Nostradamus.
(review by boyinblack80)
Going into this record I'd only heard one track on it's own (Dawn of Creation) and I wasn't so sure hearing just that one track the direction the band was going for felt fully realized. The lyrics were so direct that it almost worked against setting them against music. Similar to a conversational approach at times, or a historical lesson done with a vocal line over Judas Priest's music jamming underneath (which ain't a bad thing). If you've ever seen the animated film Hercules and the muses who help move the story along...at times Halford feels like those characters. It's unfortunate because although I am sure it's intentional, it doesn't always work for this type of music.
I am a fan of concept albums so the goal and approach wasn't lost on me and there are a lot of great moments on disc 1 of the 2 disc set. Rob Halford sings great although at times sounds a little uninspired or maybe unsure of what exactly to do melodically (and in what octave range). Some of the band performances didn't feel like they congealed fully. As a for instance because many times listening to this record I was reminded of how great the concept album Operation Mindcrime by Queensryche is. The entire band just seemed SO connected for Operation Mindcrime and almost like they lived and died by each and every phrase they played together. There was an angst and energy to everything no matter how big or small. Nostradamus lacks that commitment and it's almost like tasting a soup and it's missing something and you aren't quite sure what it is...salt, some pepper? I feel like they needed to work on this more before putting it down as a permanent offering when going for something of this magnitude.
There are a lot of great guitar solos on disc one and some awesome songs (I could list individual tracks but you'd be doing yourself a disservice to skip around...for a first listen I strongly suggest going in order).
I DO like the record and I have listened to disc one already 7 times. Throughout the record I wished maybe they'd spent a little more time developing or possibly recording the tracks. I keep circling back to this but it feels tentative or like these would have been great demos (the more lacking moments that is not a blanket statement about every track) and with more work the entire thing could have spring boarded into a CLASSIC, CLASSIC Priest record. Maybe one of the best...like Operation Mindcrime was for Queensryche/
I am sure a ton of work went into this, but I also think if you are going to take on a double disc and almost 2 hours of music then you have to do a lot of ground work before. They went about 75% of the way there and I feel settled at the end and just went through recording it, and it shows in spots.
I would absolutely say for priest fans (and fans of concept metal) to check it out...the high spots do out weigh the weaker moments but I think most hard core music fans and musicians will feel a little like you want to push the band to that higher place at times...they almost reach it...but occasionally fall a bit short of the high mark they set for themselves on this extremely ambitious album.
I still give it a 7 out of 10...it's epic!
stay tuned for my review of disc 2.
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