I despise American Idol. It goes against every fiber of belief I have in music. The Simon Cowell Cookie Cutter Factory of creating “stars” really gets on my last nerve. Despite my negativity towards the-show-that-distracts-millions, I can’t help but write about it at the moment, because metal gods Judas Priest made a guest appearance on the series finale the other night – and blew the whole show out of the water with a great performance, which you can view at the bottom of this post.

My hatred for American Idol aside, you have to admit that this is a good move for Priest in the publicity department. As reported here numerous times, the band are about to embark on their farewell tour, and making an impressive appearance on a show like this is a good way to get the word out beyond the regular fan base.

The official website for Gibson guitars has released what they perceive to be the top 50 metal songs of all time. Gibson.com’s writers and editors worked on compiling the list over several weeks, releasing 10 entries at a time, and recently released the top 10, which declared the number one metal song to be “Master of Puppets” by Metallica.

In some ways, the number one spot for Metallica is fitting, considering 2011 is the 25th anniversary of the release of their Master of Puppets album. Having said that though, metalheads are notorious for having fierce and strong opinions about what they consider to be their “top songs,” on top of their fierce and strong opinions about what bands are or are not even metal.

Metal Gods Judas Priest have announced that they are calling it day, stating that their upcoming world tour will be their last. The final Judas Priest tour has been named The Farewell EPITAPH World Tour, and the band is planning to be on the road through 2011 to play their final shows for fans.

Judas Priest is regarded as a key cornerstone in the history of heavy metal, and along with Black Sabbath, are considered to be one of the major influences to countless metal bands. Though formed in 1968, Judas Priest released their first album, Rocka Rolla, in 1974. Since that time, the band’s career has spanned over 40 years, seeing the release and performance of songs such as “Diamonds And Rust,” “Breaking The Law,” Painkiller, and “Living After Midnight.”

At present, Judas Priest is set to perform at a number of festivals in Europe from June through to August 2011. More dates are expected to be added to the Epitaph World Tour, and is expected to possibly continue into 2012.