I recently read one music writer’s (I’ll call him Joe, but it’s
\nnot his real name) Top 10 list for the worst releases of 1997 on
\nthe internet. I paused long enough on this list to see two
\nintriguing releases: Motley Crue’s
\nGeneration Swine<\/i> and Judas Priest’s
\nJugulator<\/i>. The Motley Crue disc’s appearance did not
\nsurprise me. I didn’t like it much either, although I could easily
\nname ten other discs I disliked more emphatically. The inclusion of<\/p>\n
Jugulator<\/i> is wrong and not only because it is on my Top 10
\nlist elsewhere on this site. The writer’s comment was (paraphrased)
\n“The new lead singer is from Ohio. Need I say more?”<\/p>\n
Um, yes. Most definitely more needs to be written about the
\nreturn of a veteran metal band that didn’t get sucker punched by a
\nproducer a la Metallica and Bob Rock. (Would you trust the same man
\nthat produced BON JOVI to help create a heavy metal disc?) Joe’s
\nsummary is out of touch with reality and throws a wet blanket over
\nan incredible release. It also typifies a critic that reads the
\npress kit, listens to a half of a song and forms an opinion.<\/p>\n
Rest assured, you have critics like me that will tell you when a
\nrecording is bad, except I’ll leave no doubt in your mind.
\n(Dokken’s
\nShadowlife<\/i> comes to mind. It could have easily topped my
\nlist of worst releases of 1997.) It is also my responsibility to
\ntell you that the first Judas Priest release in the post-Rob
\nHalford era is a bona fide awesome disc. If CDs could wear out,
\nthis one would be in serious sound-quality trouble.<\/p>\n
For you history buffs, Rob Halford departed from Judas Priest
\nfollowing their last disc
\nPainkiller<\/i>. To summarize greatly, this was a gigantic hole
\nto fill. For most people, Halford WAS Priest, known for riding a
\nHarley onstage in concerts. To show how much Halford was Priest,
\nname the vocalist he replaced. Can’t do it? Not surprised.<\/p>\n
Halford, for his part, went on to form Fight, a band that
\nreleased two excellent discs,
\nWar Of Words<\/i> and
\nA Small Deadly Space<\/i>. These discs continued the
\nPainkiller<\/i> sound. I was lucky enough to see Fight in concert
\non their first tour in early 1994 and they were excellent. The last
\nI heard on Fight is Halford is moving toward redefining his sound
\nas industrial, a la NIN. So if you liked
\nPainkiller<\/i>, you’ll be tickled with this disc.<\/p>\n
\nPainkiller<\/i> marked a radical departure from the simplistic
\nheavy metal style of 1983’s
\nScreaming For Vengeance<\/i> and 1984’s
\nDefenders Of The Faith<\/i>. Their CD
\nTurbo<\/i> was a desperate misstep. I got rid of my copy of it
\nsoon after I acquired it.
\nPainkiller<\/i> introduced drummer Scott Travis to the band
\n(Trivia question: name the drummer he replaced.). Travis came from
\nShrapnel artist Racer X (whose disc
\nSecond Heat<\/i> is excellent), bringing his double bass drums,
\nhis driving rhythms, as well as a heaviness to the band. The
\nguitars turned thrashy and evil to compliment his playing. So as
\nfar as
\nJugulator<\/i> goes, Judas Priest continues down the same road as<\/p>\n
Painkiller<\/i>, which is great. The first thing I noticed was
\nthat Travis returns from Halford’s Fight for this disc. His
\nperformance is top-notch, smashing his way through each of the ten
\ntracks on this disc. He is blisteringly heavy on “Decapitate.”<\/p>\n
And since the incompetent moron brought it up, yes, the new
\nsinger, “Ripper” Owens, is from Ohio. He came from a Judas Priest
\ntribute band and after seeing him on video, the band asked him to
\naudition. After one song, Judas Priest had a new vocalist. And
\ncompared to Halford, they are in the same league.<\/p>\n
Owens can hold his own on tracks like “Brain Dead” and the
\npiledriving “Bullet Train.” The track “Abductors” covers familiar
\nground musically. Other bands have switched to acoustic guitars in
\nthe middle of a sonic riff. Yet, when Judas Priest pulls the
\nfamiliar switches, the effects are aurally exciting. The disc
\nreaches its climax in the final track “Cathedral Spires,” which
\nbegins softly before crescendoing into a frenzy.<\/p>\n
So, if you happen to stumble upon Joe’s list, or any other list
\nthat might have erroneously listed this disc as one of the worst,
\nignore them. The combination of Scott Travis brutalizing his drums
\nand Owens being a fine replacement for Halford (hitting some of the
\nhigh notes Halford would hit) makes this an excellent disc.<\/p>\n
And oh, yes: Judas Priest
\nis<\/i> a quintet. Guitarists Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing (who
\nare credited as songwriters and arrangers of all the tracks) and
\nbassist Ian Hill are all in fine form. You can actually hear Hill’s
\npart in the mix, which turns out to be a giant plus. This release
\nwas one of the best of 1997 because it marked a break in the
\ncurrent trends: a heavy metal band PLAYING HEAVY MUSIC! Throw away
\nReload<\/i> and get
\nJugulator<\/i>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":24660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5855],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-35864","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-judas-priest","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/35864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/35864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35864"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=35864"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=35864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}