Judas Priest Discography Discussion (part 2 starting page 20)
- Thread starter Mosh
- Start date
Defenders of the Faith does an excellent job at carrying the momentum from Screaming For Vengeance. It finally feels like there is some stability in the band. It's also a satisfying development. The previous album brought heaviness and energy back to Priest, but the music mostly continued to be simple with an emphasis on catchiness. One of the major exceptions is the title track, which is a speed metal romp with an extended/progressive instrumental section reminiscent of the 70s. Defenders takes the roadmap of that one song and creates an entire album out of it. The catchiness is still there, but the songs are darker and more complex. It's almost like Screaming For Vengeance meets Sin After Sin. Two of my favorite albums. The guitar solos here are more than just a break between vocal parts. They are typically components of a larger, more complicated instrumental sections. The riffs are intricate. Song structures are unpredictable. All of this is achieved by still having accessible songs in an Arena ready format.
The A side is very strong. I wouldn't say best ever (Moving Pictures immediately comes to mind) but it's up there and really pushes the album to the upper echelon of Priest. Each song has its own flavor but still fits perfectly with the songs around it. The flow is perfect. Freewheel Burning might not be the iconic opener that is The Hellion/Electric Eye, but no comparison is necessary. This song is just as effective. I love the spitfire vocal bridge and the guitar onslaught. Jawbreaker and Rock Hard Ride Free are the unsung heroes of the Priest catalog. Both songs are criminally underrepresented live. I love Halford's vocal performance on Jawbreaker and you wouldn't expect a song called Rock Hard Ride Free to have so much musical content. That instrumental section is epic. Saving the best for last is, of course, The Sentinel. How is this song only five minutes?? It's not even the longest song on the side but every time I listen to it I feel like I was taken on the type of journey you normally get with Maiden's longer tracks. Love the middle section. The chorus is definitely top 5 Priest.
Side 2 is much more of a mixed bag. Love Bites isn't bad but it's very out of place on this album. It's this odd combination of the plastic overly polished 80s sound and the dark/heavy tone of the album. It just doesn't really gel. It would probably work better on Turbo with that album's production. Nice instrumental buildup though. Eat Me Alive is also decent but a far cry from the quality found on the first side. It feels like a SFV outtake. The chorus is kinda annoying too.
I love the opening riff on Some Heads Are Gonna Roll. I don't know why, but it always gets me pumped. It's another simple song that is similar to some of the more radio-friendly material on the previous three albums. Probably the most obvious single material on the album, so it's a surprise that they buried it on the album. It's a great song though regardless.
When the Night Comes Down is a good ballad that is really unlike anything Priest had done before. It has the sort of intimacy that could be found on Sin After Sin and Stained Class but was mostly absent since then. I know it's a favorite among many fans and I enjoy it quite a bit, but it's not one I find myself going back to often.
Heavy Duty/Defenders of the Faith is OK. It's nice to see them attempt at having a definitive ending to an album as opposed to the more abrupt anticlimactic closers that you usually find on Priest albums. I'm not sure it works though. It's obviously created for a live audience, but once again the sing-along chorus ends up coming off as kinda goofy. It's at least a memorable closer.
Normally my approach with "album listening clubs" or discussion threads is to listen to the album once uninterrupted, then ideally several times more passively throughout the week. If I have the CD, I'll play it in the car. Then I'll listen to it again while writing a post here. I wrote the opening paragraph to this post before putting the album on, then wrote the rest as the album was playing. I realized about midway through side 2 that most of the praises I have for the album are based on the first side of the album. The second side is good too, but it really pales in comparison. The flow isn't nearly as seamless and the songs are a bit of a hodgepodge. There are callbacks to earlier albums, glimpses as what will come, and songs that are one-of-a-kind for Priest. There is some merit to this, but it also prevents me from placing Defenders in my top three. If the whole album was as strong as side 1, it would at least beat out Screaming for Vengeance and probably topple my #1 album as well. Those first four songs are that strong. However, if you remove those four songs, the album seriously drops down a peg. Again, side 2 isn't bad. I enjoy most of it. But every song on side 1 is a top ten contender.
The strange thing is that I don't feel like the second side is made up of filler either. It's not like they wrote the first four songs and then had no idea what to do next. In fact, I almost think it's the opposite. Some Heads Are Gonna Roll and Love Bites are both obvious single fodder. I think either management pressured them to write more commercial sounding songs after realizing that what they had so far wouldn't work on radio, or they wrote the singles first and then decided to go into a proggier direction. Really the only song that screams filler to me is Eat Me Alive. I don't know much about the history behind this album but I'd really like to learn more about what was going on in the Priest camp during this time. The radical change in direction that followed makes Defenders even more fascinating to me. It's like they were being pulled in several different directions. Overall I guess I would call it a flawed masterpiece.
One thing that isn't really being discussed here is the production. I love the sound of the 80s Priest albums, including Turbo. There is just so much attention to detail and nuance in these arrangements. Things such as little guitar noises, cymbal hits to bolster certain lyrical phrases, and sound effects. Priest may have had a lot of strength on stage, but they used the studio to their full advantage during the 80s. For the most part it all holds up pretty well too. There are definite artifacts of the 80s present on this album, but I still feel most of the textural elements were still made using an organic approach as opposed to drum machines and synthesizers. This is even true to some degree on Turbo. If I could criticize one aspect of the production it would be the reverb-laden drum sound. It could be worse (it is an 80s rock album after all) but I much prefer the drums on SFV.
