Priest... Live!

“Priest, priest, priest…”, yeah, I can still hear the chanting of the priests… sorry, fans… we’re talking 20,000 maniacs out there, after all, raving like lunatics… it was only Scorpions who were able to attract larger crowds at the time. Yes, the mid-80’s were successful times for Rob Halford and Co., no doubt, and judging by the reception the “Turbo” album enjoyed commercially, there was little to complain finance-wise either.

Quality-wise, however, things were vacillating, and this opus remains one of the weakest achievements in the Priests’ discography, tussling at the very bottom of the list with “Point of Entry” and the goofy rocky debut. The band’s diehard fans mustn’t have been very happy with this caramelized stylistic shift; I mean, did Europe really need a Motley Crue clone to jump around, sing “Hot for Love”, “Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days“, and throw toffee and other sugar candies at the audience… what about those with diabetes? Cause the danger back then was pretty big that the once-British steelers and metal gods would throw all this down the drain and would become pop-metal entertainers… and the latter possibility became even bigger when the album sold very well, prompting the band to come out with a massive tour in support of it. America was the coveted place to conquer and here they were, five English veterans, revitalized and unmetallized with cheese and glamour to spare, landing on the other side of the Atlantic, by all means eligible for immigration.

Judas proved themselves immaculate live performers on the extraordinary “Unleashed in the East”, one of the five greatest concerts ever produced in the history of metal, and probably in music in general. With the lathe raised inordinately high some eight years earlier, this compilation here had quite a bit to live up to… and it did for sure as the musicianship is top-notch all over, the sound is tremendous, the support from the audience is absolutely inspiring, and the song collection is… well, that last part seems to hobble a bit, and this is the reason why this effort doesn’t get a higher score. Putting “Out in the Cold” up front, the only ballad on the album… well, sending 20,000 people out in the cold on a June night, at an impossibly hot place like Texas may not be the worst idea ever, and why not cross the romantic material off the list first? Sure thing, that could be forgiven after a few-hour deliberation, but why “Heading Out to the Highway” right after? It never ceases to beat me why the guys like this song so much, playing it everywhere, humming it in the bathroom even I’m sure… the only justifiable reason I see for this to be included here is as a mere obligatory entry from the mediocre “Point of Entry”… although for me personally “Hot Rockin’” from there is a much better choice anywhere anytime, a decidedly hotter rowdier, more boisterous proposition.

Nope, doesn’t do it for me, this introduction to the first disc but then it all steam-rolls from there with the evergreens “Metal Gods” and “Breaking the Law” from “British Steel”, and when this glorious triptych (“Love Bites”, “Some Heads Are Gonna Roll”, “The Sentinel”) from “Defenders…” enters the fiesta easily hits the roof, with “Private Property” wrapping it on, hardly a major party spoiler with the rowdy chorus and the catchy rhythms. Not too many cuts from the “Turbo” so far… just the first and the last one. Strange… and good.

Disc two is much better arranged with “Rock You All Around the World” tossing everyone in the air initially, sped-up here and turned into a near-speed metal roller-coaster, the finest song on the “Turbo” and a prime flag carrier. Any concert that comprises “Electric Eye”, one of the finest numbers ever composed, is destined to remain in the annals of history, and the guys make no mistake, the “Screaming for Vengeance” opener is here, notching up the atmosphere to fever-pitch proportions. It’s hard to completely ignore “Turbo Lover “, sounding much better live, a bouncy heavy lover… sorry, rocker which, if nothing else, is the most emblematic piece on the entire tour. It has to be here, but whatever cheese and glue have been left in the aether after it, are irrevocably washed away with the hyper-active speed metal delight “Freewheel Burning”, the “Painkiller” prototype which Halford proudly post-announces as “primal thrash metal”. Nearly there, Rob, nearly there, but we’re not enjoying a Slayer or Destruction concert here, and such brutal frivolities may come as too much for the Americanos, especially when the majority of those are closely watched by their parents who would thoroughly savour “Parental Guidance”, another safe bet from the “Turbo”. Enough with the cuts from there, some would say, and yes, the show goes on with the impossibly infectious rockarolla “Living After Midnight”, and the staple sing-along anthem “You've Got Another Thing Comin'”.

