Judas Priest

Only got a chance to listen to about the first 9 tracks so far, but seems a good bit down on Firepower. Not a lot of dynamics or variety, which would be ok if there was the levels of hooks that Firepower had, but it doesn't have them.
 
I'm a little bit disappointed that Judas Priest put only 3 songs of their new album in the setlist and Saxon only 4. That's not fair for the fans. Maiden is more adventurous about putting new songs in their sets. 5 songs of 'Senjutsu' in the Future Past tour and played two others during the last leg of the Legacy Of The Beast tour. So 7 songs of 10 on 'Senjutsu' have been played live. Why the hell the other bands don't do that ?

Judas Priest could have played "The Serpent And The King", "Gates Of Hell" and "Sons Of Thunder" either. And Saxon, "Pirates Of The Airwaves", "Witches Of Salem" and "Super Charger". Their respective sets could have been stronger then.
 
TheMercenary said:
I'm a little bit disappointed that Judas Priest put only 3 songs of their new album in the setlist and Saxon only 4. That's not fair for the fans. Maiden is more adventurous about putting new songs in their sets. 5 songs of 'Senjutsu' in the Future Past tour and played two others during the last leg of the Legacy Of The Beast tour. So 7 songs of 10 on 'Senjutsu' have been played live. Why the hell the other bands don't do that ?

Judas Priest could have played "The Serpent And The King", "Gates Of Hell" and "Sons Of Thunder" either. And Saxon, "Pirates Of The Airwaves", "Witches Of Salem" and "Super Charger". Their respective sets could have been stronger then.
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Priest are probably better than Maiden for mixing up the setlists. Over the various legs of the Firepower tour they actually played 9 songs from their last album. They just don't normally do more than 3 or 4 from any one album on one night.
 
After three listens, my initial ratings would probably be something like…

Panic Attack - 10/10
The Serpent and the King - 9/10
Invincible Shield - 8/10
Devil in Disguise - 7/10
Gates of Hell - 8/10
Crown of Horns - 8/10
As God Is My Witness - 8/10
Trial By Fire - 10/10
Escape from Reality - 10/10
Sons of Thunder - 7/10
Giants in the Sky - 10/10

Not too sure on the bonus tracks, and also not sure why they’re bonus tracks (it’s 2024 just make a 60 min album), but Fight and Vicious would probably be in the 7-8/10 area and Lodger 6/7-10.

A lot of those 8’s are probably either songs that need to sink in more before they are locked in or go higher, plus a bit of recency bias.

Overall, there’s not a single bad song here and the whole thing is a consistent joy to listen to.
 
Exciting setlist! Although somewhat safe, they should do more IS tracks. Andy has really grown into the role image vice. The Faulkner/Sneap combo is working much better than it did during Firepower tour! Would be cool to have a live album from this version of Priest.
 
To be honest, I was really disappointed with the new setlist. They played most of my favorite songs in 2021-22, but this setlist is very different. Too bad I missed them on their 50th anniversary tour. I guess they'll be mixing the setlist up before my Priest gig in June though.
 
I'm hoping they at least swap Trial By Fire for Gates of Hell or Crown of Horns by the time I see them next Thursday :lol:

As for ratings, it's still a little early to be definite but I think everything falls in the 6 - 8 range. Very enjoyable album, nothing stellar, nothing bad. Panic Attack, Crown of Horns, Invincible Shield and Gates of Hell are my favourites.
 
Edington said:
I'm hoping they at least swap Trial By Fire for Gates of Hell or Crown of Horns by the time I see them next Thursday :lol:

As for ratings, it's still a little early to be definite but I think everything falls in the 6 - 8 range. Very enjoyable album, nothing stellar, nothing bad. Panic Attack, Crown of Horns, Invincible Shield and Gates of Hell are my favourites.
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Panic Attack is the gem of this album. It's a 10/10 track, and while it screams classic heavy metal, it is also new ground for Priest in some ways, like the lyrics.
 
The setlist isn't impressive for someone who saw the Firepower tour and the 50th-anniversary tour but keep in mind that this was their first gig in Ireland since 2009. And the last time they visited the UK was 2015 (there were 2 Bloodstock concerts in 2018 and 2021, but they were an exception). It's possible that they wanted to present their Irish and British fans a mix of the setlists they missed. That's why Saints in Hell and Screaming for Vengeance were played. I won't be surprised if they change a few slots for the European leg. So for the fans who live on the Islands, the current setlist is really, really good.

Also, the first few concerts of Priest tours always serve as a test. At the beginning of the 2018 Firepower tour (the US leg) they played Angel and Evil Never Dies, both were replaced after a few shows. In 2021 there was Exciter in the early setlists, but they retired it after several gigs.

I'm not saying that they will change the setlist completely - that's not gonna happen, I'm not even counting on it. But there likely are gonna be SOME changes in the next few weeks, maybe even days. At the moment, I think that Saints in Hell will get replaced with something (hard to say what exactly - maybe another 70s deep cut), Screaming for Vengeance might get replaced too, but since they didn't come to Europe with the final setlist for the 50 Heavy Metal Years Tour (which included the song), they could keep it for Europe. Trial By Fire is a slower, less demanding track and a single, but it may get replaced with Crown of Horns.

It's weird that both Rob and Scott mentioned playing some rarities that have never been performed, but in the end, they didn't do it. I'm not sure why, but there has to be a good reason for this.
 
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Few spins in..Like all 3 Priest albums post KK leaving..nothing jumping out, zero replay value in the long term..at least I didnt bother buying a physical copy this time :)
 
Kalata said:
The stage set left a lot to be desired, especially compared to that of the previous tour. Richie is amazing! Rob needs to warm up.

Only 3 new songs (so far) - Panic Attack, Invincible Shield and Trial By Fire. They sound nice, Trial is not the best live song.

18 songs setlist. The only surprises are: Love Bites and Saints In Hell. The rest are the same classics from the previous tour. Not cool at all. I'm curious about Screaming For Vengeance performance.

The decors are just two album covers on both sides end of the stage (also above, 4 in total) plus 4-piece screens as backdrops, which are cool in a way.



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They were supposed to play 20 songs, but because of time constraints(Uriah Heep technical issues), two got cut.


You guys gotta remember that this is the make up dates for the Ozzy Tour that was supposed to happen back in 2019 and got reschedule multiple times until it got cancelled. So that's why you will see songs played on the Firepower Tour and the 50th anniversary tour.
For the rest of Europe and the US, the setlist will change a little.
 
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GhostofCain said:
Rob Halford sounds impressive!!!

I was listening to the album and right after it finished Bruce's Resurrection Men started playing and oh my... :facepalm:
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I really like how he sings in the album. He's amazing. Although it's the first gig of the tour, Rob singing the first new song and the first one of the gig…I have to say that he sings badly imho. (I think he uses backing tracks as vocals in the chorus and He must updated the karaoke-teleprompter)

 
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