For me Judas Priest is the definition of Heavy metal and a band i been fan of for 40 years. They and Black Sabbath
was the two bands who really got me into metal. Firepower is the bands 16th studioalbum in their soon 50 year old career
and it is a good one. Most of all Firepower sounds like a careersummoning album, where a lot songs could fit right in
their previous albums. The title cut and “Lightning Strike” could easily have found “Painkiller”, while “Evil Never Dies”
represents the blues hardrock found on “Sad Wings of Destiny.” Some new impulses are also here, like”Children of the Sun”
which is almost a stoner-like with its groove. The production is excellent and the song material is various and good.
Firepower is probably their best album since Painkiller. It is hard to pick out a favorite track on such a good album, but
“Evil never dies” is a very cool and typical Judas Priest track while “Never the heroes is different, but a exciting song.
But the future for these metalgods is hard to predict, recently, it became known that Guitarist Glenn Tipton is affected
by Parkinson’s disease and can not participate in the forthcoming world tour of the band. The question now is if the band can survive a loss of another original member?
Glenn Tipton will be replaced by co-producer of Firepower Andy Sneap, a good guitarist known mostly
from the english thrash metal band Sabbat, who gave out some really fine albums in the end of the 80s and beginning
of the 90s. So it should not be any worries that Tipton get replaced with someone who is not compentent.
Great album 10/10
Tracklist:
Firepower
Lightning Strike
Evil Never Dies
Never The Heroes
Necromancer
Children of the Sun
Guardians
Rising From Ruins
Flame Thrower
Spectre
Traitors Gate
No Surrender
Lone Wolf
Sea of Red
