Now British Steel's 30th anniversary moment officially arrives, commemorating one of the most influential albums in heavy metal, a record that fellow musicians and disciples credit for unleashing metal from its blues origins. Columbia/Legacy will issue two separate packages on May 11, 2010: British Steel: 30th Anniversary Edition will be available through standard retail and digital outlets, while the British Steel: 30th Anniversary Special Edition box set will only be available through www.judaspriest.com

British Steel: 30th Anniversary Edition features the 2001 remaster of the original 36-minute, nine-song album (plus two bonus tracks). Also included is a DVD which combines a live 16-song concert filmed in August 2009 at the Seminole Hard Rock Arena in Hollywood, Florida (the album sequence plus seven more cuts), with a 30-minute "Making of British Steel" interview that includes all four original band members.

British Steel: 30th Anniversary Special Edition will be released exclusively through the D2C ("direct-to-consumer") www.judaspriest.com. This is a three-disc package containing the same two discs – the album with bonus tracks and DVD – plus the DVD's live audio on CD. (Due to timing constraints, there are six additional live tracks on the CD rather than seven as on the DVD.)

There is no overstating Judas Priest's position at the very top of heavy metal's Mount Olympus, and the critical importance of their deep album catalog on Columbia Records in the U.S., from 1977's Sin After Sin to 1990's Painkiller. In 2004, Halford reunited with Judas Priest and the band returned to Sony Music Entertainment. The appropriately leather-bound and metal-spiked five-disc retrospective boxed set Metalogy was followed in 2005 by Angel of Retribution (#13 on the Billboard 200 albums chart) and in 2008 by Nostradamus (#11).

In 2009, A Touch of Evil: Live recapped Judas Priest's world tours of the previous four years. One of its tracks, "Dissident Aggressor" earned Judas Priest their first Grammy Award this year, for Best Metal Performance.

Indeed, Judas Priest is celebrated as progenitors of metal's defining sound. The upgraded version of Behind The Music – Judas Priest (Re-Mastered) continues in circulation on VH1, and the band's influence spreads far beyond the 30 million albums, singles and videos they have sold worldwide in their career.

BRITISH STEEL: 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION by JUDAS PRIEST (Columbia/Legacy 88697 66744 2)

Disc One: CD - BRITISH STEEL (remastered in 2001) 1. Rapid Fire • 2. Metal Gods • 3. Breaking the Law • 4. Grinder • 5. United • 6. You Don't Have To Be Old To Be Wise • 7. Living After Midnight • 8. The Rage • 9. Steeler • Bonus tracks: 10. Red, White & Blue • 11. Grinder (live).

Disc Two: DVD - 30TH ANNIVERSARY DVD (Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Arena, Hollywood, Florida, August 17, 2009) 1. Rapid Fire • 2. Metal Gods • 3. Breaking the Law • 4. Grinder • 5. United • 6. You Don't Have To Be Old To Be Wise • 7. Living After Midnight • 8. The Rage • 9. Steeler • 10. The Ripper • 11. Prophecy • 12. Hell Patrol • 13. Victim Of Changes • 14. Freewheel Burning • 15. Diamonds And Rust • 16. You've Got Another Thing Coming.

BRITISH STEEL: 30th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION by JUDAS PRIEST (Columbia/Legacy 88697 66740 2)

Disc One: CD - BRITISH STEEL (remastered in 2001) 1. Rapid Fire • 2. Metal Gods • 3. Breaking the Law • 4. Grinder • 5. United • 6. You Don't Have To Be Old To Be Wise • 7. Living After Midnight • 8. The Rage • 9. Steeler • Bonus tracks: 10. Red, White & Blue • 11. Grinder (live).

Disc Two: CD - 30TH ANNIVERSARY - LIVE (Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Arena, Hollywood, Florida, August 17, 2009) 1. Rapid Fire • 2. Metal Gods • 3. Breaking the Law • 4. Grinder • 5. United • 6. You Don't Have To Be Old To Be Wise • 7. Living After Midnight • 8. The Rage • 9. Steeler • 10. The Ripper • 11. Hell Patrol • 12. Victim Of Changes • 13. Freewheel Burning • 14. Diamonds And Rust • 15. You've Got Another Thing Coming.