New Priest Album is Finished!

I'm looking forward to this one. It sounds much more interesting than Nostradamus, which just had to much filler and frills and not enough grab-you-by-the-jugular Priest tracks.

Nice solo. Great to finally hear a full tune from this.

That sounded like an average Halford track. The more I hear of this, the less I like it. Nostradamus had stronger tracks than this.

Sounds good.

I don't remember anything from Nostradamus at all. I hated that album.

Temple of Blood wrote:

That sounded like an average Halford track.  The more I hear of this, the less I like it.  Nostradamus had stronger tracks than this.

Disagree, so far the songs from this album that i've heard are a thousand times better then anything on Nostradamus.

I dunno, this is what, the 3rd or 4th sneaky peek I've heard from the new JP now, and I still haven't heard anything that's made me go "Holy sh*t, that kicked ass, this album is gonna rule, first day buyer right here!" like I'd hoped.

Nothing has been out-and-out "bad," but the samples have been mainly "meh" so far.

Fat Freddy wrote:

I dunno, this is what, the 3rd or 4th sneaky peek I've heard from the new JP, and I still haven't heard anything that's made me go "Holy sh*t, this is gonna rule, first day buyer right here!" like I'd hoped.

Nothing has been out-and-out "bad," but the samples have been mainly "meh" so far.

I agree.  So far, most of the tracks sound solid, but not amazing.  My guess is it will be reminiscent of Angel of Retribution - standard Priest without any mind-blowing cuts.

But AoR has mind-blowing cuts. Judas Rising and Hellrider for example. Even the title track to Nostradamus was far, far better than this stuff. This stuff almost could've been written by Roy Z.

I think Priest, much like other older bands, have finally come around to the old "Let's just give the fans what they want" idea. I'm not saying that they're being lazy or phoning it in, but they know at this point in their career it's just easier this way.

They aren't gonna sell millions, they aren't gonna get radio play, they probably aren't gonna garner any new fans. They don't need to tour the world and hope the "new stuff" catches on. So why try and re-invent the wheel or do something experimental and over-blown? KISS knew it, the Scorpions knew it. Even bands like Ratt and LA Guns know it. Look at their last releases.

Priest knows this. And I'm ok with that.

Temple of Blood wrote:

But AoR has mind-blowing cuts.  Judas Rising and Hellrider for example.  Even the title track to Nostradamus was far, far better than this stuff.  This stuff almost could've been written by Roy Z.

Don't see any Roy Z resemblance at all, Nostradamus sounded like a band that was completely out of ideas, the songs had little to no energy or excitement at all, this is the first time Priest actually sound full of well life since AOD.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I think Priest, much like other older bands, have finally come around to the old "Let's just give the fans what they want" idea. I'm not saying that they're being lazy or phoning it in, but they know at this point in their career it's just easier this way.

They aren't gonna sell millions, they aren't gonna get radio play, they probably aren't gonna garner any new fans. They don't need to tour the world and hope the "new stuff" catches on. So why try and re-invent the wheel or do something experimental and over-blown? KISS knew it, the Scorpions knew it. Even bands like Ratt and LA Guns know it. Look at their last releases.

Priest knows this. And I'm ok with that.

Totally agree. And "Nostradamus" was not phoned in (although it is not my favorite JP album or the style I would've chosen for them) but this stuff sounds like it was. I'd rather hear them go in a new direction in an inspired way than give me half-hearted material in the classic Priest style.

Temple of Blood wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I think Priest, much like other older bands, have finally come around to the old "Let's just give the fans what they want" idea. I'm not saying that they're being lazy or phoning it in, but they know at this point in their career it's just easier this way.

They aren't gonna sell millions, they aren't gonna get radio play, they probably aren't gonna garner any new fans. They don't need to tour the world and hope the "new stuff" catches on. So why try and re-invent the wheel or do something experimental and over-blown? KISS knew it, the Scorpions knew it. Even bands like Ratt and LA Guns know it. Look at their last releases.

Priest knows this. And I'm ok with that.

Totally agree.  And "Nostradamus" was not phoned in (although it is not my favorite JP album or the style I would've chosen for them) but this stuff sounds like it was.  I'd rather hear them go in a new direction in an inspired way than give me half-hearted material in the classic Priest style.

