Judas Priest - Jugulator

Believe or not.....I just listened to this today and that listen represents my first whole-album exposure to Judas Priest!

My thoughts? Simply, it's good. Heavy, and enough up tempo stuff to keep my interest. The "Ripper" sounds good to me.

I don't know why this album seems to be hated by so many. Is it really that much worse then other JP?

I have Painkiller on the way as I've been using LaLa and Swapacd as ways to get those classics that I missed the first time around. I'll get to hear the difference between what is claimed to be a JP standout and the Halford-less Jugulator.

JUGULATOR was a great album... it just gets a bad rap because Halford isn't behind the mic.

I remember being as nervous as anyone when I went out & bought that disc (on the first day of release, of course, like a good little geek)... I had already heard "Bullet Train" on a pre-release cassette single, and enjoyed it, but when I heard Ripper nail that first high scream in the title track, I punched the air and was like "YEEAH! They're gonna be fine!"

My fave track is "Burn In Hell." I'd love to hear Halford take a whack at that one live sometime!!

Fat Freddy wrote:

JUGULATOR was a great album... it just gets a bad rap because Halford isn't behind the mic.

I second that, I got a promotional CD with Bullet Train on it from a used CD store (to this very day I try to visit there as much as possible) and that song floored me. I like every song on it but my favortie is Bullet Train followed by Cathedral Spires.

Demolition seems to be the album that draws the most scorn. But I like the album. Outside of its shoddy production, it's pretty good. Jugulator is better. A solid album. Not sure why it got so much hate.

Fat Freddy wrote:

My fave track is "Burn In Hell." I'd love to hear Halford take a whack at that one live sometime!!

You know, I think that would be pretty awesome if Rob sang any of the Owens tunes. Has he?

I always liked Jugulator. Sure it wasn't Halford, but Owens did a fine job. It's not the best in the Priest catalog (not by a long shot) but it still holds up pretty well when I listen to it today. Demolition I had for a while, didn't like it, never listened to it and sold it off. I don't miss it, even if means having a gapping hole in my JP collection.

I too would like to hear Rob's voice on some of the Owens material, just for sh*ts and giggles.

Great Priest disc, but it isnt as bad as many people say it is. Of course it isnt their best, but far from their worst.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I always liked Jugulator. Sure it wasn't Halford, but Owens did a fine job. It's not the best in the Priest catalog (not by a long shot) but it still holds up pretty well when I listen to it today. Demolition I had for a while, didn't like it, never listened to it and sold it off. I don't miss it, even if means having a gapping hole in my JP collection.

I too would like to hear Rob's voice on some of the Owens material, just for sh*ts and giggles.

I believe he has done Cathedral Spires, but I could be mistaken.

I love Jugulator. My favorite cut from this one is hands down, Abductors.

As far as Halford singing any Owens era Priest - Not likely. I remember an interview with Halford and this question came up. His response, "Theres only one Elvis".

I really dug this record. The title track and Blood Stained are stand outs for me. The 98 Live Metal Meltdown cd with Owens is a great live record and The Ripper tears up some Priest classics...

Favorite JP album is a tie between Point Of Entry and Brittish Steel. That said the entire JP catalogue is very impressive!!

Eyesore wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

My fave track is "Burn In Hell." I'd love to hear Halford take a whack at that one live sometime!!

You know, I think that would be pretty awesome if Rob sang any of the Owens tunes. Has he?

I don't think Halford's done any Owens stuff live. I've read a few interviews with him where he's asked about doing it, and he always gives some generic "Well, that would be up to the fans, because we always play what they want to hear" kind of thing. Since the majority of Priest fans either hated or ignored the Owens records, I imagine that there must be little to no demand for those songs.

That said, I would love to hear Rob take a whack at some of that stuff, i.e. "Jugulator," "Bullet Train," "Bloodsuckers," "Abductors," etc... even the aforementioned "Cathedral Spires."

Bruce Dickinson has no problem doing a couple of Blaze Bayley era songs during Maiden shows (his rendition of VIRTUAL XI's "The Clansman" on the ROCK IN RIO live CD is unreal! He totally OWNS that song!), so I think Rob should at least consider doing some Owens tracks. It would be a nice treat for the die-hards who stuck by Priest during the Owens years.

martinsane wrote:

I really dug this record. The title track and Blood Stained are stand outs for me. The 98 Live Metal Meltdown cd with Owens is a great live record and The Ripper tears up some Priest classics...

