Judas Priest
- Thread starter Perun
- Start date
Sword of Damocles is from Redeemer of Souls, which is an alright album. I think the production lets it down more than anything else. Some songs are good but I prefer Firepower a lot more.
I don't really care for clean vocal metal anymore but this was solid.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
It’s not like he’s always hitting that “d” sound, but also he’s Chilean, I feel like that’s gotta give him a pass. Our “th” is a pretty unorthodox sound anyway.
I actually thought Romero was the highlight of an otherwise fairly typical metal song. That chorus really hooked me and his voice took me back to those old Scorpions classics of rock radio. The instrumental solo kinda felt like a beefier VXI feel. Nothing spectacular but thoroughly enjoyable.
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
More animated videos! It'a typical rock song. I'm getting a Rainbow vibe (or Scorpions), especially from the cool intro riff, with a modern feel ofc. I'm not surprised by Richie's tasty riffs (especially the one at 3 min, in the verses too; very Priest-ish). His solo indeed has a bit of a VXI vibe to it. The chorus is catchy. Overall, a decent song but that's it. Maybe Richie wants to explore all styles with the different songs in the album.
Apparently, Scott Travis will be featured in the album (but probably only in some songs) and they'll be touring in the summer. Produced by Andy Sneap.
So I skimmed through all those "new" live recordings from the 50 Heavy Metal Years Of Music box set:
Atlanta '82 - Sound quality is pretty bad, especially the super thin drum sound. Performance is solid though. Highlights are Devil's Child and Screaming For Vengeance which don't appear in live form anywhere else. EDIT: They do but on a compilation, not on a full live album such as this.
Mud Club '79 - Sound is amazing for a "lost" recording from 40+ years ago. Unfortunately, the song selection is underwhelming apart from Beyond The Realms Of Death and Victim Of Changes. The latter sounds better here than on Unleashed In The East though, particularly the vocals.
Houston '86 - Sound is good. Setlist includes everything that was also released on Priest...Live! (minus Parental Guidance), with 5 more songs - Locked In, Desert Plains, Victim Of Changes, The Green Manalishi and Hell Bent For Leather. Desert Plains' performance in particular kicks ass - before this box set, I believe the only live version officially released was with Ripper on vocals.
New Haven '88 - Sound is great. Solid performance, but the only exclusive songs are the ones from Ram It Down which is an album I never really cared much for. And obviously, the best song from that album (Blood Red Skies) was not played.
Los Angeles '90 - Sound is not good. Drums are low in the mix, snare sounds like Scott Travis is hitting pillows and guitars sound of tune during solos. Also Halford is struggling. This was recorded before Painkiller was released and only has 2 songs from it - Between The Hammer & The Anvil and Leather Rebel.
London '81 - Sound is quite weak compared to some other recordings in the boxset - lots of cutoffs and the mix is uneven. Probably a soundboard recording. As for the setlist, everything included here exists on another live album in better quality and with a better performance.
Denver '80 - Sound is quite good and the bass is unusually loud. Solid setlist but nothing "exclusive" included.
Irvine '91 - Honestly this was the one I was looking forward to the most as it's from the Painkiller tour. Sound is not bad, but one of the weaker ones here. Performance is fucking awesome though. It captures Halford on a good night here as he had many weak performances on some other shows on this tour in 1990 and 1991. There are only 4 songs from Painkiller included - All Guns Blazing, Night Crawler, A Touch Of Evil and Painkiller, but you won't hear better live versions anywhere else.
Atlanta '82 - Sound quality is pretty bad, especially the super thin drum sound. Performance is solid though. Highlights are Devil's Child and Screaming For Vengeance which don't appear in live form anywhere else. EDIT: They do but on a compilation, not on a full live album such as this.
Mud Club '79 - Sound is amazing for a "lost" recording from 40+ years ago. Unfortunately, the song selection is underwhelming apart from Beyond The Realms Of Death and Victim Of Changes. The latter sounds better here than on Unleashed In The East though, particularly the vocals.
Houston '86 - Sound is good. Setlist includes everything that was also released on Priest...Live! (minus Parental Guidance), with 5 more songs - Locked In, Desert Plains, Victim Of Changes, The Green Manalishi and Hell Bent For Leather. Desert Plains' performance in particular kicks ass - before this box set, I believe the only live version officially released was with Ripper on vocals.
