Customer Reviews

Tribute to Judas Priest

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With one exception, all the songs on this record are worthy covers of another of the great gods of metal: the mighty Judas Priest! Let's take a look. We have everything from black metal to extreme thrash.

1. Helloween-"Hellion/Electric Eye": I have actually heard this in full on one of their fansites, though Andi is not near as good a singer as Rob Halford, he still has a powerful range, and this is a great way to begin.

2. Testament-"Rapid Fire": Chuck can't wail like Halford either (but then again, who can?!) However, this extreme thrash addition to the collection (with death metal growls in place of the falsetto wails) is teriffic, I've actually heard it in full once or twice on Music Choice-Metal.

3. Fate's Warning-"Saints In Hell": The singer of this talented prog-metal band can really scream! One of the best.

4. Mercyful Fate-"The Ripper": This black metal addition to the collection is perfect! King Diamond can wail just as well as Halford, and even with a bit of a gothic ovetone, this is pretty faithful to the original.

5. Strapping Young Lad-"Exciter": Well, whodathunkit? Devin Townsend has a perfect voice to cover this!

6. Doom Squad-"Burning Up": Is that John Bush on vocals? This is not the best, but it still is decent, unlike the next track...

7. Nevermore-"Love Bites": Something is seriously wrong here. I definetely am not in any way denying that Nevermore is awesome. But this cover is about twice as heavy as the original, yet half as fast. Bad.

8. Overkill-"Tyrant": This is not exactly the best on the album, but it certainly beats that awful Nevermore cover. A bit slow though.

9. Kreator-"Grinder": Surprisingly awesome, it's detuned, and the vocals are completely different, but it still works great!

10. Iced Earth-"The Ripper": Don't know why they put the same song on twice (though they are by different artists). Overall, this is pretty good, but of the two versions of this on here, Mercyful Fate's version is better.

i generally hate tribute albums. at least the form that they have taken in recent years: unsigned or unknown bands putting together a terrible version of a great song for free just to garner some claim to fame. but this one caught my eye when i saw the bands listed-this would certainly be no dwell records garbage tribute-and it lived up to my expectations. i can't help but love fate's take on the ripper and the same goes for almost everysong on here. i could have done without nevermore's love bites, but that has more to do with the fact that i, personally, do not like the song and less to do with the version contained on this disc. i truly hope that century media can continue to get top-shelf talent to appear on their future tributes(although i have heard that there was already trouble with the dio album). i guess that this is a definite must for all priest fans, certainly better than hell-bent for metal. anyway get this it is pretty cheap and well worth the money.

As far as cover albums go, this is great. Testaments version of "Rapid Fire" is unbelievable. For that alone you should buy this album. The other great one is Mercyful Fates' "Ripper" cover. There are a few other decent cover's as well, but if for nothing else, buy it for the thundering version of Rapid Fire.

For the heavy metal gods Judas Priest, a tribute would seem like a bad idea, because many of today's bands lack originality and fail to put in enough effort into making the classic songs sound even better. That is not the case with this tribute album, however, and since almost every band on this record has a large following of its own, it's obvious this record is something special and different, as the artists performing are true musicians that know how to make songs their own while keeping the original sound.

When I saw the cover of this record, I knew it would be a great buy because I knew that almost every band listed was played in my CD player every day. With thrash metal bands like Kreator, Overkill and Testament on the bill, I knew this record would have double the energy as the original recording. And wouldn't you know it, I was right. With such melodic bands as Helloween, Iced Earth and Fates Warning I knew that the Judas Priest's original sound would be kept and magnified. Once again, I was right.

Stand outs:

Nevermore repolished 'Love Bites' and made the song into their own. The sound they created is much heavier and pounding, and yet it retains most of the Priest magic that was in the original. This remake has what most tributes lack - originality.

Kreator's version of 'Grinder' is much much more aggressive, and to retain a thrash metal sound while covering a heavy metal band is very hard. Just like Nevermore, Kreator have added originality to their version of the classic song.

