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Nel 1997 i Judas Priest rilasciano "Jugulator", primo album con Tim "Ripper" Owens alla voce dopo l'abbandono di Rob Halford. L'album è chiaramente influenzato da generi come Speed Metal, Thrash Metal e, addirittura Industrial. L'album è un fiasco, ma in seguito alla sua uscita i Priest partono ugualmente per un tour.
Se in studio le composizioni di "Jugulator" non sembrano un granchè, c'è da dire che dal vivo portano a una certa soddisfazione, come si può capire da questa raccolta live, in cui l'album sopracitato è ben rappresentato con 5 canzoni.
Insieme alle ultime canzoni provenienti dall'ultimo album sono presenti classici immortali, ottimamente reinterpretati da Owens, quali "Electric Eye", "The Sentinel", "Victim Of Changes", "The Ripper" e molti altri.
Tutte le canzoni presentate sono suonate e cantate in maniera assolutamente impeccabile: dall'intro maestosa di "The Hellion", come sempre seguita da "Electric Eye", ai classici dei primi tempi come "The Ripper", passando per l'acclamatissima "Painkiller" (aperta dal solito rombo di moto), la magnifica "The Sentinel" e le ultime "Blood Stained" o "Burn In Hell".
Il nuovo cantante ci regala un'ottima prestazione, alternando acuti incredibili (comunque inarrivabili a quelli del Rob Halford di "Screaming For Vengeance" o "Painkiller") a parti molto più pacate, come si può verificare nella versione acustica di "Diamonds And Rust", cover di Joan Baez e presente originariamente su "Sin After Sin" del 1977.
Anche gli strumentisti danno un'ottima prova, in particolare: Glenn Tipton e K.K. Downing danno vita ad assoli incredibilmente virtuosistici ("The Sentinel", "Metal Meltdown") nonostante la sempre più veneranda età (45 anni!!!), dimostrando che per i Priest il tempo sembra non passare, Scott Travis devasta la sua batteria con delle rullate micidiali (basterebbe solo l'intro "Painkiller" per capire il suo enorme valore) e solo Ian Hill resta "in disparte". Anche lui dà una grande prova, certo, ma viene praticamente coperto dagli altri.
Questo live album presenta una sola pecca, ed anche abbastanza evidente: sono stati trascurati molti album di assoluto valore come "Rocka Rolla" (beh, questo si può anche capire), "Point Of Entry", "Turbo" e "Ram It Down". Non avrebbero guastato una "Sinner" o una "Exciter" in più al posto di due canzoni da "Jugulator" (in particolare "Abductors" e "Bullet Train"), ma è tutto sommato un ottimo live album, molto godibile, soprattutto per i fan di vecchia data dei Priest.
Elenco tracce e testi
02 Electric Eye (03:47)
Up here in space
I'm looking down on you.
My lasers trace
Everything you do.
You think you've private lives
Think nothing of the kind.
There is no true escape
I'm watching all the time.
I'm made of metal
My circuits gleam.
I am perpetual
I keep the country clean.
I'm elected electric spy
I'm protected electric eye.
Always in focus
You can't feel my stare.
I zoom into you
You don't know I'm there.
I take a pride in probing all your secret moves
My tearless retina takes pictures that can prove.
I'm made of metal
My circuits gleam.
I am perpetual
I keep the country clean.
I'm elected electric spy
I'm protected electric eye.
Electric eye, in the sky
Feel my stare, always there
There's nothing you can do about it.
Develop and expose
I feed upon your every thought
And so my power grows.
I'm made of metal
My circuits gleam.
I am perpetual
I keep the country clean.
I'm elected electric spy
I'm protected electric eye.
I'm elected electric spy
I'm elected. Protected. Detective. Electric eye.
03 Metal Gods (04:09)
We've taken too much for granted
And all the time it had grown
From the techno seeds we first planted
Evolved a mind of its' own
Marching in the streets
Dragging iron feet
Laser beaming hearts
Ripping men apart
From off I've seen my perfection
Where we could do as we please
In secrecy this infection
Was speading like a disease
Hiding underground
Knowing we'd be found
Caring for our lives
Reaped by robots scythes
Metal Gods, Metal Gods
Metal Gods, metal Gods
Machines are taking all over
With mankind in their command
In time they'd like to discover
How they can make their demand
Better be the slaves
To their wicked ways
But meeting with our death
Engulfed in molten breath
04 Grinder (04:26)
Never straight and narrow
I won't keep in time
Tend to burn the arrow
Out of the line
Been inclined to wander
Off the beaten track
That's where there's thunder
And the wind shouts back
Grinder
Looking for meat
Grinder
Wants you to eat
Got no use for routine
I shiver at the thought
Open skies are my scene
That's why I won't get caught
Refuse to bite the mantrap
Be led to set the snare
I love to have my sight
Capped everywhere
Grinder
Looking for meat
Grinder
Wants you to eat
I've held my licence
It came with birth,
For self reliance on this earth
You take the bullet
On which my name
Was etched upon in your game
Day of independence
Stamped us like a brand
Round the necks of millions
To the land
As the mighty eagle
I need room to breathe
Witness from the treadmill
I take my leave
Grinder
Looking for meat
Grinder
Wants you to eat
Grinder
Looking for meat
Grinder
Wants you to eat
Grinder
05 Rapid Fire (04:24)
Pounding the world
Like a battering ram
Forging the furnace
For the final grand slam
Chopping away at the source
Soon the course will be done
Leaving a trail of destruction
That's second to none
Hammering anvils
Screaming muscle and might
Shattering blows
Crashing row beating fright
Fast devastating and
Desolisating the curse
Blasting the cannons of
Truth through each man
Of this earth
Wielding the axe
Comes the one culmination
