Judas Priest

Invader said:
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).
Click to expand...

No a big venue, with a couple of thousand people in it.

I have been there in 1995 as well, during TXF-tour, when I saw Blaze for the first time. I absolutely didn't think the audience was quiet during Breaking the Law. Different opinions / different sets of ears :p (we were right before the speakers so that's perhaps why there's less audience on the recording, but I still hear them very clearly to be honest).

About Nostradamus: It's pretty different from the Priest we know, but in a different way how the Ripper-era was different. Sorry for that terrible sentence, hope it's clear. ;)

I am of the humble opinion that I described the album pretty well, can't add much more I'm afraid. On purpose I played the album 3 or 4 times before getting to the forum with it. It is a "grower". I like it more every time I play it.
 
No a big venue, with a couple of thousand people in it.
Click to expand...

Okay, I phrased myself a bit wrong.  I meant that it looked smaller than the venue where I saw Priest, but looking back I definitely did not say that. :) 

I have been there in 1995 as well, during TXF-tour, when I saw Blaze for the first time. I absolutely didn't think the audience was quiet during Breaking the Law. Different opinions / different sets of ears (we were right before the speakers so that's perhaps why there's less audience on the recording, but I still hear them very clearly to be honest).
Click to expand...

Maybe one's own venue always sounds the loudest. :p  You were lucky to be up front though; not a chance for me to do that, especially as I arrived only after the opening act (finished work so late :mad: ).


About Nostradamus: It's pretty different from the Priest we know, but in a different way how the Ripper-era was different. Sorry for that terrible sentence, hope it's clear
Click to expand...

Funny, because I think the best comparison between, say, Screaming for Vengeance and Nostradamus, would be Night of the Stormrider and Framing Armageddon (ignoring the change in vocalist in Iced Earth).  Definitely more of a change than The X Factor and The Number of the Beast.  But to each his own, I guess; I'm only listening to it the second time now.
 
Just in case, I'm talking about the Ripper-era in Priest. Jugulator and Demolition were imo very different from older Priest. Just like Nostradamus is again very different from older Priest. But in a different way.

In a way I can understand the Framing Armageddon comparison, especially subjectwise, though the whole feel is pretty different to me (again that word, sorry my English sucks, it’s my second language! ;) )


I also put Iced Earth on YouTube but they were removed, and I got a warning as well! :/
I saw some people with professional camera-equipment so that's maybe why.
 
Forostar said:
I also put Iced Earth on YouTube but they were removed, and I got a warning as well! :/
I saw some people with professional camera-equipment so that's maybe why.
Click to expand...

!!!

What was Iced Earth's set? I'm seeing them in September and I can't wait!
 
Done in the IE topic. :)

Some Judas Priest shots:

l_a881ab6035d555a59779bd348b37e6c6.jpg

l_d64bd61a4302eeaa8ccf279b688b3fe8.jpg

l_9d50046bfaf3cf43a14e20072d9e0f35.jpg

l_7c46df04a34081b56687aeb1d91dd216.jpg

l_8b7702afbd102a54e763ede2081dcba1.jpg

l_6dbfd6ec5c680dd1547e81379c18a8f1.jpg
 
He is old!  He had a pretty long grey beard by the way.  :)


Judas Priest's 'Nostradamus' Is Band's Highest-Charting U.S. Album To Date - June 25, 2008 

Judas Priest's new double-disc concept album, "Nostradamus", has sold 42,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 11 on The Billboard 200 chart. This marks the band's highest-ever chart position in the U.S. In Canada, the CD opened at position No. 9 after shifting close to 4,000 units.

"Nostradamus" entered the official Australian ARIA (Australian Record Industry Association) album chart at position No. 16.

Judas Priest's last CD, "Angel of Retribution", premiered with 58,000 copies in the U.S. back in March 2005 to debut at No. 13.

The following are the peak U.S. chart positions for the Priest catalog:

#11 - "Nostradamus" (2008)
#13 - "Angel of Retribution" (2005)
#165 - "Demolition" (2001)
#82 - "Jugulator" (1997)
#155 - "Metalworks" (1993)
#26 - "Painkiller" (1990)
#31 - "Ram It Down" (1988)
#38 - "Priest Live" (1987)
#17 - "Turbo" (1986)
#18 - "Defenders of the Faith" (1984)
#17 - "Screaming for Vengeance" (1982)
#39 - "Point of Entry" (1981)
#34 - "British Steel" (1980)
#70 - "Unleashed in the East" (1979)
#128 - "Hell Bent for Leather" (1978)
#178 - "Stained Class" (1978)

Judas Priest's most successful album to date is 1982's "Screaming For Vengeance", which spent 53 weeks on the Billboard charts, receiving gold RIAA sales certification on October 29, 1982, platinum on April 18, 1983 and double platinum October 16, 2001. The album included the band's only U.S. top 100 hit single, "You've Got Another Thing Comin'".

