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| Judas Priest - Live In London |
  Released: 2003 Label: SPV/Steamhammer Cat. No.: 7426 Total Time: 65:05 / 54:17 | |
Reviewed by: Gary Carson, March 2003 Similar To: Judas Priest. And having my testicles stood on by a golf pro. I hate this double live CD. I don't hate it because of the "Ripper is not Halford" syndrome. I hate it because Ripper can't sing. Yes, short and sweet this review will be. It's been five years since the last double live album from Judas Priest. Live Meltdown featured 24 songs and this new one features 26. Guess what? Eight songs are all that differentiate the two albums. Eight! Like the recent Knights Live from Axel Rudi Pell, this is ridiculous considering their history. Anyway, aside from asking how bad Demolition was, JP have decided, in their infinite wisdom (*cough*), to include the tracks "One On One," "Hell Is Home," & "Feed On Me" from that album on here. Do they sound better live? No, they don't. To be honest, I had trouble listening to this album in its entirety more than twice. There are some great songs on the album – namely "Victim Of Changes" and I liked the heavy blood-soaked "Blood Stained" as well. And "Electric Eye" works no matter who sings it. Same with "Painkiller." And "Diamonds & Rust" – one of Ripper's finer moments on this album. Sure, I could pick a few more, but this album is full of classic Priest songs that just don't work with Mr. Owens ("The Sentinel" sounds irrepressibly terrible). And it's like the album never, ever ends. Some say that the singer makes or breaks the band. With Judas Priest live – the singer breaks this band. His heavier interpretations of classics are painful. Maybe after being forced to hear this album over and over (and over and over) I would finally get desensitised to it, but buying this should not be about beating myself over the head until I like it. Yes, there are other members of Judas Priest who I haven't mentioned. In fact, they are sounding heavier than ever, but the levels aren't exactly what I'd call impressive. And their playing sounds devoid of a certain feeling, although obviously the fans in the audience are enjoying themselves immensely, which gives the whole thing further atmosphere. That said, Live In London was also released as a DVD, so this may have something to do with lack of differences in the two double live discs. In my opinion, if you are a fan of the current JP, you are better off enjoying the DVD version of this and stay far, oh so very far, away from this double live CD. If you are not a fan of the current JP, then again, stay far away from this. And obviously, the DVD has extras that that don't appear on the CD. So, two out of five. Actually, that's one more than it should get. The reason for the difference? "Listen before Buying." Damn, this is review is not as short as I'd hoped (kind of like the CD). PPO Rating: 4/10 [This review originally appeared at the ProgPower Online review site; see also Keith's review -ed.] More about Live In London: Track Listing: Disc One: Metal Gods (4:37) / Heading Out To The Highway (4:14) / Grinder (4:04) / Touch Of Evil (5:59) / Blood Stained (5:11) / Victim Of Changes (10:09) / The Sentinel (5:31) / One On One (6:06) / Running Wild (3:19) / Ripper (3:32) / Diamonds And Rust (4:13) / Feed On Me (5:25) / Green Manalishi (4:53) Musicians: Contact: Website: www.judaspriest.com Discography
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