"A Touch of Evil" is a song by British heavy metal band Judas Priest, from their 1990 album Painkiller. It is the only song on the album that was co-written by producer Chris Tsangarides who wrote the song's guitar riff, while the rest of the song was written by the main songwriting team of Rob Halford, K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton. Tsangarides would team up again with Tipton for songwriting eleven years later, for Judas Priest's album Demolition, released in 2001, on which the two of them wrote the songs "Subterfuge" and "Metal Messiah".
It is the only song on the album on which the synthesizers (which had originally been featured on several songs, but had been removed) remained part of the song. These synthesizers were played by rock veteran keyboardist Don Airey. Between the slow drums and the eerie keyboards, the song was given a chilling sound, making it a sort of pseudo-ballad. However, when played live, the keyboard intro is replaced by a guitar riff.
The song's lyrics deal with demonic possession, black magic, and temptation to commit acts of evil. However, according to Halford himself, as cited in Metal Hammer in January 2004, the lyrics deal with a love-related theme, although metaphorically.
The song features a classically-inspired guitar solo by Glenn Tipton.
Read more about A Touch Of Evil: Cover Versions, Personnel, Music Video
Famous quotes containing the words touch and/or evil:
“Ask me no more: thy fate and mine are sealed;
I strove against the stream and all in vain;
Let the great river take me to the main.
No more, dear love, for at a touch I yield;
Ask me no more.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“It is impossible that anything so natural, so necessary, and so universal as death should ever have been designed by Providence as an evil to mankind.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)