Customer Reviews

Judas Priest - Rising in the East

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The boys were up for the taping of this performance. Rob Halford is on; KK Downing's and Glenn Tipton's guitar playing is tight as the studio versions of the songs. Ian Hill rocks and Scott Travis' drumming is up front and quite impressive.

The difference between the live performance in this release versus the 1986 performance included with the 2003 Electric Eye music video collection DVD is that before the boys took the stage for this performance at the Budokan in Tokyo, Japan, they must have agreed to try to be as true to the studio versions as Rob's voice would allow (give him a break; remember he's been taxing his vocal chords and hitting the high notes in Victim of Changes for like thirty years!).

The sound quality is great. If you've got surround sound you're in for a pounding Heavy Metal treat. The picture is great. And the footage doesn't jump around all the time; the camera gives you more than the typical music video four seconds before jumping to another angle, so you can really feel like you're watching the show live.

Any Priest fan should not pass on this DVD. I'm telling you, the chills were non-stop for me; I couldn't believe they included The Ripper and Exciter. And you get (just about) every other rocker that you really want to see. In other words, Rising in the East is a compilation of terrific live performances of the following:

1. HELLION
2. ELECTRIC EYE
3. METAL GODS
4. RIDING ON THE WIND
5. RIPPER
6. TOUCH OF EVIL
7. JUDAS RISING
8. REVOLUTION
9. HOT ROCKIN'
10. BREAKING THE LAW
11. I'M A ROCKER
12. DIAMONDS AND RUST
13. WORTH FIGHTING FOR
14. DEAL WITH THE DEVIL
15. BEYOND THE REALMS OF DEATH
16. TURBO LOVER
17. HELLRIDER
18. VICTIM OF CHANGES
19. EXCITER
20. PAINKILLER
21. HELL BENT FOR LEATHER
22. LIVING AFTER MIDNIGHT
23. YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING


There are no special features here, and that was somewhat disappointing. But believe me this front row seat to a performance by the Metal Gods is well worth it by itself. Buy it.

I was actually at this show. I flew to Japan and saw this show and the Osaka show.

This is actually the 2nd show at Budokan. The band played the night before, and the sales were so strong, that they added a second date. This 2nd was how also nearly sold-out...only a few seats in the upper corners were available.

Knowing the band, and being there...I can fill in a few details. First of all, this was a last minute thing. The DVD shoot was thrown together very quickly. There was even some doubt in Osaka that it could be done. The Japanese pulled it off.

The show in Osaka was awesome. Huge arena and completely sold-out. Worth Fighting For was put in the set for the very first time. Rob's voice that night was very good, considering the previous shows in Japan.

Two days later, was the first Budokan show. I was supposed to go, but amazingly...couldn't find the arena nor could I explain to any taxi driver where I wanted to go. So I missed it. Apparently, the Japanese do not pronounce it BOO DOH CON, but pronounce it BEE OOH DOO CON. Pronounciation, is apparently critical in Japanese, or so I've learned.

The next night, (back to back nights) Priest played this show recorded on the DVD. First of all...I've seen Rob on this tour about 6 or 7 times. People are critical of his voice that it's not like it was 30 years ago. Come on! He's been signing straight through for over 30 years and certainly still has better pipes at 50+ than many of his peers (hello Robert Plant). That said, Rob does not hit all the high notes he hit back in the 70's and 80's, but I think his voice is more interesting. He uses more textures in varying pitches to sing the songs and then hits the critical high notes when needed. When needed...he does it better than MANY of the newer metal singers.

On this particular night, I was floored. From the previous reviews, you are correct..the first 3 songs, Rob clearly wasn't warmed up. But sitting in the crowd, I could easily tell by track 4 or 5...that he was not only warmed up, he was going to KILL the crowd. I was amazed that after back to back shows, he was better this night, than he was 3 or 4 days ago in Osaka. The difference was obvious. After the show, I asked him...did he let it out tonight, knowing it was the last day of the tour for 6 weeks? He said, that he could feel his voice kick in after getting warm. When he realized he was going to be "on", he knew he could push it, given the break coming up. It shows.

So anyone watching the DVD...listen carefully to his voice from song 2 or 3...to about song 6 or 7. Notice the changes as the show goes on. You're watching a singer get confident.

The crowd responded as well. The normal crowd in Japan is very well mannered. In Osaka, I was not prepared for them to cheer enthusiastically at the end of each song, only to dip into COMPLETE silence between songs. To hear NOTHING with 18,000 people is quite strange. But the Budokan crowd was, while well mannered, definitely more rowdy...downright Riot, by Japan standards. With many dressed in business suits from work (show started at 7PM Promptly, no opening acts) with their metal studs, they definitely responded and by the encores...they were cheering wildly.