Other million-seller RIAA certifications for Judas Priest are "Priest Live" (October 29, 2001), "Turbo" (July 24, 1989), "Defenders of the Faith" (September 26, 1988), "British Steel" (August 9, 1989) and "Unleashed in the East" (November 10, 1989).

Judas Priest also has gold albums certifications (500,000 sales) for "Stained Class" (November 10, 1989), "Hell Bent For Leather" (November 10, 1989), "Point of Entry" (November 10, 1989), "Ram It Down" (July 18, 1988) and "Painkiller" (January 2, 1991).

In the band's home country of the U.K., 1980's "British Steel" remains their most successful outing, peaking at No. 4 in the charts and launching three hit singles: "Living After Midnight", which peaked at No. 12; "Breaking The Law" No. 12 and "United" No. 26.
 
Quite surprising to me, actually.  Nostradamus isn't your typical Priest album, and I'd have thought there would be quite a lot of Priest fans who wouldn't like it.  But maybe it's the freshness of the album that appeals to people, I guess.  I'd be interested to hear how it's fared in Europe, though. 

I'm really really annoyed that I didn't have the album before my Priest gig, though. 
Prophecy
is a great song and I realise now that it is definitely the best track to act as a live opener.  If I'd see Priest again now, I'd go completely crazy during the song.  When they actually played, though, my feeling was just "meh", because it wasn't familiar.

Ah well, at least Maiden's opener will be more than a bit familiar. ;)  It'll be great to be in a gig and know every single song well.  Usually when I'm at gigs there are always a few songs from the band's catalogue that I don't know beforehand.  For Priest, it was
Sinner and Dissident Aggressor.
 

I'm appreciating this new album more and more with each listen, though.  It seems to flow gracefully from one song to the other, and it really feels like a whole.  More so than any concept album I've heard so far, actually.  I guess the various interludes help with this.  It was also great value for money; two discs with a total running time of about 100 minutes for 20 euros.  Usually new CDs cost the same and have half the amount.

P.S. Foro, how do you get such good pictures at gigs?  Mine always end up really blurry, even with flash etc.  I've tried it once with a good camera, and even then I was at least as close as you were in your pics.  Do you use some special settings or something?  Same goes for videos, actually.  My picture quality is good but the sound is basically just noise.
 
Well, we also had some pics which were less good, but these just came out well.
It took some time to learn how to make sharp photos of moving people, and when there's not much light it still hardly happens.

About the sound, well it's really amazing. We're very lucky that we have this sound on this ordinary digital camera. It's a HP photosmart 735. 3.2 MP, bought in October 2003 to be precize.

HP-Photosmart-735-bk.jpg

hp_photosmart_735_p.jpg
 
Forostar said:
#11 - "Nostradamus" (2008)
#13 - "Angel of Retribution" (2005)
#165 - "Demolition" (2001)
#82 - "Jugulator" (1997)
#155 - "Metalworks" (1993)
#26 - "Painkiller" (1990)
#31 - "Ram It Down" (1988)
#38 - "Priest Live" (1987)
#17 - "Turbo" (1986)
#18 - "Defenders of the Faith" (1984)
#17 - "Screaming for Vengeance" (1982)
#39 - "Point of Entry" (1981)
#34 - "British Steel" (1980)
#70 - "Unleashed in the East" (1979)
#128 - "Hell Bent for Leather" (1978)
#178 - "Stained Class" (1978)
Click to expand...

I've seen many lists of 70's rock albums where "Sad Wings of Destiny" is rated very high, how come it didn't chart in the US (or in the UK)? Wasn't it marketed properly or did it simply not hit home? (By the way, SWoD is the next Priest album I intend to get. I just started to listen to Priest last winter, so I own only British Steel, Screaming for Vengeance and Painkiller)
 
Eddies Wingman said:
I've seen many lists of 70's rock albums where "Sad Wings of Destiny" is rated very high, how come it didn't chart in the US (or in the UK)? Wasn't it marketed properly or did it simply not hit home? (By the way, SWoD is the next Priest album I intend to get. I just started to listen to Priest last winter, so I own only British Steel, Screaming for Vengeance and Painkiller)
Click to expand...

Personally I prefer some other 70's albums but Sad Wings has many classics on it. In the end you really should purchase all the seventies material, if I were you. Only the debut is generally seen as less good, though it still has its moments, I personally like it a lot. The seventies was an interesting era when Priest used different (combinations) of songwriters and when their songs weren’t as “compact” as in the eighties. (From British Steel (1980) all songs were labeled Tipton/Halford/Downing).