The A side is very strong. I wouldn't say best ever (Moving Pictures immediately comes to mind) but it's up there and really pushes the album to the upper echelon of Priest. Each song has its own flavor but still fits perfectly with the songs around it. The flow is perfect. Freewheel Burning might not be the iconic opener that is The Hellion/Electric Eye, but no comparison is necessary. This song is just as effective. I love the spitfire vocal bridge and the guitar onslaught. Jawbreaker and Rock Hard Ride Free are the unsung heroes of the Priest catalog. Both songs are criminally underrepresented live. I love Halford's vocal performance on Jawbreaker and you wouldn't expect a song called Rock Hard Ride Free to have so much musical content. That instrumental section is epic. Saving the best for last is, of course, The Sentinel. How is this song only five minutes?? It's not even the longest song on the side but every time I listen to it I feel like I was taken on the type of journey you normally get with Maiden's longer tracks. Love the middle section. The chorus is definitely top 5 Priest.
Side 2 is much more of a mixed bag. Love Bites isn't bad but it's very out of place on this album. It's this odd combination of the plastic overly polished 80s sound and the dark/heavy tone of the album. It just doesn't really gel. It would probably work better on Turbo with that album's production. Nice instrumental buildup though. Eat Me Alive is also decent but a far cry from the quality found on the first side. It feels like a SFV outtake. The chorus is kinda annoying too.
I love the opening riff on Some Heads Are Gonna Roll. I don't know why, but it always gets me pumped. It's another simple song that is similar to some of the more radio-friendly material on the previous three albums. Probably the most obvious single material on the album, so it's a surprise that they buried it on the album. It's a great song though regardless.
When the Night Comes Down is a good ballad that is really unlike anything Priest had done before. It has the sort of intimacy that could be found on Sin After Sin and Stained Class but was mostly absent since then. I know it's a favorite among many fans and I enjoy it quite a bit, but it's not one I find myself going back to often.
Heavy Duty/Defenders of the Faith is OK. It's nice to see them attempt at having a definitive ending to an album as opposed to the more abrupt anticlimactic closers that you usually find on Priest albums. I'm not sure it works though. It's obviously created for a live audience, but once again the sing-along chorus ends up coming off as kinda goofy. It's at least a memorable closer.
Normally my approach with "album listening clubs" or discussion threads is to listen to the album once uninterrupted, then ideally several times more passively throughout the week. If I have the CD, I'll play it in the car. Then I'll listen to it again while writing a post here. I wrote the opening paragraph to this post before putting the album on, then wrote the rest as the album was playing. I realized about midway through side 2 that most of the praises I have for the album are based on the first side of the album. The second side is good too, but it really pales in comparison. The flow isn't nearly as seamless and the songs are a bit of a hodgepodge. There are callbacks to earlier albums, glimpses as what will come, and songs that are one-of-a-kind for Priest. There is some merit to this, but it also prevents me from placing Defenders in my top three. If the whole album was as strong as side 1, it would at least beat out Screaming for Vengeance and probably topple my #1 album as well. Those first four songs are that strong. However, if you remove those four songs, the album seriously drops down a peg. Again, side 2 isn't bad. I enjoy most of it. But every song on side 1 is a top ten contender.
The strange thing is that I don't feel like the second side is made up of filler either. It's not like they wrote the first four songs and then had no idea what to do next. In fact, I almost think it's the opposite. Some Heads Are Gonna Roll and Love Bites are both obvious single fodder. I think either management pressured them to write more commercial sounding songs after realizing that what they had so far wouldn't work on radio, or they wrote the singles first and then decided to go into a proggier direction. Really the only song that screams filler to me is Eat Me Alive. I don't know much about the history behind this album but I'd really like to learn more about what was going on in the Priest camp during this time. The radical change in direction that followed makes Defenders even more fascinating to me. It's like they were being pulled in several different directions. Overall I guess I would call it a flawed masterpiece.
One thing that isn't really being discussed here is the production. I love the sound of the 80s Priest albums, including Turbo. There is just so much attention to detail and nuance in these arrangements. Things such as little guitar noises, cymbal hits to bolster certain lyrical phrases, and sound effects. Priest may have had a lot of strength on stage, but they used the studio to their full advantage during the 80s. For the most part it all holds up pretty well too. There are definite artifacts of the 80s present on this album, but I still feel most of the textural elements were still made using an organic approach as opposed to drum machines and synthesizers. This is even true to some degree on Turbo. If I could criticize one aspect of the production it would be the reverb-laden drum sound. It could be worse (it is an 80s rock album after all) but I much prefer the drums on SFV.
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Turbo is a weird one. There are 4 great songs and everything else is just a desperate attempt at riding the glam metal wave of the late 80s. Those songs range from inoffensively OK (Private Property, Hot For Love) to pure garbage (Wild Nights, Rock You All Around the World). I don't really have a problem with the synths or production. It's a very different approach than what we got with Maiden for Somewhere In Time (put another point on the board for Maiden) and sometimes it works fairly well. The synth use is at least creative and they continued to make "organic" sound effects using guitars. It's a practice that dates all the way back to British Steel. In some ways this is British Steel for another era. Nowhere near as successful though obviously. Halford also sounds great on this album. He was going through a bit of a vocal renaissance from 1986 through the 90s. It's not that he sounded bad in the previous years, although his voice was very iffy live then, but he sounds much more controlled on these next few albums. Really my only major gripe with the album performance-wise is the drums. It's the same beat in every song, the same overly compressed 80s tone. No wonder he was replaced with a drum machine.