All in all, this tribute album is one of the best tributes ever compiled. With eery band delivering an awesome performance, the metal gods Judas Priest get a deserving acclaim for years of writing quality music and inspiring artists throughout the world.

if ya like priest and legends of metal than this a cd you are not to pass up you have to get it please get this great covers here bye some well known bands such as mercyful fate testament overkill,helloween all doing priest toons thanks h .h

Tribute albums can be notoriously uneven, but by and large Century Media's tribute albums are first rate. Case in point is Legends of Metal, the first (of two) tribute albums dedicated to the mighty British metal icons Judas Priest. Here Century assembles some of the brightest stars from their impressive roster of power metal bands to serve up 10 killer Priest covers. Here's what you get:

1. The Hellion/Electric Eye (Helloween) - Also available on the reissue of Time of the Oath (Exp). Helloween does a great job with this song, and Andi Deris's unique voice is perfect here.
2. Rapid Fire (Testament) - What better song for this legendary thrash band to cover? Testament rips through at blazing speed.
3. Saints in Hell (Fates Warning) - I'd love to have heard the John Arch Fates Warning cover this song, but I have to say this version is very impressive.
4. The Ripper (Mercyful Fate) - This was the Japanese bonus track for their Into the Unknown album. It's a great song for King Diamond's voice.
5. Exciter (Strapping Young Lad) - Also available on the Heavy As a Really Heavy Thing reissue, this apparently live cover takes some getting used to. It's Devin Townsend doing his metal mad scientist thing, so you're either going to love it or hate it.
6. Burnin' Up (Doom Squad) - Put together just to record this cover song, the band includes members of Armored Saint and Anthrax (John Bush and Scott Ian), among others. It's a good song, but given the players involved it could have been better.
7. Love Bites (Nevermore) - Also available on the Politics of Ecstasy (Reis) reissue, Nevermore makes this song infinitely more dark and brooding.
8. Tyrant (Overkill) - Also available on their Coverkill album, Overkill does a decent enough job, but it's probably my least favorite track here.
9. Grinder (Kreator) - The German thrash masters grind their way through this one, causing much headbanging.
10. The Ripper (Iced Earth) - Also available on The Melancholy E.P., this is one of the better covers Iced Earth has recorded. Matt Barlow sings the hell out of this song.

Whether you're a serious Judas Priest fan or just a fan of some of the metal bands that participated here (and honestly, if you're into this kind of music you ought to fall into both categories), Legends of Metal is a must-have album. Tribute albums don't get much better than this. You should also check out Tribute to Judas Priest Volume II: Delivering the Goods, which is just as impressive.

If I remember right, this is actually the first one I bought of the series of four. I found out later that this one actually came out a year after Legends of Metal Volumes 1 and 2. It's actually more or less a "Best Of" CD which takes some songs from both. The only song that is not on either of the first two volumes is Strapping Young Lad's cover of Exciter. I like this version because they crank up the intensity and speed. It also has a funny bit at the end of that track. No matter how old I get I never seem to get tired of juvenile humor. If I had bought this series of cds in chronological order I still would have bought this one just for that song alone. Even though the songs are repeats of ones I already had from volumes 1 and 2, it was still worth it.

The best tribute of Judas Priest so far. I'm not a great fan of the 2nd tribute, but this has some of the best covers.

1)Helloween-Electric Eye. A good reproduction of the classic song that Judas priest opens with their concerts. Not enough distortion, though. 2)Testament-Rapid Fire. AAAAAA! Pounding guitars, excellent singing, thrashing drums, need I say more? 3)Fates Warning-Saints In Hell. This one is probably the worst cover in the album, but it's not that bad. I CAN'T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD! AAAAA! 4)Mercyful Fate-The Ripper. No, I restate my review. This is the worst. Anyone who's a fan of Judas Priest, please, skip this one. Too much screeching. But, you know, it's King Diamond. What did you expect? 5)Strapping Young Lad-Exciter. Some weird effect on this song. Still, great lead playing by Devin Townsend. 6)Doom Squad-Burnin' Up. Ugh, this sounds too alternative. Not enough distortion. 7)Nevermore-Love Bites. Another BONE CRUNCHING METAL SONG! Now, I have to say this (I don't want to), but this is better than the orginal. 8)Overkill-Tyrant. Yea! Overkill! A faster version of Tyrant, with a hell of a lot better vocals. 9)Kreator-Grinder. See number 7 for details. Crunching and powerful. 10)Iced Earth-The Ripper. Where would a Priest tribute be without Iced Earth? Ah, much better version then Mercyful Fate. Ah, so refreshing.

Good songs, but stay away from Mercyful Fate and Doom Squaad's covers.

The two gems of this compilation are Kreator's ultra-heavy version of "Grinder" and Overkill's "Tyrant," both reasons to get this disc. "Saints in Hell" and "Rapid Fire" also excel. The headscratcher here is Doom Squad's version of "Burnin' Up" where John Bush and Whitfield Crane turn a Priest classic into a gay duet - perhaps to celebrate Rob Halford's "coming out?" Hmmm... metal just won't be the same.