JUDAS PRIEST – Live In London

One of the most anticipated DVD releases of the year, the first ever DVD by the British metal gods is already out. I wasn’t really convinced by their latest studio output Demolition, but I expected something huge this time like their Metal Meltdown album was in ‘98 and as far as the music goes I was right. But otherwise… Well, the picture and the sound quality is excellent and the featured songs are okay too, even though I miss some certain classics like Screaming for Vengeance, You’ve Got Another Thing Coming, Beyond the Realms of Death or The Sentinel. But you get a couple of tracks from the new album Demolition (One on One, Feed on Me and Hell is Home) instead.

It was the first time for me to see Ripper fronting Judas Priest and I had a really hard time not to burst out laughing doing that. I mean he’s a fantastic singer, but a typical American guy that really looks weird among those British old boys. Ripper has one of the strongest throats in metal, but simply doesn’t fit in Priest. He’s a totally different character even though it’s still him that keeps this band alive with his great vocal abilities. The other guys are playing their instruments on the highest level too there’s no doubt about that, but their stage activity is almost equal zero. I cannot image how it’s possible for them to stand in the same place for 90 minutes with only moving so little as if they would walk on a minefield. I don’t think you need to run and jump all over the place for an entire show, but at least do something, because this is so boring. At least for me, because I used to live gigs where musicians seemed to really into it. Maybe they just feel too old for having a really good time on stage or this is just how Priest is? I don’t know, but I’d advise them to put the Motörhead DVD in and watch how to do it even when you’re not a youngster anymore.

I’ve never seen Judas Priest live (just missed them a few months ago when they did their first ever gig in Hungary), but after watching this London performance I don’t really think if I ever want to. This is nothing spectacular for me. Of course you die hard Priest fanatics will spin this DVD continuously and will totally disagree with me, but that’s how I see. And I talked to a couple of other Priest fans that shared the same vision, so I’m not alone. But once again: the songs, the sound, the picture are all great, but I’d prefer listening to it as a live CD rather than watching it.