Turbo Lover is a great opener and was one of my favorite Priest tracks growing up. I talked about production in my post about Defenders and mentioned that I like a lot of the production on Turbo too. Most of that can be heard on the title track. The synth use is really effective and the guitars still have a lot of presence. I also like that a lot of the sound effects are still coming from guitars, be it string noises are various effects. The synths are there and prominent, but they coexist with the guitars. They're also synth guitars anyway I think. The middle section is amazing. The spacey synth sounds, the huge guitar harmonies, it shows that they haven't totally abandoned their instrumental prowess that was on display for the previous album. The bridge following the instrumental is also great. Just a really solid song all around with a nice atmosphere. Out In the Cold also has many of the same strengths. Awesome atmospheric intro and a great steady groove when the band kicks in. Probably the moodiest song on the album, a great contrast from the disposable material that proceeds it. Love the chorus. Another really solid instrumental section with an awesome little buildup. Everything here is worthy of Defenders' first side. Probably my personal favorite on the album and a song I'd love to see make a return. I think it would be easy on Halford's voice too.
The other two good songs also mirror each other. Locked In keeps the momentum going with a more guitar driven classic Priest sounding rocker. Another great song, but not as much to it sonically. Love the pre-chorus hook. Great buildup. Halford also gives a stellar performance. Reckless is the other guitar driven song of the album, although it is probably more traditional sounding. Even less synth presence. Wouldn't be too out of place on Screaming For Vengeance. Great vocal melodies. The fact that this song is literally buried on the album and was forgotten live says a lot about where their priorities were at the time. It's probably the most Priest sounding track on the album. For that reason, it feels very out of place (it also doesn't really feel like a closer, but that's par for the course with Priest). Both of these songs should be in the set more. At the very least, Reckless should be played live once.
As for everything else? This album starts to take a dive with Private Property. This is where the album starts to go more into generic arena rock territory. It's not too bad, actually pretty catchy, but it's the sort of pop song that could've been done by anyone. No real personality to it. Parental Guidance quickly follows with even more generic 80s schlock. I also get a huge kick out of the thought of a guy in his mid-30s complaining about his parents. Maybe they should bring this one back? Rock You All Around the World completes the trifecta with a bad 80s Kiss ripoff. This is the worst of the bunch IMO. Very forgettable. At least the previous two songs are kind of catchy. It's crazy how you can hear every single 80s artist that Priest is desperately trying to imitate. All North American artists BTW. Kiss, Twisted Sister, Bryan Adams. When you flip the record over, the quality takes a huge jump with Out in the Cold...only to fall again with Wild Nights. A song that, for me, is even worse than any of the previous three I mentioned. It just goes on seemingly forever. Easily the most obnoxious song on the album.
It's not my least favorite Priest album. Far from it. The quality gap between the good and bad is so wide that I struggle to rank it. I guess it's easy for me to forgive it when we got great songs such as Turbo Lover and Reckless out of it. It was also one of my first Priest albums, so it holds a special place for that reason.
Turbo Lover is a great opener and was one of my favorite Priest tracks growing up. I talked about production in my post about Defenders and mentioned that I like a lot of the production on Turbo too. Most of that can be heard on the title track. The synth use is really effective and the guitars still have a lot of presence. I also like that a lot of the sound effects are still coming from guitars, be it string noises are various effects. The synths are there and prominent, but they coexist with the guitars. They're also synth guitars anyway I think. The middle section is amazing. The spacey synth sounds, the huge guitar harmonies, it shows that they haven't totally abandoned their instrumental prowess that was on display for the previous album. The bridge following the instrumental is also great. Just a really solid song all around with a nice atmosphere. Out In the Cold also has many of the same strengths. Awesome atmospheric intro and a great steady groove when the band kicks in. Probably the moodiest song on the album, a great contrast from the disposable material that proceeds it. Love the chorus. Another really solid instrumental section with an awesome little buildup. Everything here is worthy of Defenders' first side. Probably my personal favorite on the album and a song I'd love to see make a return. I think it would be easy on Halford's voice too.
The other two good songs also mirror each other. Locked In keeps the momentum going with a more guitar driven classic Priest sounding rocker. Another great song, but not as much to it sonically. Love the pre-chorus hook. Great buildup. Halford also gives a stellar performance. Reckless is the other guitar driven song of the album, although it is probably more traditional sounding. Even less synth presence. Wouldn't be too out of place on Screaming For Vengeance. Great vocal melodies. The fact that this song is literally buried on the album and was forgotten live says a lot about where their priorities were at the time. It's probably the most Priest sounding track on the album. For that reason, it feels very out of place (it also doesn't really feel like a closer, but that's par for the course with Priest). Both of these songs should be in the set more. At the very least, Reckless should be played live once.
As for everything else? This album starts to take a dive with Private Property. This is where the album starts to go more into generic arena rock territory. It's not too bad, actually pretty catchy, but it's the sort of pop song that could've been done by anyone. No real personality to it. Parental Guidance quickly follows with even more generic 80s schlock. I also get a huge kick out of the thought of a guy in his mid-30s complaining about his parents. Maybe they should bring this one back? Rock You All Around the World completes the trifecta with a bad 80s Kiss ripoff. This is the worst of the bunch IMO. Very forgettable. At least the previous two songs are kind of catchy. It's crazy how you can hear every single 80s artist that Priest is desperately trying to imitate. All North American artists BTW. Kiss, Twisted Sister, Bryan Adams. When you flip the record over, the quality takes a huge jump with Out in the Cold...only to fall again with Wild Nights. A song that, for me, is even worse than any of the previous three I mentioned. It just goes on seemingly forever. Easily the most obnoxious song on the album.
It's not my least favorite Priest album. Far from it. The quality gap between the good and bad is so wide that I struggle to rank it. I guess it's easy for me to forgive it when we got great songs such as Turbo Lover and Reckless out of it. It was also one of my first Priest albums, so it holds a special place for that reason.
