Judas Priest - Nostradamus (Deluxe Edition)
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Free Music Notes for Nostradamus (Deluxe Edition)
Free Music Review: Much better than I expected!
Hit: 5 Stars
Ok, I'll start this review by saying that this album is NOT a typical Priest album... I mean, its very different from their other albums and that's the main reason why some people don't/won't like it.
Now, is the fact that it sounds different from Priest's other albums a bad thing? In my opinion, it isn't. I've always been a big fan of epic music and Nostradamus is one of the most epic albums I've ever heard. Yeah, the music on this album is very epic and its also very melodic, in fact, Nostradamus is probably Priest's most melodic album.
Anyway, lets talk about the songs now. I'll skip the interludes because they are pretty useless, I mean, they aren't bad at all, but I usually skip them unless I feel like listening to the album all the way through.
First CD:
The first song, Prophecy, is one of the best songs on the album, it reminds a bit of Angel Of Retribution, it has a great main riff that is used during the verses and the chorus, the pre-chorus is quite dark and I like it and the chorus is good, but its not one of the best choruses on the album. The next song, Revelations, is even better, the verses are very epic and I love them, the song is very epic and symphonic overall (but so is most of the album). War sounds more like an interlude than a real song, but its a great one, it does sound like a war song, the chorus is very dark, but its not very original, I mean, the riff during it is the typical dark metal riff (you'll understand what I mean when you'll listen to it). After that, we have Pestillence And Plague which is a favorite of mine, a lot of people don't like the chorus because its in italian, they think its cheesy, but personally, I think that its one of the best choruses on the album, its very epic and Rob Halford's vocals during it are great. Next is Death, its quite forgettable, but it has a few great parts, the riff at 2:12 really reminds me of Death (the band), I mean, in terms of harmonies (I'm sure that Death fans will get what I mean)... The part at 5:12 is the best part for me, the synth sounds great. Conquest starts with a pretty catchy riff and like Pestillence And Plague it has a very epic chorus. The next song, Lost Love, is the first ballad on the album and its definitely a great ballad! Its very soft, but its simply beautiful. I'm not a big fan of ballads, but this one is very good. The first CD ends with Persecution which is the heaviest song on the CD, its good, but to me its one of the weakest songs on the first CD... Its one of the songs that sound the most like typical Priest, but you know what? I prefer the epic sound of the other songs.
Second CD:
In my opinion, the second CD is nowhere as good as the first one. Actually, it mostly consists of ballads. The first song, Exiled, is good, but its nothing special really... The next song, Alone, is MUCH better! Actually, its one of the best songs on the album, its a ballad, but like Lost Love from the first CD, its a great one and it has a really memorable chorus (one of the best on the album). Visions is one of the first songs that we all got to hear, when I first heard it, I thought that it was average and I still think that its average... Like Persecution from the first CD, it sounds quite a bit like a typical Priest song, but its simply nothing special, the chorus is very generic... Next, we have, in my opinion, the weakest song on the album, New Beginnings. It isn't bad, but its very forgettable, its just a very average ballad. The title track starts in a very epic way, a lot of people don't like the intro, but personally, I love it! Anyway, its one of the heaviest songs on the album, the riff under the verses really remind of the main riff from Painkiller (which can be a good thing or a bad thing) and the chorus is quite catchy. The last song, Future Of Mankind, is one of the best songs on the second CD, its very epic and the chorus is not overly original, but I love it!
Now lets talk about the musicians. I've never really cared about Rob Halford's voice except when it goes very high, but I have to admit that I like his voice on this album a lot, he doesn't sing very high as much as on the other albums, but his voice is very poweful! We all know that Tipton and Downing are great guitarists, I've always loved their solos, but I must say that I'm quite disappointed with their playing on this album... Tipton's solos have always been very memorable, but his solos on this album are not very memorable. A lot of the riffs aren't really incredible either... I mean, the album has a few great riffs, but the riffs are not what make the album good (the melodies are)... Oh well, to add some positive, a couple of the songs have very cool melodic (melodies, harmonies, ...) sections. Scott Travis is a great drummer and I guess that he's great on this album, but I don't know much about drumming... Ian Hill, well, he's Ian Hill. Last, but not least, the orchestration/keyboard/synth on this album is one of the best things about it! A lot of people think that Judas Priest and orchestration don't go together and maybe they're right, but without the orchestration/keyboard/synth, this album wouldn't be anywere near as good as it is. Its an epic album, it needs orchestration. Seriously, do you really expect an epic album to consist of guitar, bass and drums only?
