Judas Priest: Redeemer of Souls Album Review

No, I'm not turning this into another album review blog, but it falls within entertainment and I grew up loving Priest, so sit back and enjoy my track by track review.

Just a quick note, if you don't want to read the whole in depth review -here's a short one, it's okay. Die hard fans will want to listen to it, new fans may wonder what the heck is going on, but it's worth the listen, now for you who want the full review... read below.

Okay, so I’m a huge Judas Priest fan. I’ve been a fan since about 1984, and I’ve owned everything they’ve ever put out in one form or another, from their first album Rock a Rolla, to the synth heavy Turbo, all the way to the infuriating Nostradamus. My favorites were Point of Entry, Screaming for Vengeance and Defenders of the Faith, but I also love the Les Binks drumming on Unleashed in the East which made some of their older material soar. I kind of feel it’s an honor to review this, even though I know the band will never read this.

So with that being said there have been a few albums that drove me nuts. When I was sixteen I was finally going to my first concert and I was pumped for Defenders of the Faith part 2, and as most know, I didn’t get that album, I got Turbo. Long story, it was such a disappointment, but I still went to the show, and they did an amazing job.

Years later after the mighty return of Halford they released Angel of Retribution which was an awesome return to form, but then I got tickets to see them on the Nostradamus tour. The album being a double, I was pumped for it to be epic, but what I got was a snooze fest. It was hard for even me, a die-hard fan to appreciate. The concert was even a bigger disappointment. They picked out a bunch of slower tunes and the show marched like a dirge to Rob Halford’s own funeral. It was painful to watch, and the only thing I was thankful for was my poor friend Dave paid for the tickets.

This leads us to the new release Redeemer of Souls, which is a pretty confusing title if you think about it too much. But the true question was, or is… am I going to get Turbo, Nostradamus, or maybe finally Defenders of the Faith 2. (Side note: I know it’s ridiculous to get Defenders 2, but I’m using it for an analogy so bear with me.)

Judas Priest released a few singles before the disc came out but I wanted to take in the album as a whole, so this review is after one solid listen of the whole disc (minus the bonus songs) and I’m currently listening to it, which is something I like to do while reviewing discs.

The first song Dragonaut opens the disc with some pretty good energy, but the track seems to fall flat with production. The guitars seem to have a tone that leaves the track flat. I’m not sure if this is because KK Downing’s tone was different then the new second guitarist Richie Faulkner, or if Glen Tipton’s tone is the culprit. The chorus and the vocals are pretty good, but nothing seems to take the track to another level.

Redeemer of Souls is the second track which still has the flat tone on the guitars, the chorus is good, but the track never goes anywhere. It actually does remind me of Defenders of the Faith at times, but it just seems lacking in energy. I’m trying to put my finger on it, but it does sound better if you turn it up –everything metal sounds better loud.

March of the Damn is the next track and it reminds me of the Metal God’s tune. It’s a very circular tune that has a good repeating chorus, and a pretty decent solo. It even has a similar sound effect of marching, like the Metal God’s tune had, which they originally created slamming kitchen drawers shut. The track was better than the first two, but still nothing to write home about, but at this point I realized this wasn’t going to be Nostradamus part 2, thankfully.

Obviously from the titles Rob Halford and crew drew from more mid-evil themes to include dragons and Vikings as evident with the next track Halls of Valhalla -no complaint here. Halls of Valhalla is the closest thing to the Pain Killer era songs, with a high-ish scream to lead off the track. Rob even goes as far as doing a death metal voice on the bridge leading to a Halford trademark style scream. There are even some group vocals on this song, which is really enjoyable. Four songs in and it’s the best by far, but next up is Sword of Damocles.

Sword of Damocles starts off really cool, and almost gives us a sound we hadn’t heard from them since maybe back in the Sin after Sin album. The song even breaks down to a slow bridge which almost brings to mind Here Comes the Tears, but doesn’t last long as it picks back up. It’s the song with the most potential up to this point, but it still lacks a little something in the chorus, but it has a really cool native Indian sounding melodic riff that repeats at the end of each chorus. Rob’s vocals seem to be stronger on this track.

After a shot intro Down in Flames starts at a mid-tempo and is closer to maybe something you’d heard on the latter part of Point of Entry, it’s got a pretty good chorus and some good riffing before the solo. I like how you can pick out both Glen and Richie’s solos but they’re not on par with the older Priest solos. The songs good, but I think maybe the drums production are kind of lacking, seems to not have a lot of energy to them. What’s funny is this song seems farther away from what Priest is known for, but still sounds like Priest. After several listens this track has grown a bit more on me.

Hell & Back is next and starts with a softer intro, which kind of reminds me of Sad Wings era stuff, but then gets more into the British Steel style of music but it’s a pretty slow song with a good chorus, but the song is never lifted up to the level of their classic stuff. The song’s okay, but I kind of want to just skip to the next track, to see what’s next. There’s a wah drenched solo which we hadn’t seen much of from Priest in years. The song picks up at the end, but it’s almost too little too late.

