Well, I gotta say, I like it. Quite a lot actually.
I'm pretty freakin' hard to please and, frankly, have never been a huge Priest fan. I own the obligatory albums: Screaming For Vengeance, Defenders..., Unleashed in the East, a few of the older ones....but I just plain lean towards the Maiden side of things. I've had Priest phases, but to me, you are either a Maiden fan or a Priest fan, not unlike Elvis and the Beatles - not to say you can't like both, but folks tend to reeeeeeally like one or the other.
Anyway, part of it is just the Priest mojo I suppose, since aspects of the album are pretty by-the-book, rote stuff. Some of the lyrics are a bit, um, obvious. Various other negative things, blah blah blah.
Still, I just plain like it. It's solid. Halford is a god. Also, there are some pretty creative guitar sounds. It maintains that old-school vibe for sure, which really is what accounts for the more negative aspect of the thing. Hear me out though. I am all about old-school. Just, with all the water that has passed under the bridge, when something like this comes out.....you realize how much metal has changed, some of it for the better. That is NOT a put down. But, there are some pretty 80s lyrics on the album, and, well, it's 2005. That said, that is also the beauty of it. AND it is modernized somehow too. All in all, they stayed true to the Priest of the past, and yet stepped into the future.
I have more to say, but that would be over doing it. So, for now, for anybody who is considering buying it, I'll say this: It's not the single greatest metal album ever, but it's a damned fine one. Factor into that that I would say the exact same thing about Priest generally speaking. Not THE band, but a damned good one. They did not emberrass themselves at all. That's not much of a sales pitch, but this is about as good as it gets with a reunion album (I liked Brave New World - so that might help you judge).
I like it, and I think that I will be listening to it a lot. Quite a lot. As a last note: Ironically enough, the ballads are some of the coolest stuff on the record. There are at least 5 songs I think of as great, a few average or above, and one clunker. Saxon gets points for having the best mix of modern/old school of late (Lionheart), but this comes a pretty respectable second.
I'm pretty freakin' hard to please and, frankly, have never been a huge Priest fan. I own the obligatory albums: Screaming For Vengeance, Defenders..., Unleashed in the East, a few of the older ones....but I just plain lean towards the Maiden side of things. I've had Priest phases, but to me, you are either a Maiden fan or a Priest fan, not unlike Elvis and the Beatles - not to say you can't like both, but folks tend to reeeeeeally like one or the other.
Anyway, part of it is just the Priest mojo I suppose, since aspects of the album are pretty by-the-book, rote stuff. Some of the lyrics are a bit, um, obvious. Various other negative things, blah blah blah.
Still, I just plain like it. It's solid. Halford is a god. Also, there are some pretty creative guitar sounds. It maintains that old-school vibe for sure, which really is what accounts for the more negative aspect of the thing. Hear me out though. I am all about old-school. Just, with all the water that has passed under the bridge, when something like this comes out.....you realize how much metal has changed, some of it for the better. That is NOT a put down. But, there are some pretty 80s lyrics on the album, and, well, it's 2005. That said, that is also the beauty of it. AND it is modernized somehow too. All in all, they stayed true to the Priest of the past, and yet stepped into the future.
I have more to say, but that would be over doing it. So, for now, for anybody who is considering buying it, I'll say this: It's not the single greatest metal album ever, but it's a damned fine one. Factor into that that I would say the exact same thing about Priest generally speaking. Not THE band, but a damned good one. They did not emberrass themselves at all. That's not much of a sales pitch, but this is about as good as it gets with a reunion album (I liked Brave New World - so that might help you judge).
I like it, and I think that I will be listening to it a lot. Quite a lot. As a last note: Ironically enough, the ballads are some of the coolest stuff on the record. There are at least 5 songs I think of as great, a few average or above, and one clunker. Saxon gets points for having the best mix of modern/old school of late (Lionheart), but this comes a pretty respectable second.