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Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
Firepower (2018)
1.Firepower - great way to start the album. Fantastic intro of the song and with the scream is perfect. The rhythm and the tempo of the song is fantastic and the twin lead guitar harmony is magical. The chorus is brutal, the speed of the song is unbelievable, short solo but great, and Rob sounds fantastic like during the whole album ! The build up in the song and in the solo is out of this world. 9/10
2.Lightning Strike - fantastic single. Very melodic with a great chorus - the start of the song is epic. The twin lead guitar harmony is also great, fantastic riff, again short solo and on the middle of the song I really like the high-pitched voice of Rob. The song has in it all of the great Priest aspects that you expect to hear form their song: scream, melody,twin lead guitar harmonies, brutal solos and great riff and chorus.... a greatest hit song for Priest. 10/10
3.Evil Never Dies - again, brutal start of the song, very heavy riff, great pre-chorus and the actual chorus is brutally fantastic ! The calm part in the middle of the song is great like on the Night Crawler. Top solos and I like a lot this part: ''The devil's got you in his sight''. 9/10
4.Never The Heroes - the intro of the song is like from Turbo album ! Good riff, fantastic chorus, short solo and overall it is a good slow tempo Priest song. 8/10
5.Necromancer - great song title btw. The build up at the start of the song is amazing, the pre-chorus is great, but the actual chorus is kinda weak. Mystic song - great riff and dual guitar solos. 8/10
6.Children Of The Sun - it sounds like a leftover from ROS. Great riff melody though. Good solo from Faulkner, the chorus is kinda lame, the calm middle part is not that great. I expected more from the song. 7/10
7.Guardians - the whole song is an amazing intro, with the piano sounds great - and it is very melodic. 10/10
8.Rising From Ruins - one of the highlights of the album ! Also, one of the best openings of a song ever. Faulkner's little solo at the start really suits the song. Amazingly good chorus, fantastic solo by Richie and the twin lead guitar harmony is majestic - the best that Priest ever done ! Everything about this song is great - it is a real diamond - classic Priest ! 10/10
9.Flame Thrower - good rocker. Fun song and it has a nice chorus. The guitar slide solo from Glenn is wow. Rob is crazy in this part of the song: ''Don't you believe you stand a chance in hell''. 7/10
10.Specter - not a bad song, very heavy riff, the pre-chorus is interesting and the intro too. The actual chorus is very good ! The solo is strange, but Faulkner does a great guitar fills. The twin lead guitar harmony is also good - the calm middle part is strange. 7/10
11.Traitors Gate - the other diamond from the album - that is my favorite song from it and it is the best one ! The intro is epic, reminds me of Manowar's Battle Hymn. The start, the riff and the build up of the song is superb ! Rob sounds fantastic, the chorus is good - the middle part is great. The solo is not bad, but the twin guitar harmony after it with the who-a part is magical ! Mannnn , that riff is so awesome. A real gem from this album ! 10/10
12.No Surrender - great short rocker. The chorus is so catchy. It has that Hell Bent For Leather type of song in its veins and it could had been a hit single. The solo is very good. 10/10
13.Lone Wolf - strange song. The chorus is not so good, but not so bad too, but the riff and the verse after it are the best part of the song. The twin lead guitar harmony is again great ! 7/10
14.Sea Of Red - a fucking great ballad and it is perfect to close this special album ! The intro is amazing, makes you dream, the chorus is very melancholic and meaningful. Rob sounds amazing on this song ! The slow and calm verses are fantastic. Faulkner's solo is amazing too. This ballad is better than Beginning Of The End, the last song from the previous album - it become a tradition for Priest to close the albums with a ballad. 10/10
Album rating – 8.7/10
This album is a masterpiece ! Not a single bad song on it - all killer, no filler.... Robs sounds amazing through the whole album. Richie Faulkner shines on this record more than the previous one, especially with his solos and I've noticed that on this and the previous album he does most of the solos. Fantastic album cover too. The songs that I gave 7, actually, I wanted to give them 8
I don't know how Maiden can top this album - it will be a hard task ! I hope guys, you will like my review of the Firepower album. 
1.Firepower - great way to start the album. Fantastic intro of the song and with the scream is perfect. The rhythm and the tempo of the song is fantastic and the twin lead guitar harmony is magical. The chorus is brutal, the speed of the song is unbelievable, short solo but great, and Rob sounds fantastic like during the whole album ! The build up in the song and in the solo is out of this world. 9/10
2.Lightning Strike - fantastic single. Very melodic with a great chorus - the start of the song is epic. The twin lead guitar harmony is also great, fantastic riff, again short solo and on the middle of the song I really like the high-pitched voice of Rob. The song has in it all of the great Priest aspects that you expect to hear form their song: scream, melody,twin lead guitar harmonies, brutal solos and great riff and chorus.... a greatest hit song for Priest. 10/10
3.Evil Never Dies - again, brutal start of the song, very heavy riff, great pre-chorus and the actual chorus is brutally fantastic ! The calm part in the middle of the song is great like on the Night Crawler. Top solos and I like a lot this part: ''The devil's got you in his sight''. 9/10
4.Never The Heroes - the intro of the song is like from Turbo album ! Good riff, fantastic chorus, short solo and overall it is a good slow tempo Priest song. 8/10
5.Necromancer - great song title btw. The build up at the start of the song is amazing, the pre-chorus is great, but the actual chorus is kinda weak. Mystic song - great riff and dual guitar solos. 8/10