Yep, there’s nothing like a Judas Priest live out there, hey; the lads have done it again, more commercially viable, more audience-aware, marginally less energetic and youthfully exuberant. Well, it’s one thing to visit Japan in the late-70’s as half-tourists and half-enthusiastic rockers, having no expectations whatsoever from the ensuing concerts; and it’s an entirely different thing to perform as millionaires in front of a targeted US audience that is sure to catapult you higher into any rankings imaginable… the agendas were different but they hardly had any influence on the quality of the music. Proficient accomplished musicians can pull it anywhere, even in front of a sentenced-to-death prison bunch; and this is why they have millions of fans and remain in the hearts and mouths of many way after they’ve retired. I guess it also helped a lot that they never became full-time pop-metal practitioners although the tepid follow-up “Ram It Down” was largely saved by leftovers (the title-track, “Hard as Iron”, “Monsters of Rock”) from the “Turbo” recording sessions… you can clearly see that those far superior numbers couldn’t have possibly fitted into it. All supposed shame washed away irrevocably by the indomitable “Painkiller”, the absolute pinnacle in the band’s career, and possibly in the entire metal arena… after it nothing else mattered (Metallica must have composed their hit with the “Painkiller” in mind); literally… departed frontmen, fights, jugulators, gruesome twosomes… even the reunion stint in the new millennium seemed anti-climactic compared to what the guys achieved in 1990.

From “Turbo” to “Painkiller”… a road often travelled; with a fascinating stopover in-between where 20,000 maniacs will deafen your ears and will probably eat you alive… but phoenixes and Judas fans are the only two species that are doomed to rise again… so there’s no ending to this saga, neither happy nor sad; the goods’ deliverer works 24/7, a proud American Express-certificate carrier with a bonus British steel... sorry, seal.

It certainly sounds like it too. Love it or hate it, this was the commercially successful era of Priest and the crowd is certainly an indication that this very well could have been recorded in a stadium. Unlike Live After Death, the crowd also seems to give enough of a shit to sing along when Rob asks them to, whereas Long Beach couldn't even be arsed to sing "to midnight."

I don't think it's entirely fair to constantly compare this to Unleashed In The East. For one thing, the Tyrants and Genocides and Exciters that seemed to grow on trees during that era are relatively scarce during this era, and that's not taking into account the final track listing. Call me crazy, but I think the Turbo songs are fine here. Matter of fact, if I'm usually going to listen to specific songs from Turbo, I'm going to choose these versions. Still, the lack of Locked In is questionable, especially considering it was the second song in the set. Look Priest, I know you feel like you're throwing your fans a huge curveball by starting out with a song that's practically a ballad, but I don't mind waiting for Heading Out To The Highway if it means I get to rip the stuffing out of my pillows to Locked In.

The performance is, all things considered, pretty good. Halford's performance alone should convince anyone who mocked the previous live album as Unleashed In The Studio to get fucked, as he is in top form here. I wouldn't even disagree with any critics who say he sounds better here than he did on Unleashed In the East. Glenn & KK riff and shred as well as rip and tear through the 80s repertoire they've helped establish, not to mention they have a nice wall of guitar tone going to give these songs the punch they need. Ian provides the proper bottom end counterpoint (was there anything else to say about him), and Dave Holland is actually decent here as well. Some of the songs here are played considerably faster than their studio counterparts, and at the very least you need a simple drummer that can hold that pocket, and dammit, Holland holds that pocket (though I suppose not well enough for someone to quip on how Simon Phillips would have done so much better).

Standout performances of Priest...Live include Heading Out To The Highway, Love Bites, Breaking The Law and believe it or not Rock You All Around the World. Ten times out of ten when I go to iTunes I will prefer these versions of the songs over their studio counterparts. Heading Out To The Highway has a damn fine classic guitar duel between Glenn and KK that for some stupid reason didn't make the album, Love Bites has an absolutely sickening lick around 2:11 that I guess just wasn't played with enough venom on Defenders of the Faith because you could barely make it out. Not to mention Halford's nightmare inducing runs at the song's conclusion. Breaking The Law goes from slightly corny PMRC irritant to a vicious slicer. THIS is what should have been on British Steel (complete with an equally dangerous lead from KK). If You've Got Another Thing Comin pissed you off with it's fadeout, then fear not, because it absolutely brings down the house on this album.