I don't think for a minute that Nostradamus was phoned-in. It was a huge undertaking for any band to do at any time in their career. It was highly ambitious and took a lot of talent and work. Unfortunately it didn't work. It had some moments, but it failed on too many levels. And I think the members of the band know this now. While they might not publicly admit to it, they realize they went in over their heads on that one and have reeled in back in for Redeemer.

In a bizarre sort of fashion, it's the same thing Metallica did with St. Anger, just in a different style. They tried to do something way different than the norm and went out on a limb, but the end result failed to deliver on soooooo many levels. They knew it in hindsight and then tried to right the ship and give the fans what they wanted with Death Magnetic. Which also kinda failed, but that's another story.   

"Dragonaut" actually sounds like Priest...I like it.

Sounds good to me - I already pre-ordered the deluxe version from Amazon. Looking forward to the album! I liked Nostradamus, but the samples so far on this one sound better and more "Priest like." I have to agree with Keith that it's not mind-blowing "HOLY SHIT!!!" type stuff, but seems to be on par to my initial reaction to the AOR samples.

Every track has sounded golden to me thus far. This could easily end up being my #1 album of the year, and I'm not even a Priest die-hard.

It sounds okay, it sounds like Priest. It's just that I own 12 records that sound like Priest, do I really need another?

Probably if I see it cheap (like I just did with Nostradamus) but I'll not be rushing to add it.

Temple of Blood wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I think Priest, much like other older bands, have finally come around to the old "Let's just give the fans what they want" idea. I'm not saying that they're being lazy or phoning it in, but they know at this point in their career it's just easier this way.

They aren't gonna sell millions, they aren't gonna get radio play, they probably aren't gonna garner any new fans. They don't need to tour the world and hope the "new stuff" catches on. So why try and re-invent the wheel or do something experimental and over-blown? KISS knew it, the Scorpions knew it. Even bands like Ratt and LA Guns know it. Look at their last releases.

Priest knows this. And I'm ok with that.

Totally agree.  And "Nostradamus" was not phoned in (although it is not my favorite JP album or the style I would've chosen for them) but this stuff sounds like it was.  I'd rather hear them go in a new direction in an inspired way than give me half-hearted material in the classic Priest style.

This dosen't sound "half-hearted" at all, Nostradamus suffers from the same problems as KISS "Music From The Elder" in that it sounds like a band that's trying way too hard to be something they're not.


Also don't think Death Magnetic "failed" at all, most fans of the band quite enjoyed it.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

"Dragonaut" actually sounds like Priest...I like it.

my thoughts too.

I haven't sampled the album - I've actually avoided clicking on anything so I'll have a good, proper first listen experience. But yesterday I was carpooling to work and heard a song on the radio. I don't know which one, I wasn't paying attention, I just remember thinking "a decent sounding fresh song on the rock radio, how about that?"... and then a moment later they said it was Judas Priest. I can't believe I didn't recognise Halford.

I'm a little bit excited now. I don't usually like rock radio stations and the only times I've ever heard something new (to me) on the radio and actually got excited about it without knowing what it was, I ended up buying the album the next day. Those two albums were the debut album by the Darkness, and the Battle Beast s/t.

I guess what I'm saying is, leave your car home sometimes, and carpool.

thejokeriv wrote:

Sounds good to me - I already pre-ordered the deluxe version from Amazon. Looking forward to the album! I liked Nostradamus, but the samples so far on this one sound better and more "Priest like." I have to agree with Keith that it's not mind-blowing "HOLY SHIT!!!" type stuff, but seems to be on par to my initial reaction to the AOR samples.

You summed it up for me. This is exactly how I feel.

I think at this point, especially knowing how antique they're becoming (or they've become, depending on your point of view), I'm okay just getting good songs from them. They've written enough mind-blowers for the ages that I'm just happy to hear some good ol' Priest.

Yet another song snippet. This time it's "Battle Cry" -

I think this entire album sounds like it's going to be better than Angel of Retribution.

Once again - here another snippet - this one's for "Metalizer."

What's with all these little pieces ? I don't think I've ever seen this done before (or at least never paid attention to it).