JUDAS PRIEST - "LIVE IN LONDON" (DVD) (SPV)

 

Last year I saw Judas Priest in concert in Tilburg, Netherlands, on their "Demolition" tour. Let me tell you, that CD may not have been their best in particular, but the concert I witnessed saw an immaculate band - The Metal Gods, after all - playing a well-oiled show with plenty of golden oldies and several more recent tracks thrown in. I went home well chuffed.

So it didn't have to contemplate long when I saw the DVD in the local record shop. I hadn't bought any CDs in ages and I had in me certain shopping-spree impulses so I went ahead with it. I certainly liked to have a souvenir of the tour. And that's exactly what it is. You get almost two hours of live performance with 25 minutes of soundcheck and nearly 20 minutes of backstage footage as bonus. The live part contains classics such as "Metal Gods", "Victim of Changes", "The Ripper", "Painkiller", "Electric Eye", "Living After Midnight" and "Hell Bent for Leather", as well as more recent personal favourites in the shape of "Touch of Evil" (from "Painkiller", the final Rob Halford recording) and the most excellent "Burn in Hell" (from "Jugulator"). "Demolition" is represented by the OK "One on One", "Feed on Me" and "Hell is Home". Two rather rare tracks are played as well: the kindof plain "Desert Plains" and the putridly disco-ridden "Turbo Lover". Good stuff in general, that (except for "Turbo Lover" actually). The DVD has 2 Channel and Dolby 5.1 sound, sounding very good, and has very good visuals. All musicians are represented very well - it's not just Ripper that's shown. The soundcheck footage includes "The Sentinel", "Machine Man" and the odd (multi-take?) "Lost and Found", none of which are on the live performance. The 'backstage' footage isn't too immature, actually quite OK.

"Live in London" is not essential for any Judas Priest fan, however it is the ideal souvenir for those who saw Judas Priest in concert the past year or two and who reckoned they are indeed one of the undisputed legends of heavy metal.

Click here to buy or check out this CD

RK

 

Written August 2002

 

Go to the Official Judas Priest site

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