How many seasons of Idol has there been now? And while rock and hard rock has been represented in the past with covers of Queen and Led Zeppelin,no one has really tackled the metal genre yet. Until last night. Apparently 21 year old James Durbin decided to do a cover of Judas Priest's You Got Another Thing Comin'. The good news is that a metal song was finally sung on Karaoke Idol. The bad news is a kid with the pipes for Jonas Brothers tunes was doing the cover. Watch this video clip and tell me it didn't feel like Glee fucking up another song.
Judas Priests latest update on their official website suggests they are considering playing a track from each album as part of the setlist. And they want the fans suggestions on what those should be. Personally I think just like many decisions of Priest over the past couple of decades that this may or may not be a good idea. Because let's face it, even diehard Priest fans with half a brain will say there was some stinky material in their discography. But for giggles after the jump here is my suggestion. Then tell me in the comments what yours are and if you put it on their site.
Rocka Rolla: I prefer Caviar and Meths but for a live setting it has to be the title track
Sad Wings of Destiny: Victim of Changes. Because none of the other songs would translate very well in a live setting.
Sin After Sin: I prefer Starbreaker or Diamonds and Rust but Sinner would be better for a live show.Funny how the first song is my picks so far.
Stained Class:Evil Fantasies. Get your funk on for once Priest. Especially since the lyrics would be even more hilarious now that the world knows Halford is gay.
Hell Bent for Leather:The Green Manalishi.No question.
British Steel: Well everyone wants the overplayed songs but since this is my list fuck everyone else. 'You don't have to be old to be wise'. It's the perfect song for aging rockers saying goodbye.
Point of Entry: Desert Plains. Best song on the whole damn album.
Screaming for Vengeance:The Electric Eye. Favorite song on this album to this day.
Defenders of the Faith:The Sentinel. Epic song for an epic set on a farewell tour.
Turbo: Turbo Lover I guess. Bust out with the synth guitars for old times sake.
Ram It Down: Blood Red Skies. The only good song in a sea of cheesy horribleness.
Painkiller. Title track and get it over with.
Jugulator: Tim Owens guest spot and pick one.
Demolition: See Jugulator
Angel of Retribution: Judas Rising
Nostradamus: One of the interludes.
So there you go. That would be my picks. What would be yours?
I'm glad I didn't end up doing a tribute page on Judas Priest page after all.Back in December I wrote this up with what I thought was monumental news. Fast forward to today and Priest is not calling it quits? Just not doing major tours anymore? Glenn Tipton on his web page is quoted as saying thisafter the jump:
As you may already be aware Priest have announced a fair well world tour beginning this summer, for details and dates please visit judaspriest.com.
We are all excited about the tour and are currently having meetings to discuss the stage production, but above all the set list. We intend to include some classic priest songs that we haven`t played before and of course the old favourites that every body will want to hear. Stay tuned for further updates.
To put every ones mind at rest this is by no means the end of the band, in fact we are presently writing new material, but we do intend this to be the last major world tour.
I'm getting really tired of the cryptic bullshit from these older bands.Especially when the first statements allude to something bigger then what is really happening. This explains why no one else stepped forward with comments other then Rob Halford,who is just as guilty for not clearing the air on what an actual farewell means.
So no more major tours but there might be smaller tours? It's not a retirement because a new album is being written but no major tour for? Fuck off Judas Priest. When you're ready to completely say goodbye let us know. Until then continue to enjoy your mediocrity.
I saw this on the front page of Brave Words page and since I'm not quite awake I'm stunned.Judas Priest is actually going to retire. There is no word yet on the reasons for the retirement though I will be interested to see if it's not just due to age but my longtime suspicions of Rob Halford's physical capabilities. As much as I have taken issue with Priest over the last 20 years or so I will most likely do a tribute page once the official statement from the band is released. Stay Tuned for more on this huge story.
Honestly I'm just testing out this RSS Graffiti app for Facebook but instead of just doing a testing 1 2 3 I figured I'd post this video of Jim Bruer imitating Rob Halford only to have the real thing come walking into the studio and join in singing Devil's Child.