Cold Blooded starts with a good opening lick, it’s slower, but sometimes slow is okay, it’s just when there’s too much of it like anything on Nostradamus. Thankfully this song picks up and gets a little more interesting. The solo on this track reminds me of the older work, similar to some of the stuff on Stained Glass, but it stops when it’s getting good. Rob seemed to work a lot of chorus and making the songs have good hooks, and I think that’s what will help this album sell, but this track is still lacking the boost it needs to be great..

Metalizer comes blaring like Ram it Down. I think this track will make some mid-nighties fans happy, but the guitar tones seem to still be weak, maybe my headphones aren’t giving it the justice it needs. It’s got a few good solo runs, but nothing up to par with Pain Killer, but at least the solo starts that way before slowing down. It seems like Richie is playing some fast runs while Glen does some more melodic runs. The song doesn’t really scream, “Please replay me”, but it’s still way, way better than that other album I keep referencing.

Now we finally get to one of the most unique tunes that from the opening bluesy riff, you’re like, “Oh, this is going to be good.” It’s still a mid tempo track called Crossfire, which could have been played by any blue band, but with Priest playing it, it’s fun to hear them doing some throwback riffage. There’s even some more wah-drench soloing over a Voodoo Chili Hendrix type section. The only downside is actually Rob Halford at the end screaming, “Caught in the Crossfire,” it just seems out of place on the song. After repeated listening the track grows old pretty quickly.

The song Secrets of the Dead starts off how a new Priest song should start. It’s heavy, with a good groove. This song reminds me of Love Bites a little bit. It’s darker, and fits with the motif of classic priest, but contains a little more vigor to the performance. With an older production I could put this on Sad Wings of Destiny. It’s hard to keep a slower tempo interesting, but they seem to do well on this track. It’s not fantastic, and Rob Halford doesn’t shine on the song, but it’s moving in a better direction.

Battle Cry starts off a little like a song from Defenders of the Faith, but then bursts into an Iron Maiden type duel lead in before they transitions into a faster Free Wheel Burning riff. This track should have been the lead off, it’s got the most energy, and it sounds great. The guitars sound really good with this track, almost like they should have used these sounds for the rest of the disc. Rob Halford comes to life too, and he sounds closer to what he sounded back on Ram it Down, before he felt that he had to hit high screechy notes like in Pain Killer to sell an album, but he does leave us with one good one at the end. The vocal seems less processed, so we hear him a little less drenched in effects while screaming. Hidden almost at the end of Redeemer of Souls is this gem, which could easily fit in with a lot of Priest classics.

Beginning of the End completes the regular length disc. This song although slow carries more heart than a lot of older Priest material. Rob Halford’s slower singing sounds really good, like on Dreamer Deceiver, Epitaph, or the softer moments of Victim of Changes, but I think it sounds better than the earlier performances. His tone sounds really clean, really strong, and not stressed. Rob Halford hasn’t sung too many emotional songs in the last 30 years, and this song really shows more emotional depth than just about all their songs except for maybe Beyond the Realms of Death. The song also carries a similarity to Black Sabbath’s Planet Caravan which isn’t a bad thing.

Overall this disc won’t be in my player quite as often as most of their older albums because it feels like it lacks energy and emotion in most songs besides the last. Scott Travis’s drum work which should catapult the band seems to just be the back bone and doesn’t deliver anything special and the sound on the drums is just above average. On songs like Sword of Damocles where the song could completely destroy, the drums although ample, just seem to do the job, and not add anything to push the song to the next level.  Ian Hill’s bass playing is solid, but there’s nothing there besides the basics but that’s what he’s done for about 99.9% of his career with the band, so there’s no surprise there. The clean guitars sound great, and the interludes are nice touches. The album has a couple tracks that stand out, but, it really feels like most of these songs would have been left off earlier albums had they been wrote earlier in their career. The solos seem lack luster, and once they begin to shine they end before they really launch. It almost feels like a great producer would have done the band some good.

Redeemer of Souls wasn’t Turbo part 2, thank God. It wasn’t Nostradamus part 2, again thank God. I did get a little bit of Defenders 2, which I’m grateful for, but I’m still left feeling like my 16 year old self, disappointed over the new image of Judas Priest for the Turbo album wondering what the heck happened to the cool band from Defenders, and hoping the album sounds better than how they looked- nope.

Bonus Disc tracks:

Snakebite is the first track leading off the bonus material, this song is way different and reminds me more of something you’d hear from older Deep Purple or even Whitesnake, it has an older 70’s feel, with little solo’s thrown throughout. I think I even heard a “My Woman from Tokyo,” riff towards the beginning. The lyrics are a little immature, but it’s a fun tune without much to it. The drums are a little livelier and the guitar tones fit with the style of this song. I’d almost think this was a cover, but I’ve never heard it before. After further review at least from Wikipedia, it’s an original.

