Artist Page: Judas Priest

Priest with a modern edge, this album integrates elements from thrash metal, nu-metal and classic Priest metal, and things work well most of the time. Not one of the best Priest albums, but cetainly not the worst either. Ripper does a good job on this album like he did on 'Jugulator'.

Apart from "You Say Yes", "PoE" doesn't really contain any interesting tunes, most of which become trivial and monotonous after a couple of listens. It's still a good album compared to many other contemporary artists, but by Priest standards, it's somewhat of a lackluster.

Halford is back on what qualifies as a very good Priest album. "AoR" contains songs which are very varied, representing many different branches of the metal genre, but all characterized by the typical Priest sound. Some songs do not wear out from repeated listens, while others are admittedly not super memorable and only survive a good handful of listens.

The definitive Priest album - 'nuff said!

The album doesn't really convince me. It is a solid release and I am sure that many Judas Priest fans will enjoy it, but I found it a bit tedious to listen to in one sitting. In my opinion it is not varied enough both harmonically and as far as pace/dynamics are concerned. A possible point of reference would be Kamelot - The Black Halo ... that one is on the fringes of progressiveness, and I think that Nostradamus is at least one "notch" less adventurous. It also lacks the bite and aggression of Painkiller, one of my favorite JP albums ... it even seems a bit "tired" to me.

Priest are back with their most progressive effort to date. The Priest sound is still there - and alive and kicking - but bolstered with a symphonic feel that, while atypical for Priest, is slightly reminiscent of old tracks like "Run of the Mill" and "Dreamer Deciever".

Come to think of it, 'Nostradamus' is in part, ignoring the symphonic elements, musically similar to many of their pre-'Turbo' releases, but on he production side it is more reminiscent of 'Turbo' and 'Ram it Down', making extensive use of synthesized guitars. I think this combination of classical Priest with a new symphonic and conceptual feel works very well.

One downside is perhaps the many athmospheric fillers which tend to get a bit annoying. Fortunately, Halford sings on many of them, which makes them interesting to listen to after all. And maybe there's too much reverb on he bass and snare drums, but that seems to fit the epic feel quite well.

I was never disappointed with this album. I think it's very much a product of its time in terms of production, and there are lots of uplifting energetic hard rock tunes on this one (especially "Turbo Lover" is great and the way it's built up reflects the contents of the lyrics very well). And that's what I like about Priest. They're always spot on in terms of the musical trends of their time without ever losing their originality - you can always hear it's pries. Albums like "Turbo", "Painkiller", "British Steel", and "Jugulator" - all of which are very different - show this. So, actually "Turbo" fits very well into the whole Priest discography.

32 of the best metal songs from the Metal Gods. Sadly, no unreleased tracks on this one.

It is 2004 and all is well with the world. There is a new Judas Priest album, and the vocalist is Rob Halford. Admittedly, this album doesn't have the memories associated with it that the earlier albums do, but it is still a really good album.

It is hard to get used to Judas Priest with Ripper Owens as their singer, but this album is actual quite decent. Much better than Ripper's debut Jugulator. Tracks like Hell Is Home, Jekyll and Hyde, and Bloodsuckers are actually quite good.

This is an interesting live album. This is a 2 CD live set of the first tour with Ripper Owens on vocals. It includes 24 songs, including 5 new ones, but includes many songs from all eras of Priest. Quite a good song selection, and Ripper Owens does an honorable job as the lead singer.

Admittedly, I haven't listened to this album enough to give it a fair shake, but it is too thrashy for my tastes. On occasion, with the screams Ripper Owens sounds a lot like Rob Halford, but on the rest of the album he just sounds like a run of the mill thrash metal singer. Ironically, Rob Halford left the band to pursue a different type of metal, and he became for thrashy too, and quite frankly I don't care all that much for his solo career either.

This is the final Judas Priest album with Rob Halford on the microphone. It would be 7 years until another Priest album, with a new singer and a thrashier sound. Yet 7 years later, in 2004, Halford will return but by then the Priest were just a distant memory. This album has a bit of everything and I suppose may be their first progressive "metal" album, although it is more metal than progressive. And the Priest still knows how to start off an album with the heavy drum beat of Painkiller. Other highlights include Metal Meltdown and Night Crawler, but again all songs are worth the listen.

Kind of like Turbo, this album is not up to the standards of the best of Priest, but this was released in my senior year in high school and the memories of head banging to this while hanging out with my high school buddies bring a smile to my face. Highlights are Ram It Down, Heavy Metal, Blood Red Skies, and Monsters of Rock. They also do an outstanding cover of Johnny B. Goode which got plenty of MTV air play back in the day.

The Priest's 2nd live album spanning their metal years from Hell Bent for Leather through Turbo. Almost all of the best metal tracks are here and this is an awesome listen. Sadly, I have never seen the Priest live and in person.

In retrospect this album is probably quite a disappointment given the complete awesomeness of their previous albums but it is sort of a guilty pleasure album for me. I was a 16-year old at the time of this release and everyone knows what that is like, and songs like Private Property and Parental Guidance just spoke to me. I remember this album with fond memories.

This album just grabs you by the throat with the first notes of Freewill Burning and Eats You Alive to the finally multiply repeated chorus of Defenders of the Faith. What an awesome, awesome album. All tracks are highlights on this one.

British Steel was the album that introduced me to Judas Priest and songs like Breaking the Law and Living After Midnight made me a fan. However, it was this next trio of albums that has made a lifelong fan of the Priest. This was their period of most commerical success which coincided with the popularity of MTV. All songs on this album are awesome, but the highlights are Screaming for Vengeance and of course the megahit You've Got Another Thing Coming.

The 7th release from Rob Halford and company is good but not as good as its predecessor or its follow up. Highlights include Heading Out to the Highway and Hot Rockin'. Being the Priest it is hard to complain with the product but it just isn't quite as good as its surroundings might indicate.

This is the best of the best for the Priest and one of the absolute best heavy metal albums ever. British Steel is synonymous with Heavy Metal. Highlights are Breaking the Law, Living After Midnight, and Metal Gods. The only weak spot is United which is kind of a non-metal Anthem.