6.Children Of The Sun - it sounds like a leftover from ROS. Great riff melody though. Good solo from Faulkner, the chorus is kinda lame, the calm middle part is not that great. I expected more from the song. 7/10
7.Guardians - the whole song is an amazing intro, with the piano sounds great - and it is very melodic. 10/10
8.Rising From Ruins - one of the highlights of the album ! Also, one of the best openings of a song ever. Faulkner's little solo at the start really suits the song. Amazingly good chorus, fantastic solo by Richie and the twin lead guitar harmony is majestic - the best that Priest ever done ! Everything about this song is great - it is a real diamond - classic Priest ! 10/10
9.Flame Thrower - good rocker. Fun song and it has a nice chorus. The guitar slide solo from Glenn is wow. Rob is crazy in this part of the song: ''Don't you believe you stand a chance in hell''. 7/10
10.Specter - not a bad song, very heavy riff, the pre-chorus is interesting and the intro too. The actual chorus is very good ! The solo is strange, but Faulkner does a great guitar fills. The twin lead guitar harmony is also good - the calm middle part is strange. 7/10
11.Traitors Gate - the other diamond from the album - that is my favorite song from it and it is the best one ! The intro is epic, reminds me of Manowar's Battle Hymn. The start, the riff and the build up of the song is superb ! Rob sounds fantastic, the chorus is good - the middle part is great. The solo is not bad, but the twin guitar harmony after it with the who-a part is magical ! Mannnn , that riff is so awesome. A real gem from this album ! 10/10
12.No Surrender - great short rocker. The chorus is so catchy. It has that Hell Bent For Leather type of song in its veins and it could had been a hit single. The solo is very good. 10/10
13.Lone Wolf - strange song. The chorus is not so good, but not so bad too, but the riff and the verse after it are the best part of the song. The twin lead guitar harmony is again great ! 7/10
14.Sea Of Red - a fucking great ballad and it is perfect to close this special album ! The intro is amazing, makes you dream, the chorus is very melancholic and meaningful. Rob sounds amazing on this song ! The slow and calm verses are fantastic. Faulkner's solo is amazing too. This ballad is better than Beginning Of The End, the last song from the previous album - it become a tradition for Priest to close the albums with a ballad. 10/10
Album rating – 8.7/10
This album is a masterpiece ! Not a single bad song on it - all killer, no filler.... Robs sounds amazing through the whole album. Richie Faulkner shines on this record more than the previous one, especially with his solos and I've noticed that on this and the previous album he does most of the solos. Fantastic album cover too. The songs that I gave 7, actually, I wanted to give them 8
I don't know how Maiden can top this album - it will be a hard task ! I hope guys, you will like my review of the Firepower album. 
Edington
Last Son of The Miracle
Huh. I love Lone Wolf! It's brilliant, has a really cool Black Sabbath feel to it.
Spectre is probably the only song I don't really like, but even then I wouldn't say it's bad, just doesn't gel with me. Flame Thrower is awesomely silly, I like it a lot. I used to think of No Surrender as filler, but it has grown on me a lot. Traitors Gate would be a ten if it weren't for the slightly out of place harmony section after the solo, other than that - brilliant. Necromancer is my favourite from the album, those riffs are brutal.
The only problems I have with the album are the length - though I don't know what I would want to remove - and that a lot of the songs have similar structures, but other than that it's incredible, far better than I ever expected it to be.
Firepower - 9
Lightning Strike - 8
Evil Never Dies - 9 (though sometimes I think I could give it a ten)
Never The Heroes - 9
Necromancer - 10
Children of the Sun - 8/9
Guardians/Rising From Ruins - 10
Flame Thrower - 8
Spectre - 7
Traitors Gate - 9
No Surrender - 8
Lone Wolf - 10
Sea of Red - 8
Lightning Strike - 8
Evil Never Dies - 9 (though sometimes I think I could give it a ten)
Never The Heroes - 9
Necromancer - 10
Children of the Sun - 8/9
Guardians/Rising From Ruins - 10
Flame Thrower - 8
Spectre - 7
Traitors Gate - 9
No Surrender - 8
Lone Wolf - 10
Sea of Red - 8
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
I think Faulkner had said that originally the album should have been 10 songs, the other 4 would have been as a bonus songs, but then they decide that all of the songs are really good and every one of them brings something special, unique to the album and that's why they ended up on Firepower.
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srfc
Ancient Mariner
I've always got a good laugh at that as well. You might excuse it on a bands first album like W.A.S.P.'s School Daze for instance, but on a bands 10th (tenth)!
Good review almost exactly my opinion. One little caveat I'd add is I love the switch to a different verse after the first chorus in Turbo Lover.
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
For me it was the right decision. Look what happened with Redeemer Of Souls - the 5 bonus songs that had been left off the album are better than half of the album.
Firepower is perfect with its 14 songs.
Edington
Last Son of The Miracle
Speaking of @MrKnickerbocker , where's the Jugulator review at? Been looking forward to that 
MrKnickerbocker
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Speaking of @MrKnickerbocker , where's the Jugulator review at? Been looking forward to that
JUST about to start it actually, though I’m very much not looking forward to it. Based on previous listens, this will either be my longest or shortest review yet.
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
I wish I could satisfy your desire for incredible specifics but the thing is, Foro, every song on this album repeats the same problems.
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
Reviewed three songs and then needed this just to keep going...
MrKnickerbocker
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I sincerely hope that things can only go up from here...
