Nostradamus / Judas Priest (2008)

Disc 1

1. Dawn of Creation

2. Prophecy

3. Awakening

4. Revelations

5. The Four Horsemen

6. War

7. Sands of Time

8. Pestilence and Plague

9. Death

10. Peace

11. Conquest

12. Lost Love

13. Persecution

Disc 2

14. Solitude

15. Exiled

16. Alone

17. Shadows In the Flame

18. Visions

19. Hope

20. New Beginnings

21. Calm Before the Storm

22. Nostradamus

23. Future of Mankind

I have never made a comment on this album up to this point. The reason was that I did not know how to put this album down in the catalogue of Judas Priest. "Turbo" was a controversial album for innovating synthesizer in metal. I would say this album was controversial but was on a completely different degree. "Turbo" is not even comparable with this record. This is their first concept album. The album structure was not usual. About a half of the songs were preludes and not full length songs. The music style was not typical heavy metal. It was just completely different from their past catalogues. Therefore, I did not know how to comprehend this record. Well, it has been more than 4 years, and I think I can listen to this album more objectively.

As I listened to the whole album once again today, I was surprised by the quality of arrangement of this album. Speaking of "Turbo", you can hear synthesizer and keyboard throughout the entire album. They turned more pop with "Turbo", but they used them to make symphonic sound and magnificent scale. When I first listened to this album for the first time, I could not believe that this was Judas Priest's album. It sounded so strange. Nevertheless, I realized that there was more Judas Priest essence in this record. For example, in the guitar solo of track 2, you can hear the guitar battle of K.K. and Glenn. Track 8 has a great minor melody. It is one of the best melody written by Rob Halford. This song can be in the second half of "Painkiller". Track 12 is a beautiful ballad. They also showed aggressive side of heavy metal music. Track 13 reminded me of "Night Crawler". Track 22 is the fastest number in this album. It starts with magnificent intro, and then the song becomes aggressive with Rob's high tone scream. The last song, track 23, is a dramatic number and suits as the end.

As I listened to this album today, I was surprised by the quality of this album. Even though there are 23 songs, I did not think that they made unnecessary additions. Each song has good melody line. The attempt of using synthesizer was very successful. It did not sound a thin veneer. It was much better than some cheap symphonic metal bands. If you ask me if this was the album that I expect from Judas Priest, I would say "No". This is definitely not what metal fans expect. This is not typical Judas Priest, yet I would like to evaluate their challenging spirit, musicianship and quality they brought in this album. I heard that they were going to release an album in 2013. I would like to expect them of "THIS IS THE METAL ALBUM" this time.

☆☆☆

Revelation / Journey (2008)

1. Never Walk Away

2. Like A Sunshower

3. Change For The Better

4. Wildest Dream

5. Faith In The Heartland

6. After All These Years

7. Where Did I Lose Your Love

8. What I Needed

9. What It Takes To Win

10. Turn Down The World Tonight

11. The Journey (Revelation)

12. The Place In Your Heart

"Generation" was little disappointing, and another tragedy came. Steve Augeri left the band due to illness. He had to leave the band during tour. The band continued the tour with Jeff Scott Soto. Then, it was announced that he was appointed to be officially the singer of the band. Nevertheless, he left the band after the tour. All of Journey fans worried about their future. After a while, I heard a strange news. It was announced that Journey chose a new singer, but the new vocal is a Filipino. I could not believe what I saw. Nothing against Filipinos, but I could not believe that one of the biggest American band picked a singer from Philippines. However, when I watched the band's performance at TV show on YouTube, I could not believe what I saw even more. The new singer just sounded like Steve Perry. Steve Augeri really matched with the band, but Arnel Pineda was totally on a different degree. I was stunned. Since that moment, I was really looking for the new album.

This album was solely distributed through Walmart. Right after it was released, I went there to purchase the record. It was much better than what I was expecting. The sound has the mood of "Frontier" and "Escape" era. When I heard track 1, I knew this album would be great. Every song in this album reminds me of their golden age of 80's. They had written another great ballad which should be added on their masterpiece, track 6. This song is comparable to "Open Arms" or "Faithfully". Track 7 became one of my favorite Journey songs. It is a great dramatic rock tune. They also played two songs from the last album. They picked the best tracks from it. Even though, I liked the original version, it is really interesting how the voice of Arnel Pineda matches better to the songs. Journey has returned stronger than ever!!

☆☆☆☆☆