Judas Priest - Nostradamus

What do you guys think of this album? I just tried listening to it again & got halfway thru the first disc & shut it off...

Great record, massively unloved and under rated!  

Not a bad album, but not their greatest either. But definitely under-rated. I love it.

I haven't heard the entire thing yet. What I had heard sounded like a Painkiller b-side merged with trying to get into some symphonic metal but not quite accomplishing it. Am I wrong?

It sucks. It's a turgid, boring mess that Priest had no business releasing at this point in their career. Does anyone really want to hear a concept album from Priest? Anyone? Of course not. Also, could the subject matter be dumber? Nostradamus? Ugh.

There may be good tracks contained within, but why wade through the crap to find them? Judas Priest is my favorite band but this ranks as the lowest of the Halford albums, even lower than Turbo, which I hate with a passion. At least Turbo inspired hate, Nostradamus only inspires indifference.

Witchfinder wrote:

It sucks.  It's a turgid, boring mess that Priest had no business releasing at this point in their career.  Does anyone really want to hear a concept album from Priest?  Anyone?  Of course not.  Also, could the subject matter be dumber?  Nostradamus? Ugh.  

There may be good tracks contained within, but why wade through the crap to find them?  Judas Priest is my favorite band but this ranks as the lowest of the Halford albums, even lower than Turbo, which I hate with a passion.  At least Turbo inspired hate, Nostradamus only inspires indifference.  

I loved the Turbo album. I saw them live for the second time on the Turbo tour.

Witchfinder wrote:

It sucks.  It's a turgid, boring mess that Priest had no business releasing at this point in their career.  Does anyone really want to hear a concept album from Priest?  Anyone?  Of course not.  Also, could the subject matter be dumber?  Nostradamus? Ugh.  

There may be good tracks contained within, but why wade through the crap to find them?  Judas Priest is my favorite band but this ranks as the lowest of the Halford albums, even lower than Turbo, which I hate with a passion.  At least Turbo inspired hate, Nostradamus only inspires indifference.  

Count me in. This is exactly how I feel about both albums. Let's not forget the awful cover art.

It's not their greatest moment, and I agree the first disc is a little slow paced, but there are some real good tracks on the album.

"Alone" is a classic. "Visions" is another awesome song. "Nostradamus" is excellent, too.

I like the idea of Priest doing a concept album.

Haven't listened to it in a while. Wasn't terribly impressed with it the last time I did. It's got its moments, I guess.

Wouldn't say it sucks but I would say that it could have been so much better. There's quite a few good songs on it but it has too many of those little interludes that bog it down.

I like it, but it's not something I break out all the time

Take out all the fluff, & you'll still find some good mid paced rockers. Still, this album ranks dead last in my favorite Priest albums.

It does rank slightly above Turbo in my book since there are actually drums in Nostradamus.

I like Turbo better than Point of Entry & Nostradamus, but that is it.

Duuude Point of Entry is rockin.' C'mon now.  

corplhicks wrote:

Duuude Point of Entry is rockin.' C'mon now.  

It's got a few good songs on it. Priest has never unleashed a total turd.

Witchfinder wrote:

It sucks.  It's a turgid, boring mess that Priest had no business releasing at this point in their career.  Does anyone really want to hear a concept album from Priest?  Anyone?  Of course not.  Also, could the subject matter be dumber?  Nostradamus? Ugh.  

There may be good tracks contained within, but why wade through the crap to find them?  Judas Priest is my favorite band but this ranks as the lowest of the Halford albums, even lower than Turbo, which I hate with a passion.  At least Turbo inspired hate, Nostradamus only inspires indifference.  

Couldn't disagree with this more

Is this priests best album, no but I do like it. It kinda sounds like what nightwish would sound like if Rob sang with them and they played slightly heavier music lol.

As for the grumpy old man rant by witch finder above I don't see why priest can't release a concept album at this point of there career and I thought the Nostradamus subject matter was quite interesting.

I must admit though the first reunion album angel of retribution was simply awesome and Nostradamus does suffer when being compared to it. Can't wait for the next album, I hear they're in the studio working on it now.

I have owned this since it was a first day release and I am not sure what to make of it. I don't hate it but certainly do not love it. I have not listened to this album in a long time, but it left me mostly puzzled. I think its cool that this long into their career they took a chance and released something so grand and ambitious, but as far as the execution of the material, don't think they quite pulled it off.

Wayne wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

It sucks.  It's a turgid, boring mess that Priest had no business releasing at this point in their career.  Does anyone really want to hear a concept album from Priest?  Anyone?  Of course not.  Also, could the subject matter be dumber?  Nostradamus? Ugh.  

There may be good tracks contained within, but why wade through the crap to find them?  Judas Priest is my favorite band but this ranks as the lowest of the Halford albums, even lower than Turbo, which I hate with a passion.  At least Turbo inspired hate, Nostradamus only inspires indifference.  

Couldn't disagree with this more

Is this priests best album, no but I do like it. It kinda sounds like what nightwish would sound like if Rob sang with them and they played slightly heavier music lol.

As for the grumpy old man rant by witch finder above I don't see why priest can't release a concept album at this point of there career and I thought the Nostradamus subject matter was quite interesting.

I must admit though the first reunion album angel of retribution was simply awesome and Nostradamus does suffer when being compared to it. Can't wait for the next album, I hear they're in the studio working on it now.

Priest can do anything they want, but the problem is Priest is simply not the kind of band that should be doing concept albums. Priest is a straight-ahead, down-the-middle, unpretentious Metal band. Leave the concept album fruitery for lesser bands like Nightwish and their ilk.

Further, Priest should never be boring and this album was boring as hell. It also destroyed whatever goodwill they had built up with Angel of Retribution and stopped their comeback dead in its tracks. Since Nostradamus they have only released compilations, live albums and reissues, and KK fled for the business of running golf courses. It was a boneheaded decision on their part, and it leads me to believe that whatever creativity they had left dried up with Angel of Retribution.

My own pet peeve is that old men from Brum should never be called KK! His mum named him Ken, I'm calling him Ken!!  

I'm a Priest fanatic, but this was not their finest hour IMO. It's not a terrible album, just too much fluff to wade through. Had it been condense down to just the best ten songs it would have been a very good record. As it stands it's hard to listen to in one sitting and bores me.

I'm surprised no one's talking about the mix. It's horribly dull and not heavy at all. The guitars are dialed lower than the synths in most parts. Even Travis gets buried.

corplhicks wrote:

I'm surprised no one's talking about the mix. It's horribly dull and not heavy at all. The guitars are dialed lower than the synths in most parts. Even Travis gets buried.

 I hate how everyone complains about mixes of albums these days        Just saying...

bass63 wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

I'm surprised no one's talking about the mix. It's horribly dull and not heavy at all. The guitars are dialed lower than the synths in most parts. Even Travis gets buried.

 I hate how everyone complains about mixes of albums these days        Just saying...

I do believe the production of an album is akin to the end quality of a movie. If a movie is suffers in post--say, editing is poor--or the photography is muddy, the movie has the potential to become unwatchable, no matter how good the story is. Same thing with music. Production is there to bring out the best of the band's creation. It really can make or break an album. Yes, sometimes bad production works in the band's favor--just look at Neil Young--but when it comes to Priest, having someone like Allom in the past was an integral part of their success. Or Iron Maiden and Birch.

Also, there's nothing wrong with being critical. Coming from someone who has a creative side, I believe it to be necessary for creative growth.