Priest calling it a day....

[AeonicSlumber]

Mostradamus was great.
I seriously bet people who slam that album haven't even bothered listening to it straight through.

Angel of Retribution is solid as well.
Their biggest problem with that one was releasing the weakest track off the album as the lead off single, which may have turned off some.

This is sad news indeed.
Priest are still amazing live, IMHO.

As someone who listened to it straight through multiple times, allow me to say that I thought Nostradamus sucked hard. The title track was deceptively awesome, the remainder was a cheesy on-the-level-of-spinal-tap-but-actually-serious pseudo rock opera with no substance or balls. Also it sounded like it was programmed and recorded on one of the band members' laptops. For an oldschool band, it sure sounded cheap and fake productionwise.

 

[Diabolik]

So, using johnfrank as an example, I would say you can't really call yourself a Priest fan, considering how many essential albums and tunes you claim to not listen to.

funny you say someone isnt a Priest fan when you yourself just got into them a few years ago. zing.

 

[Jasonic]

funny you say someone isnt a Priest fan when you yourself just got into them a few years ago. zing.

Don't be a complete tool.
Just got "into" them a couple years ago?
Give me a break.

I have been a "casual" Priest fan even since Defenders came out.
Read my whole post dork.

I had Rocka Rolla, Sad Wings, Defenders, Priest in the East, and Screaming all on vinyl back in the day. That was it.

Yes, it wasn't until a couple years ago where I finally dug deeper into their catalog, and got the rest of their full lengths, discovering the non "hit" songs or songs they regularly play live. Now I would indeed call myself more of a "fan" than a "casual" fan.

 

[Diabolik]

Don't be a complete tool.
Just got "into" them a couple years ago?
Give me a break.

I have been a "casual" Priest fan even since Defenders came out.
Read my whole post dork.

I had Rocka Rolla, Sad Wings, Defenders, Priest in the East, and Screaming all on vinyl back in the day. That was it.

Yes, it wasn't until a couple years ago where I finally dug deeper into their catalog, and got the rest of their full lengths, discovering the non "hit" songs or songs they regularly play live. Now I would indeed call myself more of a "fan" than a "casual" fan.

I do wonder how long this tour will last....will it be one final tour or will it hit a bunch of times.

I remember you telling me you never got into Priest growing up and even at that Halford who on the Metal Gods tours you wanted to leave after 2 songs. Just saying. Not trying to ruin your metal cred or anything. I just hate when someone tries to call out a real fan and not a real fan. Each person is different.

 

[Claus / Intromental]

funny you say someone isnt a Priest fan when you yourself just got into them a few years ago. zing.

 

[War Ensemble]

http://www.bravewords.com/news/151810

"After storming the world for nearly 40 years and taking their very special brand of heavy metal to all four corners of the planet, JUDAS PRIEST -one of the most influential heavy metal bands of all time, have announced this will be their final world tour!!"
.....


Sounds like there will be tons of touring before 'finishing'; I really wish their swan song had been much stronger.

They mention a final world tour. I might be interpretting it incorrectly, but this announcement appears to be aimed toward touring worldwide. They didn't mention they would not record anymore. Judas Priest could continue to record, play festivals, & do occasional short tours (European run, North American run, etc...). As I said, I might be reading to much into this.

 

[Comic Book Dude]

They mention a final world tour. I might be interpretting it incorrectly, but this announcement appears to be aimed toward touring worldwide. They didn't mention they would not record anymore. Judas Priest could continue to record, play festivals, & do occasional short tours (European run, North American run, etc...). As I said, I might be reading to much into this.

I hope you're right....I don't think so, but I can still keep my fingers crossed!

 

[Andy Laudano]

They mention a final world tour. I might be interpretting it incorrectly, but this announcement appears to be aimed toward touring worldwide. They didn't mention they would not record anymore. Judas Priest could continue to record, play festivals, & do occasional short tours (European run, North American run, etc...). As I said, I might be reading to much into this.

I REALLY hope you're right. Bad enough the Scorpions are calling it quits after this tour. I'd hate to completely lose Priest too. Halford's here in Dallas on the 13th. I'll try to ask him about it and tell you what he says.

 

[Jasonic]

I remember you telling me you never got into Priest growing up and even at that Halford who on the Metal Gods tours you wanted to leave after 2 songs.

Nah, never said I didn't get into them growing up.
Just wasn't as much of a fan of theirs as I was Maiden or Motorhead, for example. And yes, at that time, which was what, like 2002 or 2003, I was still only a casual Priest listener at best.

 

[Jasonic]

 

[Corsair]

Are we seriously going to have that discussion about the length of time that a person has been 'into' a band is a measure of whether or not they're a "true" fan?

Because if that's the case, I don't deserve to be called a fan of Metal, let alone any specific bands, since I've only been "Into it" for just under five years.

NOW ON TOPIC:

I've never had the chance to see 'em live; if they come 'round here and tickets are within my price range i'll definitely give 'em a go, just to show some support, primarily because they're one of the bands that got me into listening to metal in the first place. I kinda owe it to 'em.