If you allow me, I'll promote "Sin After Sin" (copied from an older post) which I find a very strong record.

zsinaftersin.JPG

"Sin After Sin" (1977)
I think I'd give every track (besides Last Rose of Summer) 4 or 5 stars. This album features excellent drums of Simon Philips who was only 19 at the time of recording. Let Us Prey/Call for the Priest is special to me because of the harmonies in the mid-part, and I think this is the first real speed/power metal kind of song ever created. This mid-piece is really the basis of the prime-elements in Helloween's music. Starbreaker has a cool guitar riff, Dissident Aggressor (they play it this current tour!) I like because of its intense aggression, the vocals, the riffs. Last, but not least, an honorable mention for Here Come The Tears. What an emotion, what a melodies, what a build-up and what a vocals. Such deep and low vocals (check with headphones how it goes from left to right and back) and later high ones. Very impressing.


Coming back to your question, it took ages ages before Priest had their big breakthrough. In the US that didn't happen before Screaming for Vengeance came out which Priest promoted with a tour for two consecutive years, in 1982 and 1983.
 
You’re welcome mate, in the end I truly recommend all studio and live albums from the seventies and eighties, though I warn you for the more commercial “Point of Entry” (1981) and esp. “Turbo” (1986). Check those the latest, since they have not much to do with the rest of the catalogue. I like some of “Turbo” musically because of some nice catchy melodies but the lyrics are the most dreadful ever, and some other tracks are not even good musically either.

“Point of Entry” contains a few good songs, namely Heading out to the Highway, Desert Plains and Solar Angels, but (most of) the rest is below the average imo.

“Ram it Down” (1988) also has a few weak commercial tracks, but still I find the majority strong enough to recommend this album.

All other 70s and 80s albums that I do not mention in this post can be purchased without problems. I'll hear you later if you disagree. ;)
 
I recommend Jugulator too. Great album, though different (but, with apalling lyrics at times, thank you Glenn Tipton). I also recommend Live in London. Superior to any Priest live album.
 
Yesterday I say them play in Switzerland. I was gladly surprised that they went down extremely well although the sound wasn't too great (guitar solos were partly hardly audiable). However, both Downing and Halford did seem to enjoy themeselves enormoulsy (Halford was pretty active, even running across the stage during a song). In fact the whole band was on fire. Halford did the best he could and partly was able to hit the high notes (
'Devil's Child'
). He sang aweful in
'Painkiller'
, though.

Furthermore, same setlist as posted in the above (highlights to me were,
'Devil's Child', 'Green Manalishi', 'Rock Hard Ride Free' and 'Sinner')

All in all a really good gig I must say, they proved that they're still a great live act despite the band's age.
 
Guys I found a not bad sounding live recording of

"Between The Hammer And The Anvil" from Zwolle, 22-06-2008 - the whole track

Storm warning
But there's no fear
Lies forming
The sacrament lays bare

The sinner
Will testify
They'll suffer
When sacrificed on high

The burning sermons purge their evil words
Between the Hammer and the Anvil

Force rises
False rituals
Baptizes
The body and the soul

Our union
Their fall from grace
Confession (confess your sins)
Will seal them to their fate

The burning sermons will survive their curse
Between the Hammer and the Anvil

Transgression
They prey on grief
Our mission
To purify belief

This altar
Gives power and light
They'll falter
While we are shining bright

The burning sermons consecrate their sin
Between the Hammer and the Anvil

Storm warning
But there's no fear

Check it out, at least Ken's solo comes out pretty well! *headbanging smiley*


And I also found, from the same gig, especially for Invader:

click  :p
 
Okay, I was wrong.  :p Here's the same song from my gig for reference. 

And did someone mention
Between the Hammer and the Anvil?
(click)  Also very good sound quality, but there's about 20-30 seconds missing from the end.

Funny how they're filmed from different gigs but in almost exactly the same position in relation to the stage!

Tomorrow (okay, today for me already :p ) Priest are playing at Graspop.  It's at the same time as a festival I'm going to, Tuska Open Air, which is the biggest festival in Scandinavia I think.  Should be quite a blast, though there isn't any equal of Priest there.
 
Forostar said:
You’re welcome mate, in the end I truly recommend all studio and live albums from the seventies and eighties, though I warn you for the more commercial “Point of Entry” (1981) and esp. “Turbo” (1986).
Click to expand...

Guess what happened. After doing the most boring thing possible (yes, getting my hair cut) I went berserk in the record store and bought the following:

Dream Theater - When Dream and Day Unite
Queensrÿche - Operation Mindcrime
Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny, Sin after Sin, Defenders of the Faith

... !

Tomorrow night I'm going to listen to all those goodies. Tonight having had some goodbye beers for one of our post docs, he's leaving for India.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top