As Halford explained in the press release for the new reissue, the members of Priest were mostly satisfied with their work in the studio, but upon receiving the first pressing of Rocka Rolla, the final sound of the record left them disappointed. "I took the record... and I put the needle onto the groove and I sat back. And I just slowly started to deflate, deflate," Halford recalled. "I was so disappointed with the way it was sounding... All of us were - we'd all worked so hard to get to this place. And now this music that we know when we play live is roaring - the heavy metal is roaring even in those early primitive days - none of that was coming out of the speakers."
In the passing decades, Rocka Rolla was reissued in its original form - without the band's input - until a business exchange for the masters and publishing rights took place in 2022. Rocka Rolla and its follow-up, Sad Wings of Destiny, were acquired by Glenn Tipton's music publisher, Reach Music Publishing, from Gull Records owner David Howells.
Thankfully the original master tapes for Rocka Rolla were stored safely, and Allom was able to begin the process of remixing the album and giving it "the production it deserved," in the words of Ian Hill.
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