Jugulator (1997)
Jugulator – The intro begins incredibly dark and metallic, almost industrial. We get some deep sighs and minor-key arpeggios and…this is a very different Judas Priest. It sounds more like a Sabbath track off Dehumanizer. Rob Halford is replaced with Ripper Owens and the band has to prove that the new guy is up to the task, so naturally the first time we ever hear Ripper he’s doing a lame spoken word intro that sounds like Dave Mustaine. Great decision, gents. Double bass ushers in the scream that should’ve opened the album. The music on this track is pummeling, but it sounds more like Anthrax than Priest. There’s grunting and Ripper is singing mostly in a lame Hetfield/Anselmo impression with some occasional falsetto wails (that do sound amazing) and more Mustaine inflections. Some of the riffing is intense, but completely indistinct. It sounds cool but there’s nothing catchy about it. The lead guitar tones are atrocious (literally the worst they’ve ever had), the lyrics are godawful, and there’s not a single melody to be found. What is this song even talking about? I commend them for adding an “-or” song to the discography instead of another “-er” song, but it’s actual nonsense. “Predit hater?” Seriously, go home boys. 2/10
Blood Stained – Track two opens exactly the same as track one, with dark arpeggios and sound effects. The riff kicks in and sounds like it should be the opening track to a Sevendust album. Blood Stained has a better vocal arrangement and the chug riffing is definitely catchier than track one, but Ripper is only utilized to grunt and yell during the chorus instead of singing like the lead singer of Judas Fucking Priest. The bridge melody sounds lifted from an Alice in Chains records. I get that they are trying to go darker and satisfy the sound of the times, but this music just isn’t good. If you told me that this was a completely different band from Painkiller, I’d believe you. It sounds nothing like Glenn and KK. Blood Stained is better than the title track, but still not good at all by Priest’s standards. 4/10
Dead Meat – This one kicks off thrashier than the previous two and sounds for one second like a Priest riff, but then we’re “treated” to atonal harmonics and more TUFF RIPPER vocals. I don’t understand why they hired a guy famous for singing like Halford and then have him sing completely unlike Halford. His delivery of “surrender” during the chorus here is so cringe-inducing (like Blaze in Lightning Strikes Twice). There’s just no melody in this song. The solos again sound like Kerry King playing through a cheese grater inside of a potato. Halford’s absence is sorely felt. So far, every song on this album is too long by at least 1.5 minutes. Ripper gets in a few good wails, but this song still sucks. 2/10
Death Row – More lame sound effects and terrible voice acting worse than Megadeth’s “Captive Honour” and more dark arpeggios. I don’t know why 90’s metal was so obsessed with voice acting, but it’s one of my least favorite aspects of the genre. The riffs here are similarly rhythm-based and unmelodic (and even sound more Pantera-ish than before). Ripper is unidentifiable in tone as he mostly yells and says “lee-ver” as though he isn’t an American. The chorus isn’t terrible for any other band, but it’s incredibly lame for Priest. More voice acting, more poor guitar leads (now with wah!), and the song just keeps limping along. On the plus side: I hear some cool slap bass and Scott Travis really kills the double bass. The song ends with (surprise, surprise) more sound effects and arpeggios. 3/10
Decapitate – We’re verging on nü metal territory with this atonal intro and things just get worse with the unmelodic verses (“Your head – you will lose it!”). The lyrics and vocals seem like an afterthought to music that was already an afterthought. Ripper’s got at least 5 vocal layers going at once to make him sound like he has depth. Somewhere beneath the disgusting guitar tone there’s actually some cool playing, too bad it sounds like ass. More voice acting with bad jokes? Fuck it, I’m out. This song is offensively stupid and lazy. 1/10
Burn in Hell – Evil arpeggio? Check. Sound FX? Check. Distorted bass groove: oh, that’s actually kind of cool. Am I crazy or does this sound a little like Enter Sandman? The first verse and chorus contain the most personality and real performance I’ve heard from Ripper yet. I don’t love it, but he’s really digging into the material. “Scream in the niiiiiiiiiight!” The chorus is actually catchy, though still not up to regular Priest standards. By the time the Lars-ish drum intros end and the band kicks in, this is a pretty cool tune. Even the lead guitar tones are decent! Ripper fucking shreds this song, he sounds legitimately scary and his highs are quite impressive. The Metallica vibes are overwhelming, but this is easily the most solid song yet. The outro riff is seriously cool and so far the only successful attempt at the “dark, evil” tone they’ve been searching for on this album. Burn in Hell is one of only two songs worth listening to from this release. 7/10
Brain Dead – Cheese graters return, sound effects never cease, single-note riffs start the proceedings…before a decidedly heavier, groove metal riff kicks in. Lyrically this song is a reinterpretation of Metallica’s “One” and it’s nowhere near as good. The idea of the life support beeping along to the tempo is cool, but becomes annoying very quickly. TUFF GUY RIPPER returns for the chorus and his best range is never utilized. I think good notes are being played during the solos, but it sounds like a Nine Inch Nails outtake farting into a microphone. Dave Mustaine returns in the bridge. Another forgettable, annoyingly bad song. 2/10
Abductors – Who produced this trash? At what point does the producer step in and say: “Every fucking song opens with the same thing, gentlemen, maybe let’s edit that out?” Ripper finally uses his best (shriek) range throughout half this song, but the material is not good. It’s more industrial metal, paint-by-numbers songwriting with terrible lyrics. “They mentally rape you!” Ronnie Fucking Dio, guys, just stop it. There’s a rare moment where the band attempts an acoustically-driven, melodic moment and it still has zero fucking melody. Cheers to that bass guitar, though. The bass and drum fill after the acoustic section is super quick and cool. Thank Dio the song picks up halfway through, even if they waste it by returning to the intro. Once again, this song is far too long. Extra point goes to Ripper for shrieking a lot. Minus one point for that stupid final line. 3/10
