Do a concept album before Angel Of Retribution

Tag : angle fitting

Tipton is referring to Nostradamus, revered alchemist, prophesierand now subject of the legendary British heavy metalquintet’s latest album. Comprised of 24 tracks and havingtaken a full two years to complete, Nostradamus (Epic) represents two firsts for Judas Priest. Prior to this,they’ve never attempted concept or double studio albumsbefore.
“We’d considered doing a concept album before, around(2005’s) Angel Of Retribution ,” Tipton says. “After reading up on Nostradamus,though, we were quite inspired by his life story — thetragedy of losing his family to The Plague, the mysteriessurrounding his prophecies and his renowned alchemy. There was alot to intrigue us to tell his life story. By the time we weredone, we had two albums worth of material.”
As albums go — Priest or otherwise — Nostradamus is quite an earful, not to mention way off the beaten path. Whilestill swathed in Priest’s trademark sound and style, Nostradamus is orchestral, almost operatic metal. Its two-dozen tunes aresegmented into 13 primary tracks linked together by a variety ofpreludes, interludes and other devices. It still sounds likePriest, thanks to Tipton and K.K. Downing’s fretwork, singerRob Halford’s distinctive nasal projection and thedownbeat-heavy rhythms of bassist Ian Hill and drummer ScottTravis, but this is a far cry from the simplicity of“You’ve Got Another Thing Coming.”
“It’s a dramatic story, so we wanted to relate it in aclassic, operatic way,” Tipton explains. “We steppedinto areas that Priest doesn’t normally step into. Wecomposed some of it on keyboards, which lent a new angle, and thentransposed it to guitar. We’re looking for grandeur; [an]operatic, classical type of thing, almost like a film score. Funnyenough, it ended up as classic Judas Priest. It’s always arisk to do something different in this day and age, but at the sametime, we believe people will give it a chance. Step into the worldof Nostradamus. There’s a lot to be enjoyed.”
Produced by himself and Downing, Tipton admits that while Nostradamus is decidedly verbose, it is still pared down from the band’sinitial vision. Fuelled by fascination, the Birmingham crew facedthe monumental task of fitting the story together coherently,chronologically and with interesting flow, hence the two-yearproduction time.
“I think that because it was so inspiring, we were quiteprolific,” says Tipton. “The trick was piecing it alltogether. We wanted to tell the story fluently, lyrically andmusically. Piecing the music together took the most time, but itwas all quite natural. I think that’s because with his lifethere were highs and lows. Every section of music had to create themood for that part of his life. Whether you believe in hisprophecies or not, he’s clever to have come up with so manythat could or could not be true even today. Musically, that madefor quite a revelation. We did discard a lot, though. Peopledon’t realize that you discard as much as you write. It hasto be musically relevant. The music has to capture the moment inlife you’re relating.”
Recognizing the weight and peculiarity of Nostradamus , Tipton confesses that despite each song being a part of anoverall whole, the band will only be playing a small selection ofits tracks on their tour. Riding the line between satiating fanswith favourites from their 18-album catalogue and promoting theirlatest work, Judas Priest will wait to discern the album’sacceptance before committing to live renditions of the work.
“At the moment, we’re just doing three tracks from thealbum, but next year we hope to perform it in its entirety ifit’s received well,” he says. “We’ll makean event of it in special venues around the world and supplement itwith musicians and singers, or orchestrate it. We’ll steeraway from full orchestration, because it’s been done so manytimes and this album has far more character than that.”
Judas Priest are playing at the Monsters of Rock festival,alongside Ozzy Osbourne, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Voivod andothers.