JUDAS PRIEST - Invincible Shield
Sony Music
So let's get my truth and legacy out of the way. I got into PRIEST in the 1970's and if you asked me about my all time favorite albums from them I'd say three of em are from the 70's era of the band. OK just for the record they are Sad Wings of Destiny, Hell Bent for Leather and Stained Class. Also that's the order I bought em in. As far as the 80's go I was still a huge PRIEST fan and as much as I like a few albums from that era I still say Screaming for Vengeance is their best album from that decade.
When the 1990's came in you got Painkiller which is an album I still like. I won't say it was a great album but decent. And after listening to this new one, their nineteenth studio album, I will say Halford and company still like that album as well. Looking back a few years ago I said that Firepower was the true successor to Painkiller which means all of those albums inbetween were just fodder. Now with Invincible Shield it's a combination of Painkiller and Defenders of the Faith plus some of the solo HALFORD stuff.
Invincible Shield is the second album which should be referred to as the modern era of JUDAS PRIEST. And you have to admit that they're doing better than their contemporaries. Add another fact which is after Painkiller you had the non Halford era of PRIEST (aka: the Tim "Ripper" Owens' albums), then Halford's solo stuff (which was pretty good aka: FIGHT & HALFORD), then a slew of bad PRIEST albums. So Firepower was the comeback and Invincible Shield is the follow-up.
Now with that explanation out of the way I think Invincible Shield is a good metal album. Halford sounds great as if it was the 1980's. I like how Glenn Tipton's creative influence still reigns on plenty of these tracks. There's more of a mid-tempo riff package on half of the songs. While on the other hand it's a Richie Faulkner guitar solo show. Just a reminder Scott Travis is the best drummer PRIEST has had since Les Binks.
The bottom line is that this is a good PRIEST album. It's actually a traditional PRIEST style album in that you've got a heavy first side to the album. While the second side has one or two good tracks but ends with filler. The best tracks on here in my not so humble opinion are "The Serpent and the King", the title track, "Gates of Hell", and "As God Is My Witness".
With that said sure it's good for 2024 but as a PRIEST fan I'm still stuck a few decades ago as far as my favorite music by this band. I guess that's my way of saying to the haters yeah you can have it both ways. You can appreciate the new but still love the past. Nuff Said.
LISTEN HERE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urg9aJ3V7HE
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