New Priest dropped yesterday...

[Inflames626]

https://youtu.be/N_l-trEOtbk

Thoughts:

Cheesy and a bit cringey lyrically, but Priest has always been that way on and off. Topical tunes tend to become dated quickly.

The production sounds great. The slight synthwave sounding parts didn't seem to fit and gave me unpleasant memories of Turbo. I thought Nostradamus made better use of keyboards.

Average riffs and such, but lots of good solo ideas.

I think it's now a joke and a bit insulting that they hold out the pretense that Glenn Tipton is still capable of playing stuff like this. He may write the riffs but he can't do the solos up to tempo anymore. My guess is Ritchie Faulkner played all of it.

Ritchie is amazing. A 70s era player for the Millennials. Most of what he does is just reworked Michael Schenker, but it's good. Lots of licks I'd like to learn from this.

I miss Rob's real singing voice from the 1970s, not this screechy thing he has been doing since Painkiller. Imagine him trying to do "Savage" from Stained Class now. His throat is shredded.

Verdict: par for the course for Priest. I preferred some of Halford's solo stuff to this, and some of KK's Priest, and some of Owens era stuff to this. Not bad, not great.

I just dig Ritchie. Dude can pull off Painkiller doing both Glenn and KK's solos while having a heart attack. I also like how his Gibsons mix vintage style with new features like Floyds.

Also, Invincible Shield? Really?

Sounds like an insurance company.

[Napthol]

Their last album Firepower was fantastic. The one before that, Redeemer of Souls was also pretty darn good. As long as they don't use too many keyboards and stick to balls to the wall guitars it should be good.

[Securb]

If that song came out in the 80s it would be a top 10 JP tune but being released today it sounds dated and unimagined. There are some pretty cool riffs, but I think as a song it gets lost in JP's vast catalog. Ritchie's playing is on point as usual. However, you can clearly tell when Glenn takes over the lead duties and while his playing is fine the solo itself sounds uninspired and phoned in.

[Inflames626]

If that song came out in the 80s it would be a top 10 JP tune but being released today it sounds dated and unimagined. There are some pretty cool riffs, but I think as a song it gets lost in JP's vast catalog. Ritchie's playing is on point as usual. However, you can clearly tell when Glenn takes over the lead duties and while his playing is fine the solo itself sounds uninspired and phoned in.

I don't think Glenn played a note of it. He isn't capable of it anymore due to Parkinson's disease.

[Securb]

I don't think Glenn played a note of it. He isn't capable of it anymore due to Parkinson's disease.

At the start, it says Glenn Tipton Guitars. Listening to the solo it sounds like two distinctly different players.

[Inflames626]

At the start, it says Glenn Tipton Guitars. Listening to the solo it sounds like two distinctly different players.

To me the solos sound more complicated than what his Parkinson's would let him pull off.

Also, Glenn was "in" the band even though Andy Sneap has played gigs for them for how many years now?

Additionally, I wouldn't put it beyond Ritchie to be able to copy Glenn's style. He might have even used Glenn's guitars.

It's important that the perception of Glenn being in the band remains to give creative continuity to the band.

Even the YouTuber Metal Pilgrim, who is pretty soft on old school metal bands, questions whether Glenn actually played on the album. KK does as well, but he's got sour grapes.

[Securb]

From what I have read (and yes nothing on the internet is 100% accurate or true) Glenn can still play but the Parkinsons limits his ability to tour and touring could stress out his body. If it is not Glenn playing I do not think he would let Judas Priest put his name on it.

[Inflames626]

From what I have read (and yes nothing on the internet is 100% accurate or true) Glenn can still play but the Parkinsons limits his ability to tour and touring could stress out his body. If it is not Glenn playing I do not think he would let Judas Priest put his name on it.

Maybe, but I think it's unlikely. Doubtless as long as the album took to write and record, Glenn could have come in and contributed on good days.

But, Ritchie has played Glenn's solos in and out for years now, whereas he used to just do KK's. He has had years to figure out how Glenn's playing works. I'm sure Ritchie can sound like him. I can't tell Ritchie doing Painkiller from Glenn doing it in vintage footage anymore, really.

Ritchie might improvise it a bit and add some flourishes, but I think he sounds identical to Glenn in his prime now. Ritchie has really improved from a guy who sounded like KK to a guy who sounds like Glenn.

For stuff like Parkinson's, crossing strings is difficult. If you see Glenn play live now you notice he does songs where the parts tend to move vertically up and down the neck without having to cross over. I'm sure hand synchronization is difficult. If Glenn is playing anything there, it's probably on the solo sections that don't have sweeps.

If he didn't play it, he would still put his name on it, because no one can prove that he didn't (and is willing to talk about it). If he admitted it, it would dilute the Priest brand.

If Glenn did play anything, I think it's the fill at 1:58, 2:08, 3:27-3:37, 3:47 on maybe but by 4:09 there are more sweeps. 4:51 most likely is Glenn because it's a patterned sequence (based on KK's solo from Painkiller I think), but by the time you get to 5:10 there are more of those sweeps. It sounds like, if it is Glenn, he's panned slightly right.

Also, for people who are going on about how great Rob's voice still is, I'm fairly sure this is in Eb and most of the old songs are now done in that tuning.

Not a big difference, but easier to hit highs than standard tuning, and it sounds like a beefier standard tuning to people who can't tell the difference.

Ritchie probably double tracked all the rhythms himself to speed things up and keep it tight. Glenn most likely won't be playing live anyway. They'll go out again with Andy.

Scott's playing and tone are great at 62 years old, but he always did sound like a drum machine. Ian is...in there. I'm sure the mix would lose something if he weren't.

All those criticisms said, they're better at being themselves now than Metallica is.