Judas Priest - Rising In The East (DVD)

Judas Priest.... so what are they all about then? They're a classic heavy metal band, a product of the heavily industrialised Black Country area near Birmingham (along with the likes of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Slade etc), playing a form of Heavy rock that is typically British in style, with some fast and furious songs, some slow and melodic, and a few with a bit of both. Add to the mix Rob Halford's massive vocal range, the twin lead guitars, ...
...many of the bands cited Judas Priest as a major influence. Not to be outdone by the younger bands the Priest edcided to show them how fast heavy metal should really be done. This resulted in the classic 1990 Painkiller album. Sadly by the end of the following year vocalist Rob Halford had split from the band to form a heavier thrashier band of his own (Fight). This left Priest without their iconic frontman. It took 5 years for the band to find a ... more

Judas Priest.... so what are they all about then? They're a classic heavy metal band, a product of the heavily industrialised Black Country area near Birmingham (along with the likes of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Slade etc), playing a form of Heavy rock that is typically British in style, with some fast and furious songs, some slow and melodic, and a few with a bit of both. Add to the mix Rob Halford's massive vocal range, the twin lead guitars, and pounding drums and bass and you have a recipe for something a bit loud and more than a bit special! As for the band image - it's almost always been about leather, studs, chains etc etc, slightly camp, tongue in cheek, and a more than a wee bit over the top.

A bit of history first. The main line up of the band came together in the early 70's and quickly garnered a reputation as a superb live band. Unluckily their first trip into the studio didn't go so well due to too much meddling by the record's producer. Thankfully the band took a bit more control over the production of all the subsequent albums. Throughout the mid and late 70's the band beefed up the Priest sound while writing material that could be released as singles as well as epic album tracks that would serve as live favourites to this day. The dawn of the 80's saw them crowned as 'Metal Gods' after their own song of the same name, a nickname that has stuck ever since. Throughout that decade the band continued to push the boundaries with their music, experimenting with a smoother more US-radio friendly sound which spawned several chart hits on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as an attempt to incorporate synthesizers into the Priest sound - a move that actually worked fairly well. By this time the thrash metal movement was in full swing, and many of the bands cited Judas Priest as a major influence. Not to be outdone by the younger bands the Priest edcided to show them how fast heavy metal should really be done. This resulted in the classic 1990 Painkiller album. Sadly by the end of the following year vocalist Rob Halford had split from the band to form a heavier thrashier band of his own (Fight). This left Priest without their iconic frontman. It took 5 years for the band to find a new singer, Tim 'Ripper' Owens, who they found singing in (of all things) a Judas Priest tribute band. Owens brought to the band a voice that could at least match if not better that of Halford, and for the next 6 years the band went from strength to strength... but many of the fans still wanted Halford back, and rumour after rumour finally proved to be true in 2003 when the band announced they were reuniting with Halford for a new album and tour. The album - Angel of Retribution proved to be an instant classic among fans, and the tour showed the doubters that Halford could still shout and scream well enoug to keep the diehards happy.

All of which brings us to this live DVD, recorded on that 2005 tour in the famous Japanese Budokan venue. Some fans have been less than kind to the band's performance on this disc, but I think they were on peak form. Halford paces himself more now, understandably given he's not the young man he was 25 years before this. His screams may not be quite as powerful as before but his singing voice is untouched by age, and that's what matters most. The band are playing as well as ever, and the songs played cover practically the whole of their career, from 1976's Sin after Sin album to the latest. You do of course get the Halford doing the legendary Harley-Davidson bike ride onto stage for the encore of 'Hell Bent For Leather'. There are no real extras on the disc, but the show itself is 2 hours, and 23 songs in length, so plenty there to enjoy as it is. Sound is superb on 5.1, and apparently the DTS sound is mindblowing though I can't attest to that myself. In summary, if you're a Priest fan, you should have this, if you're a heavy metal fan but don't really know the band that well, and want to hear a bit of what made your genre of music what it is today, then you should buy this.

The tracks are as follows

"The Hellion"
"Electric Eye"
"Metal Gods"
"Riding on the Wind"
"The Ripper"
"A Touch of Evil"
"Judas Rising"
"Revolution"
"Hot Rockin'"
"Breaking the Law"
"I'm a Rocker"
"Diamonds & Rust"
"Worth Fighting for"
"Deal with the Devil"
"Beyond the Realms of Death"
"Turbo Lover"
"Hellrider"
"Victim of Changes"
"Exciter"
"Painkiller"
"Hell Bent for Leather"
"Living After Midnight"
"You've Got Another Thing Comin'" 

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