What about the lyrics? Well, honestly, they aren't bad, but they aren't great either, they're quite cheesy, but lyrics have never been Priest's strong point. Personally, I don't really care about them... Yeah, I realize that the album is a concept album, but the music is great, so I don't really mind the lyrics.
So, overall, Nostradamus is a great album. Its obviously not Priest's best album, but, for me, its better than Rocka Rolla, the overrated British Steel, Point Of Entry, Turbo, Ram It Down, Jugulator, Demolition and Angel Of Retribution. Like I said earlier, its not a typical Priest album, its more epic than heavy, but who cares? Just accept that Priest tried something different. Listen to it with an open mind like I did, don't expect a second Painkiller.
Best songs (in no specific order): Prophecy, Revelations, Pestilence and Plague, Conquest and Alone.
Weakest songs: Visions and New Beginnings.
Free Music Review: Metal Gods Masterpiece!
Hit: 5 Stars
It was obvious from the beginning that some people would love this CD and others would hate it. Hardcore fans who want little else than a regurgitation of Painkiller will be severely disappointed. Those who are able to open their minds and explore a new world of Priest will find this CD to be an absolutely amazing journey. This piece of work displays a depth that most bands never reach.
There is no one formula or sound that makes this album. It is a combination of musical styles that requires you to listen to this album multiple times to actually "get it." This is precisely why some people will never "get it." Sadly they are missing out on one of the most amazing concept albums ever written. There are no instant radio hits here.
When you do take the time to be absorbed into the world of Nostradamus, you find layers of music rather than just a catchy guitar riff. With Nostradamus, Priest are again pioneers, blending heavy metal with operatic verses and orchestral accompaniments. If for no other reason, this CD is worth purchasing just to hear Rob Halford sing in Italian on "Pestilence and Plague." Halford shows that he is not just The Metal God, unleashing screams that will shatter glass and fragile ear drums, but that he is also a vocalist who SINGS with far more energy and talent than any pop tart that Fox Television tries to make into an "idol." This is not bubble-gum rock boys and girls. This is not pretty. This is not the 4 minute hit single they play on MTV with a bunch of screaming kids who don't even know what they are screaming at. This is Judas Priest. This is Rock & Roll. This is Heavy Metal. But this time, it's done with finesse that's usually reserved for much different musical genres. Congratulations to Judas Priest for taking the chance, and for doing it exceptionally well. There's a reason why this band is selling out arenas almost 35 years after their inception.
My final advice to anyone looking to purchase this CD. Do it! But you need to put in the time with this album to appreciate it. Priest took over two years to write and record this album. Listen to it in full- from beginning to end. Then do it again. And again. You need to immerse yourself into the world they created to truly appreciate it. If you put in the time, you will reap the rewards that this masterpiece has to offer.
All hail to the Call of The Priest and bow before The Metal Gods!
Also note- the deluxe addition is a beautiful package with a hardcover book and all the lyrics, as well as a short biography of Nostradamus' life. It's well worth the extra few dollars.
Free Music Review: What's old is new again!
Hit: 5 Stars
I've been a Priest fan forever, even when Rob spilt, I held out hope that they would continue on and they did after about a 7 year break with Ripper up front.
This recent release will be a mixed bag for most Priest fans. The reason I say that is simply because it's not what you would expect to hear from this band. If you're looking for 80's style Priest?, it ain't here! If you're looking for 70's style Priest?, well their are elements of it on here as it does somewhat hearken back to the early stuff from albums like Sad Wings Of Destiny and Sin After Sin etc. One things for sure, It'll surprise you in many ways.
To be honest, it took me about 20 listens to really start to appreciate what we have here. I guess it comes down to how you perceived this band to be. If you like the 80's stuff, you more than likely wont get into this. If you liked the really early stuff, you'll love this release.
Nostradamus is a masterpiece in my books. It's symphonic, overblown, slow and probably far to long, but man does it kick ass. For those of you who say it's not heavy, either you're simply not giving it a chance for the reasons I've stated above, or you're just not listening!