New Haven '88 - Sound is great. Solid performance, but the only exclusive songs are the ones from Ram It Down which is an album I never really cared much for. And obviously, the best song from that album (Blood Red Skies) was not played.
Los Angeles '90 - Sound is not good. Drums are low in the mix, snare sounds like Scott Travis is hitting pillows and guitars sound of tune during solos. Also Halford is struggling. This was recorded before Painkiller was released and only has 2 songs from it - Between The Hammer & The Anvil and Leather Rebel.
London '81 - Sound is quite weak compared to some other recordings in the boxset - lots of cutoffs and the mix is uneven. Probably a soundboard recording. As for the setlist, everything included here exists on another live album in better quality and with a better performance.
Denver '80 - Sound is quite good and the bass is unusually loud. Solid setlist but nothing "exclusive" included.
Irvine '91 - Honestly this was the one I was looking forward to the most as it's from the Painkiller tour. Sound is not bad, but one of the weaker ones here. Performance is fucking awesome though. It captures Halford on a good night here as he had many weak performances on some other shows on this tour in 1990 and 1991. There are only 4 songs from Painkiller included - All Guns Blazing, Night Crawler, A Touch Of Evil and Painkiller, but you won't hear better live versions anywhere else.
Iron Lurker
Ancient Mariner
I was at the Atlanta show. They were great that night! Had hoped they could have used that show instead of Memphis for the video.
Iron Lurker
Ancient Mariner
Then you might be a big Di'Anno fan these days...
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
RICHIE FAULKNER Looks To Life After JUDAS PRIEST With ELEGANT WEAPONS
By David E. Gehlke In 2011 Richie Faulkner replaced K.K. Downing in JUDAS PRIEST for what was supposed to be the band's "farewell" tour. While the metal scene was up in arms over the disbandment of the legendary Downing / Glenn Tipton guitar tandem, Faulkner quickly grew into the role and...
blabbermouth.net
Informative interview about Richie's solo project. Maybe a separate thread for it?
Azas
Time Patrol
OMG, just listened to Faulkner's song again. Maybe I am dreaming, but to me, the song from 2:38 till 3:25 is a complete nod/rip off? to some song from Bruce's The Chemical Wedding. Just carefully listen to the rhythm and solo guitar. Undeniable The Chemical Wedding album influence. Or am I hearing things?
I like such guitar playing style.
I like such guitar playing style.
Last edited:
Black Bart
Ancient Mariner
Indeed, this sounds very similar to moments of "King In Crimson".
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
I like this one more than the first. Both are solid.
As far as Dio clones go, Romero is pretty good. I can't fault anything that sounds a little bit like Dio and has Richie tearing it up.
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
I like this single a bit better. Another enjoyable melodic metal song and that's enough for me. Richie is a great songwriter. Great vocals. The opening riff is awesome, the chorus is memorable, fitting pre-chorus (the verses between the solos too), the middle riff is very modern Priest and both solos are very good (melodic one and tapping, I can hear a bit of Adrian and Dave in them). I also can't help but liken some of the melodic riffs and chorus with Maiden. Old school modern catchy metal best describes this song. Both singles so far are very different from Priest, which was the point.
The start of the riff in the middle has an effect like in Bruce's ''Road To Hell''.
I expect the rest of the songs to be more varied and with different styles. Richie said that this is the fastest song on the album.
DJ James
A coma stole my name.
That new band certainly has potential. In my advanced age (25) I too find myself preferring more dirtier vocal styles. Atleast it sounds like they didn't touch the vocals too much in post production of that song. Sounds natural atleast but the vocals really aren't for me.
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
Although if I have to link some Priest songs with Richie that have this kind of vibe, maybe ''Flame Thrower'' and the 2014 bonus song ''Bring It On''.
He said in the interview above that this project is not a full-on metal band, some of the songs are more classic rock and some of the bluesy elements (which Rob liked) could be on an early Priest album. That's normal, Priest's discography is quite diverse.
What's great about Richie as a songwriter is that he writes very melodic catchy songs and great riffs, and I think Priest's style changed a bit with him. Some of the songs have Maiden vibes to them. Speaking of which, I'm really curious what song Richie would write with Steve, Bruce or Adrian.