That's always seemed
Certain to bring down the curtain on greed
Sifting the good from the bad
It's the age for the rage of the
Dogs which must fall to the just
And be free
Now grate for the vandals
Who trampled and sampled
Till this place conditioned
Brought forth demolition to war
The slipping and sliding
Corrosive subsiding
That withered and waned
Till the world seemed all drained
Fills the bay
Pounding the world
Like a battering ram
Forging the furnace
For the final grand slam
Chopping away at the source soon the course will be done
Leaving a trail of destruction
That's second to none
Second to none
07 The Sentinel (05:46)
Along deserted avenues
Steam begins to rise
The figures primed and ready
Prepared for quick surprise
He's watching for a sign
His life is on the line
Dogs whine in the alleys
Smoke is on the wind
From deep inside its empty shell
A cathedral bell begins
Ringing out its toll
A storm begins to grow
Amidst the upturned burned-out cars
The challengers await
And in their fists clutch iron bars
With which to seal his fate
Across his chest in scabbards rest
The rows of throwing knives
Whose razor points in challenged tests
Have finished many lives
Now facing as another
The stand-off eats at time
Then all at once a silence falls
As the bell ceases its chime
Upon this sign the challengers
With shrieks and cries rush forth
The knives fly out like bullets
Upon their deadly course
Screams of pain and agony
Rent the silent air
Amidst the dying bodies
Blood runs everywhere
The figure stands expressionless
Impassive and alone
Unmoved by this victory
And the seeds of death he's sown
Sworn to avenge condemn to hell
Tempt not the blade all fear the Sentinel
08 A Touch of Evil (05:51)
You mesmerise slowly
Till I can't believe my eyes
Ecstasy controls me
What you give just serves me right
Without warning you're here
Like magic you appear
I taste the fear
I'm so afraid
But I still feed the flame
In the night
Come to me
You know I want your Touch of Evil
In the night
Please set me free
I can't resist a Touch of Evil
Aroused with desire
You put me in a trance
A vision of fire
I never had a chance
A dark angel of sin
Preying deep from within
Come take me in
I'm so afraid
But I still feed the flame
In the night
Come to me
You know I want your Touch of Evil
In the night
Please set me free
I can't resist a Touch of Evil
Arousing me now with a sense of desire
Possessing my soul till my body's on fire
A dark angel of sin
Preying deep from within
Come take me in
I'm so afraid
But I still feed the flame
You're possessing me
10 The Ripper (03:51)
You're in for surprise
You're in for a shock
In london town streets
When there's darkness and fog
When you least expect me
And you turn your back
I'll attack
I smile when I'm sneaking
Through shadows by the wall
I laugh when I'm creeping
But you won't hear me at all
All hear my warning
Never turn your back
On the ripper
You'll soon shake with fear
Never knowing if I'm near
I'm sly and I'm shameless
Nocturnal and nameless
Except for "the ripper"
Or if you like "jack the knife"
Solo (glenn)
Any back alley street
Is where we'll probably meet
Underneath a gas lamp
Where the air's cold and damp
I'm a nasty surprise
I'm a devil in disguise
I'm a footstep at night
I'm a scream out of fright
All hear my warning
Never turn your back
On the ripper...the ripper....the ripper
11 Bullet Train (05:58)
Sunrise showing every flaw
Paying for the night before
Dark eyes, scanning every vein
Exploding - cannot stand the strain
With each new mile They death defy me
Standing on trial Scrutinize me
And questionize my
Strong denial
Bullet bullet bullet train
Piercing through my brain
Windows illuminating stains
Breakdown closing in again
Freefall as I close my eyes
Voices talking many lies
Changing my course Blurred and scorched
Breathing exhaust As we distort
By gravity
Of such G-force
Bullet bullet bullet train
Piercing through my brain
Breakdown close my eyes
Voices talking many lies
Stained glass bursting in
Shattering my world again
Freefall but never can
Ever reach the ground again
Dark eyes scanning in
Feel my mind explode within
Wanting much more I implore you
Near to death's door To ignore
The screams of all
Who fall before
Bullet bullet bullet train
Piercing through my brain
Bullet bullet bullet train
Piercing through my brain
Bullet
12 Beyond the Realms of Death (07:13)
He had enough
He couldn't take anymore
He'd found a place
In his mind and slammed the door
No matter how they tried
They couldn't understand
They washed and dressed him
Fed him by hand
Yeah! I've left the world behind
I am safe here in my mind
I'm Free to speak with my own kind
This is my life, this is my life
I'll decide not you
Withdrawn he'd sit there
Stare blank into space
No sign of life
Did flicker on his face
Until one day he smiled
It seemed as though with pride
The wind kissed him
Goodbye - and then he died
Yeah! I've left the world behind
I'm safe here in my mind
Free to speak with my own kind
This is my life, this is my life
I'll decide not you
Keep the world with all its sin
It's not fit for livin' in
Yeah! I will start again
It can take forever, and ever, and ever
And ever, but I'll still win.
SOLO (Glenn)
How many like him
Are there still
Who to us all
Seem to have lost the will
They lie in thousands
Lank and lost
Is nothing worth this bitter cost
Yeah! I've left the world behind
I'm safe here in my mind
Free to speak with my own kind
This is my life, this is my life
I'll decide not you
Keep the world with all its sin
It's not fit for livin' in
SOLO (K.K.)
Beoynd the realms of death.
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