In the meantime you can still fan up That Devil Music if you haven't done so on Facebook that way you don't miss a post:)
Ok. I'm rested and refreshed and ready to tackle the next 25 on this list of metal albums blessed by the gods of Olympus. Let's do it.
50. PARADISE LOST - "Icon" Melodic thrash stuff. I reeeally tried to like this group. Musically it's not as good as Opeth and his vocals fall short on both clean and cookie monster for me.
49. WHITESNAKE - "1987" Odd. I didn't realize they had a album titled this. If it's the self titled album from that year.....it's not metal. Whitesnake is and has always been hard rock.Period.
48. ANATHEMA - "Alternative 4" I should probably check these guy out since they're compared to Katatonia. Speaking of. Where is Katatonia on this list. Come on Greece.
47. NEVERMORE - "Dead Heart in a Dead World" Cool. More Nevermore goodness though I wish their albums would be ranked higher on overseas polls. They're starting to really hit the underrated territory.
46. ACCEPT - "Restless and Wild" Interesting this album ranks higher then "Balls". It's good though for old school straight up metal.
45. PANTERA - "Cowboys From Hell" Classic stuff. This was a transition album that got people noticing.Pantera was getting away from the spandex and hairspray crap into thrash. A bit of both on this album.
44. OZZY OSBOURNE - "Diary of a Madman" Ozzy makes a appearance here solo finally. Ah the good old days when he was stoned, drunk and out of his fucking mind. I like this album better then Blizzard.
43. SLAYER - "Seasons in the Abyss" My favorite Slayer album. Songs like Skeletons of Society is the kind of thrash I like. Mid tempo with cool riffs and vocal phrasing instead of just constant shouting like on later releases.
42. CANDLEMASS - "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" Wake me up when we get to 41.
41. JUDAS PRIEST - "Defenders of the Faith" My favorite Priest album. Everything else after sucked until Angels imo. Go ahead and bitch at me in comments.
40. JUDAS PRIEST - "Sad Wings of Destiny" Whoa back to back entries.Some classic tracks that get covered on in here like "the Ripper" and "Victim of Changes".This was when they were more prog then anything else and trying to find their identity. They're still looking.
39. SEPULTURA - "Arise" this got the boys from Brazil noticed and my second favorite album by them. Good guttural chugging thrash here.
38. OPETH - "Blackwater Park" Nice...Opeth finally makes it on here. Interesting that this is ranked above some serious classics. Mikael had finally started refining his grunts where they were more coherent. And music structures were getting more complex if that's possible for Opeth.
37. SAVATAGE - "Gutter Ballet" Great album. This pretty much set the tone for how 'Tage would be for the rest of their careers. Prog and power metal mixed but done well.
36. SYSTEM OF A DOWN - "Toxicity" Some nu metal besides Slipknot finally on here. Though their sound is more hardcore and punk influenced. Saw them once live and they were nuts.
35. EXODUS - "Bonded by Blood" Classic but I don't like it. Nice to see some other Bay area pioneers on here.
34. DEEP PURPLE - "In Rock" Influential but nowhere nears as popular as some of their peer's albums. I don't think there is a track from this album that gets radio play. At least here in the states. Odd that this is so high up.
33. DREAM THEATER - "Images and Words" DT's best selling album. Dropped right at the end of metal's existance on old MTV. Such a kick ass album.
32. HELLOWEEN - "Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II" Classic and must be more popular here then back at home. Otherwise I can't see why it ranks so high.
31. IRON MAIDEN - "Iron Maiden" Intro to Maiden with Paul Di'anno on vocals. I couldn't get into it because Di'anno was such a shitty vocalist.
30. RAINBOW - "Rising" Wow the Greeks are all over the map in what they like. Some of these albums are all but forgotten over here but they get top 30's there. Classic Dio stuff.
29. IRON MAIDEN - "Somewhere in Time" One of the best albums by them. Back when they had the power to write concept albums in one song.
28. IRON MAIDEN - "Piece of Mind" Double duty and a crap load of Maiden in this batch. This album is awesome except for the track Quest for Fire. God that song sucks.
27. OZZY OSBOURNE - "Blizzard of Ozz" Surprised that this doesn't rank higher but then again I shouldn't be. The Greeks are a bit bizzare I think.