It was a concert I will remember for ever, in a venue deep with tradition and great acoustics.

Buy the DVD...and just enjoy great metal music, done well and don't bother comparing them to their 20's....nobody is the same in their 50's as they were in their 20's. But these guys are close.

Rising In The East(2005). Priest's third live DVD performance.

Sometime around August 2003, all Judas Priest fans around the world were in for a HUGE and pleasant surprise: Rob Halford had rejoined Priest and was in the process of creating a new album and promoting a massive world tour to reaquaint himself with the band. This was especially apparent when looking at their website and noticing that the band's old logo had returned, so things had to be right. It worked and the band was back in business, thriving once again in huge arenas around the world, forgetting about the past 7 years with Tim "Ripper" Owens and picking up where Priest left off on that fateful day in 1992 at the end of the Painkiller tour. All drama that was built up and took place in the band was now extinguished, and so Priest could finally have fun and press forward again.

Fast forward to May 2005. Priest had already released Angel Of Retribution(2005) and met with massive success (yeah not as huge of an impact as British Steel(1980) or Screaming For Vengeance(1982) back in the day, but in this day in age full of Nu-metal, mallcore, power metal clones, and monotonic death metal bands, any success for AoR is stellar). It saw Priest return to form as the classic heavy metal machine, promoting a new tour blending old favorites with the new material. And so we get to this concert specifically:

Priest felt that since Japan had many of their most energetic fans and that Unleashed In The East(1979) was made too early to have a proper video accompany the recording, returning to Tokyo would be the best bet for Priest's new DVD endeavor. And we get a solid performance for the most part. Now let's talk about the ups and downs of this particular concert:

PROS

-EXCELLENT CLASSIC SONG SETLIST! The songs here encompass pretty much what Priest is all about. You've got your epics (Electric Eye, Beyond The Realms of Death, Victim Of Changes), your speed metal monsters (Exciter, Painkiller, Hellrider), your commercial songs (Breakin' The Law, Living After Midnight, Turbo Lover, You've Got Another Thing Comin'), and the occasional ballad-type song here and there (Diamonds & Rust, A Touch Of Evil). No one facet of Priest is not covered.

-THE MEMBERS ALL SIMPLY SMOKE FROM FRONT TO BACK! I actually got to see them play a couple months later in Dallas (front row even!), and let me tell you, they are showing NO signs of slowing down! Especially Glenn and K.K. They still play as fast and passionately as they ever did. They might look like they're aging, but believe me when I say they can still outplay the likes of Yngwie Malmsteen and any other power metal soloist (by outplaying, I mean that Glenn and K.K. both know how to "shred correctly", which fits into the context of their songs without ever coming across as unmemorably boring wankery. And this is why they, as well as Adrian Smith and Dave Murray of Iron Maiden, are still my favorite shred twin-attack guitarists to this day!). Ian Hill is still bolted tight to the stage, and Scott Travis is a machine on the drums (my friend who I was with got to keep one of his drumsticks!). As far as the midrange stuff, Halford is spot on and sings more strongly than he has in a while. I'll get to the scream parts soon...

-In a typical Priest setlist, IT'S NICE TO SEE A FEW RARE TRACKS BROUGHT OUT ONCE IN A WHILE. What I'm talking about is 'Riding On The Wind', 'Hot Rockin', and 'I'm A Rocker'. I was especially surprised by 'IAR' since the band has always overlooked anything from the underrated Ram It Down(1988) album, and benefits with a much chunkier guitar tone. The good news is that on the tour of the next album, Priest might actually do a concert of mostly underrated songs and retire some of the more overplayed ones (you know which ones I'm talking about). So thanks to the positive feedback received from the previously mentioned tracks being played live, there maybe a chance in the future that songs like 'Rock Hard Ride Free', 'Dissident Aggressor', 'Stained Class', 'Steeler', and 'Blood Red Skies' could see the light of day...

-AOR'S SONGS ALL COME TO LIFE WONDERFULLY IN A LIVE SETTING! As much as Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson both love Roy Z's production abilities, I'm not a fan of the whole "bass, drums, and vocals drowned out in guitars" sound that Roy Z tends to use with his albums he produces for. In fact, that was my only real gripe with AoR, was its production, which made Priest's instrumentation sound like every other modern metal band (some might not see this as bad though). Here live, 'Judas Rising', 'Revolution', 'Worth Fighting For', 'Deal With The Devil', and 'Hellrider' let all the instruments have equal volume and have much more room to breathe. Halford's waving of the Priest logo flag in 'Revolution' is just awesome, and his hilarious little "hunched over dance" he does in 'Deal With The Devil' must be seen to be believed.