98 LIVE MELTDOWN kinda bugs me when I listen to it. Ripper sounds great (and I suspect that the main reason it was even released was to prove to the doubters "Yes, the new guy can sing the old stuff!"), but the songs don't sound quite "right" to my ears. I think the JP guys down-tuned their instruments more than usual in order to match the "brutal" tone of the JUGULATOR material, so that stuff sounds fine, but then all the classic songs sound like they're off key. Or is it just me?

Fat Freddy wrote:

martinsane wrote:

I really dug this record. The title track and Blood Stained are stand outs for me. The 98 Live Metal Meltdown cd with Owens is a great live record and The Ripper tears up some Priest classics...

98 LIVE MELTDOWN kinda bugs me when I listen to it. Ripper sounds great (and I suspect that the main reason it was even released was to prove to the doubters "Yes, the new guy can sing the old stuff!"), but the songs don't sound quite "right" to my ears. I think the JP guys down-tuned their instruments more than usual in order to match the "brutal" tone of the JUGULATOR material, so that stuff sounds fine, but then all the classic songs sound like they're off key. Or is it just me?

You may be right. However, I don't remember the classics on there sounding off key. Again I haven't had that live album in seven years so I can't be sure.

DallasBlack wrote:

You may be right. However, I don't remember the classics on there sounding off key. Again I haven't had that live album in seven years so I can't be sure.

Despite my problems with the oldies sounding somewhat odd, I still prefer 98 LIVE MELTDOWN to the very disappointing follow up studio album, DEMOLITION. What a bummer that disc was.

priest are supposedly playing at donington park this year as sub headliner to kiss

I think its a great album and to be honest the only JP album I own.Love Rippers voice.I see nothing wrong with this disc at all.

Fat Freddy wrote:

DallasBlack wrote:

You may be right. However, I don't remember the classics on there sounding off key. Again I haven't had that live album in seven years so I can't be sure.

Despite my problems with the oldies sounding somewhat odd, I still prefer 98 LIVE MELTDOWN to the very disappointing follow up studio album, DEMOLITION. What a bummer that disc was.

Demolition is a GREAT CD!

Mglaffas81 wrote:

Demolition is a GREAT CD!

Jugulator > Demolition.

Seriously, I found DEMO a major let down, it was especially disappointing since I'd liked JUGULATOR so much and couldn't wait for them to follow it up... but after a four year wait, the best they could come up with was stuff like "Feed On Me" (ugh!) and "Lost And Found" (double ugh)? "CyberFace" is quite possibly the worst song Judas Priest has ever recorded...

There are a few good tracks to be found on DEMO ("Machine Men" and "Bloodsuckers") but the majority of that album runs the gamut from merely "meh" to downright "poor."

I thought Demolition was a great album in my opinion.

Loved Jugulator. but man Demolition was terrible

Jugulator was good, but its obvious that Ripper is stretching it a bit. He's TRYING to sound like Halford.

True, but to me it ranks up there regardless.

spectrefate wrote:

Jugulator was good, but its obvious that Ripper is stretching it a bit. He's TRYING to sound like Halford.

He didn't have a choice!! It's pretty obvious when you listen to it that he was handed a script and told "there ya go son, just sing it like Rob would"

Fat Freddy wrote:

spectrefate wrote:

Jugulator was good, but its obvious that Ripper is stretching it a bit. He's TRYING to sound like Halford.

He didn't have a choice!! It's pretty obvious when you listen to it that he was handed a script and told "there ya go son, just sing it like Rob would"

Exactly, I mean they picked a guy from a Judas Priest tribute band for a reason.

DallasBlack wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

JUGULATOR was a great album... it just gets a bad rap because Halford isn't behind the mic.

I second that, I got a promotional CD with Bullet Train on it from a used CD store (to this very day I try to visit there as much as possible) and that song floored me. I like every song on it but my favortie is Bullet Train followed by Cathedral Spires.

That's my experience with Jugulator exactly. I was expecting it to suck without Halford, but the "Bullet Train" single blew me away. I played that song over and over again. Wish that Priest would put that song back into their set list, along with Cathedral Spires.