Running Wild

Album: Hell Bent For Leather (1978)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song was written by guitarist Glenn Tipton, and was a live staple from its release up to 1980, and also during 2001-2002 when Tim "Ripper" Owens was in as lead singer, replacing Rob Halford, who returned in 2003. Halford has also performed the song with his solo band.
  • "Running Wild" has a lot of Judas Priest hallmarks, including a twin-guitar attack from Tipton and KK Downing, and a lyric about living with unbridled abandon. Its propulsive energy made it a great live track.
  • The band wrote this in the studio at a time when they were crazy busy but united in their ambitions. After wrapping up their Stained Class tour in August 1978 with five shows in Japan, they returned home and got right to work on their next album, which included "Running Wild" and was called Killing Machine everywhere but America, where their record company didn't want it associated with recent school shootings. There, the album was called Hell Bent For Leather, named after one of the tracks. This worked out pretty well for them when American fans adopted that phrase as a kind of credo for Judas Priest, which was the first metal act to outfit themselves in leather and studs.
  • Some have accused Iron Maiden of stealing the song's riff and using it for their 2000 track "The Wicker Man."
  • The German heavy metal band Running Wild took their name from this song. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Jon - Sweden, for above 2

Comments: 2

  • Dan Gillespy from Courtenay BcThis true ultimate Judas Priest headbanging heavy metal classic is wild and will always sound good.
  • Trent from Edmonton, AbMaiden didn't steal the riff for "The Wicker Man". In fact, they inspired the riff from the song in their concert video Raising Hell where the woman gets her head drilled apart.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Amanda Palmer

Amanda PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Call us crazy, but we like it when an artist comes around who doesn't mesh with the status quo.

Steven Tyler of Aerosmith

Steven Tyler of AerosmithSongwriter Interviews

Tyler talks about his true love: songwriting. How he identifies the beauty in a melody and turns sorrow into art.

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About Transgenderism

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About TransgenderismSong Writing

A history of songs dealing with transgender issues, featuring Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Morrissey and Green Day.

Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde

Johnette Napolitano of Concrete BlondeSongwriter Interviews

The singer/bassist for Concrete Blonde talks about how her songs come from clairvoyance, and takes us through the making of their hit "Joey."

Sam Hollander

Sam HollanderSongwriter Interviews

The hitmaking songwriter/producer Sam Hollander with stories about songs for Weezer, Panic! At The Disco, Train, Pentatonix, and Fitz And The Tantrums.

Motley Crue

Motley CrueFact or Fiction

Was Dr. Feelgood a dentist? Did the "Crüecifixion" really happen?