Nostradamus - Dark Publications

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Album Description
This CD contains an insert with an exclusive code for 1 free general admission ticket to Judas Priest on the Metal Masters Tour this summer. Offer good while supplies last.

Album Description
Two CD 2008 release by Judas Priest. In the realm of Heavy Metal, there has never been a double disc concept album that has managed to balance a thought-provoking storyline with metallic thunder. Long in the works, Nostradamus takes epic storytelling to a whole new level, as it recounts the life of this mysterious, world-known 16th Century French prophet. Most bands of this high stature would be happy to play it safe. But not Judas Priest, who continue to take chances and break new ground. No other rock band could have pulled off such a grand statement, and Judas Priest have raised the bar once more with Nostradamus. 23 tracks.

Customer Reviews: Read 219 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Nostradamus is an Amazing Journey June 17, 2008
57 out of 70 found this review helpful

First off..I'm a Judas Priest fan since 1978 when I first heard Stained Class, now 30 years later I'm still a "Defender of the Faith", Priest have a produced a "Masterpiece"..I know some of you will argue this till the cows come home, but this is the kinda album I have been waiting for. It's alike a journey back to the early 70's with Sad Wings of Destiny, Rocka Rolla, Sin after Sin and so forth. There's no 4 chord "Hits" on this cd, Priest have really worked hard on making "Progressive" music on this album. If you want Painkiller, or British Steel then go put those albums on, because what you have here is a journey of Light and Dark Themes, some Agressive some very melodic and soft. Rob Halford has given you the perfomance of his life on this album, some beautiful compositions on this really make his voice shine. So if your into the more Symphonic, Progressive, Melodic Rock and Metal this will be to your liking. If you into the more Heavy Jugulator & Painkiller type then you'll be dissappointed...again I love Priest and I'm happy they did something different instead of the same old "Formula".
Highlights are:
Calm before the Storm
Nostradamus
Sands of Time
Death
lost love
Persecution
Exiled

4 out of 5 stars

concept album that lets Priest stretch its wings June 17, 2008
39 out of 45 found this review helpful

Intolerant metal fans will no doubt slag this double CD for its keyboards and overall melody that metal bands simply aren't doing these days. Their loss.
We must remember that Glenn Tipton released a fine solo effort with John Entwhistle and Cozy Powell a few years back that was more melodic than Priest material was. These guys have been around too long to be expected to just repeat themselves over and over. With the experience and musicianship present, "Nostradamus" gives us a metal CD that offers the best vocalist in the genre ever, Rob Halford, instead of the extremely annoying grunt metal that permeates everything else. One hopes that this CD will be a hit, and will maybe encourage metal outfits out there to not be afraid to actually sing a little bit.
There's plenty of signature lead work and slicing guitars, but also lots of keyboards, which are necessary for the subject matter and add color and dimension to the music. Lyrically, it's basically a history of the great prophet, which one can take or leave, but overall I find it refreshing to see these metal godfathers stretch their wings whether some lunkhead likes it or not.

4 out of 5 stars

Took me a second listen to really enjoy it July 3, 2008
24 out of 28 found this review helpful

I almost threw this CD across the room when I heard it the first time through my iPod headphones, but after playing it a second time in my car, I had a whole new experience. I like most Judas Priest fans expected this album to be much heavier, but the songs really do get better with each listen. Nostradamus as a whole is more melodic than anything they have done in the past, and though some lyrics are pure cheese, I quite like it. I know people are going to be split in two groups of loving or hating it, but I am somewhere in the middle, maybe leaning towards loving it. Take a listen at least twice in a different setting and then make a judgement.

3 out of 5 stars

Music From The Elder...err, I Mean....NOSTRADAMUS! June 22, 2008
17 out of 21 found this review helpful

Judas Priest is back!

Well, with that over with, now that they're back (their 2nd album since reuniting with Metal God Rob Halford), what are they doing?

What they're doing is exactly what KISS did in the Fall of 1981 - they're dividing their fans into two groups thanks to a new Concept Album. For KISS it nearly killed their career. What will Nostradamus do for Judas Priest this late in their career?

Well, let's discuss the album first. Disc 1 is largely unlistenable. Sure, there are some strong points here and there, but not much that resembles the style that Judas Priest has been known for over the last 30+ years. There's a lot of synthisizers and synth strings (or are those real strings?), and dark, mellow interludes in between almost all of the "real" songs. This is not a disc to put in for a long drive. Or a short one, for that matter.