Bullet Train – There’s some more atmosphere noises at the top of this track, but at least the riffs start rather quickly. The drums, again, are in top form. Ripper lends a really nice shriek to the intro but the song becomes a mess of FX and conflicted playing. There’s so many different riffs and backing vocals and sound effects happening that this whole thing just sounds like rotting shit. Ripper pretends to be British again by saying, “ah-gain.” We end with literal TUFF GUY “WHO-AH’s!” and I want to cut off my ears. 1/10
Cathedral Spires – Another arpeggio breaks the lack of silence and…wait a minute, this one has melody?! And there’s a second guitar with more melody? AND A THIRD GUITAR WAILING IN THE BACKGROUND? And Ripper is singing with melody?!!!!! HOLY SHIT IS THIS GOING TO SOUND LIKE AN ACTUAL JUDAS PRIEST SONG?! Yes. And no. Ripper’s got a lot of help with vocal layers during the intro, but it still sounds great. It’s moody, melancholic, and more importantly: melodic. The heavy riffs that kick in are pretty stock, but I’m still on board. The verses are oddly timed; I can’t tell what the time signature is, but I like it. The chorus has some TUFF GUY vocals, but they’re minimal. It’s very proggy. The melody kind of grabs you after 4-5 listens. There’s something truly triumphant and regal about this chorus that I haven’t heard before in Priest’s music. I guess if this is the one truly great song from this album, it might be worth it? I don’t know. Maybe not. The solo after the bridge (I think it’s KK!) is quite nice. Just when you think the song is over, we get overdub after overdub of Ripper becoming a metal gospel choir and it’s glorious. His last high is incredible. Cathedral Spires is not a perfect song, but I’m willing to bet it’s as good as Ripper Priest gets. 9/10
I don’t want to be overly negative here, but I really can’t help it. Judas Priest has always been a band that thrives on experimentation. They’ve gone from heavy blues to proto-metal to glam rock to straight up classic heavy metal to speed metal to melodic metal to radio hard rock to synth-wave pop rock and now…this. I appreciate that Judas Priest is not a band to consistently sound the same, but at the same time there are certain tenants of their music that I expect regardless of their current experiment, such as:
- catchy vocal hooks
- twin guitar riffs and harmonies
- some form of melody, either in the instrumentation or the vocals
Jugulator doesn’t just replace a vocalist, it completely abandons the Judas Priest identity that I enjoy. Even when I disliked a previous album (Point of Entry or Turbo or Ram It Down) I could still rely on a few songs with solid guitar parts, decent production, catchy vocals with good performances, or an underlying sense of melodic balance. This new era of Priest has none of those qualities and I can’t help but be incredibly disappointed.
One positive: this is the most prominent bass guitar I’ve heard on a Priest record. Ian Hill is slapping, popping, and pulling some cool fills out of the gutter music (especially in Death Row, Decapitate, and Cathedral Spires). Also, Travis remains an incredible studio drummer.
Side note: Glenn Tipton is an absolutely atrocious lyricist. Ripper should have stepped up to the plate.
Album rating – 3.6/10
Jugulator (1997)
Jugulator – The intro begins incredibly dark and metallic, almost industrial. We get some deep sighs and minor-key arpeggios and…this is a very different Judas Priest. It sounds more like a Sabbath track off Dehumanizer. Rob Halford is replaced with Ripper Owens and the band has to prove that the new guy is up to the task, so naturally the first time we ever hear Ripper he’s doing a lame spoken word intro that sounds like Dave Mustaine. Great decision, gents. Double bass ushers in the scream that should’ve opened the album. The music on this track is pummeling, but it sounds more like Anthrax than Priest. There’s grunting and Ripper is singing mostly in a lame Hetfield/Anselmo impression with some occasional falsetto wails (that do sound amazing) and more Mustaine inflections. Some of the riffing is intense, but completely indistinct. It sounds cool but there’s nothing catchy about it. The lead guitar tones are atrocious (literally the worst they’ve ever had), the lyrics are godawful, and there’s not a single melody to be found. What is this song even talking about? I commend them for adding an “-or” song to the discography instead of another “-er” song, but it’s actual nonsense. “Predit hater?” Seriously, go home boys. 2/10
Blood Stained – Track two opens exactly the same as track one, with dark arpeggios and sound effects. The riff kicks in and sounds like it should be the opening track to a Sevendust album. Blood Stained has a better vocal arrangement and the chug riffing is definitely catchier than track one, but Ripper is only utilized to grunt and yell during the chorus instead of singing like the lead singer of Judas Fucking Priest. The bridge melody sounds lifted from an Alice in Chains records. I get that they are trying to go darker and satisfy the sound of the times, but this music just isn’t good. If you told me that this was a completely different band from Painkiller, I’d believe you. It sounds nothing like Glenn and KK. Blood Stained is better than the title track, but still not good at all by Priest’s standards. 4/10
Dead Meat – This one kicks off thrashier than the previous two and sounds for one second like a Priest riff, but then we’re “treated” to atonal harmonics and more TUFF RIPPER vocals. I don’t understand why they hired a guy famous for singing like Halford and then have him sing completely unlike Halford. His delivery of “surrender” during the chorus here is so cringe-inducing (like Blaze in Lightning Strikes Twice). There’s just no melody in this song. The solos again sound like Kerry King playing through a cheese grater inside of a potato. Halford’s absence is sorely felt. So far, every song on this album is too long by at least 1.5 minutes. Ripper gets in a few good wails, but this song still sucks. 2/10
Death Row – More lame sound effects and terrible voice acting worse than Megadeth’s “Captive Honour” and more dark arpeggios. I don’t know why 90’s metal was so obsessed with voice acting, but it’s one of my least favorite aspects of the genre. The riffs here are similarly rhythm-based and unmelodic (and even sound more Pantera-ish than before). Ripper is unidentifiable in tone as he mostly yells and says “lee-ver” as though he isn’t an American. The chorus isn’t terrible for any other band, but it’s incredibly lame for Priest. More voice acting, more poor guitar leads (now with wah!), and the song just keeps limping along. On the plus side: I hear some cool slap bass and Scott Travis really kills the double bass. The song ends with (surprise, surprise) more sound effects and arpeggios. 3/10
