The only problem with Johnny B Goode is that they put it on the album. Nobody gives Maiden shit for the ridiculous covers they made because they knew better than to put them on the albums. It's just one of many WTF moments on the album.
The decision makes sense though in light of what happened with Reckless, which was supposed to be the ending credit song for Top Gun, but Priest pulled out of it because it meant it couldn't go on the record. They all freaked out when they realized what they missed out on and thought they'd better latch onto whatever next offering they would receive as their judgement proved off - and this offer didn't come with that "exclusive" caveat, so off they went.
The decision makes sense though in light of what happened with Reckless, which was supposed to be the ending credit song for Top Gun, but Priest pulled out of it because it meant it couldn't go on the record. They all freaked out when they realized what they missed out on and thought they'd better latch onto whatever next offering they would receive as their judgement proved off - and this offer didn't come with that "exclusive" caveat, so off they went.
It's a strange choice not to let one song go, given that they were writing/had written what was intended to be a double album I'd have thought they'd have something in line to replace it.
It's a strange choice not to let one song go, given that they were writing/had written what was intended to be a double album I'd have thought they'd have something in line to replace it.
They did. “Thunder Road”, released as a remaster bonus track for PoE. But I suppose it could be the other way around, that the caveat was that it had to be included on the album to help market the movie. It sounds completely rational, although as it turned out, yet another poor decision.
Coming in at #13 we have the first album of the Faulkner era. As we get more distance from this album (including two additional albums), Redeemer feels very appropriately placed as another "black sheep" album along with Ram It Down and Point of Entry, although more of the forgettable qualities of Point of Entry and less of the WTF qualities of Ram It Down. I remember when the album was released, I was still under the impression that Epitaph was to be the final tour. I thought, "OK. They're enjoying the tour and Richie has revitalized them enough that maybe they want to pivot to becoming a studio only band or just get one more "traditional" Priest album out there so they don't end their careers on Nostradamus." It made sense, and I approached Redeemer as a sort of punctuation on the band's history, an Epitaph if you will. Also, I'm not sure if they ever alluded to new music post Nostradamus, but I think I assumed there was going to be some intention of making one more album either way.
It did feel like they were trying to capture as wide a range of the band's history as possible on one album. Metalizer feeling like an Angel of Retribution leftover, Hell & Back having the sort of driving beat/anthemic chorus found on Ram It Down/Turbo, even Crossfire has a bluesy Rocka/Rolla feel. Considering the previous tour had one song from every album (sans Ripper albums), it was logical for them to be influenced by themselves in this way. Beginning of the End and Never Forget even clearly referenced the band's history and things coming to a close.
But then they went on tour. Then they released another album and went on tour for that. And here we are almost 10 years later talking about the tour for yet another new album, both of which are better produced, better performed, and overall have been better received than Redeemer. So where does that leave Redeemer? According to Maidenfans, not even close to the worst album but still in the bottom third of the discography.
Where Point of Entry suffers from being well produced but lacking some standout tracks, I think Redeemer has some excellent material that suffers from poor production. It's muddy, the drums sound like they're coming from a dungeon, and the whole thing has a demo quality to it. Now that we have two really crisp sounding Priest albums to compare it to, it makes the production deficiencies standout more. With that being said, I personally think the variety and personality on Redeemer make it a much more interesting album musically than either Firepower or Invincible Shield. IMO the band has leaned too heavily on Richie to carry them and while he has a lot to contribute, I find a lot of the new songs to be kinda bland sounding but with fancy production and guitar playing. Redeemer feels like a typical Priest album and Richie is taking more of a KK type of approach.
All that being said, I don't really disagree with the placement of the album. I will continue to defend it as a superior album to the ones that come next, but I tend to think that none of the Faulkner era albums are very good nor are they albums that I would go out of my way for. I just think there's a lot of forgettable songs and it's all just kinda bland. Redeemer suffers particularly from too many plodding songs, so I will at least give Firepower/Invincible Shield points for having higher energy songs. I actually would probably rather listen to Ram It Down than any of them though to be honest.
I think Redeemer has some excellent material that suffers from poor production. It's muddy, the drums sound like they're coming from a dungeon, and the whole thing has a demo quality to it. Now that we have two really crisp sounding Priest albums to compare it to, it makes the production deficiencies standout more. With that being said, I personally think the variety and personality on Redeemer make it a much more interesting album musically than either Firepower or Invincible Shield. IMO the band has leaned too heavily on Richie to carry them and while he has a lot to contribute, I find a lot of the new songs to be kinda bland sounding but with fancy production and guitar playing. Redeemer feels like a typical Priest album and Richie is taking more of a KK type of approach.