26. MANOWAR - "Hail to England" The power these dudes hold in foreign countries is truly amazing. Especially since they're from the Bronx.
Ok. This is more work then I thought. But we're almost done. Check back later for the top 25 drunk on Ouzo selections by these wacky Gracians.
Blabbermouth has some sort of love affair with Judas Priest. At least daily there is some sort of post with some band member gushing over current tour happenings or some such nonsense.
Currently they're on the road celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of British Steel. That's cool. I have no problems with that as British Steel is one of my favorite albums by them. What I have a problem with is the quotes being made by Tipton or Halford or Downing.
Case in point. In a interview with something called Noisecreep, Halford had this to say "In today's economy, all artists have to think of something to do differently. We decided that this would be a great opportunity to do something that PRIEST has never done before, which is to play an album in its entirety. The band and the name 'JUDAS PRIEST' have both been around since 1969, so it is our fortieth anniversary, too. We seem to be in a constant celebration mode!"
Again like I stated a long time ago, this is Judas Priest following a trend and not starting a new one. Testament has already played a couple of their album in their entirety. Dream Theater has played other band's albums in their entirety. W.A.S.P. did Crimson Idol in it's entirety. Priest are not trailblazers. Stop making it always sound like they are Mr. Halford and the media.
Secondly, if Judas Priest is in such celebration mode why does every recent concert vid I've seen lately have Rob Halford either hunched over like he's going to puke or wandering around like it's still a sound check. Interact with the crowd for fuck's sake. And this isn't recent by him either. I saw him solo open for Queensryche and Maiden in 2000 and his stage presence was the same then too. Here, check this one out.
What the hell. That song is a godamn anthem meant for stadium crowds to sing along with the frontman as ring leader. What is the shuffling around looking down shit that Rob's doing? Turn around,open your eyes, and sing to your audience. The only one playing this song the way it was meant to be played in front of an audience is Scott Travis who was probably in high school when this album came out.
And this is the kind of shit I see with every concert vid. And they're talking about bringing Nostradamus to life on stage down the road. That cd is boring as shit as it is now you want to bring your special brand of stage presence to that album? Pyro and costumes and orchestra and a frontman who acts like someone with stagefright, too afraid to look at the crowd. Yeah that's a recipe for fail.
Let's go back in time when Priest was actually worth a damn, shall we?
Also check out the comments sections for these vids. It's baffling to me how blind and sheeplike people can be. Baaa motherfuckers baaaa.
So 2008 was a pretty damn good year in the metal and hard rock scene. Alot of top name bands released material and while not all of it was good there was some solid stuff out there.
AC/DC(Black Ice):Nice to see them have huge success after all these years. The time was right for some straight forward rock it seems.
Ayreon(01011001)Another prog masterpiece that wraps up the story created way back in '96.
Battlelore(The Last Alliance)Good release from these guys(and gal) but not nearly their best.
Circle II Circle (Delusions of Grandeur)Another solid release from Zak Stevens and crew.
Communic(Payment of Existence)Really good CD but not as good as Conspiracy.
Disturbed(Indestructible)One of the only nu metal bands I enjoy everything they've done.
Dragonforce(Ultra Beatdown)More of the same from these guys. Couldn't get past the fact it seems they stayed with the same formula to capitalize on the sales boost they got thanks to Guitar Hero.
Guns n'Roses(Chinese Democracy)What more could be said. Probably the biggest flop not of the year but ever. After all the rumors,changed release dates and just plain years of waiting on this, there were debut albums that were better then this mess.
Jon Oliva's Pain(Global Warming)Disappointed in this. The previous albums were dead ringers for Jon Oliva's days with Savatage but by the time this came out I was sick to death of preachy save the world, stop the war albums.The whole CD is just one big message that we've heard before over the last 8 years.
Judas Priest(Nostradamus)We get it Rob, this is an epic album. No need to sing each and every song like it is a 80's power metal song. Probably the most overrated release of the year to me.
Lordi(Deadache)Yeah I know I suck for liking these guys. But I do so tough shit. Nothing new here just good old fashioned hard rock with trick or treaters playing the music.
