Nostradamus - Judas Priest

This is a very difficult album to review for me... the Priest were one of the first metal bands I became a fan of back in my teen days in 1978, so I've been with them every step of the way for the last 30 years now. Over that time they've released several classic albums... Stained Class, Killing Machine, British Steel, Screaming For Vengeance, Painkiller, and even the last album 'Angel Of Retribution'. They've also stuck out a couple of average albums... ...
...new one... heck, this one had me stumped from the day they announced the concept (what were they thinking of?), until I actually bought it and gave it a few listens.

Based loosely on the life and prophecies of Nostradamus, it's a double CD. A lot of it sounds like your typical Judas Priest material, but a lot of it is far from it. There are many pieces of music that 'link' the main songs, and these contain things you would not normally ... more

This is a very difficult album to review for me... the Priest were one of the first metal bands I became a fan of back in my teen days in 1978, so I've been with them every step of the way for the last 30 years now. Over that time they've released several classic albums... Stained Class, Killing Machine, British Steel, Screaming For Vengeance, Painkiller, and even the last album 'Angel Of Retribution'. They've also stuck out a couple of average albums... Turbo, and Ram It Down come to mind... but this new one... heck, this one had me stumped from the day they announced the concept (what were they thinking of?), until I actually bought it and gave it a few listens.

Based loosely on the life and prophecies of Nostradamus, it's a double CD. A lot of it sounds like your typical Judas Priest material, but a lot of it is far from it. There are many pieces of music that 'link' the main songs, and these contain things you would not normally associate with Judas Priest... keyboards, synths, choral arrangements, strings, piano pieces... more than anything this was a very very brave move for a band who have been at the forefront of the heavy metal scene for so many years now, time will tell if it has paid off - I think it should.

A reviewer elsewhere suggested you could make a great Priest metal album by removing the linking music and leaving the more 'metallic' songs. That's wrong, it's not what this whole concept is about. This is a band that is supremely comfortable with it's place in heavy metal history, it's a band that doesn't want to rest on it's past glories and produce another 'metal-by-numbers' sort of album. This band, even after 35 years+, has a bright future, and is prepared to go out on a limb and try something just a bit different. Many bands have tried this sort of thing in the past and failed to take their core audience with them, more or less costing them their careers. Judas Priest won't fall into that trap - there may be a few dissenters, but those of us who know class will still be there at the gigs to hopefully see this album being performed in full.

This is a very very good album. It is interesting, challenging listeners to take time to actually listen to the album as a whole. It isn't an album to dip into for a track or 2, it's a full on 2 hour rock opera experience. The elements that made Priest great are still all there - the super-tight pounding rhythm section, the fiery twin lead and rhythm guitars of Downing and Tipton, and of course that incredible, unique once in a lifetime instrument that is Rob Halford's voice. Age has mellowed it very little - there are perhaps a few less ear piercing screams than in the past, but that's more than made up for by the fact he still sings as well as he has ever done. All that Priest have done here is take those classic ingredients and embellish them with something new. It works, and it works extremely well. 

...less