1. Judas Rising(***/****) - In 1993, Judas Priest took the hardest blow it would ever take. The Metal God himself, Rob Halford, decided to quit the band. Without his awesome singing, Priest laid low until the found a new singer and released two albums that are even more hated that the Motley Crue album without Vince Niel. But thankfully, Halford rejoined the band in 2005 and released an album with Judas Rising as a leadoff track. But what would it sound like for Halford dabbled in Industrial Metal for a bit and Priest was using all types of metal with that other guy but once this song kicked off, only two words would do...FUCKING AWESOME!!!! It's a song that says "We're back to Break The Law another day!"
Also, it has one hell of an intro that starts off soft and builds into an explosion of drums, guitars and the ever-present Halford metal scream. But for all this, the song is once again tilling the same ground as thier other messiah songs like Painkiller, The Sentinel, Exciter and the like. Don't get me wrong, this messiah is a decent one but you do wish that Priest would do something else. Also, that intro-riff...there's a very distinct similarity to the Victim of Changes riff. It's not a total rip-off but if you're not paying attention you may get confused between the two for a second. However, this is still a good song and it's a good kick off for this album but it's a bit too familar to be a great song.
2. Breaking the Law(****/****) - This is the signature track of Priest, Breaking the Law. So well-known in fact that there's a youtube video of a Halford show(Halford was the last solo act Rob Halford did before he rejoined Priest) where the crowd sings the entire song. The entire song! That's pretty awesome when you have a song that well-known that a crowd can sing it. But why is this so? First, that riff that immediately lets you know that this song is called Breaking the Law and it's going to be awesome! Also, the song knows when to stop by being a brief two-and-a-half minutes and not wasting a second on puny solos...even though this now has a solo on live shows since 1986, bah. But this song will reign supreme as one of the best Priest songs ever in it's fist-pumping, anthemy chorus of "Breaking the Law!".
3. Hell Bent for Leather(**1/2/****) - This song is a classic case of the parts being greater than the whole. It opens strong with a reved-up Harley & drum cymbals and the solo has an aura of class with its neo-classical sound even though it makes no musical sense within the context of the song. However, as good as this may be musically and all its nostalgic value in the annals of Priest, the ultimate failing of the song is the forgettable vocals. Yes, while I do worship the ground Rob Halford walks on I am not blind to his failings. The problem here is that Halford just isn't giving it his all, I mean he's giving a lot but it's like 80% making the song just not as awesome as it could and should have been. Sure it has the history but for this, it's not enough for me to actually say "Listen to this song, it's good!"
4. Diamonds and Rust(***1/2/****) - Priest covering a folk-classic from Joan Baez and turning it something like a disco song but not full-on disco like Kiss's "I Was Made For Loving You"! Gasp, how will it ever work? The answer was who cares it did and it's awesome. Granted, the fact Joan Baez's lyrics are accessible to everyone, including Metal Gods helps a lot. Also, the Priest version is remarkably faithful to the song besides amping it up and deleting a verse, but the bridge is almost the same in both versions. But I think the reason I like the song so much is that the chorus has awesome back-up vocals, I'm pretty sure from Glenn Tipton but I could be wrong on this one. But whoever does back-up vocals compliments Halford perfectly.
5. Victim of Changes (***/****) - Know this and know it now, this song has my recommendation only by the skin of its teeth. It begins and ends strong with two very different but equally awesome passages of music. However, it's the middle that bores the hell out of me for it's all solo and it's not a very good one either. Especially live when they make a big show of that one solo and then a bigger show when everybody but Glenn Tipton leaves the stage and he's soloing one note for minutes upon minutes. ONE NOTE!!!! You ever see that, it's so boring you can feel your brain starting to melt. But like I said, this is worth it for the first and last third but one more second spent on the solo and I would not be able to recommend it to casual Priest fans.
More coming soon....
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