Judas Priest's Reviews

Jugulator

Not my Judas Priest...

When the eighties drew to a close, Judas Priest was forced to disband due to the legendary Rob Halford leaving the band to pursue his own musical dreams. While Halford was off playing in bands like Fight and Two, the remaining members of Priest, who had disbanded seven years ago, reunited. As a replacement for Halford on vocals, the band recruited Tim "Ripper" Owens, an American who was a singer in a Judas Priest tribute band (for those of you who don't know, the story told in the film Rock Star is based loosely on this scenario.) With Ripper as their new frontman, the band set out to rock the world once again! Did they succeed with flying colors, or fail terribly? Read on for my review of Jugulator, the first Judas Priest album to be released in seven years.

When I first heard this album, I wondered whether or not it was actually Judas Priest. I was in shock - and NOT the good kind. The band no longer sounded like the band I once loved - they now sounded like a poor man's White Zombie! Tim "Ripper" Owens is actually a good singer, so the problem with the new face of the band isn't an immediately-evident one. What the problem is is that Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing were forced to become the chief songwriters in the band due to the departure of Halford - who was such an excellent songwriter. Sadly, the duo is unable to write a stellar song with Halford out of the band, and due to their weak lyrics, many people automatically cite Ripper as the problem - although this isn't necessarily true. Every song on this album sounds alike, all the more proof that the band reuniting without Halford was a VERY poor move. In the end, we get an album that is barely listenable.

My final verdict for this album is simple - DO NOT buy it, unless you are a die-hard Judas Priest fan who wants to complete your collection. Any true fan of the band from the Halford era will tell you that this album is severely lacking in comparison to any other Priest album - how right they are. Once again, this is for die-hards only!

Buy this album on Amazon at $16.98