Tag: Judas Priest

Judas Priest – ‘Nostradamus’ (2008) – Album Review (The Complete Albums Collection Series)

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For the band’s sixteenth studio album, they went somewhere they had never gone before and really pushed the boundaries of what they could do. “Nostradamus” was going to be a concept album about the man himself, Nostradamus. The idea was brought to the band by their manager, Bill Curbishley, way back in 2005. Eventually the band came around and work started on the album in 2006 and went through 2007. The album finally saw the light of day on June 16, 2008 and saw the band get their highest charting album to date at #11 (now realize that was only sales of 42,000 and in 2008 that had become a lot as album sales were way down).

The band would shed their speed and thrash metal sound and stick strictly to a more symphonic metal sound so if you were expecting anything from before you were in a shock. This was going to be so different than anything else they had done. The album turned in to a 2 CD set with 23 tracks and over a 103 minutes worth of music. You were taken on a journey through the life of Nostradamus and would get songs about his notorious prophecies and about the man himself. You can tell by the titles of the songs on the first disc they are about some dark prophecies that talk about war and the basically the end of the world. The album is full of orchestrated moments and even choirs and if you are looking for the classic Halford scream, you will only get that on the very rare occasion. Rob sings more in an operatic singing style and fits the music perfectly. This is the band stretching their limits and really reaching for the stars.

The band is still Rob Halford, K.K. Downing, Glenn Tipton, Ian Hill and Scott Travis on drums. Don Airey is still on keyboards and then you have Pete Whitfield who handles all the string instrumentation. The band was hitting on all cylinders and have given an album that has to be listened to as an album and from front to back in the order intended to get the full effect and follow along. And due to the length of the album there is no way we are going to go through song by song in any great detail so forgive me. I will stick with the highlights and there are many.

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Judas Priest – ‘Angel of Retribution’ (2005) – Album Review (The Complete Albums Collection Series)

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After the 1990 album, ‘Painkiller’, Rob Halford left Judas Priest and the band continued on for 11 years with the singer Tim “Ripper” Owens. Rob went on and did his own thing whether it was the band Fight, Two or band Halford. Judas Priest did two albums with Ripper during this time, but the fans were screaming for Halford and Priest to reunite. Rob had wanted that for a long time, but was too afraid to reach out (at least that is what he says in his book). However, eventually it happened. Rob Halford was to rejoin Priest and in 2003, it finally happened.

Judas Priest toured a little and then went in to the studio to record their new album ‘Angel of Retribution’. They recorded from October to December of 2004 and the album was finally released on February 23, 2005 and to quite acclaim. It went to #13 on the Billboard 200 Charts and Priest were back. Rob brought over Roy Z as the producer who also mixed and engineered the album as well. Roy Z was the guitar player in Rob’s band Halford and he produced several of those albums as well.

I read somewhere that the album artwork was a continuation of the angel from ‘Sad Wings of Destiny’. This time the angel has transformed in to steel as she is rising out of the ashes and becoming the angel of retribution. Who knows if that is true, but cool to think that it is a reference to that album.

After 11 years apart, what would the new Priest sound like was the question of the day. Judas Priest would come out and deliver a massively heavy album and usher their sound in to the 21st Century! Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing, Ian Hill and Scott Travis are ready to rock.

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Judas Priest – ‘Painkiller’ (1990) – Album Review (The Complete Albums Collection Series)

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After ‘Ram It Down’, Priest needed to find themselves as they were going down the wrong path musically. In January 1990, the band got back to the studio to begin work and a comeback album that would show they were still the metal titans they were. This time it would be without their drummer Dave Holland who left in 1989. Drummer Scott Travis, from Racer X, was brought in and his double kick drumming style was going to help bring the heavy back to their sound. Also out was producer Tom Allom and in came Chris Tsangarides who also helped Priest find a new sound. We still have Rob Halford, Ian Hill, Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing.

The album was finished by March 1990, but didn’t see a release until September 1990. The reason for the delay was that Judas Priest was being sued for subliminal messages in their music stemming from a civil suit brought on by the families of two teens that say the band had subliminal messages in the song “Better By You, Better Than Me” telling the teens to kill themselves. One teen was successful in his attempt and the other teen survived. The lawsuit ended up being thrown out on August 24th as the judge ruled in favor of the band that there was no messaging. As a result, the band released the album on September 3, 1990 and the heavy was brought back to Priest. The album went Gold in the US selling over 500,000 copies and charting at #26 on the Billboard Charts.

Following the Painkiller tour, Rob Halford left the band as he was ready to try a solo career plus he was tired of dealing with the ever growing tensions in the band. His final date with the band was May 1992. According to Halford’s book ‘Confess’, Rob sent a letter to the band discussing his intentions to pursue outside music and he wanted to take a break to do that, but the band he says took that as he was quitting the band. Not liking confrontation, It took Rob 10 years to finally talk with the band and discuss this matter with them and finally clear the air. We will get to that for the next review. For now, it is music time.

