Friday, December 17, 2004

Judas Priest Saves the Day

Here's some good Judas Priest news from good ol' billboard.com:

Since vocalist Rob Halford left iconic metal act Judas Priest in 1992, fans held out hope that there would some day be a reunion. In 2003, their wish came true: Halford rejoined the group with news of a summer Ozzfest berth, a planned new studio album and a world tour the following year.

The second prong of the plan is "Angel of Retribution," a new studio album due March 1 via Epic. It's Halford's first album with the band since 1990's "Painkiller" and was produced by Roy Z, who has previously worked on solo albums from Halford and Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson. The set will be bundled with a concert DVD shot in a bullring in Valencia, Spain.

The five tracks Billboard.com has heard recall the ferocious, full-on metal assault of "Painkiller." The track "Deal With the Devil" is classic Priest, while "Hell Rider," includes a blazing, furious double-guitar attack. The lyrics in "Judas Rising" can be attributed to the group's reunion, though Halford points out that it is also about "the virtues that we believe in," such as being optimistic and fighting for your beliefs. [I wish they would have called this the "Stay Optimistic and Fight for Your Beliefs" tour. -JH]

And while this year marked the 30th anniversary of Judas Priest's first album, "Rocka Rolla," [awesome name -JH] the band doesn't see itself stopping at this point. "Just being as good as we can be, for as long as we can be," is how Downing wants to continue.
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One of my all-time favorite jokes that Beavis and Butt-Head told was about Judas Priest's "Breaking the Law." They were very excited when the video came on and gradually became disappointed in the quality of the video. Butt-Head finally says, "Judas Priest rules and all, but this video sucks." If you ever want to experience a similar letdown, watch VH1 Classic. It makes you realize that the bands you liked when you were younger weren't all that great (but you'll love them anyway).

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