CONS

-Now let me get back to Halford. I disagree with the other reviewers who say that Rob's straining voice has only to do with his age (yeah he's older now, but not out yet, trust me on this), but I do agree with the ones who state that his voice was clearly shot out for this specific concert (a couple months later when I saw them, he had no troubles whatsoever falshetto-screaming 'Exciter', 'Painkiller', 'Deal With The Devil', and 'Victim Of Changes', all of which he's struggling with on this concert. In fact, when I saw them, his scream near the end of Painkiller was the most fiece I have EVER heard him!). So if the band was looking to display Halford's voice at its best, this was the wrong show to pick.

-Other than the new songs and rarities ALL THE TRACKS ARE JUST THE SAME SONGS THAT YOU'VE HEARD BEFORE ON EVERY OTHER LIVE RECORDING. How many times have we heard 'Breakin The Law', 'Living After Midnight', 'Hell Bent For Leather', and 'YGATC' before on other albums/compilations? 'Nuff said.

-NO SONGS WHATSOEVER FROM THE ALBUM, DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH(1984)!!! This is my all-time favorite Priest album and many fans will agree with me that it is one of their strongest efforts, and yet besides Rocka Rolla(1974), this is the ONLY album without ANY featured material! Inexcusable. 'Rock Hard Ride Free', 'Some Heads Are Gonna Roll', 'Freewheel Burning' or 'The Sentinel' would've easily sufficed.

-NO EXTRAS! The concert is the only thing on the disc, but an interview or other goodies would have been a nice bonus.

So there you have it. More or less, this is Priest as they are now circa 2005 in the best line-up they ever had. The age is starting to show slightly in looks, but in ability the band still knows how to play metal the way it should be: to the point, memorable, and full of unbridled power. In an age where metal has split into so many subgenres and kids are obsessed with no-talent hacks like Nickelback, Puddle of Mudd, and Seether, Judas Priest step back up to the plate and show the world that their brand of classic heavy metal is just as relevant today as it has ever been, seeing as they helped mold the style in the first place. If you ever get a chance to see them live, I highly recommend it, especially if you get close enough to high five KK and have Halford stand 3 feet away from your face and scream "STAAAAAND BY FOR EXCIIIIIIIIIIITTTEEEEERRR!!!" I'll never forget that show!

JUDAS IS RISING!!!

Interesting to read the reviews. I'm going to bring a different perspective. I'm in my late 30s, grew up pretty much hating Judas Priest. Thought everything they did was a bit silly.

A few months ago I'm flipping through the channels and see this concert on INHD. I thought, ok, this should be funny, some old rockers trying to relive their youth.

I watched the whole show. When it came on again, I watched it again. Saw it a third time. Went online and started reading about Glenn and K.K. Came back to Amazon and bought the DVD. I think this DVD is tremendous. I have no historical baggage so IMO Halford sounds and moves in a way that I appreciate. I like the plodding broodness as it fits the mood of the music better. Standouts for me are Revolution, Hellrider and Exciter. Outside of Breakin the Law and You Got Another Thing Comin, I had never heard any of these songs before.

I am a new fan of JP. Tipton is one of the best tonal guitarists I have ever seen. Nothing seems self-indulgent. It is there because the song needs it. Excellent.

Priest has been an influence in my life since I first heard them in 1978. I followed them through all of the highs and lows, comings and goings, good records, and bad. I think enough of their history has been documented, and doesn't need more here. So, on with this concert - just another in their long history... but on this night -
Sound quality and performance is excellent. Camera shots, editing are top notch. I remember the first time I saw Scott Travis play with JP - and the distinct difference between him and Dave Holland is the tempo at which he starts the songs. Dave played everything too fast - and lost the groove (maybe making up for the fact that he was not as good a drummer as Scott). but Scott Travis starts every song at what sounds like too slow a tempo, until you realize he is in complete control of his abilities. How Priest even existed for so many years before him is beyond me. It's like he was there since day one. Ian Hill - could be the most underrated team player in music. Rob... c'mon he is an old man. Those pipes are still amongst the top 5, even though he sings in lower register. If you want the highs, you can always see Live In London with Ripper. Even with diminished skills, Rob has something Ripper will never have. And you see it on this DVD. Glenn Tipton was his usual self. but the biggest surprise had to be KK Downing. Of the 2, Glenn is probably the better guitarist, but on this night KK just owns him. Better solos. Real Priest fans will know what I mean.
Song selection? My only squabble was the choice of Hot Rockin. From POE I'd rather have heard Highway, or Desert Plains. There was nothing from Defenders, or Rocka Rolla. (In California a month later they did play Love Bites)
High point - I can die a happy man. Priest plays Exciter again - with Scott Travis doing Les Binks' parts flawlessly.