Decapitate – We’re verging on nü metal territory with this atonal intro and things just get worse with the unmelodic verses (“Your head – you will lose it!”). The lyrics and vocals seem like an afterthought to music that was already an afterthought. Ripper’s got at least 5 vocal layers going at once to make him sound like he has depth. Somewhere beneath the disgusting guitar tone there’s actually some cool playing, too bad it sounds like ass. More voice acting with bad jokes? Fuck it, I’m out. This song is offensively stupid and lazy. 1/10
Burn in Hell – Evil arpeggio? Check. Sound FX? Check. Distorted bass groove: oh, that’s actually kind of cool. Am I crazy or does this sound a little like Enter Sandman? The first verse and chorus contain the most personality and real performance I’ve heard from Ripper yet. I don’t love it, but he’s really digging into the material. “Scream in the niiiiiiiiiight!” The chorus is actually catchy, though still not up to regular Priest standards. By the time the Lars-ish drum intros end and the band kicks in, this is a pretty cool tune. Even the lead guitar tones are decent! Ripper fucking shreds this song, he sounds legitimately scary and his highs are quite impressive. The Metallica vibes are overwhelming, but this is easily the most solid song yet. The outro riff is seriously cool and so far the only successful attempt at the “dark, evil” tone they’ve been searching for on this album. Burn in Hell is one of only two songs worth listening to from this release. 7/10
Brain Dead – Cheese graters return, sound effects never cease, single-note riffs start the proceedings…before a decidedly heavier, groove metal riff kicks in. Lyrically this song is a reinterpretation of Metallica’s “One” and it’s nowhere near as good. The idea of the life support beeping along to the tempo is cool, but becomes annoying very quickly. TUFF GUY RIPPER returns for the chorus and his best range is never utilized. I think good notes are being played during the solos, but it sounds like a Nine Inch Nails outtake farting into a microphone. Dave Mustaine returns in the bridge. Another forgettable, annoyingly bad song. 2/10
Abductors – Who produced this trash? At what point does the producer step in and say: “Every fucking song opens with the same thing, gentlemen, maybe let’s edit that out?” Ripper finally uses his best (shriek) range throughout half this song, but the material is not good. It’s more industrial metal, paint-by-numbers songwriting with terrible lyrics. “They mentally rape you!” Ronnie Fucking Dio, guys, just stop it. There’s a rare moment where the band attempts an acoustically-driven, melodic moment and it still has zero fucking melody. Cheers to that bass guitar, though. The bass and drum fill after the acoustic section is super quick and cool. Thank Dio the song picks up halfway through, even if they waste it by returning to the intro. Once again, this song is far too long. Extra point goes to Ripper for shrieking a lot. Minus one point for that stupid final line. 3/10
Bullet Train – There’s some more atmosphere noises at the top of this track, but at least the riffs start rather quickly. The drums, again, are in top form. Ripper lends a really nice shriek to the intro but the song becomes a mess of FX and conflicted playing. There’s so many different riffs and backing vocals and sound effects happening that this whole thing just sounds like rotting shit. Ripper pretends to be British again by saying, “ah-gain.” We end with literal TUFF GUY “WHO-AH’s!” and I want to cut off my ears. 1/10
Cathedral Spires – Another arpeggio breaks the lack of silence and…wait a minute, this one has melody?! And there’s a second guitar with more melody? AND A THIRD GUITAR WAILING IN THE BACKGROUND? And Ripper is singing with melody?!!!!! HOLY SHIT IS THIS GOING TO SOUND LIKE AN ACTUAL JUDAS PRIEST SONG?! Yes. And no. Ripper’s got a lot of help with vocal layers during the intro, but it still sounds great. It’s moody, melancholic, and more importantly: melodic. The heavy riffs that kick in are pretty stock, but I’m still on board. The verses are oddly timed; I can’t tell what the time signature is, but I like it. The chorus has some TUFF GUY vocals, but they’re minimal. It’s very proggy. The melody kind of grabs you after 4-5 listens. There’s something truly triumphant and regal about this chorus that I haven’t heard before in Priest’s music. I guess if this is the one truly great song from this album, it might be worth it? I don’t know. Maybe not. The solo after the bridge (I think it’s KK!) is quite nice. Just when you think the song is over, we get overdub after overdub of Ripper becoming a metal gospel choir and it’s glorious. His last high is incredible. Cathedral Spires is not a perfect song, but I’m willing to bet it’s as good as Ripper Priest gets. 9/10
I don’t want to be overly negative here, but I really can’t help it. Judas Priest has always been a band that thrives on experimentation. They’ve gone from heavy blues to proto-metal to glam rock to straight up classic heavy metal to speed metal to melodic metal to radio hard rock to synth-wave pop rock and now…this. I appreciate that Judas Priest is not a band to consistently sound the same, but at the same time there are certain tenants of their music that I expect regardless of their current experiment, such as:
- catchy vocal hooks
- twin guitar riffs and harmonies
- some form of melody, either in the instrumentation or the vocals
Jugulator doesn’t just replace a vocalist, it completely abandons the Judas Priest identity that I enjoy. Even when I disliked a previous album (Point of Entry or Turbo or Ram It Down) I could still rely on a few songs with solid guitar parts, decent production, catchy vocals with good performances, or an underlying sense of melodic balance. This new era of Priest has none of those qualities and I can’t help but be incredibly disappointed.
One positive: this is the most prominent bass guitar I’ve heard on a Priest record. Ian Hill is slapping, popping, and pulling some cool fills out of the gutter music (especially in Death Row, Decapitate, and Cathedral Spires). Also, Travis remains an incredible studio drummer.
Side note: Glenn Tipton is an absolutely atrocious lyricist. Ripper should have stepped up to the plate.
Album rating – 3.6/10