There is one other track that deserves special mention here, and that's Freewheel Burning. The first time I heard this version of the song I thought it was a sketchy recording cos I wasn't sure why the riff sounded so odd, only to have my face smashed in with hammer a few seconds later as this fucker is played at Exciter speed. Yes, Exciter speed. Some fans will say that this is the highlight of the album and I completely understand why. This perfectly captures the sonic fury of Exciters and Tyrants of years past, and even at double speed neither Holland nor Halford miss a beat. Lookbeforeyouleaphasneverbeenthewaywekeepourroadisfree!! Creamy Jesus, my tongue wants to shoot me in the head for just typing that, but Halford sings it flawlessly without fucking up a single syllable. I'm sure there's some vocal coach who can praise this for diction and breath control. As great as it is, I can't quite call this the definitive version of the song. Sure the studio version is slower (heh), but it's tighter and more controlled. Plus we never really got too many Priest songs at that tempo anyway.

As for flaws? Well I'm sure most will say too many Turbo songs but it was the new album they were promoting so I can let it slide. It would have also been nice to have gotten one extra song from Screaming For Vengeance. Hell I'd have taken Take These Chains (it certainly wouldn't have been out of place in this set). Inexcusable however is the exclusion of the now-Harley-anthem Hell Bent For Leather. Yes, it was from the previous era but it also wasn't on the original version of Unleashed In The East either (the original version had 9 tracks that ended with Tyrant). They left it off here which meant Priest fans had to wait until fucking Live Meltdown 98, and even that version was detuned! For shame. Thankfully on the 2002 remaster of this album (which I assume is the way everyone gets it these days), it's included along with a couple of other schweet gems from 80s tours.

Priest....Live is a fine live album that in my opinion holds its own against other metal live albums, and a pretty swell snapshot of the 80s metal mania. If you love the 80s era of Priest the most there is no reason why you shouldn't own this.

Priest...Live! might lack the personality and controversy surrounding the first Judas Priest live effort Unleashed in the East, but it compensates by providing a natural update to the band's canon in that it doesn't seek to retread the use of the 70s material in the set list. So, for the fan of the band's 80s period, this was the 'modern' Priest, and since they had been pursuing a new style for their latest studio outing Turbo, it makes a whole lotta sense, really. Would that they had stuck to this policy of recording only newer material for subsequent offerings of this sort, one per decade, I'd have a savage respect for the squad, but due to the change in singers and the long gaps in their recorded output through the ensuing decades, that would not turn out to be the case.

So the tracks chosen for this set were once again culled from numerous dates performed in June '86 at The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia and the Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas. Having seen the band a few times here in the States, I can vouch for their collective professionalism and explosive sets across the aeons, but what I enjoyed the most about this offering was simply that I got to hear a number of tunes in the set that I don't normally or would never again normally expect on any of their big tours. Namely because it incorporates a bunch of the Turbo material. "Out in the Cold", "Rock You All Around the World", "Private Property", "Parental Guidance" and of course "Turbo Lover". That last one is admittedly a fixture at many of their gigs, but to hear the others from such a divisive record (which I happen to enjoy) is pretty sweet. I'm not sure of the validity of using "Out in the Cold" as the opener, it feels mildly lethargic (as it does on the studio incarnation) and doesn't exactly build up the listener's excitement, but for all I know they didn't actually do the songs in anything near this order at the actual dates. Otherwise, the material sounds pretty smooth. The synthesizer elements aren't as wild as they were on Turbo, Rob's voice is well sharpened and right on the money, and the guitar chords sound robust without leeching from the rest of the band.

Of course, this was also the first opportunity for me to have a live album with some of my favorites from their earlier 80s material, some of which numbered among my favorites of that period. Obviously the huge hits like "Breaking the Law", "You've Got Another Thing Comin'", "Heading Out to the Highway" and "Living After Midnight" were included in the set, after all these were the ones loading up their bank accounts, but I was also pretty excited for versions of "The Hellion/Electric Eye", "Freewheel Burning", "Metal Gods" and "The Sentinel", all of which sound pretty clean here, though occasionally too clean that they come of so polished that some of the natural, inherent aggression seems leeched. I feel like this is due to the mass levels of reverb and expansive sound that were likely needed to fill these arenas, but they still sound pretty close to their studio counterparts, although a few of the lead sequences are altered. The crowd response sounds a lot more genuine than Unleashed in the East, and Rob's voice a little broader and less piercing, and then there's the fact that this is simply more substantial of an offering at well over 70 minutes and nearly twice the set.

