Judas Priest - Angel of Retribution

Judas Priest - Angel of Retribution

One of the hardest things in the world for me to do is to write a review for an album that I love. I noticed that when I was trying to write one for both Testament's Practice What You Preach and Punky Bruster's Hooked on Phonics. I love those albums, track for track, and to me it's as obvious as light and day as to why they are worth your time.

Thankfully, that is not even close to the case here.

I remember having the same feeling as glee as I did when In Flames' Soundtrack to Your Escape came out, that I was about to get one of the greatest albums ever. Sadly, the reaction was the same; How the fuck could this band put out this crap?! As you can see, the album cover to this disc is simply killer. I honestly think it kicks ass, and I really enjoy it. So why is it that this album is just pure shit?

"Judas Rising" is exactly what this album should have been; a return to for for Judas Priest, offering up classic Judas Priest riff's as only K.K. Downing can do. And "Deal With the Devil" has some damn good riffage as well, offering up the best highway song they've done in a decade! "Demonizer" has a few decent moments, and that's about the highlight for the last 30 minutes of the album.

But then you get the other 8 songs which make you simply wonder if this was even worth Rob Halford returning to the band. "Revolution" is, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the WORST JUDAS PRIEST SONG EVER! That's a tough thing to do, especially when you consider they wrote "United" and "Red, White, & Blue", both songs that are similar to "Revolution" as wanna-be fist-pumping anthems to get the crowd going, Simply put, god-awful song writing. "Eulogy" is nothing more than a second-rate "Epitaph". "Lochness" has to be one of the saddest attempts at a progressive metal song to ever grace my ears.

There is nothing truly redeeming about this album at all, save the first 2 tracks. In fact, this is the type of album that makes you wonder what people found great about Priest in the first place.

Can we be honest for a second and put away Halfor's cock for a second? (no pun intended) Judas Priest has one of the worst track records in metal history. They released 15 albums, and in reality, only 7 of them are decent. Can you honestly say British Steel and Point of Entry, especially the former, is worthy of being given the credit they have been given? Can you honestly say that all the work between Screaming for Vengeance and Painkiller is worth your time?

For Judas Priest to release an album this bad at this point of their career isn't surprising, especially when you compare it to acts like the Rolling Stones. Actually, they are like the Stones'; They haven't had a damn good records in years. But it's still sad to see since they are capable of doing so much better. They have a new one coming out next year, so more power to them!

With that, this album get's a 1.2 out of 5. This album is just an insult to metal fans who wanted a Judas Priest CD, not some generic metal crap.