Metallica(Death Magnetic)The other big story of the year. The first few listens were refreshing compared to the last few releases but I know this will wear on me over time in fact it already has. Lars get rid of the crap kit you use and go back to the gear you had on Master or even the Black album. And mix the bass better. Five years Trujillo has been with you guys and you finally release something with him on it and I can barely hear the bass. Listen to your fans about the production and remaster or remix this thing and you will pull in more of the fans you guys lost over the past decade.
Opeth(Watershed)Excellent album. The perfect balance between heavy and mellow. In fact the mellow songs on here are the best since Damnation. The concert I went to for them was kick ass too.
Sabaton(The Art of War)Pretty meh album compared to Primo Victoria or Attero Dominatus.
Scar Symmetry(Holographic Universe)Superb release. Tainted because of the knowledge that Christian is no longer the vocalist. I don't get into too much growling but his is the perfect tone and pitch for me. Pretty sure the next release from them with two singers is going to be average at best.
Testament(Formation of Damnation)After 9 years what a comeback. This album is how thrash should be played and should be the template for all bands that play this genre of metal. They brought back alot of old crew and it showed as it's the best selling CD they have ever had.
Warrel Dane(Praise to the War Machine)Highly overlooked album. Some great great songs on here. It does take a few pages from Nevermore but that's a good thing. His singing on the cover of Lucretia gives me chills. Supposedly late 2009 will be the new Nevermore album. Can't wait.
I've been perusing some of my sites to try and get an idea of who is releasing stuff this year. I'm anticipating Megadeth, Dream Theater, and hopefully Nevermore coming out with stuff this year. I'm not expecting a big year but here's hoping it will be a good one nonetheless.
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I like Judas Priest. I respect Judas Priest. They were the first metal band I got fanboy over and bought all of their albums from Turbo to previous. Their concert was the first show I ever went too without Mom and Pops.
But as I got older and more musically aware I constantly found myself going back over their albums asking myself, why in the hell did I like this so much? Musically it wasn't bad but I did notice they were never as elite as some of their peers even in the 80's. Hell I was on their side in high school during the infamous Iron Maiden vs. Judas Priest debates that would rage. What a sap.
So Nostradamus comes out and it turns out to be the cherry on top of a career with more ups and downs then a Six Flags roller coaster. On the surface what a great idea for Priest to make a concept album and a double cd at that. That'd be great if they had ever created any lyrically excellant songs to begin with. But they never really have. And the topic of this concept album really needed 2 cd's to cover? Iron Maiden could have done one song on him and it would have been more engaging and exciting then this whole album combined.
I guess the point of this rant is that I'm tired of the accolades that get heaped on an artist based solely on longevity and some notion over the years of greatness when it's really undeserved. Saxon was cheesy metal and became irrelevant years ago but somehow Priest has persevered . Their have only been two things Priest has been an innovator on, one being the leather and spikes(which no one really wears anymore except for Kerry King and Norwegian black metal bands)
And their use of twin lead guitars(which would have come about anyways even if they hadn't been first). Otherwise they have followed alot of trends themselves and failed at it. They tried the synth sound for Turbo and Ram it Down, guess what ZZ top already did that a year earlier with Afterburner. They tried the speed metal thing with Pain Killer and were mediocre at it compared to Megadeth and Slayer. Now we have this overblown mess of a cd, which has been done time and time again by other artists for years previous and done sooo much better.
Pop in Mind Crime, Scenes from a Memory, anything from Ayreon, hell even W.A.S.P's Crimson Idol, then put this in and tell me that it ranks up there with those. Even reading interviews for this leading up to the release made me wonder why they were REALLY doing this. Ian Hill was quoted in a interview somewhere that most of them knew virtually nothing about Nostradamus prior to writing and recording but they got into the project nonetheless. Soooo why make it? Because it sounds cool? Or just because it's something they had never done before.
I really wish they had packed it in a long time ago, because unlike bands like Overkill which got better from the 90's on, Priest has almost consistently been bad to mediocre during that same period but get notoriety while better bands are still mired in small clubs and lumped into 2nd stage festival shows. It really is a shame.