For Priest fans - a must own.

With Rob Halford back in the fold, and last year's release of the comeback album of the year with "Angel of Retribution", Judas Priest is back, and this concert DVD is proof that they still have it. Rising in the East finds Priest performing in Tokyo's famed Budokan to a roaring crowd, and surprising enough the band still has energy to burn even all these years later. The track list is basically perfect for even novice Priest fans, including songs you'd expect ("Breaking the Law", "Living After Midnight", "You've Got Another Thing Coming"), fan favorite classics ("Beyond the Realms of Death", "Diamonds and Rust", "Victim of Changes"), and new songs from their recent album (the pounding "Judas Rising", "Revolution", "Deal With the Devil"), which is a nice mix. Halford still sounds great, and the guitar combo of K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton still packs a punch. The sound quality is excellent, and the video quality is solid, but the only downside of the DVD is that there aren't any extras included, but the fact that this concert DVD is as great as it is should be more than enough to satisfy any Priest fan. All in all, Rising in the East is as essential as it gets.

Having seen the band on tour this summer, I've been awaiting this release, and it's well worth the wait! This is a welcome successor to the Memphis '82 show, the bands benchmark concert on DVD. Featuring a great stage show, excellent video production and outstanding sound, this DVD shows that Priest at this stage of their career can still put all other metal bands to shame. Glenn and KK are outstanding here, and we get to see great close up shots of their excellent guitar work, not only on classics like Painkiller and Victim of Changes, but great tracks off the new CD like Hellrider. We see more of Ian than on previous releases, and it shows why he's the rock behind the band. Scott's the best drummer the bands ever had and you can see why here. And of course Rob. If you've read the other reviews there's some debate about his voice, but he was outstanding this Summer in Atlanta and to me this show confirms that. I don't believe he's lost any vocal ability, just that as he's gotten older he's smarter about his singing to better preserve his voice. He's realized he doesn't have to be screaming non stop, and in the process he's developed new textures to his voice. His outstanding work on the acoustic Diamonds and Rust shows this. And careful viewers will note he does extra high range screams at the end of both Painkiller and VOC, so he certainly can still do it! The DVD has plenty of great close up shots of the band that really does put you in the front row, and it has just about any Priest classic you could want. If you are a Priest or metal fan this is a must have DVD!

I agree with some of the others that say Rob's voice is lacking, but just it seems to get better the further you get into the show. I was ready to turn the DVD off after the first few songs because he sounded pretty bad and drowned out by the band, but by the time "Judas Rising" rolls around it's as if the old Rob has returned. I actually think he does a good job with the high notes; it's some of the normal lyrics that sound rough. But by the time we get to "Victim Of Changes," all that is forgotten. And as usual, KK and Glen and the rhythm section don't miss a lick! Not as good as the Memphis show (23 years ago), but definitely a keeper.

Always thought that frontman Rob Halford would,in time reunite with Judas Priest.It was well WORTH the wait.A total of 23 Priest metal gems,performed and presented here for your viewing pleasure in living(sometimes split-screen)color.Show took place May,2005 at the Budokan-Tokyo.Great picture and sound quality.Few bands play metal 'live' like these British gentlemen do.Great to watch,specially on a giant-screen TV.The tunes you remember are here,like the usual two openers (no complaint there)"Hellion","Electric Eye","Ripper"(the way Halford dresses here,he could play the part of 'The Ripper' in a horror movie),"Hot Rockin'"(one of my personal favorites),"Breaking The Law","Turbo Lover",the ultimate '80's metal anthem "Living After Midnight" and "You've Got Another Thing Coming".Not really at all familiar with any new material off their most recent 'Angel Of Retribution' CD.Notice this DVD has no special features.That's okay,I mean - who the time?An absolute must-have.Highly recommended.

I have been fortunate enough to see an advance of this DVD, and
I can tell everyone it is AWESOME!!! All the classics and some
Angel of Retribution songs are here. This is a MUST HAVE for any Priest fan, even the casual fan. The sound and picture are awesome!!! Downer that this DVD does NOT include any extras.
It's the concert and that is all! No interviews, back stage stuff, nothing!!!! BUT, it still get 5 stars due to the sound and picture as mentioned above. In short, GET THIS DISC!!!
Hope this was helpful.