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Judas Priest – ‘Ram It Down’ (1988) – Album Review (The Complete Albums Collection Series)

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As you know, the Turbo album was supposed to be a double album, but the powers-that-be decided the band should only release a single disc album. That meant a lot of songs were scrapped. Well, at least four of those songs wound up on the band’s follow-up, ‘Ram It Down’. The rest of those songs wound up as Bonus tracks on the re-issues and a couple I don’t think have ever seen the light of day. Maybe someday we will hear them.

‘Ram It Down’ was recorded from December 1987 to March of 1988. It would finally be released on May 17, 1988 and would end up being the last album with drummer Dave Holland. There are a few people I know that were quite happy with that move as they always felt Dave’s drumming was a little on the lackluster side. The album would ship gold but only wound up going to #31 on the US Billboard Charts. The album was pretty heavy compared to Turbo, but the songs were no where near as strong and I believe most were disappointed with the end result. In fact, when we did the Nigel Tufnel Top 10 Judas Priest albums on The LeBrain Train several weeks back, none of the three guest even chose this album as one of their Top 10 if that clues you in on anything.

The album kicks off with the classic Halford scream and really slams it home with heavy thrash sounding drums and frantically flying fingers on guitar. The title track, “Ram It Down”, is doing just that. Slamming the fist down to show the world they weren’t a synthesizer band anymore. When compared to the rest of the album, this is one of the better tracks as it still has a little bite and a great dual guitar solo from Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing and man their fingers had to be smoking after the speed of those solos.

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Judas Priest – ‘Priest…Live!’ (1987) – Album Review (The Complete Albums Collection Series)

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It was time for Priest to release another live album. After the success of the band’s 1986 album ‘Turbo’ and the very successful tour called ‘Fuel for Life Tour’, the band was still riding high. It was decided to capture this new era of Priest with a live album. The album takes songs from two of the band’s shows on the tour. The first was from my hometown of Atlanta, Ga from the show on June 15, 1986 at the Omni. Back then I would’ve been 17 years old and about to start my Senior Year in High School which means I was in to the whole glam rock scene with the likes of Poison and Ratt and those bands. I wasn’t listening to Priest so completely missed that show…now I look on it sadly because what a show it would’ve been. The second show they took songs from was from the Dallas, TX show on June 27, 1986 at Reunion Arena. And from the sounds of this album, both shows were spectacular.

What I find really cool about this release is they did the same thing Kiss did with Alive! and Alive II. They did not repeat any tracks on the albums. Yep, all the songs on Priest…Live! were from the era after ‘Unleashed in the East’ so you get an entirely new set of songs. As a fan, I completely appreciate and love that fact. Then you can throw on both albums and play them back to back and get a killer show with no repeats. Good job guys.

The track listing is great with over 15 tracks covering the 5 albums. You get 5 from ‘Turbo’ which makes sense since that is the album they were touring at the time. You get 4 from ‘Defenders of the Faith’, 2 from ‘Screaming for Vengeance’, only 1 from ‘Point of Entry’ and 3 from ‘British Steel’. The version I have has 3 bonus tracks which is 1 from ‘Defenders of the Faith’, 1 from ‘Screaming for Vengeance’ and ‘Hell Bent for Leather’ which would technically be the only repeat, but since this is a bonus track and not on the original album it doesn’t count.

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Judas Priest – ‘Turbo’ (1986) – Album Review (The Complete Albums Collection Series)

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After the ‘Defenders of Faith’ Tour, the band took it easy for a little while. They didn’t jump right back in to the studio. There was no tour planned in 1985, but did do one live show that year. Of course that was to play at Live Aid on July 13th, 1985. They played in Philadelphia at around 11am in the morning. Rob said that was a good time to play because it meant he could spend the rest of the day just drinking. Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing, Ian Hill and Dave Holland rocked the world that day and then went back to record an album.

By this time they had already started recording their follow-up album. They started recording in June 1985 down in Nassau, Bahamas at the Compass Pointe Studio. It was a beautiful place to record, but it was also a bad time for Rob Halford whose drinking and drugs were getting out of hand. Rob also got hepatitis during the recording of the album and was sick from that for a little while. Then around Christmas 1985, Rob finally checked in to rehab to get clean and he actually succeeded. He made it look easy which of course we know it never really is. Now with Rob clean, they finally finished the album around February 1986 which they finished up at the Record Plant in Los Angeles.

