Judas Priest

It's sick that they played
Rock Hard Ride Free!
  It's way too good to have been only played once.
 
My first Priest show yesterday and my voice isn't in a very good shape right now  :)

I pretty much agree to what's been said already about the setlist and I would guess most of yesterday's audience would agree. The crowd was very, very lively during the classic songs (
like Breaking the Law, Hellion/Electric Eye, Hell Patrol and Painkiller
and many seemed to be a bit put off by
the songs from Nostradamus - guess most haven't had time to get into those songs and learn the lyrics yet
.

Was a very nice afternoon/evening really, Judas Priest were the headliner of a 5-band lineup which opened with Pagan's Mind, a Norwegian prog-metal band. They were really good, but their set was quite short (approximately 45 minutes). Then we got a Norwegian 80's rock band called Stage Dolls - got the 35-years olds in the crowd going. Then an English band called The Quireboys - a more standard "rock'n'roll" (think AC/DC but with a piano included) band that were nice but nothing special. The last band before Priest were Immortal, a Norwegian BM band. Not my cup of tea, but they got a good portion of the audience warmed well up before Priest. But I guess most had come mainly for Priest (at least I did) and we were not disappointed by Halford et. al.  :D

The sun was shining all the time and there was enough beer. What more can you ask for? Summer, beer and Judas Priest, that's good enough for me  :D
 
I`m going to their show which is on 2.7. here in Croatia. I`m so psyched about
Every damn song on the setlist! I couldn`t imagine something better. Still can`t believe they`re playing Sinner.
 
My pictures of Priest (a selection)


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Yesterday I bought "Nostradamus".

I guess this album will be received with mixed feelings by a lot of old school fans. Perhaps it helps me that I've listened to a lot of other metal, but maybe some people who prefer classic rock/metal will like this album as well.

I appreciate it that Priest doesn't try to repeat themselves. This is really new, not only for themselves but this album is also pretty original in the whole metal world.

It's very melodic and atmospheric. It containes a lot of synthesized guitars and also synths (by Don Airey) & real strings (by Peter Whitfield). Where some other bands hire choirs, Halford does it all alone, and I must say that his multiple vocals sound very impressive.

The speed of the songs is mostly low or mid-tempo, with just a few exceptions. On the last Ripper album I loathed that aspect, but on this album Halford's vocals make up a lot for that. His role is very dominant, not only because of the concept and the lyrics, but also because of the way the album is produced, and how the songs are built up.

You could say that the songs are long, they are changing slowly into emotional and epic tracks, mostly starting with a calm intro. The mood and the dynamics of most songs don't change when they progress, but the tracks grow into something bigger, almost as if the band wants to illustrate how Nostradamus' predictions slowly turned into reality.

Is it all fantastic from the beginning until the end? No.
Disc one features a duller track ("Lost Love"), and on disc two there's one dreadful tearjerker ("New Beginnings").

The rest of the album varies from decent to strong. At this point I enjoy "Revelations", "Alone" & "Future Of Mankind" (with its beautiful vocal line in the chorus) the most.

In "Revelations" comes a memorable segment, which I'll surely might play after Rob Halford "passe de ce monde à un autre":

I'll Spread The Word
Around The World
My Name Will Last
Eternally​
 
I've been listening to Nostradamus nonstop for the last several days and I can't overstate how much I love it. It's definitely not classic Priest, in fact, it sounds like nothing they've ever done. It's late '70s Priest combined with Painkiller and late '80s Maiden. It's big and pretentious, but in the best possible way. Halford's vocals are better than ever, god knows how. The musicianship is as tight as ever and the synths are used tastefully, which is an impressive feat in itself. I can't decide on the standout tracks yet, but disc 1 is amazing and disc 2 is consistently solid. This is definitely the album that will split Priest fans in half. And most importantly, you can tell just by listening that it will make for one hell of a live show.
 
Glad you like it, though I’m not sure if the whole complete thing would suit a live gig.

The final (and longest) track “Future of Mankind” is turning slowly but steadily into my favourite track.

I can’t say enough how much I like those vocals in the chorus. This range is Halford at his best, imo. Stunning, one of the best choruses Priest have done in ages!


These visions of the world
Created in my mind
I made them all begin
The future of mankind
Reveals what must be done
To manifest through time

Also this song features the best solos, or at least with the most “feel” (esp. the one that starts from 4.22).
 
Helphyre said:
This is definitely the album that will split Priest fans in half. And most importantly, you can tell just by listening that it will make for one hell of a live show.
Click to expand...

I would disagree.  I've seen two songs live and neither was particularly exciting.  It was my first time hearing them, though.  I haven't got the album yet, but I'm really anticipating it, though the songs weren't that great live.
 
Invader said:
I would disagree.  I've seen two songs live and neither was particularly exciting.  It was my first time hearing them, though.  I haven't got the album yet, but I'm really anticipating it, though the songs weren't that great live.
Click to expand...

I can't judge that since I don't know how they performed those songs (I'll see that next, this sunday). But on the album those songs are pretty good, to be honest.
 
Yesterday me and Marta went to Priest and it was fantastic! This setlist was so cool!  :ok:

To see and hear(!) how it was, check these video-fragments.

As always: the clips were made with a simple digital camera but the sound is pretty good, especially compared to the average stuff from the internet. Due to lack of space these are no complete clips, just some samples.
Hope you like them!

Between The Hammer And The Anvil (1:49)
Breaking The Law (1:10)
Hell Patrol (0:58)
Rock Hard Ride Free (part 1) (0:30)
Rock Hard Ride Free (part 2) (0:19)
Sinner (0:24)
 
That looks like a pretty small venue but it's hard to say about the size since you were so up front.  Sort of quiet audience, though (judging by Breaking the Law and Rock Hard, Ride Free).

I bought Nostradamus today and have listened to the first disc so far.  So far I liked Prophecy (which was already familiar since I saw it live!), Persecution (great riff!), and Revelations.  Death was as lackluster on the disc as live, though.  Lost Love also was fairly boring.  I like the sound of the album so far, though; it is very different than what Priest have done before, but I think this is a good thing.  I don't know if Priest could have gone too far from Angel of Retribution retaining their "old sound" without plagiarising themselves; I'm happy they chose this path. 

I have a feeling this CD will be on constant rotation for some time now.
 
I'd say a better comparison would be Ripper-era (specifically, Framing Armageddon) Iced Earth to Barlow-era (maybe even Greely-era) Iced Earth, but with the same singer of course.  Even Maiden haven't done anything like this.  The album that this most reminds me of is actually Iced Earth's Framing Armageddon.
 
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