Let me get animated for a second, Tears of Blood the second bonus song is AWESOME!!! It should have been the single. This track goes back to the sound of the full length Redeemer, but sounds better, like the production of Defenders of the Faith. Rob Halfords vocals sound great, and they remind me of a lot of the material from Defenders of the Faith, but this doesn’t sound like a throwaway track. This track is what I was truly waiting for and fans who don’t get this song because it’s a bonus track, I believe will not know how good this band still is. If this track was the single from Redeemer, I believe most fans would have been immediately thrilled.  The solo section was actually the best on the disc, even having some dual harmonies, which was missing from the rest of the album. This track will be added to my collection and moved up on the set list for this disc. If they don’t play this live it would be a shame.

Creatures at first starts off a little rough and it doesn’t sound like it’ll be any good, but then the pre-chorus comes in, and the drums actually do something a little different on the toms and it gets good –for a while. The verses sound more like a demo, but the chorus’s come out in the mix and sound really good. This track would also have fit nicely during the Defenders era with a little better production. The solo section on this track sounds great. It sounds like they had done their homework and made a really good melodic solo. Parts of the song don’t work as well as others, the outro just sounds messy, and so I can see why it was left to the bonus disc.

Bring it On is the next track and from the title I’m a bit skeptical, maybe it’s because of all the cheerleader flicks with the same name. But, I’m happily wrong. This track is fun, and has an older late 70’s Priest vibe, with a good chorus. This number could have fit nicely on British Steel, Hell Bent for Leather, or Point of Entry. Yes, it’s a bit cheesy, but it’s what some fans really like. I could hear this track used for a fighter in the UFC. It’s better than a majority of the full length in my opinion.

Never Forget is the last track for the bonus material. It’s a slower, pretty number that sounds like a swan song for a band that was calling it quits or it’s the song played with the credits of a movie. Reminds me of the song Changes by Black Sabbath/Ozzy. (Side note: I found out years back Rob Halford front Black Sabbath in place of Ozzy for one reason or another, and I think it would be awesome if Rob fronted Heaven Hell as a tribute for DIO.) This song doesn’t fit well in the Judas Priest canon, but it’s nice to hear it. The solo section reminds a lot of Ozzy material too, and some other 80’s metal solo that I can’t put my finger on. I might have felt ripped off if this was the only bonus song on the disc, but seeing how you get five, and I got it for free, I feel pretty good about it.

Although the bonus tracks went from great to messy they were still enjoyable, and I’m thankful that they were available. Tears of Blood and Bring it on are two tracks that should have been added to their regular release and a few tracks from the full length pulled to make a more solid disc, but fortunately I can make my own mix. Well that’s it folks, my review is just that, my opinion and hopefully you found it interesting. Bye!

Help for Impatient Parents

Just go to Walley-World for one hour and you’ll soon learn that this world needs a bit more patience. Yes, this is WAY out of my normal blog subject, but I thought this was important enough, so here goes.

Have you been at the store and you’ve seen some parent yelling at their kid to hurry, to be quiet, to stop playing with toys, to stop being a --- a KID?

My wife the other day said something that really stuck in my mind, “Kids are living in their own time zone.” Kids are not in a rush, they have nowhere to be, they don’t have jobs, they are not going to be late, all they care about is being where they are, and playing with what’s around them.

It’s the parents who get upset that their kid is not in as big of a rush as they are. I’d say 9 times out of 10, it’s the parent who’s running late causing the strife they are dealing with. We get to running around, we leave the house late, we get to the store and we’ve got to be in and out, and it’s the kids fault for being a kid. So we get mad at them and yell and fuss at them for doing what a kid does.

Hurry up! Shut up! Stop playing with that! I know children can be very slow when they want to look and touch everything, and at times this can drive you nuts. But if you the parent plan enough time into your schedule for your child to be a kid, your trip to the supermarket, or to Walley-World won’t be so agonizing.

My son loves discovering his surroundings. He loves seeing new people, and he loves to sit and stare -it is who he is. Yes, we have to restrict how long he takes, but we try to let him have fun, and we try to let him be who he is. Remember kids are not living in the same time-zone as you are. Their world his huge and it can be very distracting for them. Can you imagine taking in a TV show-room for the first time as a two year old? It can be a lot for them to take in at once, sometimes they need to just absorb their surroundings and figure out if there’s something there they like. Sometimes our son will enter some place with a lot going on, and he’s like, “Woe- this is too much.” He’ll turn around and want to be picked up, but after a while he adjusts and them wants to see his world.

My only real advice if this seems to be an issue. Build in some extra time for your kid to be a kid. Take a breather at the store, find the toy department, and let your kid play around. We started very early on- we make our son put his toys back after he plays, so when he goes somewhere, and play time is over, we tell him to put the toys back- this way- he doesn’t spend a half hour at the store crying over the toy he can’t have.

Kids want to play, they want to be loved on, and they want to experience the world we live in. If we yell, scream, and fuss at them for being what they are- what do you think the outcome will be?

Obviously, my wife and I don’t have it all figured out but I know that if we treat our son the way I would have liked being treated, we’ll nail this whole parenting thing.