Eddie Trunk:
/24/08: Had a chance to hear the entire new Judas Priest album yesterday. As many of you know, I premiered the title track „Nostradamus“ on my XM show this past Monday to great response. I was offered the chance to hear segments of all the tracks, or take in the entire 1 Hour 45 Minute experience, and of course I went for the entire record. As many of you know this album is the bands first ever concept record based on the life of Nostradamus. Now many have conjured up immediate images of Spinal Tap when you think of a legendary metal band tackling such an idea, but I am here to tell you it is not cheesy or goofy in any way! The album will be a 2 CD set to be released on June 17th through Epic. Now having had just one listen to what is an insanely ambitious undertaking, it is impossible to give details of every track. Priest touches on so much new ground and really pushed the envelope on some things. The album takes you on a nearly 2 hour journey. Not one break in the action until you have to change CDs. There are several transitional segments that have their own titles that help the album further capture a mood and vibe. And do not be mistaken, this album is heavy! Even though there are moments of orchestration, synth, foreign language vocals and great effects, it is still very much Priest. First thing that struck me was of course Rob’s vocals. One of the great singers of all time, this album is a great vehicle to hear the Metal God in all his stellar range and going for notes high and low that are just awesome. The other thing was the guitar interaction between Glenn and KK. Two of the most underrated players over the past 35 years. Maybe more so than any JP album to date, the two really lock in and trade licks. So cool to hear the two styles trade off on many tracks. Scott Travis plays awesome as usual and Ian Hill remains the rock solid unsung hero of Priest. To really tell you how I feel about this album and it’s individual tracks is impossible from one listen. On first impression it is an amazing work from Priest and I sat in awe saying to myself; „how do you even begin to try and create all of this“? You really hear why this album took as long as it did and sounds like it does. It’s all on there, trust me! This is a record that will really take many listens and some time to absorb, but sounds very much like that will be time well spent. There is no hit single on this album, no „Living After Midnight“ by any stretch! It is without a doubt best looked at as a complete work as all true concept albums are. You can really see it living out on a stage and lets hope after the H&H dates Priest do just that. I wish I could be more specific here, but it’s impossible to do anything more than give an overview after just one listen to this monster of a CD set. Can not wait to have this to live with for a while and really absorb, but on first listen it sounds like Priest have truly created something special and once again lived up to their rightful billing as „Metal Gods“.
--
Halford and Priest FOREVER