I personally feel the album sounds a bit washed up compared to the last two releases but I like your perspective on it. Do you have any favourite songs from it?
Battle Cry has long been my favorite Priest song, and it’s CRIMINAL it’s never been played live. It’s a modern heavy metal classic. I personally like the drum sound quite a lot. This album when played in full is a little boring however. Probably would’ve worked better by taking the strongest tracks and making an EP. I’ve listened to this album front to back maybe 15 times and I truly can’t remember half of it. Amazing highs though.
I personally feel the album sounds a bit washed up compared to the last two releases but I like your perspective on it. Do you have any favourite songs from it?
Yes, it’s crazy to me that almost 50 years into their career they had one of their most iconic live moments in 2015 - that being Halls of Valhalla live on Battle Cry. When I first heard that I was utterly blown away.
I ranked Redeemer Of Souls much higher (I prefer this style to the 70's), but its ranking is no surprise. The album has some great highs, but several of the songs are uninspired (unlike the previous album). First album with Richie (he does a great job as always), and the band seemed to want to capture all of their sounds throughout the albums with the songs on this one. The variety is good (and needed, especially if we look at the next 2 albums), but the material is not strong enough. This is the last album in which the twin-guitar style is presented.
The production is not good and muddy (especially the sound of the drums), but I like the raw sound of the guitars. An old school production. Rob's vocals are not that good here (with some exceptions), the drumming is interesting. Notable solos for me - Dragonaut, title track, Valhalla, Flames, Hell & Back, Cold, Secrets and Battle Cry.
The great material: Halls Of Valhalla (a modern classic for the band and a Top 10 song for me) and Battle Cry (classic Priest anthem).
Others - Dragonaut (strong opener), title track (really catchy, although being a bit stale), Sword Of Damocles (really interesting song in the Maiden style; that middle part!) and I've always liked Down In Flames with its classic single approach and melodies.
Songs like Secrets Of The Dead (interesting piece) and Beginning Of The End are nice and bring something different for the album. The rest of the songs, aside from some cool riffs and melodies, can't compare to the rest of the album. Like some of the material on AOR. Short songs can be boring too.
Out of the 5 bonus songs, Tears Of Blood was a must to be on the album. A true melodic gem (that riff!). The other songs could have brought some more diverse feel to it, but I understand why they were left out.
Since this is the first album with Richie, it's understandable that they wanted to try all styles/sounds - but they didn't played much of the album live. I think Richie's true sound started with the next album. This is an old school album for the band, but Redeemer doesn't work well as a whole piece, 9-10 songs would have been better imo. Something like this:
1.Dragonaut
2.Redeemer Of Souls
3.Halls Of Valhalla
4.Sword Of Damocles
5.Down In Flames
6.Tears Of Blood
7.Hell & Back/Cold Blooded (some cool parts)
8.Secrets Of The Dead
9.Battle Cry
10.Beginning Of The End
I think Redeemer has some excellent material that suffers from poor production. It's muddy, the drums sound like they're coming from a dungeon, and the whole thing has a demo quality to it. Now that we have two really crisp sounding Priest albums to compare it to, it makes the production deficiencies standout more. With that being said, I personally think the variety and personality on Redeemer make it a much more interesting album musically than either Firepower or Invincible Shield. IMO the band has leaned too heavily on Richie to carry them and while he has a lot to contribute, I find a lot of the new songs to be kinda bland sounding but with fancy production and guitar playing. Redeemer feels like a typical Priest album and Richie is taking more of a KK type of approach.
All that being said, I don't really disagree with the placement of the album. I will continue to defend it as a superior album to the ones that come next, but I tend to think that none of the Faulkner era albums are very good nor are they albums that I would go out of my way for. I just think there's a lot of forgettable songs and it's all just kinda bland. Redeemer suffers particularly from too many plodding songs, so I will at least give Firepower/Invincible Shield points for having higher energy songs.
Can't say I don't agree with this (I definitely don't agree about: not very good albums, a lot of forgettable songs or bland because the playing is inspired), but not only the energy and the production, the material is so much better in the next album (variety aside, longer songs can help for that). Invincible Shield is like Redeemer in a way for me. Typical Priest album indeed, I think their sound became a bit different (and maybe more melodic) with Firepower.