The original concept of the album was to be a double album called ‘Twin Turbos’. The record company did not agree with that concept and ended up taking the more commercial songs and putting together a single album simply called, ‘Turbo’. The band also changed up their sound to match a little more of what the glam rock scene was doing at the time. The band got a little lighter sound, no where near as heavy, and they introduced guitar synthesizers in to the mix. So for some fans, this was sacrilege. The band was abandoning who they were as a heavy metal band to fit mainstream. Right or Wrong, the band still had success with the album as after its release on April 14, 1986, the album quickly went Gold and eventually went Platinum about a year later. The album reached #17 on the US Charts and only #33 on the UK Charts.

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Judas Priest – ‘Defenders of The Faith’ (1984) – Album Review (The Complete Albums Collection Series)

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In May of 1983, Judas Priest played one of their biggest shows at the US Festival in California. They played on what was called Metal Night with bands like Motley Crue, Scorpions, Quiet Riot, Van Halen and Ozzy. It was a very memorable event. Then three short months later, the band was back at in the studio in Ibiza, Spain where they had recorded their prior album ‘Screaming For Vengeance’.

They recorded the album from September to November 1983 with Tom Allom again at the helm. Well, they weren’t recording the whole time because when they arrived all the studio equipment was gone. Apparently the owner of the studio had some money issues. They had to get all new equipment shipped in and had to get it in to the studio. Rob tells in his book, ‘Confess’, they had to put a bunch of logs together and put the giant console on it to help roll it in to the studio. That had to be a sight to see. They definitely worked hard to get that album made…when they weren’t partying in town.

The album was done and the sound was very much like ‘Screaming for Vengeance’. The band felt that had tapped in to something special with that album so they basically repeated it on ‘Defenders of Faith’. Now they didn’t repeat really, but they wanted a similar vibe and sonic feeling. Which they achieved. And they achieved it with the band in tack from the last album with Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing, Ian Hill and Dave Holland. The album was released on January 4, 1984 and went all the way to #18 on the Billboard charts and went Platinum in the US with over 1 million in sales.

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Judas Priest – ‘Screaming for Vengeance’ (1982) – Album Review (The Complete Albums Collection Series)

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For me, ‘Point of Entry’ was a little disappointing. The hard, heavy sound of the band was replaced with a more melodic album that was trying to repeat the success of ‘British Steel’, but failed. ‘Screaming for Vengeance” was the band’s answer back that they could still deliver heavy metal music and let me tell you they did just that. This time around, the band went off to Spain to record the album in Ibizia at Ibizia Sound Studios. If you are wondering why not record in England, well, due to tax issues in England, bands would find it better to not live in England all year long so this let them be out of the country for a spell (and probably why Halford had moved to Arizona years earlier). Okay, that was not really necessary information so let’s try and give you something better.

This album is a first for Priest. No, not the their first album silly. This is the first Priest album to feature a drummer who had played on more than two albums. That is right, Dave Holland was the first Judas Priest drummer to make it on three albums!! Wow!! Give yourself a hand boys, because for you, that is impressive. Dave would actually go on to play on four more albums plus a Live album. Congrats Mr. Holland. The drummer curse was now over. The band is still intact with Dave, Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing and Ian Hill.

During this album, Tom Allom was a task master. The label was putting pressure on the band to deliver and album that the American fans would appreciate. A hard hitting, true heavy metal album. The label felt the band was about to break in America and they wanted the bands to deliver the goods that would do that. And well, we will see if they do…here’s a hint…they do!!

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Delivering the Lists: Judas Priest – Nigel Tufnel Top Ten…Remastered — mikeladano.com

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If you missed the show last night, you can watch us as we Deliver The Goods on the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Judas Priest albums. Some of the picks were Diamonds and some Rust, but all were Priest. Oh yeah, if you like graphs…you will not be disappointed as Geoff, the Graphing God…not to be confused with the Metal God, brought us all the graphing fun we could handle. Go check it out.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ku6aHaQUL4U%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent

Three brilliant lists tonight, and a new level of graphic majesty from Geoff Stephen!  Am I ever glad we decided to “remaster” our Judas Priest top albums list from last year!  With the addition of John Snow and Geoff on graphs, we took it to the next level. Geoff also took his graphs to record […]

Delivering the Lists: Judas Priest – Nigel Tufnel Top Ten…Remastered — mikeladano.com

The Priest is Back! Nigel Tufnel Top Ten…Remastered — mikeladano.com

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Come join the fun tonight on The LeBrain Train as we walk through the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Judas Priest albums. Tonight at 7pm…details below. It will be a fun evening had by all!!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=lSXhOaNUhEs%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent

The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike and Friends Friday – Episode 68 – Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Judas Priest…Remastered “Judas Priest,” you ask?  “Didn’t you do Judas Priest last year already?” Yes we did, hence the “Remastered” Nigel Tufnel Top Ten.  The old show was on Facebook Live with just Harrison the […]

The Priest is Back! Nigel Tufnel Top Ten…Remastered — mikeladano.com