 

[nomisofsiman]

This saddens me deeply, but I knew this was going to happen sooner rather than later. Let's face it, these guys aren't getting any younger and some of the songs they play I imagine isn't very easy considering they're in their 60s. I still would've liked them to have done one more album though. As much as I love Nostradamus, I think they really should've done a classic Priest record. I do admire them for doing this though, because I really don't want them to be the type of band who is too old, it's embarrassing, i.e. Aerosmith. I for sure will be going to see them when they tour Chicago one last time, considering they are my favorite band and all. And I do see this being legit.

I honestly don't see them pulling a Kiss here. I would guess after they do this, Halford most likely will become a recording artist strictly, with possibly an occasional live performance here and there. I still think he's pretty damn good (voice-wise), though his mobility has definitely been limited. I would imagine in a couple years time he'll probably start to deteriorate more though in terms of vocal consistency, so he'll probably savor his voice to make a couple of studio albums.

 

[nomisofsiman]

They could have called it a day right after Painkiller. While they haven't embarrassed themselves, ala Queensryche, they certainly haven't added anything of note to their legacy either.

I would have to highly disagree with that. I think Angel of Retribution was a fantastic return with solid tunes from start to finish. Nostradamus is a great CD in my opinion, despite what some think. There is one track I hate -- "New Beginnings" but the rest is pretty solid. As I've said before, the problem with Nostradamus is at least from comments I heard, it seemed like people for some reason were expecting it to be Painkiller 2 -- when in reality they said from the get go that it was going to be a symphonic metal opera concept album.

Personally, and I don't want to start a Maiden vs Priest thing here but I find their output post-reunion way better than Maiden's. I like Maiden's but their last four albums just don't grab me and seem less energetic than Priest's.

Angel of Retribution is solid as well.
Their biggest problem with that one was releasing the weakest track off the album as the lead off single, which may have turned off some.

Jason - what was the lead single? I don't even remember what single they came out with.

As someone who listened to it straight through multiple times, allow me to say that I thought Nostradamus sucked hard. The title track was deceptively awesome, the remainder was a cheesy on-the-level-of-spinal-tap-but-actually-serious pseudo rock opera with no substance or balls. Also it sounded like it was programmed and recorded on one of the band members' laptops. For an oldschool band, it sure sounded cheap and fake productionwise.

I can't say I'm surprised you don't like it. I'm not insinuating anything...just judging from the discs you really like from the past and your list of top albums of this year I understand. You seem to like much heavier stuff in general. Saying it lacks no balls though? I don't agree with that. It does have a lot of softer moments, but that was the point when they were going to do this concept album. It was going to have peaks and valleys. Having said that, I understand some Priest fans not liking it, but calling it bad I don't understand, especially on this board. I mean Nostradamus is the most power metal album they ever had. While yeah, I would've preferred them to use an actual orchestra for the album instead of artificial symphonics, I still dug the sound minus a couple moments.

Are we seriously going to have that discussion about the length of time that a person has been 'into' a band is a measure of whether or not they're a "true" fan?

Because if that's the case, I don't deserve to be called a fan of Metal, let alone any specific bands, since I've only been "Into it" for just under five years.

I agree. Seriously, the amount of time you are into a band has nothing to do with how huge a fan you are. Sure, an older fan is going to know more about them but that doesn't lower the fandom of the younger person. To me, being a huge fan of a band is having most (if not all) of their albums and having a pretty steady listening to those albums on a consistent basis.

 

[Troy the nomad]

They could have called it a day right after Painkiller. While they haven't embarrassed themselves, ala Queensryche, they certainly haven't added anything of note to their legacy either.

Quoted because it's true. My favorite band in the world a loooong time ago. Halford hasn't had it in forever and I hope this sticks.

 

[nomisofsiman]

Revolution

Ah okay, that makes sense. Yeah, it definitely was the worst out of the bunch.

 

[Purveyor Of Evil]

This news fucking kills me.

 

[Fire breath]

A little bit of metal will die when Halford puts down the mic for the last time with Priest.

 

[Jasonic]

Are we seriously going to have that discussion about the length of time that a person has been 'into' a band is a measure of whether or not they're a "true" fan?

Not sure if you were referencing my discussion with this post.

No, it isn't about how LONG you were into a band that distinguishes if you were a fan. To me, I think you should have at least heard the band's ENTIRE discography, and possibly *gasp* even own all of it!

As an example, for me, I only own the double Scorps best of.
Therefore, there is potentially a LOT of amazing Scorps material that I never even heard. How could I truly call myself a "fan" of the band?

The word "Fan" in this context is derived from the word "Fanatic"

I think then there is a major difference in a "Casual Fan" VS a true "Fan" of a band.

 

[Comic Book Dude]

A little bit of metal will die when Halford puts down the mic for the last time with Priest.

Add that together with the passing of Dio and that bit of metal is getting kinda weighty. Let's hope the likes of Tony Iommi and Lemmy hold on for quite a while.

 

[nomisofsiman]

As an example, for me, I only own the double Scorps best of.
Therefore, there is potentially a LOT of amazing Scorps material that I never even heard. How could I truly call myself a "fan" of the band?

Not to change the topic but yes, there are indeed a lot of Scorps material you're missing. Nothing touches their 70s output imo and I doubt much of that is on their best of.