Metal Reviews

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Pretty good review Marty and I agree with most of what you said (though I'll score it much higher simply because I enjoy it so damn much). I disagree with this though:



Nostradamus isn't a fading from form, it's just different. I don't know whether or not they'll "return to form" (what does this mean anyway? Painkiller form? I frankly doubt we'll ever see another album like that), but I'm pretty sure that, in the years to come, once many people's original shock or disapointment caused by the style change in Nostradamus gets overcome, this album will find a lot more appreciation and acceptance then it seems to find now. It may well go on to be considered one of metal's classic concept albums.

I think if they only made one cd, and got all the best songs from each and released that, it would have received a better score.

It's a very interesting album. I like the concept idea. For Priest to go back and try to take elements from their first three records is definately ballsy. It's a rollercoaster of emotions and dynamics. I also can't help but feel their guitar sound is back to the ones used on albums like Turbo and Ram It Down, which were decent but suffer in comparsion to stuff before or after. I still need more listens.

Pretty honest appraisal Marty. I agree with pretty much all of your points including the two ballads that don't quite work here (New Beginning being the more tedious IMO). I would have preferred a dark/power ballad in the vein of 'Here Come the Tears' instead, but perhaps Nostradamus had his ultra-sensitive side who knows.

People also seem to forget that the experimental tracks on Rocka Rolla/Sad Wings of Destiny are as much Priest as anything else (Check out early videos of Priest performing Rocka Rolla songs in full-on psychedelic rock getup if you thought they were always balls out Metal). Actually, there's a rare early priest song out there called 'Mother Sun' which has a more i dunno .. meandering epic structure such as some of the stuff found on Nostradamus.



I agree with this too. Priest is one band that doesn't like to make records that sound the same. It's really hard to pin a particular 'form' on them.

I found that this just needed to be condensed down to at least an 80minute album. Listening to its entirety, several parts just completely dragged and made me want to turn it off. I think it would be that way even if this wasn't a JP album. Maybe it's just not my style.

Love Priest. But having trouble...getting through this album. It's long. And it really requires attention. I'm crawling through it in small increments. I've had it for two weeks and am not even halfway through yet...

Some good melodies so far...and some segments of tunes that just drag....

exellent review,i think the album is a true masterpiece,yeah its a lot to take in on one listen but it is everything i expected nothing more nothing less which was a metal masterpiece mixing all era,s of priest i cant stop spinning the disc and i think thats what a lot of people who have been giving the album a bad rap need to do,this album is for the true priest fan who know there origin.Anyway i,m sure the album will continue to divide some fans but for those willing to take the time to give the album time wuill truly appreciate it.95/100 for me.

I agree that the album could have used a good shortening- I probably would have taken out at least War, Lost Love, and about half the interludes (though I still can't think of a double album that I wouldn't shorten, except for maybe Manticora's The Black Circus... but that was really two CDs). Its also pompous and I don't think that Priest handled the storyline well at all- but thats not surprising, as Priest hasn't written anything approaching intelligent song lyrics since about Stained Class. I might also have preferred if the production emphasized the guitars a bit more. But all in all, I do enjoy this album quite a lot, and find myself enjoying it more as I listen to it more. Standout tracks include Revelations, Pestilence and Plague, Persecution, Nostradamus and Future of Mankind. Halford does a great job, the solos are classic Tipton and Downing, and the keyboards/string instruments do work well with many of the songs. So, all in all, I'm happy with the album. Its not going to be my album of the year or one of my favourite Priest albums by any means, but I think that they did a good enough job. 78/100.

Living Bad Dreams isn't that old, it's a leftout from the Painkiller sessions and it was included on the 2001 remasters. And it's more a power ballad than epic to me. Great song, but are you sure you're not confusing it with Mother Sun or some other rarity?

Yes, sorry that's the one. Post edited. Damn I wish they would have fine tuned that song and included it on an album.

As I said in the other thread:

Overlong, pompous, but with a big bunch of great songs... Halford's singing is perfect. If it had been just a single record with the best songs (Persecution, Pestilence & plage, Revelations, Death, Nostradamus, Prophecy, Visions, Exiled... basically) it could have been a masterpiece. But as a double, it's a good album with excesive filler interludes and mellow songs (80/100).

I really like Judas Priest.. But a lengthy concept album just doesn't fit with them in my ears... Haven't heard the album yet, but judging from their live songs I prepare myself for a boring listen.

Are you kidding me War is one of the best songs on there.

This is a very ambitious album and Priest pulled it off beautifully no it's not Painkiller but Priest said in the past there won't be a Painkiller 2 anyway and they never marketed this as anything remotely similar to any of their 80's stuff.

Props to Priest for going all out with this one you either love it or hate it but you got to respect the band for at least going to a route they never tried before.

90/100

Eh, I didn't really care for War either. It feels like one long buildup with no payoff.

I basically have the same feeling on the album as most of you have so far in this thread. It's too long, cheesy at times, but when its good (Pestilence and Plague, Exiled, Death, etc.) its REALLY GOOD.

Does a concept album really need 1000 interludes? It reminds me a little bit (really only a little bit) of Manowars Gods of War, which had some good songs, but the whole pointless interludes dilute the result.

Sure Nostradamus is much better than Gods of War, but there I'm missing some short fast songs. I like most "Prophecy", "Revelations", "Persecution" and the title track. They are in the style of old Judas Priest classics while for me other songs like "Exile" and "Death" are too "different" compared to "Painkiller", "Breaking the Law", "Living after Midnight" and so on.

A surprising song is "New Beginnings", which reminds me to some 80s movie soundtracks. Was it Top Gun? I don't know... ;)

Nostradamus, Pestilence and Plague, Prophecy, Reveleations, Exiled, Alone are absolutely brilliant. The title track is my favorite JP track. Sure there is some fillers, but if the best tracks would have been putten on one cd it would be a masterpiece and I don't mind skipping some tracks. The average length of an album is about 55minutes and if the best tracks would have been choosen from here to form a 55 minute album it would be totally kickass album and therefore i give it 98/100.

I agree that this is the main weakness of concept albums at the moment, no doubt inspired by Operation: Mindcrime (which itself had its share of pointless interludes). A few interludes can help piece a concept together, but too many just make it bloated and can cut the flow- on Nostradamus, for example, most of the acoustic ones stop the songs from flowing. I wish more bands would do it like W.A.S.P. did it on the Crimson Idol- make the interludes part of the songs and repeat common musical themes.

The only album were I actually enjoy the interludes is on Kamelot's Epica.

Interludes generally fail even Devin Townsend's begin to get annoying after a few listens.