that sold in excess of 5 million just in the States alone. With Judas Priest, if people came to our concerts and saw us live, they would think 'this band must sell millions and millions of records!' But we had such die-hard fans that would travel far and wide to each concert, and they would come to more than one concert." And still do.

Despite the debate amongst fans over its pop leanings, Turbo featured killer guitar solos (particularly on "Reckless," one of their greatest songs) and expanded Priest's audience, luring in more women than previous live treks. The tongue-in-cheek lyrics and the videos for engaging songs like "Turbo Lover" and "Locked In" showed that the band could openly poke fun at themselves. (In hindsight, the video for "Locked In," where Halford's bandmates save him from a pack of oversexed women, is rather ironic.) The group donned more cheerfully colored leather outfits, and Halford even grew his hair long again. On top of it all, their stage show featured a giant robot with two arms that could lift band members in the air. A Priest show was not just another concert - it was an awesome, over-the-top spectacle.

As the band became bigger,and their 80s concert productions grew, the inevitable Spinal Tap factor came into play. On the Defenders tour, the group played a highly-publicized Madison Square Garden gig during which, near the climax of the sold-out concert, frenzied fans on the floor ripped up their foam seats and began hurling them at the stage. Tipton notes that while things got wild, the band weren't freaking out: "It just started to happen. We couldn't stop it. It was like a snowstorm of seats." At the time, Halford dubbed them the world's first heavy metal trampoline act. "That was one of our most memorable gigs," Downing reminisces. "Why they did it, we don't know. They were just totally elated and having a good time." Adds Hill: "There was no malice at all on their part. It was all just good fun."

And expensive fun at that. Downing estimates their insurance company shelled out over half a million dollars to compensate the Garden for damages. And they were banned from playing future gigs there, although whether that's still in effect is uncertain. Amusingly enough, Tipton and Downing returned there weeks later to watch a tennis match, trying carefully to avoid being scrutinized by photographers who had also been at their infamous gig. On their way out, the surreptitious duo were snared by one of the venue's managers. Recalls Downing with a laugh: "He came up and said 'I just wanted to thank you guys, we really needed some new seats'."

Another auspicious arena event occurred at the Tacoma Dome near Seattle, which holds nearly 30,000 people. "Yeah, it was bizarre," says Downing. "Everybody threw their shoes on the stage, and we couldn't walk on. There were bras and knickers and three live snakes - there were a lot of things thrown on stage that night." The stage was a foot deep in shoes, but the metal troopers would not be deterred and bravely trod out anyways.

On the Turbo tour there was the case of the drummer beneath the stage, which a Kerrang! correspondent was proud to discover and report. "It was a funny story," relates Tipton. "We were using triggers on the drums, with a new kit that nobody in the world could operate. It was one of the original EMUs, so we got this guy to come out on the road for the first three weeks to nursemaid us and show the crew how to use it. And somebody spotted him under the stage. He was a drummer, so they were saying 'Dave Holland isn't playing drums.'" It didn't help that that particular drummer was also delusional. "I think he used to get changed every night into his stage clothes," Tipton says with a laugh. "He was a bit of a would-be star, and I think he took it upon himself to do an interview one day. I forget his name now."

Following Turbo, Priest took a year off yet again. In 1987, they released the album and video Priest...Live!, a concert compilation of their 80s material which was met with lukewarm reception and became their first full-length release not to go gold since British Steel. Rethinking their approach, Priest brought back the black leather and studs and unleashed Ram It Down the following year, returning to their more aggressive predilections as evidenced by the speed metal attack of many songs. Some unused Turbo tracks were revamped, including "Ram It Down" and "Monsters of Rock," while newer material was brought in, including an excellent, off-the-wall cover of Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode," initially released on the soundtrack to the movie of the same name earlier that year.

"Johnny" was actually not the first time Priest had dabbled in movies. "Reckless" had been under serious consideration to be the theme for "Top Gun". "They expressed more than an interest to use the song ['Reckless'], but they wanted to take it off the album if they used it," recalls Downing. "They would have probably purchased the song outright from us. We wouldn't have seen the benefit of that other than seeing it in the movie and getting the exposure. In hindsight, it was probably a big mistake in the band's career, because the soundtrack sold in excess of 5 million. To be honest, when they said 'this movie's got Tom Cruise in it,' we didn't know who the fuck he was."

So when they were approached to do "Johnny B. Goode," despite not knowing who Anthony Michael Hall was, the band opted to take the challenge. "We had a go at it really, for better or worse. Needless to say, it wasn't a 'Top Gun'. Nothing seems to popularize this band to any great extent," he laughs. "Whether it's court cases, the PMRC, bum decisions with movies, we're always seem to be swimming upstream. Which is probably not a bad thing, it keeps us hungry."

Of all the Priest albums in the 80s, Ram It Down stands out as the weakest despite their attempt to recapture the essence of their earlier efforts. It boasted some brilliant moments - the "Terminator"-inspired "Blood Red Skies," the fast and furious "Hard As Iron," not to mention a blood-pumping homage to their raison d'etre, "Heavy Metal". But somehow things began to feel a bit formulated, which was unusual for Priest. While Tipton and Downing were continually excelling at their playing, Hill's agile bass playing was becoming buried in the mix, Halford's lyrics to songs like "I'm A Rocker" and "Love Zone" were rather gratuitous, and Holland's style of drumming did not work as well with the faster numbers.

One little known fact from this time period is that Priest stepped into the studio in late 1987 to record with the producing team of Stock, Aitken, and Waterman, known for working with Bananarama. Three songs were born from this union - "I Will Return," "You Keep Giving Me The Runaround," and the Stylistics cover "You Are Everything" - and the band received an inordinate amount of flack from the metal press for daring to harbor such an experiment. (I wonder what they thought of Tipton soloing on a Samantha Fox record?)

When asked about the SAW sessions now, Downing politely feigns a memory lapse, although a 1988 interview with Halford in Kerrang!, just prior to the release of Ram It Down, confirms that the sessions occurred. "It was a long time ago, really," states Downing. "There was some talk about making us a massive pop success, but we were smart enough to know that any contact with those guys would bury the band. That's what we think." Yet it shows how diverse the band truly are. Groups like Metallica or Pantera would not have the balls to attempt something similar today. But at that time, Priest wanted to reaffirm to their fans that they were staunchly committed to their classic metal roots, so it's not surprising that the SAW tracks vanished.