Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Judas Priest
Label: Columbia Records
Release: 2016
Rating: 3/5
Say the name Judas Priest and every true lover of heavy sounds shivers. The band has been defiantly holding its ground on the scene since 1969, and with its pioneering spirit and musical vision it deserves a lot of the credit for establishing the very notion of heavy metal. Yet in 2011 and 2012 it was actually wrapping up its career. It had announced just one more farewell world tour called »Epitaph«, followed by a DVD release! But the energies clearly turned another way, especially after much, much younger and eager-to-prove-himself guitarist Richie Faulkner joined the lineup as a replacement for the legendary KK Downing. The band felt a fresh life force, found creative inspiration, recorded and released the excellent new studio album »Redeemer of Souls«, and a new world tour followed.
Energetically refreshed and rejuvenated, Judas Priest played a whole series of shows last year. They hit European stages in the middle of summer, covering most of the most prestigious festival grounds on the continent. Then, right before the year’s end, in December (with the legendary UFO in support), they came back to Europe once more and did an indoor arena tour too.
The band decided to immortalize this tour as well! So the show at the famous Wacken Open Air festival in Germany on 01.08.2015, where Judas Priest played in front of a crowd of 85,000 heads, no joke, was captured with multiple cameras and released as a new concert document.
Judas Priest have never shone as great aesthetes. Even the Epitaph tour was accompanied by cheap kitsch when it comes to stage sets and scenography (the use of projection screens and other junk like stretched-out chains, fake flickering fire,…). And this latest tour, which the »Battle Cry« document comes from, is no better in that respect. The blocky projections in the background remain extremely naive and downright childish this time too, paired with cheap design and an original concept to match. Anyway, the band simply never paid much attention to aesthetics. Judas Priest did, though, command the huge stage of Wacken Open AIr with their playing. Especially Halford, who marched around nonstop in huge loops, from the front of the stage back to drummer Scott Travis, and left and right to the rest of his companions.
During the show there is, as is the custom with Judas Priest, a ton of red lighting. In this respect the footage doesn’t reach the quality that other acts in the rock’n’roll business are delivering in 2016. Between the DVD and the Blu-ray there’s really no major difference in quality, which by the rules should be obvious and noticeable. But you just can’t see it. So the picture isn’t completely clear and clean, not even on the Blu-ray. The multi-camera setup also did a very poor job of catching »close-up« shots. It’s obvious Judas Priest didn’t even have a cameraman in the photo pit. As far as »close up« scenes go, all we get up close during the show is Richie Faulkner’s »Fyln’ V« guitar, and always in the same frame.. There’s a mic stand in front of it (sadly the framing itself is distracting), and generally only Richie’s right hand is clearly visible, but if the left hand moves toward the upper part of the neck, closer to the pickups, you can also watch the guitarist solo. »Close up« shots of Ian Hill and Glenn Tipton are missing entirely! The bulk of the film director’s attention naturally goes to Rob Halford, and Scott Travis on drums is also captured very well by the stage cameraman. The remaining shots are filled with distant cameras and they deliver that majestic feeling that only the unique pulse of 85,000-headed fury in the middle of Wacken can create. So this concert film still carries quite a bundle of shortcomings.
The second matter is the overall sound of the performance. That is the real Judas Priest sound. What’s more, the band finally decided against fixing the sound afterwards in the studio, something they used to love doing before releasing live albums. So it’s clear that Halford can no longer sing with the power he once had, that he adapts his vocal lines, or leaves the main parts of the choruses to the wild crowd. It’s also interesting that Glenn Tipton has left the bulk of the solos to Richie Faulkner, who truly doesn’t lack dynamite and, judging by the quality on display, earned that position fair and square. Tipton also comes across as occasionally sloppy and not at his sharpest on guitar. As if he were actually bored, or worn out.
On top of all that, you have to put up with the teleprompter Rob Halford uses when singing verses. That means he doesn’t know them by heart. That’s no novelty for Judas Priest either, even though the band tries to cover it up with all sorts of visual tricks. Halfrod tries to hide it, of course, with sunglasses and »robotic« stiff movement back and forth. With a »forward« stance and his head pointed at the floor. That makes sense. He has to read the verses somehow.
The material on the DVD or Blu-ray contains two more songs than the audio recording on the CD, due to time limits. Turbo Lover and Livin’ After Midnight were dropped from the CD. The DVD and Blu-ray also have three bonus songs from the autumn-winter leg of the 2015 European tour, recorded at Judas Priest’s show on 10.12.2015 in Gdansk (Poland). The summer tour’s set list differed from the autumn tour’s. Devil’s Child in the (summer) set list was replaced by the excellent Desert Plains (»Point of Entry«, 1981), and Jawbreaker by the outstanding Screaming For Vengenace (»Screaming For Vengeance«, 1982). The autumn leg’s repertoire also featured The Rage as an extra song compared to the summer set list. That’s the answer to why Screaming For Vengenace, The Rage and Desert Plains were picked as the bonus tracks.
Anyway. Energy, performance. That’s what counts. The band still kicks you straight in the teeth and forehead, decently and decisively! True Judas Priest fans will grab this product and slot it right into their private collection of everything by this famous band. Those of you who are more demanding should rather stick with the band’s live recordings from the eighties. I have »Live Vengeance 1982« and »Priest Live!« (1986) in mind. So. If you’re not a die-hard fan of the band, reach for your wallet a bit more flexibly this time and use your own head. Check out the material before you invest in it. The quality that the Judas Priest name has stood for through a marathon epic of 47 years is of course back again, but this time you just have to put up with certain things that cling to the band’s image and work over the years as a result of aging.
Lineup
Rob Halford – vocals
Glenn Tipton – guitar
Richie Faulkner – guitar
Ian Hill – bass
Scott Travis – drums
Track list
1. (Intro) Battle Cry
2. Dragonaut
3. Metal Gods
4. Devil’s Child
5. Victim of Changes
6. Halls of Valhalla
7. Turbo Lover
8. Redeemer of Souls
9. Beyond the Realms of Death
10. Jawbreaker
11. Breaking the Law
12. Hell Bent For Leather
13. The Hellion
14. Electric Eye
15. You’ve Got Another Thing Coming
16. Painkiller
17. Living After Midnight
bonus tracks:
18. Screaming for Vengeance
19. The Rage
20. Desert Plains