Priest...Live! doesn't carry that same nostalgic value I had for the first album, and some of the songs seem a little too tidy and restrained, but I'll take this any day over the Ripper-led live albums the band would produce many years later, and it's nice that the band decided not to rehash the material from Unleashed in the East, as if to let it all stand on its own as a documentation of the band's evolution. Or, they were likely just tired of those songs by the mid-80s. Ultimately, though, this is worth a pick up only to those who are not turned off by the heavy presence of Turbo. In recent years I've been starting to fancy live albums that feel more focused and authentic (from a single gig), but looking back at the past favorites this was almost never the case. Priest...Live! is certainly not a favorite from this period, but it does its job enough to satisfy an ear attuned to Screaming With Vengeance, British Steel, Defenders of the Faith, Turbo, etc.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Judas Priest’s second official live album was released with much bombast and an accompanying video; the question you’re probably all asking is “Is it any good?”. Well that’s a two part answer, there are really excellent things about it and some not so desirable things too. I’m going to start with the good and then point out it’s shortcomings.

First off, the production is crystal clear. This was one of the first metal concerts to be recorded using Sony digital tape and it really shows. You can even hear Ian Hill’s bass if you listen carefully! Another positive point is the performances themselves are excellent. Rob Halford had recently cleaned up his addictions and he's absolutely on fire here, hitting all the highs with ease and confidence. Songs such as Breakin' the Law and Heading Out to the Highway have extra lead breaks and solos not on their original studio versions.
Lastly, the increase of tempo really helps some songs. Freewheel Burning in particular borders on thrash!

Now for the negative: I've always said good album art, while not necessary, is an asset. This album has probably one of the ugliest sleeves I've ever seen on an official commercially released product, take a look for yourself. Next, this album was recorded on the Turbo tour. Take what you will from that fact but I feel that the amount of Turbo songs in the set list really detracts from the album. Especially considering Out in the Cold is the first track! I'm not sure who thought opening the set with a ballad was a good idea but it doesn't set the mood well at all.

Overall, it's pretty enjoyable but the set list just kills it for me. Now to be fair, the band has said in interviews that they didn't include classics such as The Ripper or Tyrant because they were already on Unleashed in the East. I understand not wanting to repeat themselves but I believe that with less emphasis on Turbo and more tracks from bonafide heavy metal classics like Screaming for Vengeance and British Steel, it would've made a good live album even better.

Many so-called 'professional' reviewers have bashed this album for being of very inferior quality and showcasing Judas Priest rapidly declining as a band. Well, I say fuck them, because Priest really comes alive on this album!
The album contains a decent mix of old and new songs, good and bad ones
The tracks range between ones that suck, and have always sucked, like 'Out in the Cold' and 'Turbo Lover', songs that sound pretty much like the originals, albeit with a crowd of fans going nuts, like 'Some Heads Are Gonna Roll' and 'Heading Out to the Highway', and songs that actually work out really good as live tracks, 'Metal Gods' and, especially, 'Living After Midnight' really stand out here.

One of the coolest things about livealbuma is, obviously, the whole 'live feeling', and that works out really well on this album. Hearing the crowd go crazy shouting 'Priest! Priest! Priest! Priest!' and their satisfied cheering when Halford reveals one classic after another is something really awesome.
Some tracks, most obviously 'Breaking the Law', suffer from the mistake that many bands do live: it's played at a way way way too fast speed, which suits it really badly, and destroys the otherwise so beloved riff...
On the other hand, when 'Living After Midnight' kicks off, I tend to get goosebumps because of the collective shouts from the crowd - a really really awesome feeling. Also, the solo in the song has been changed and is a great improvement over the original.

There are almost no of Judas Priest's early songs present on the album - actually there are none from the pre-British Steel era, so this works nice as a continuation where Unleashed in the East left off.

Some of Halford's speeches honestly tend to get annoying at times, when he for the sixth time starts shouting 'Let me hear you say OH YEAH!' and you start thinking 'get on with it already!'.
However, these things are insignificant and overall this IS a very good live record, and can be recommended to any Priest fan that like this stuff from British Steel and up.