Nostradamus [Deluxe]

Performer: Judas Priest
Engineer: Richard W.G. Wood
Producer: Glenn Tipton; K.K. Downing
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Rob Halford (vocals); Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing (guitar, guitar synthesizer); Ian Hill (bass guitar); Scott Travis (drums). Audio Mixers: Glenn Tipton; K.K. Downing; Atti Bauw. Recording information: The Old Smithy Studio, England. Arrangers: Glenn Tipton; K.K. Downing; Rob Halford. Any lingering fears held by Judas Priest fans about the group's reunion with vocalist Rob Halford being a short-lived exercise in nostalgia need look no further than 2008's NOSTRADAMUS. This epic two-disc concept album represents a bold move for the leather-clad metal gods. With his previous lyrics for such Priest classics as "The Ripper" and "Beyond The Realms Of Death," Halford has already demonstrated a flair for dramatic storytelling. NOSTRADAMUS takes the life of the endlessly debated 16th-century prophet and propels it into a body of music that incorporates orchestration, sweeping keyboards, Latin-sung vocals, acoustic guitars, and (gasp) choirs. In the process, old-school Judas Priest fans are served a plentiful dish that picks up where 1990's PAINKILLER left off. On 2005's (almost) divine comeback album Angel of Retribution, Judas Priest fans got a modern day update of the band's genre-bending 1976 classic, Sad Wings of Destiny. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal legends return to the mines for 2008's Nostradamus, though this time it's another band's treasure they're looting, specifically Iron Maiden's 1988 concept album, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Heavy metal's obsession with seers, sorcery, and anything else that falls under the nebulous blanket of the "dark arts" is legendary, and Maiden's loosely knit tale of a visionary "chosen one" provided listeners with one of the last great albums of the pre-grunge, epic metal era, due in part to some truly memorable songs that remain fan favorites even to this day. Nostradamus, on the other hand, manages to live up to nearly every Spinal Tap clich� (non-deliberate, laugh-inducing cover art; melodramatic spoken word interludes; rhyming "fire" with desire). At nearly two hours long, one expects a certain amount of filler, but the dated keyboard strings, soft piano, and bluesy, minor-key guitar licks that populate every nook and cranny in between (and often throughout) each track sound like discarded incidental music from The X-Files or an RPG video game "cut scene." The songs themselves are hit or miss, with the emphasis falling on the latter, due mostly to an over-reliance on three-chord, midtempo filler, but as is the case with nearly every Priest offering, when they're on they're dead on. Disc one closer "Persecution," after a lengthy organ/guitar intro, unleashes Nostradamus' finest six minutes, boasting one of the best choruses the band has produced since 1988's "Hard as Iron" (few things sound as natural and satisfying as Rob Halford's metallic voice running through a phaser, and his signature scream, when it arises, still has no equal). The predictable but effectively apocalyptic "War" (taking a cue from Holst's Mars, Bringer of War) spawns one of the few great orchestral breakdowns on the record, while both "Death" and the nearly seven-minute title track feature stunning guitar work from Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing. None of this, however, can save Nostradamus from the fact that even if it were reduced to a single album (it should have been), its flaws would far outweigh its triumphs. Excess and metal go together like blood and guts, but even gore loses its ability to draw a reaction after the umpteenth beheading. [This Deluxe Edition included an insert with a code to receive a general-admission ticket ("while supplies last") to a Judas Priest concert during summer 2008.] ~ James Christopher Monger

Kerrang (Magazine) (p.54) - "[T]he entire work drags you in with its own irresistible gravity. Striking hooks and stirring pieces of instrumentation make themselves apparent from within the stately march of their surrounds..." Q (Magazine) (p.135) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[G]loriously over-the-top..." Record Collector (magazine) (p.95) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "NOSTRADAMUS is dark, mystical, complex and occasionally acoustic, and the Priest write around Halford's aging voice well, emphasizing power over range."

Heavy metal had existed for several years before Judas Priest hit the scene in the mid 1970s, but the mighty Priest drove it all home--many still consider them to be the quintessential metal band. Dressed in studs and leather from head to toe, the band specialized in soaring, heavy-duty metal, with lyrics that alternated between the menacing and the party-hearty.

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