(My stuff isn't entirely word for word here, but all of RambOrc's is)
I've been thinking about getting Angel Of Retribution, but I want to know what you think about it first.
[quote="RambOrc":2q01bihc]I've had it for two months or more by now (couple of days or so after official release date). 1/3 of the songs suck but the rest is quite good, it's not a Painkiller but better than many other Priest albums, it's a good middlefield one. Hellrider is a very good Priest song, and the album is overall typical Priest. Very little innovation compared to the 80s though. Worth the money but I'm still not very happy about them kicking Ripper from the band, especially that live on the stage Ripper (and through him the whole band!) is much better than Halford.
BTW I was asking because I've been really getting into Judas Priest for the past few months. I have five of their albums, and they're all true classics of pure heavy metal.
[quote="RambOrc":2q01bihc]which 5?
Well it all started around 2003 when my dad let me borrow Stained Class (his personal fave). I still think that album is really great for its time, though they could have done a much better job recording the drums. Almost a year later I bought British Steel, and that really got my likeness for them growing. I then bought Screaming For Vengeance, followed by Painkiller. Then earlier this year, when my parents gave me their old turntable, they also let me have all their vinyls, and there were just shy under 200 (I only listen to about half of them because most of them are my mom's <!-- s:P --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt=":P" title="Razz" /><!-- s:P -->). Included in those vinyls were Sad Wings Of Destiny and Stained Class again. So yeah that's 6 media, but 2 of them are the same album, so I only count them as five. My personal fave changes week from week, but when my metal friends come over to chill, I'll usually play Painkiller.
[quote="RambOrc":2q01bihc]If you want straight and true classic heavy metal, go for "Defenders of the Faith" from 1984. You might also want to check out "Sin after Sin" from 1977 and "Ram it Down" from 1988. Also, if you aren't a Halford-only fan and you want to hear something really modern and innovative from Judas Priest, forget about "Angel of Retribution" and get "Jugulator" (1997) and "Demolition" (2001), if the dumb unintelligent rockers and the even more stupid press wouldn't have pressured the Priest into taking Halford back, the new album would be much more modern. If you can get the limited edition of Demolition, go for it and listen to the song "Rapid Fire" which you know from British Steel. I think you'll agree with me that the whole band became invigorated through the fresh blood and they really stepped up to the times. With Angel of Retribution, they've stepped back a decade or more in musical terms. Not to mention on the live stage Halford is just lame these days, while Ripper rocks - and when Ripper was on the stage, the other band members looked MUCH more alive too.