Disc 2 is better, but still suffers from the same problems as disc 1. The upside of this disc is that there are some real songs here, and it begins to resembe JUDAS PRIEST in more spots. In fact, there are a few tracks that sound downright Sad Wings of Destiny-esque. If disc 1 had been as good as disc 2 there would be a lot less 1 star reviews here. There would still be some, but a lot less than there are now. Even so, disc 2 is still not a good candidate to pop in the CD player while driving.

Nostradamus is the type of album that went over well in the 70's - put on the album, put on your headphones, break out the lyric sheet and credits and listen intently for an hour or so. It's ambitious, it's theatrical, and it is very deep. There are more than a few Pink Floyd type moments here, and that's pretty shocking coming from Judas Priest.

Unfortunately, there is not a lot of memorable material on the album - the riffs just aren't there (not like a Judas Priest album should have, anyway), and the strong vocal hooks are few and far between. There is some substance to be had, but not enough to make up for all the failings of this set.

Maybe if they had taken the best 12 SONGS and released that as the new album it would have worked better. I'm sure it would have, but unfortunately what we're left with is an overblown concept album that just doesn't work they way they seem to have intended.

If you are a Judas Priest fanatic, then by all means - pick this one up! There are some songs here that are pretty good. If you're one of those fans who skips an album here or there because it just isn't up to the usual standards then this might be a good one to pass on.

The Elder has been dividing KISS fans for over 26 years. Nostradamus seems to have done that in 26 hours! It's not all bad, but it isn't the album that most of Judas Priest's fans wanted.

The big question is this... With The Elder everyone knew KISS would be back (and they came roaring back with Creatures of the Night), but at this late stage of Priest's career it's a little less certain that THEY will come roaring back with a killer album (or any more new albums). Let's hope they can.

1 out of 5 stars

By all that's holy June 25, 2008
17 out of 25 found this review helpful

The year was 1986. I was working a crappy job in a mailroom, and 10 bucks was a lot for me back then. But the new Priest was out that day, and I had the money in my hot, little hand. I remember begging a co-worker (who liked Billy Joel)to drive me to the mall on our lunch break so I could grab the cassette of the new album, Turbo. He did, and I remember as clear as day, unwrapping that tape, popping it eagerly into my friends tape deck and hearing those gawd-awful synth blips come wimping out of the spark-o-matic 6x9's. I gulped and fast-forwarded to the next track. More thin, wimpy guitars and more synth blips, and a disco beat no less. It soon became obvious that my favorite band in the universe had just released the unthinkable--a bad album. I ejected it, looked at it ruefully, and tossed it out the passenger window.

Well, I've at least liked everything since (ok, Ram it Down was pretty lame but at least it wasn't embarassing), but 22 years later it's "what the hell were they thinking??" time again.

This is, without a doubt, the dumbest, cheesiest, Spinal Tap moment of the otherwise mighty carreer of Judas Priest. The concept is wince-inducingly silly. Nostradamus good lord. C'mon guys, you are not going to have a teenage audience ever again, please stop trying. Your loyal audience are adults, write something for us, not our kids.

The lyrics are unintentionally hilarious (yep, even worse than Glens), the cheap keyboard work smacks of one of those bad powermetal bands from Europe, the production is pure "Glen's basement" protools schlock. The guitars are incredibly thin and wimpy. It's almost the exact same tone they had on Ram It Down. There's barely anything like a real drum fill. Holy cow, one of the best metal drummers in the world is in this band, but the whole album sounds suspiciously like a drum program.

The songs are slow, plodding, pretentious, silly and worst of all boring.

I love Judas Priest, and I love the loyal fans, but anyone who gives this interminable stinker a 5 star review is just an anorak. Sorry.

If you expect to hear a fast, heavy, remotely modern metal album like Angel of Retribution. Forget it. You see that laughably, cheap "stock web font" logo? The ridiculous 1994 computer game video for Gods of War? Well that's your first clue to how much quality you'll hear inside.

It's been 22 years since they've released a real stinker, lets all hope this is the last one. I sure don't wan't to see this awful thing go down in history as their swan song. They deserve better.

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