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From the first notes on Judas Rising I was anticipating a real killer album, but when it came to the first chorus I was frustated asking myself "was that it???", the chorus is completely the same as the verses and the riff keep looping through the whole song!! boring and uninspired! The lack of memorable choruses is a real drag on this album! Until the last track"Lochness"! After bashing the album for boring choruses, comes the best chorus JP has ever made!!! Wooow, this is extremly catchy and great, I remember the word from heart from first time i heard this song. The song is 13 minutes and would though be better of as 7 minutes. There are some true great guitarsolos here and there and Hellrider is the second song that stand out, especially the second part. Considiring this is a JP album, it's a disapointment, though compared to today's standards, it's a good album.

This album takes a few listens as although there's several tracks that immediately stand out, others take time to grow on you. As far as memorable choruses, what about Demonizer, Deal With The Devil...those ones have great choruses!! In fact, I think most of the tracks do. I think it's the wide variety of songs that may have put some people off. I think it's a fantastic album even coming from a long-time Priest fan (almost 30 years now!!)

Yes, this is definitely a very good album. I mean, it's not a Stained Class or Painkiller, but its definitely very memorable and excellent.

Great album but could have been better. It's just missing something. There are many really good songs but they are just not at the same level as "Painkiller", "Leather Rebel", "All Guns Blazing", and "Metal Meltdown". I'd give it a 90/100 but it feels like it could have been higher but it's missing something but i have no idea what that something is.

But that's one of the things I like about this album.. They didn't go to make Painkiller Part II. Its a mix of their whole career, which rules, because while Painkiller is my favourite Priest album, their older stuff completely rules as well, and some songs on older albums surpass Painkiller.

Most old hard rock bands say the same thing when they release an album after a long time. They say that they're going back to their roots or whatever, though they never succeed. I think Judas Priest really did it with this one, at least better than other bands.. And I love Judas Rising, it's awesome.

to tell the truth i am a little biiiiiit stuck up with painkiller so probabliy i was hoping for something in that outline. So i enjoyed a couple of songs (Demonizer rules) but i did not like the album...i mean lochness must be the most boring song i ever heard from priest...the slow songs are both exactly the same and have no feeling.I feel something is missing...touch of evil was slow but it haunts the listener for days after you 've listened it for the first time..You 'RE POSSESSING ME!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, this is not a half bad release. Hellrider is the best song off the album by far. I'd almost say that the album is worth buying for that song alone. I can't believe a band with members in their 50's can still play that fast and heavy! Metal Gods indeed!

I love this album. Not the best priest album, but far from the worst! My favorite tracks are Judas Rising, Deal with the Devil and Demonizer. This will be one of my top albums of 2005, for sure :)

The bonus DVD is pretty amazing as well, can't seem to stop watching it. Diamonds and Rust, oh god, Diamonds and Rust! I can't believe how good Halford sings that song. He can't hit as high notes as before, but he has definitely proven that he is more than just a screamer.

I love this album.

The riffs are nice and catchy, well timed/fitted solos, great singing, catchy choruses... I'd quote it around 93/100.

how the heck can everybody say this album got catchy choruses? it's got the least catchy choruses priest has even done... demonizer chorous = rob screaming deeeeeemoniiiiizzzer and the chorus is excactly the same as the verses, but only with rob's highpitching screams! Judas is rising has the same loop over and over again true the whole fukking song! this album is soooooo forced together for commercial reasons only and don't think the band put much effort in writing these songs... it's heavy, but nothing more than that :/

Judas rising totally took me by surprise. I was getting ready for a speedy and angry opener and this mid-tempo majestic song blazed in... how can you not like it? it actually has a great chorus, very melodic, and when Halford screams "Judas is rising" I feel like he's injecting emotion right into my veins. really special...
but strangely enough, I feel that the best chorus belongs to the least metal song. "Worth fighting for" gets me everytime, I find it highly addictive, the more I listen to it. Halford's performance is just so subtle and emotional on this song...
I tried to keep my expectations for this album to a minimum, to avoid the letdowns of Jugulator and Demolition (where I blame the direction adopted by the songwriters, not Ripper - he is a great singer) and I'm simply happy to see that they created again an album worthy of their catalogue. I certainly didn't expect Painkiller part II, and I still doubt we'll ever see that... but then again, Priest proved they can surprise when you least expect.
for now, I think we should just be glad that they're back, and back in style.

Great review Marty, you did it more justice than I could have, I am glad you claimed it before I did.

Brent

i gave this album a 90/100, great album, saw it in a 2nd hand record store about 2 weeks after it was released so i was pretty lucky to get it cheap. i am pretty youngish so it was my first experience with JP but i must say im impressed, only thing i dont like about the album is the accent, pisses me off to no extent....

Not bad, not bad at all. Took a couple of listens to smooth out the rough edges in my head.. but I can appreciate this as up there with anything a judas priest clone is releasing today. Wheels of Fire is the only weak song from my point of view.

ok, I tried it again and I still think it's a good album but with a lower quality than Judas Priest's classics... certainly better than most of what's produced by younger Heavy Metal bands but still a (little) let down...

killer tracks : Revolution, Angel, Loch Ness

fuck you!!!

I think the songs will sound great live, and just like Painkiller, it sounds much better LOUD!

Funny how Revolution sounds great now, but when they released the single, I was embarrased for JP

yeah, Revolution was not what I expected too, but it grew on me and it's just anover evidence of JP's talent to write good commercial metal songs !