Search - Judas Priest :: Angel Of Retribution

Great music...but both U.S. editions need work

Lunar Strain | United States | 03/08/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As for the music...this is classic Priest. Great to hear Halford back in the group. As for the U.S. cd releases, well, they both were less than satisfactory. Unlike some reviewers, my star rating is for hte music, not the CD issues. Most of you notice that there are two versions of this album available. There is a "dueldisc" edition and a limited "hardcover" book edition. The "dueldisc" version generates more problems. This is a new type of technology that is still in the working process and there is even a warning on the CD case. The disc features the music portion on one side and a the DVD features on the other. Because of this, the CD is thicker than the usual CD. Since it is thicker, the cd has a hard time playing in a lot of CD players. Forget about playing it in your CD deck in your car. Alot of players also scratch up the DVD side when trying to play the music side. I know a lot of people like myself like to make copies of our CD's so we can play 'em in our cars without worry of ruining the original discs. Forget about that as the new copy protection makes this impossible. Overall, the "dueldisc" edition blows and should be avoided. People wanting to avoid all the hassle of the ultra-garbage dueldisc version are better off buying the limited hardcover book edition. This has the CD and DVD on seperate discs. You are also able to make back-up copies of the CD for your car with this one. The downfalls of this release is that the CD and DVD come in little slipcases inside the 'book'. This means that if you keep removing the discs, you have a chance of damaging them. I even know a few individuals whose discs came pre-scratched because of these slipcases. The hardcover book is also only slightly better than those dreaded digipacks as it can get ruined very easily. Still, even with its downfalls, the limited is by far the way to go. If only they released it in a regular double jewel case instead..."

A few new wrinkles in the old Priest Robes...

Derek Arnold | Collingswood, NJ United States | 03/02/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The first new album from Judas Priest since the Ripper Owens days and the first with Rob Halford since Painkiller (over ten years ago) tries to reclaim the ground it has "lent" to today's metal acts, with generally nice results. From the first (the opener "Judas Rising"), the trademark Priest grinding guitars and hypnotic riffs light up the album, and generally keep a high level of energy throughout. Rob Halford's voice is nothing less than fantastic; even his screams (at least on record) are still amazing, though his voice certainly stretches out with lower range and volume changes as well this time around, again with masterful results.

Two things that make "Angel Of Retribution" sound a bit different from what people see as the typical "Priest sound," however, are the greater presence of the bass in songs and the nature of a few of the songs themselves. First, Ian Hill's bass plays a much more central role in some songs (certainly on the album's first single, "Revolution", but on others like the finale "Lochness" as well), and helps to spread out the demands on screaming guitar solos (which I think are just a little toned down for this release) and Scott Travis' drums (but still a lot of the double bass drum beats throughout). Hopefully this helps the band more easily capture the sound of these songs live and maybe even surpass them in their concert versions. The second difference is that Priest (unlike many other bands of the genre) always have tweaked their sound a little to accomodate changes in their interests, and here is no different. There's a full fledged ballad "Angel" which is not fair to simply refer to as a "power ballad," as it deals with an interesting topic (asking for relief in the form of death at the end of the character's life) and is carried more by Halford's wonderful lower and mid range voice than the inevitable crashing guitar chorus. "Eulogy" is another change of pace, kind of a view from outside the body of a group of mourners with a heavy piano (maybe from Glenn Tipton?) base; mournful and an interesting segue into the album's last song, "Lochness," an extended "trudge" through one of the more interesting myths of Scotland (Halford referred to it as their "Lord Of The Rings" moment).

There are still plenty of high-octane songs on the album to rock to (my favorites are "Deal With The Devil" and "Demonizer" with it's "Out, Demon, Out" line in the chorus) and even though the second half sags a bit in my opinion, the Priest machine has definitely retooled itself successfully for the forseeable future. Recommended!"

The beast from the Priest

Dark one | Austria | 03/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is great to see Priest back in action; however, this is not exactly where PainKiller left off. The band has evolved since painkiller and so has Rob. The whole album sounds like a cross between the music from the ripper owens years and vocal styles from the Halford solo albums. There are instances where, dare I say, it sounds like classic priest.. (I had to throw in a cliche there). What I like about this album is that KK and Tipton have changed with the times and are making an honest attempt to come up with fresh material that doesn't sound dated (instead of rehashing old stuff like Dance of Death... sorry). Obviously, you can only solo so much before it all sounds the same. There are some Cliche lead fills and solo parts but that is to be expected. NO BODY CAN WRITE AN ORIGINAL SOLO OR MUSIC IN GOD DAMN 2005. EVERYTHING HAS BEEN WRITTEN!!! There are no fast songs and this album relies more on being heavy than being fast. THe sound is a crystal sharp distortion and the drums are really sharp and punchy. Great sound!! My only complaint is the vocal lines or melody lines or the lack of it. The vocals are great; flawless performance by GOD Halford. There are no hook melodies. THe melodies sound old, flat or linear. Because there are not too many hook melodies, the songs suffer. Personally, the music is okay, the vocals lines could be better arranged in a lot of areas. What this album lacks is not good riffs but lack of strong song writing. Maybe this is a way for them to reach out to the kids today. Overall it is great to listen to. The cover is definitely goofy as with the album title. THis album could no way be compared to any of their previous work, with certain exceptions as noted above. THis is a stand alone album and it is the new priest sound."