I always thought ROS was a very consistent album - hence the rating - with some fantastic songs, like Valhalla, Damocles, Battle Cry, and Beginning of the End. Only below Painkiller, Screaming for Vengeance, and Defenders of the Faith for me.
This one lands at the exact same slot as in my personal ranking.
I quite liked it when it was new, but had not listened to it in a long while. Before putting it on for this exercise, I was struck by just how unmemorable it was for me: I couldn't give you the complete track listing, a rare thing for me with a beloved band.
My strongest memory was of the bottom-of-a-heating-duct sound. That certainly was reinforced listening to it today with Invincible Shield so front-of-mind.
I think my most honest assessment of it today is that it hits all the requirements in terms of what you expect from Priest: the scope, the style, the songs, the performances, the variety, it's all there. The difference is, it all seems to be dialed back two notches.
Battle Cry, Damocles and Valhalla remain my favourites, just good, meat-and-potatoes classic metal sounds. The mid-section of Down in Flames cooks. Most of the rest is...fine? I mean, I don't actively dislike any of them. There are two exceptions, moments where it feels like the band is stretching for something different and reaching it. One is Secrets of the Dead. It's not 'great' per se, but very atmospheric with a great groove sliding that chorus along. The other is The Beginning of the End, which manages to merge the Gothic feel of the Sin After Sin ballads with an elegant melody.
Maybe the general lack of magic with the album is simply the result of Glenn being well into his decline while Richie is still tentatively looking for his footing? Everything seems at a 'not-bad' to 'good' level, instead of a good to great. It's Priest being Priest, but only dialed up to 7 rather than the 11 it is capable of.
Testament to the band that their 13th-best album is actually pretty good.
I always thought ROS was a very consistent album - hence the rating - with some fantastic songs, like Valhalla, Damocles, Battle Cry, and Beginning of the End. Only below Painkiller, Screaming for Vengeance, and Defenders of the Faith for me.
Maybe the general lack of magic with the album is simply the result of Glenn being well into his decline while Richie is still tentatively looking for his footing? Everything seems at a 'not-bad' to 'good' level, instead of a good to great. It's Priest being Priest, but only dialed up to 7 rather than the 11 it is capable of.
This is exactly it. It feels like Priest just…not being able to pull out all the stops. A lot of this is due to poor production, but it’s also the composition.
There’s not a single bad song here, but with the exception of Halls of Valhalla, Sword of Damocles and Battle Cry (which are all top tier), every song lives between a 5-7/10. It’s all…fine.
Shockingly, I think the biggest performance issue here is Rob Halford. His vocals lack punch. His choruses lack their usual power. He lays back more than he should. He lives far more in his mid-range, but without any of the fire that he usually infuses into melodies and performance.
This one dropped a half a point for me on this relisten, sliding down to a 6.9/10.
Metalizer, Crossfire and especially March Of The Damned are songs I really don't like, but they have some cool parts. The bonus song Creatures could easily replace all of them since it combines their style and sound, more or less.
Btw, Metalizer was their early choice for the album's title track. This song and Hell & Back were written before the sessions for the album (after Nostradamus I guess).
Shockingly, I think the biggest performance issue here is Rob Halford. His vocals lack punch. His choruses lack their usual power. He lays back more than he should. He lives far more in his mid-range, but without any of the fire that he usually infuses into melodies and performance.
To be honest I'm not sure I'm praising this album more than anyone else - I think I just like most of the other albums less, especially their earlier material. ROS is easily digestible comfort music.
I think it’s interesting that we’ve officially gone through a third of the discography and still haven’t gotten an album that most people here praise. It really highlights how uneven the Priest catalog is.
I think it’s interesting that we’ve officially gone through a third of the discography and still haven’t gotten an album that most people here praise. It really highlights how uneven the Priest catalog is.
No, not really. If you'd have done this on a Priest forum rather than a Maiden forum, the sentiments would most likely be fonder, same as if you'd do a Maiden album ranking game on a non-Maiden forum, a sizeable chunk of Maiden's album's would have either been divisive, or moderately ranked. There's little love for 90's Maiden anywhere else than on a Maiden forum, and the general sentiment is that the 80's albums are superior to reunion Maiden, while many go farther than than and think reunion Maiden is shit.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
