New Priest Album is Finished!

July 8th, 2014. Sooner if you have a Delorean and Doc Brown's phone number.

Totalled my DeLorean and lost my contacts, so I guess I'll be picking it up next week then, thanks!  

so for compare to AoR or Nostradamus some songs sound like from that albums. i heard some Ram it Down vibes. i expect something like AoR or Painkiller power but power is missing. it has speed ans sometimes any heavyness or how can i call it but overall it's empty. probably wont catch u after 1 or 2 listens but it needs chance. im gonna try it but rather i'll pick some song from the 1st half and keep them playing but rest or 2nd half is not so good. 2 songs are bluesy, rob want to do blues album so probably this is the beginning of that, they are not bad but not really fill into it.
im giving 2.5/5 it may happen later that the number will be higher, im not sure.

Wow, on first listen I had the opposite reaction: I think the songs are much stronger than those on Nostradamus. The bluesy songs have a great vibe, and up the album quite well. I think there is plenty of "power" to be found here, just maybe not as conspicuously as on something like Painkiller.

My favorite tracks thus far are "Sword of Damocles," "Dragonaut," "Metalizer," "Crossfire," and "Beginning of the End."



I can't wait to hear the bonus tracks. As someone said earlier in this thread, it wouldn't surprise me if a couple of those ended up being stronger than the regular album tracks.

Just one more week to go.   

I just got done listening to this album and it's something I probably will not buy, I was just really bored while listening to this album.

ElectricEye93 wrote:

Listened to the First Play thing, can't say I'm blown away. Maybe it'll grow on me but right now I feel this will go down as one of Priest's weakest albums, Turbo/Nostradamus territory.

Same. It sounds so dull & uninspired. I was really hoping for something full of energy. The songwriting is dull, the production is poor, & Rob (the savior of most of their questionable albums) just doesn't have it any longer. Hopefully something will pop out to my ears, but I don't hold much hope.

more i listen new album more boring is to me... hmm weird.
why am i not surprised ?!

I'm waiting to listen to it until the CD arrives next week.

I've listened to the album three times now and it's not terrible, but it's not the best thing they've ever done.  Unfortunately, the sequencing kind of sucks and the immediately accessible songs come later in the album.  Metalizer should have been the lead off track to get that quick "Painkiller" style punch but it's near the end of the album.  The faster cuts are generally underwhelming - "Dragonaut," "Battle Cry," "Halls of Valhalla" - all sound tired.  Several of the mid-paced tracks are quite good - "Hell and Back" - sits in a really nice groove with a cool solo, "March of the Damned" has a riff that is a total earworm - in fact, this is one of my favorite tracks so far even though it's the most commercial.  "Cold Blooded" reminds me of Halford's "Silent Screams" - it's in that vein of an emotional song that builds towards its end.  There are a couple of plodding ballads that clog up the album - especially the final track "Beginning of the End" - it's a real stinker.

Overall, it's a middling album - better than Nostradamus by far, but it's not as good as Angel of Retribution.  As is usually the case with modern albums it's too long - hacking 3 songs off of this and rearranging the sequencing would really help.

Honestly, I don't think the songs are all that bad. The production sounds a bit washed out and tends to soften the edges, which diminishes some of the energy, I think. Rob, while still sounding pretty damn good for over 60 (IMO), is definitely showing his age w/ his delivery.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Honestly, I don't think the songs are all that bad. The production sounds a bit washed out and tends to soften the edges, which diminishes some of the energy, I think. Rob, while still sounding pretty damn good for over 60 (IMO), is definitely showing his age w/ his delivery.

The more I listen to it the more I like it. Maybe this album's more of a grower?

I don't think people are saying the album is bad, just that it's not good. Is it good enough for one of the best metal bands ever? Just because METALLICA and IRON MAIDEN have lowered the bar considerably doesn't mean that JUDAS PRIEST should follow suit.

I just think they're tired, and understandably so. It's been a long ass time. My expectations are a little more slim than they were with AoR.

I'll give it a good listen tomorrow. It's Priest,even their worst stuff is still listenable.

I've been waiting for my CD to arrive in the mail before I listen (tomorrow!).

All Music Guide gave it a good review, said it has a classic Priest vibe and that it's better than Nostradamus (which wouldn't be hard to accomplish) and Angel of Retribution.

i stopped at 4x and have no reason to listen so often or again. didnt catch me as i expected. not bad no good, average. better than nostradamus worst than AoR. nothing new.
probably i was expecting something lie RH solo albums... hmm dunno. RH solos are almost much better than JP.

This will be in my mail box tomorrow... trying this old school - skipping the full album stream and waiting for the actually CD to crank. 

And Maiden haven't lowered the bar - they just evolved at the natural direction they would have following Seventh Son... of course, it took them 12 years to release what should have been the follow up! The post-reunion albums are all fantastic and brought them lots of new fans - it was a big shock going to Europe and seeing how many of the younger fans are Janick Gers fanatics (at the 5 gigs I went to in England in 2011, Janick's side of the barrier was filled up first with the younger fans - leaving me plenty of space on Dave/Adrian's side of the stage.) Most of the younger fans over there became fans post-reunion. 

Looking forward to listening to the new Priest tomorrow!

I think what I've heard is ok. Nothing that's outstanding but not their worst week either.

I need to spend some more time with it, but I do have to say the first half of the album has some really weak choruses. Something that really struck me is that Rob is definitely going with some unconventional vocal melodies that have to be taxing as hell. I was vastly impressed with that and I can't recall having heard him push himself that hard for a while.

The sequencing critique is definitely one I'll second.

Oh, and Crossfire still kicks the balls off of just about everything else I've heard lately.  

I think what we got here is an 70's priest album....to me with a few exceptions the sound and production seem very old school..I dig it   

It was mainly being spun in the car, but I have to admit, it's a loud mix, but never feels muddy. There's great separation and the band sounds hot on every track, even when the material isn't quite 100%. I'll definitely second that 70s Priest diagnosis.   

If it sounds more like 70s Priest, I'll be more interested. Sad Wings, Sin After Sin, and Stained Class are, IMO, Priest's greatest achievements.

Killer album