CD Reviews

Judas Priest

Nostradamus | Epic

By DANIEL BROCKMAN | June 17, 2008

3.5 Stars

This 23-song, 104-minute double-CD behemoth is distinctive in the Priest œuvre for, among other things, being the first of their albums that you listen to and don’t think, “Wow, how could I have not figured out before that Rob Halford is gay?!” For all that moments hark back to, say, the more epic tracks on Sad Wings of Destiny and Painkiller, the operatic grandeur and the way the cuts all flow into one another make this album an anomaly of pomp previously unheard in the JP catalogue. If Priest have always been the Stones to Iron Maiden’s Beatles, then this is the band’s Their Satanic Majesties Request (though in scope and lyrical focus it’s closer to Genesis’s The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway): a concept album about the life of Nostradamus that’s as straightforward, in its lyrics, as Maiden’s “Alexander the Great.” Am I making Nostradamus sound lame? Don’t mean to: it’s a ridiculous album, sure, but take Defenders of the Faith, replace the Metallion with Nostradamus, double the number of awesome riffs, add the occasional pan flute and symphonic embellishments, and you have the most grandiose metal record likely to be released this year.

Topics: CD Reviews , Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Judas Priest, More

| More

Friends' Activity

Popular

Most Viewed

See more deals

view all

[ 02/12 ] 69˚S [The Shackleton Project] @ Paramount Theatre

[ 02/12 ] Boston Lyric Opera conducted by David Angus @ John F. Kennedy Library and Museum

[ 02/12 ] Stephen Petronio Company @ Institute of Contemporary Art

ARTICLES BY DANIEL BROCKMAN

A PUNK PHENOMENON GROWS UP | February 08, 2012
It's time we faced it: the vanguards of rock have gotten really old.

THURSTON MOORE MOVES ON | January 25, 2012
When Thurston Moore takes the stage at Somerville Theatre on Tuesday, he will no doubt stroll through the wispy cloud-spires of last summer's Beck-produced solo effort, Demolished Thoughts (Matador).

SPREADING BLASPHEMOUS RUMORS WITH GHOST | January 17, 2012
Can rock still be subversive?

CLOSING THE BOOK ON THE WEST MEMPHIS THREE | January 05, 2012
The Paradise Lost story began in 1993 with the discovery of the bodies of three West Memphis, Arkansas, children in a watery ditch, hogtied and mutilated. A confession led police to the arrest of three teenagers: Damon Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley.

MADONNA, SLEIGH BELLS, RICK ROSS, LANA DEL REY, AND GRIMES HIGHLIGHT EARLY 2012 RELEASES | January 05, 2012
There's nothing particularly apocalyptic about the releases thus far slated for 2012: perhaps this is the way that the music world melts down, with a whimper rather than a bang, right?

See all articles by: DANIEL BROCKMAN

Most Viewed

Most Emailed

VAN HALEN | A DIFFERENT KIND OF TRUTH
Who would've thought Eddie Van Halen would still be innovative in his late 50s?

CAN THE CHARLES RIVER ESPLANADE BE TRANSFORMED INTO THE WORLD'S BEST PARK?
What if — in place of the current three-story Museum of Science parking garage overlooking the Charles River — there loomed a giant Ferris wheel, on the order of the London Eye?

THE BIG HURT: THE MIRACLE OF JAPANESE WIKIPEDIA
In a break from my usual bad-jokes format, I bring you something so strange and wonderful that I just had to share it with the world.

AN INTIMATE GUIDE TO DINING IN — AND EATING OUT — THIS VALENTINE'S DAY
Food and sex have long been intimate bedfellows. What's the endgame of a dinner date but the prospect of the coital desserts waiting at home?

REVIEW: 69°S.: THE SHACKLETON PROJECT
“Men wanted for hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful, honor and recognition in case of success.”