Judas Priest

What I meant wasn't the direction of the music. It's not like Priest have gone all "modern Kerrang" on us, but the sound of the album is very modern, punchy...crisp, everything very audible. The guitar tone in particular sounds very modern/fresh to me :)
 
To be honest with you I also agree with Foro. Apart from the modern sounding production I also found there are some quite modern and tight riffs that could have been included a modern Metallica album. However I heard some Accept in there. However the lack of "just play along power chords under the vocals" 80s Priest are now closer to some really cool riffs. It kind of makes me think of modern stoner bands. As a whole the album gave me a feeling that I got by listening to the Bruce and Halford's personal albums.....especially Fight and Tyranny of souls.
 
I haven’t gotten around to listening to this yet but based on what I’ve heard it’s Priest just doing what they do best. They’ve always been about more direct and accessible metal. Maiden had that side too of course, but there was always room for proggier stuff. I fail to see how The Book of Souls is that much different than Powerslave from a songwriting and performance aspect. I see the point on production though.
 
Mosh said:
I haven’t gotten around to listening to this yet but based on what I’ve heard it’s Priest just doing what they do best. They’ve always been about more direct and accessible metal. Maiden had that side too of course, but there was always room for proggier stuff. I fail to see how The Book of Souls is that much different than Powerslave from a songwriting and performance aspect. I see the point on production though.
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No pianos or synthesizers on Powerslave :p
 
This is really what I mean.
Mosh said:
They’ve always been about more direct and accessible metal.
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It's old school heavy metal, punchy, to-the-point, fun, catchy melodies.

SixesAlltheway said:
What I meant wasn't the direction of the music. It's not like Priest have gone all "modern Kerrang" on us, but the sound of the album is very modern, punchy...crisp, everything very audible. The guitar tone in particular sounds very modern/fresh to me :)
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Got you. :ok: Yes, Priest's sound/production on this album is very crisp. I felt some of their past efforts have being actively attempting to reproduce the boxy sound of old 70s recordings and LPs, maybe as a retro nostalgia thing - because it's the "classic Priest" sound.
 
Wow. This is quite something.

Judas Priest's "Firepower" has landed at position No. 5 on the U.K. albums chart. It marks the band's highest ranking, and first time in the Top 10, since "British Steel" reached No. 4 in 1980. Elsewhere, "Firepower" has become Priest's first-ever No. 1 in Sweden, while in the U.S., the album is expected to enter the Billboard 200 at No. 2, bested only by David Byrne's "American Utopia".

=======

year // album title // UK peak chart positions // US peak chart positions // Certification(s)

1974 Rocka Rolla // .. // .. // ..
1976 Sad Wings of Destiny // .. // .. // ..
1977 Sin After Sin // 23 // .. // US: Gold
1978 Stained Class // 27 // 173 // US: Gold
1978 Killing Machine (released in the US as Hell Bent for Leather) // 32 // 128 // US: Gold
1980 British Steel // 4 // 34 // UK: Silver, CAN: Gold, SWE: Gold, US: Platinum
1981 Point of Entry // 14 // 39 // UK: Silver, US: Gold
1982 Screaming for Vengeance // 11 // 17 // CAN: Platinum, SWE: Gold, US: 2× Platinum
1984 Defenders of the Faith // 19 // 18 // CAN: Platinum, SPA: Gold, US: Platinum
1986 Turbo // 33 // 17 // CAN: Platinum, SPA: Gold,US: Platinum
1988 Ram It Down // 24 // 31 // CAN: Gold, US: Gold
1990 Painkiller // 26 // 26 // CAN: Gold, US: Gold, JP: Gold
1997 Jugulator // .. // 82 // ..
2001 Demolition // .. // 165 // ..
2005 Angel of Retribution // 39 // 13 // ..
2008 Nostradamus // 30 //11 // ..
2014 Redeemer of Souls // 12 // 6 // ..
2018 Firepower // 5 // 2?? // ??
 
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Gk1 said:
They managed to make 3 guitars sound like 1 and a half in their records.
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You probably need to listen to those records again with headphones to appreciate 3 guitars sounding completely different (and in many cases, having more than three guitars playing different things).
 
Gk1 said:
It is just not worth is.
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Gk1 said:
There are facts and then there are opinions. I feel that when a record is good, you don't necessarily need to be the specific band's fan to enjoy it. I know people that enjoy different metal genres....none of them had something bad to say about the Priest album. It is a fact that you don't need to push yourself to enjoy it. It flows effortlessly. Everyone I know did a major effort to like BOS, I assure you I am the last one still listening to it......cause I lived and breathed Maiden almost all my life. How can someone praise the Maiden albums that had a plethora of melodies, riffs and agile instrumentation.....and then also like BOS which has around one third of the riffs and melodies of an old Maiden album that has half the duration. Anyway. I don't mean to be rude. I am just really disappointed. At least it was an improvement over TFF.

At least Priest has been quite consistent and I am really happy with the new album.
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Are you serious, or is this a joke I'm not getting?
 
I think Judas Priest have been way more inconsistent compared to Maiden in the 2000s and i'm not a fanboy that loves every post-reunion Maiden album... but man did they deliver some asskicking metal with this one! I wasn't a fan of the 2 albums before this one, i thought the production ruined Redeemer and Nostradamus was just a giant mistake and let's not even talk about Demolition.
 
It may chart high but I suspect the figures are low in comparison to yesteryear.
The sound lacks all the subtle nuances and deft light touches that made Priest so special to me. Redeemer still had it even with Faulkner. I think Sneap's production is uninteresting. Very safe and for the kids.
I put on Metalizer after Firepower and much preferred the anarchy!
 
I have already seen some setlist spoilers on YouTube. It was hard to evade. But man, some insanely cool picks. Looking forward a lot!
 
I also believe some ticket packages came with the CD too so that inflates the numbers a bit. That being said, it's good to see this doing well. I think it's a safe album that sounds like Halford singing over a band that is trying to sound like Priest but isn't quite - but I still enjoy it. Not even in the same realm as Maiden is for me, but that's just total personal preferences.

I saw Priest in DC on Sunday. Review in spoilers -

This was the 6th time seeing Priest, 4th since Halford's return. First the positives -

Halford sounded good
Stage was cool and I really liked the screens, would be cool to see Maiden do something like that
Decent set list but I kinda wanted at least 1 more off Firepower

And the negatives -

Priest is a guitar band. Seeing them with two replacement guitaists was weirder than I was expecting and definitely detracted from the experience. Ritchie does most leads and Sneap is just there. There's no chemistry at all. I was ok with Priest replacing KK but doing that to both just doesn't feel right at all.

Halford spoke to the crowd like once which was kind of odd.

All in all, good-ish show but I can't get over the lack of any original guitar players in a band so guitar focused.
 
I’m not keen on the production of this, and the last few Priest albums, guitars sound too processed to me, and doesn’t seem to be a lot of bass going on. Very cold and clinical sounding. The songs on the first couple of listens do sound like an improvement on their previous re-union albums.
 
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