Priest has definitely departed from the signature sound we've become used to over the last two decades or so. This release is a different animal here all together and it's back to the old school Priest. Like the headline states, "what's old is new again!" Rob Halford's voice will always be powerful, after all, he is the Metal God and you do have to give them props for not resting on their laurels and really branching out with this effort.
Hell, you get nearly two hours of music here and it is really one tune in 23 parts which provides you the listener with a very cohesive sounding cd.
To rap it up, although maybe have flamed them for this cd, I think that it really is their best effort thus far. What, did I say that? Absolutely, to me this is a fantastic release that brings back to the good ol' days before they kind of became a cookie cutter metal band in the 80's (not that's theirs anything wrong with that!). I absolutely love what they've done here as they have taken this band back to it's roots.
If you've liked Priest past and present?, you owe it to yourself to check out this latest release. It's truly something special from a band that is as relevant today as it was some 30 years ago.
Well done gentlemen!!
Free Music Review: Open your mind, people!!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
Okay, let me start by saying I am a HUGE Judas Priest fan and being so I have been waiting for this thing for years. To be honest, it's exactly all I thought it would be. With that being said, this is going to be the second most controversial album they release, after Turbo of course. If you weren't paying attention, they said from the get-go that this was going to be epic and have lots of orchestration, so you should know that this is how it was going to be.
With this album, they have catapulted themselves as ingenious songwriters. This was not an easy task by any means. THIS IS NOT PAINKILLER! GET OVER IT!!!! However, it is still heavy metal and damn good heavy metal. Yeah, it is long, epic, symphonic and is a concept piece. What else were you people expecting this to be? All three principle songwriters, especially Halford have been known to be experimental and not do the same damn thing all the time. If they did that, all of their back catalog would blend together.
What I'm trying to say is give this thing a listen with an open mind. There is some extraordinary musicianship on here and Halford's voice has never been better, although he's always been the best. Yes, I agree it might be a little bit weird for Priest to do an album like this and maybe it seems a little more like an Iron Maiden thing to do, but they succeeded. This monster of an album is very progressive and symphonic but done correctly. My only complaints are that maybe it's a little too doom metal (something I wasn't expecting). I was surprised how doomy this thing was and I love doom metal, but I do think they should've mixed it up a bit more. As for you people complaining it's not heavy enough. Two things. 1. Priest have always had at least one light song on each album if you remember correctly, so this shouldn't be a surprise. Second, there are only two light songs on here. There are the orchestral passages too but those are pretty much just a part of the longer, heavy song.
In conclusion, I will say this. Not everyone is going to love this. If you just like really, REALLY heavy Priest, you aren't going to like this. However, if you like different types of metal and if you especially like progressive/symphonic and doom metal you'll LOVE IT!!!
Free Music Review: Only the Metal Gods could have created this!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
A very bold, imaginative, sweeping epic, the most artistic thing the Metal Gods have ever done, yet brutal at times. Still on the cutting edge in their 4th decade. Seriously, it's hard to believe most of these guys are pushing SIXTY and are still in stunning form! More importantly, they're still creating relevant new music and not bowing to trends or rehashing the past. Relative youngsters like Metallica for example have been wheezing like tired dogs for well over a decade, but The Priest still sounds as vital as ever and in my book this shares the mantle of Masterpiece along with Painkiller and British Steel.
Overall, the production is excellent, although the drums are a bit distant and lack the attack of Painkiller or Angel of Retribution. The performances by the band members are stunning. Sometimes I think how great it would have been to have had the Painkiller era Halford on vocals for more high register screams, but I love it the way it is. The maturity in Halford's voice probably suits the sometimes world-weary material better than the demon screams of Painkiller anyway. The twin guitar attack team of Glen Tipton and K.K. Downing certainly haven't mellowed with age; if anything, they've upped their game yet again. Lush keys provide a nice backdrop for key passages of the album and sound totally at home.
The atmosphere of the two-album set runs the gamut from determination to anger to sadness to regret to acceptance and is quite a bit to digest. I recommend you set aside some time to either read a book or lie on a couch or do something while the albums play in the background the first time, or take them on a long road trip, makes it easier to absorb them. I listened to Album 1 three times before I heard Album 2, which worked for me, because by then I was already thoroughly familiar with the setup of the story. Oh and please, an epic album like this deserves the best sound system you have----CRANKED----for proper impact!! This story is too big for a clock radio....