Judas Priest: Firepower (2018)
If we ignore the occasional career misstep in recent years (the farewell tour that wasn’t, Nostradamus, the near-disaster of a ‘single guitar tour’), Judas Priest were setting a great example for how to age gracefully in heavy metal when they unleashed 2018’s Firepower.
Has it been five years already?
Building on the momentum of ‘14’s Redeemer of Souls (which, in turn, had redeemed the band for ‘08’s aforementioned Nostradamus), Priest’s 18th studio LP wasn’t just heavier, it was simultaneously modern and vintage, which I guess is the same as saying that it was ‘timeless.’
Conceived with the express goal to, as Rob Halford put it, “re-invent some of the classic moments of Priest,” Firepower was co-produced by the past/present dream team of Tom Allom (glad you’re still alive and kicking, Tom!) and erstwhile Sabbat guitarist Andy Sneap, who later stood in for the ailing Glenn Tipton on tour.
But, when it came to writing and recording these cuts, not even Tipton’s ongoing struggles with Parkinson’s disease could deter his co-writing all tracks with Halford and second guitarist Richie Faulkner, nor from recording them alongside stalwart bassist Ian Hill and tireless drummer Scott Travis.
In other words, unlike many veteran bands, Priest gave themselves every opportunity to succeed, and then proved that ‘textbook’ doesn’t have to mean ‘boring’ (anything but) with a fresh yield of impeccable metal anthems such as “Lightning Strike,” “Evil Never Dies,” and “Spectre.”
And these are just my personal picks; this album is so consistent, I could easily cite another two or three songs (e.g. “Flame Thrower,” the closing, semi-ballad “Sea of Red”) among the standouts.
If anything, the band was so committed to staying ‘on brand,’ metallically- speaking (yep, I just wrote 'metallically’) that some of their riffs (“Never the Heroes,” “Rising from Ruins”) and lyrics (see the self-affirming “No Surrender”) reminded me of ‘80s LPs like Ram it Down and Defenders of the Faith.
But the band’s instrumental prowess (including Tipton/Faulkner’s sizzling solos) continue to defy the march of time, and while most elderly heavy metal banshees face an inevitable vocal decline, Halford remains the absolute gold standard (at least in the studio), as indomitable as his heroic lyrics.
In sum: it’s no wonder Firepower’s fourteen songs and sixty minutes proved so satisfying, and arguably superior to anything Judas Priest has put out since reuniting with Halford in ‘04, so now we wait patiently for a promised 19th Priest LP, which may just coincide with the band’s 50th anniversary.
More Judas Priest: Rocka Rolla, Sad Wings of Destiny, Sin After Sin, Stained Class, Hell Bent for Leather, Unleashed in the East, Living After Midnight EP, British Steel, Point of Entry, Screaming for Vengeance, Defenders of the Faith, Turbo, Ram it Down, Painkiller, Angel of Retribution, Redeemer of Souls, Invincible Shield.
