Judas Priest

Great production, fast paced album. I agree that songs sound somewhat samey but it's understandable, because there's one primary guitarist writer in the band nowadays (Faulkner, I doubt Glenn is much involved in riff writing)
Best songs: Panic Attack, Invincible Shield, Gates of Hell, Crown of Horns, Trial By Fire, Fight of Your Life, Giants in the Sky - hell yeah.
 
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Panic Attack - Firepower + Painkiller.
Serpent And King - pure Painkiller, Halford solo.
Invincible Shield - DOTF + early Reunion era.
Devil In Disguise - 70's era/early 80's, RID vibe.
Gates Of Hell - pure SFV (its closer) or POE.
Crown Of Horns - AOR + Firepower.
As God Is My Witness - Painkiller with a bit of RID.
Trial By Fire - Reunion era vibe.
Escape From Reality - 70's era, AOR, modern, Halford solo.
Sons Of Thunder - pure Firepower (Flame Thrower), early 2000's vibe.
Giants In The Sky - ROS/Firepower, 70's vibe.

Fight Of Your Life - Killing Machine/Stained Class with a bit of a modern vibe.
Vicious Circle - AOR/Nostradamus.

Azas said:
Great production, fast paced album. I agree that songs sound somewhat samey but it's understandable, because there's one primary guitarist writer in the band nowadays (Faulkner, I doubt Glenn is much involved in riff writing)
Best songs: Panic Attack, Invincible Shield, Gates of Hell, Crown of Horns, Trial By Fire, Fight of Your Life, Giants in the Sky - hell yeah.
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Is it just me or the production is slightly different than the previous album? About the songwriting, I guess you're right. No As God Is My Witness?
 
Five tracks in (Gates of Hell) and it’s good but feels very samey. I can’t really fault the vocals or performances but yet my mind is already wandering.

It’s like every track is the same meal. I like the meal but it’s getting very repetitive. Hoping it’s gets more varied in the tail end of the album. Didn’t Richie hint at a more proggy approach on this one?
 
Finished the record now and I really liked ‘As god is my witness’, ‘Escape from reality’ and ‘The Lodger’. Some tracks (Sons of thunder) totally generic and forgettable. Overall it’s a good album , 8/10 territory, but it’s not album of the year.
 
Kalata said:
Is it just me or the production is slightly different than the previous album? About the songwriting, I guess you're right. No As God Is My Witness?
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Yeah, production is a little bit different, more commercial/accessible? As God Is My Witness is not among my favorites.
Escape From Reality and Sons of Thunder I would call filler songs.
Very enjoyable album.
 
After 2 listens I'm kinda whelmed by the new Priest. The first 3 songs are bangers and then it gets really samey for most of the rest of it. I need time to gel with this a bit more. I am still drawn to the singles and am so familiar with those the other tracks kind of get lost. That's more of a me problem than an actual problem with the album itself though.

I am really not a fan of the Sneap McMetal production on here. Compare how this album sounds to the Saxon album that came out earlier this year. The production (guitar and drum tones in particular) are nearly identical. He does this templated sound for all records he does. I bet the new Accept album will also sound nearly identical. It just seems to rob the entire thing of any kind of personality whatsoever.

I do appreciate some of the changes Priest made here and I feel like there is more variety on this album than there was on Firepower. I also feel like the 3 bonus tracks can be skipped as well. Giants in the Sky feels like a proper final song to me anyway.

There's even a section of one number (can't recall at the moment) where Halford does a killer Ozzy impersonation!

Not quite as blown away with this as I was with Firepower but it's still good and I'm looking forward to more listens!
 
:mad: Fight of Your Life should have been on regular album, instead of Escape From Reality. Such a nice uplifting song. :edmetal:

Invincible Shield
Giants in the Sky
Fight or You Life

All those are Great.
I want more of these type tunes from Priest.
 
Donner said:
It just seems to rob the entire thing of any kind of personality whatsoever.
Not quite as blown away with this as I was with Firepower but it's still good and I'm looking forward to more listens!
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I agree.
Donner said:
Giants in the Sky feels like a proper final song to me anyway.
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It works as a closer, especially with the scream at the end. A nod to their early years.
Donner said:
and I feel like there is more variety on this album than there was on Firepower.
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I wouldn't say so.
Azas said:
Fight of Your Life should have been on regular album, instead of Escape From Reality. Such a nice uplifting song.
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Agreed on ''Fight Of Your Life'', that chorus is pure gold. I would have added ''Vicious Circle'' to the album too. It's a classic heavy Priest with a unique chorus. I would replace ''Devil In Disguise'' or ''Sons Of Thunder''. I don't like the vocals in the middle of ''Escape From Reality'' at all, but that chorus and heavy riff are just too good for me.
Azas said:
Invincible Shield
Giants in the Sky
Fight or You Life

All those are Great.
I want more of these type tunes from Priest.
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Everything I want from Priest (except a proper epic like Nostradamus) is on the album. Btw, I would have liked a Turbo-esque song!
 
Boroking said:
Five tracks in (Gates of Hell) and it’s good but feels very samey. I can’t really fault the vocals or performances but yet my mind is already wandering.

It’s like every track is the same meal. I like the meal but it’s getting very repetitive. Hoping it’s gets more varied in the tail end of the album. Didn’t Richie hint at a more proggy approach on this one?
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He did but I didn't hear it. I get what some are saying about it being "samey", but I still like it. This is what I want from Priest. With Maiden I now want, and get, a little something new and/or different
 
I can agree that it's not "Firepower II", whereas that was full of cool, heavy riffs I think this puts more emphasis on the melodic sections. They're what's caught my ear the most so far, but it seems the riffage has taken a bit of a back seat, I can't recall any of them. It's also lacking in Firepower's strong choruses, none of them have really stuck with me so far except Crown of Horns.
 
On my second full listen now. It's certainly enjoyable, but I think it's gonna take some time to sink in for me, mostly because each song is quite similar so I need to become more familiar with each one to be able to differentiate them.

Overall first impressions:

Pros:
  • It's definitely not a rehash of Firepower.
  • Lots of strong melodies throughout.
  • Halford sounds incredible*
  • There seem to be a lot more personal statements in the lyrics.
  • Production is good; crunchy, clear and powerful.
  • The energy. This is not a band that's been going 50 years, surely?
Cons:
  • *A little too incredible, I wonder just how much studio trickery was involved and how well these songs will work live.
  • Like Firepower, it's a bit samey in terms of song structures.
  • It's not very unique, the most memorable moments reminded me of something else.
  • Too few catchy riffs or choruses. "Crown of Horns" might be my favourite chorus so far, mostly because it's the only one I remember clearly.
  • Two related points: some of the instrumental sections are a bit meandering and a second guitarist is sorely missed, they could be more interesting if it were two guitarists playing off each other.
 
I really wonder what solos and other lead parts Glenn plays on the album. Rob said that there's like 3-4 tracks that have Tipton's lead work in them. Glenn or no Glenn, the guitars on the album are fantastic.
 
So far I'm pleasantly surprised, and definitely get the feel of a quite convincing stab at older style Priest material with some new energy. It's a move further away from the rut they'd got themselves into on Redeemer of Souls.

Rob is sounding spot on (apart from the few squawky Painkiller moments, I was never a fan of that), and there's some lovely guitar work in there. I don't think there's a lot of Glenn leads in there either, it strikes me as mostly Richie's creativity. He's good at playing soundalike, if anyone remembers his covid era Youtube request sessions.

I particularly like Gates of Hell and the solo in Devil In Disguise. Trial by Fire was already high on my list
 
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