Customer Rating:  
Summary: Concept Album
Comment: The new Judas Priest isn't bad, I'd say it's better than Angel of Rettibution, Jugulator, DeMOLITION too. Their best album since 1990s Painkiller. Takes a few listens to grow on you. It's what Priest fans have come to expect, an agreesive albeit generic metal album.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Epic Concept Album!!
Comment: A very powerful album with a classical/progressive sound. Judas Priest are successful at creating well balanced and imaginative concept album. I have been playing this exclusively since buying it ,it just keeps getting better every time I listen to it. A great gift to Priest Fans, they have done nothing like this before. A full 5 stars on this one!.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not easy to review
Comment: I am a Priest fan since 1977, roughly. The first album by them I owned was Hell Bent for Leather, which, strangely, Nostradamus reminds me of HBFL. It has the variety that was on Hell Bent. Remember how you felt the first time you heard "Before the Dawn", it was like what was that? It seemed so out of place. Nostradamus has alot of slow little pre-songs, I guess you could call them. I like that Priest took a chance with this album, I would love to say it is the album of the year or the decade, but it isn't. It is good. It's hit and miss, and sometimes it seems to drag on far beyond the listener's attention span. On the other hand, I find it hard to pinpoint a critical downfall. I think it's a good, solid album that, especially for a veteran band like Priest, really takes a chance that their fans will purchase it without ever hearing it on the radio. It is not a very radio friendly album, which I like. The bottom line, I think, for Priest fans, will be it was a hit and miss album where the band attempted to go beyond what was expected, and sometimes succeeded and sometimes failed. Nostradamus is solid, though, and belongs as an important part of the Priest catalog. It's way, way better than Turbo! If they failed on this album it certainly wasn't because they were trying to be commercial, sometimes the songs seem to suffer from length, or repetition. It actually can be a somewhat boring, lugubrious listen, but it also has some absolutely great moments, and sounds new and classic at the same time.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Gets better with age
Comment: JP goes in a different direction on Nostradamus...and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Gone are the shredding guitar solos that have been their hallmark for decades. I've listened to this 5 times through now and I can honestly say it gets better with each listen. Fans looking for Painkiller II will be sorely disappointed. This is not a CD you'll want to crank up as you're pulling up to a stoplight to try to impress the hot chick (or elderly couple) next to you with your ability to listen to loud music (btw, no one over the age of 18 is ever impressed with this skill in case you're wondering). However, if you can come in without any preconcieved notions of what Judas Priest should sound like, Nostradamus can provide an entertaining journey, albeit a different one than Priest fans might be used to. It would be hard to deny that JP has earned the right to do what they want with their music after three-and-a-half decades. As far as I'm concerned, if they choose to make a Christmas Album with the Wiggles next, so be it. I certainly don't feel they owe me anything at this point.
For some reason I was never consulted during the creation of this CD. However, had my opinion been requested I would have had a few suggestions. For instance, since they were going in this symphonic direction anyway, I wish they would have taken it a bit further and added more orchestra and choir elements. Especially given the topic, I thought they could have mixed in some more classical material to help bring the listener into a journey through the French Renaissance. I also would have added some haunting choir pieces that would have helped conjure images of the church that was both friend and foe to Nosty at various times. Rob certainly has the voice to pull off the theatrical sound.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Refreshing Metal Opera shines against trash out there
Comment: I may have a more objective review than most here as I was not a major Priest fan growing up in the 80's. I did hear their popular songs and loved them, but did not relish in their albums. I was always drawn to conceptual rock like Rush 2112, The Who's Tommy and Quadrophenia. So to hear an amazing rock opera like this in 2008 is refreshing and brave.
I for one would finance bringing this to the stage. I think it would be a sell out show instantly and it would be well deserved. I do not think Priest fans should fear this variance of Priest. Have we (40 and 50 something folk) all not mellowed after all the years of rocking hard. I think our generation is far deeper than the current crowd and can appreciate change and taking risks.
So I applaud Priest and I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 simply because nothing is perfect - although a new Zeppelin album and tour may just be that.
Rock on Priest. And great vocals Rob!!
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