Judas Priest
'98 Live Meltdown

THE REVIEW

In 1997, Judas Priest released "Jugulator," the first album with Tim "Ripper" Owens on vocals following Rob Halford's departure. The album is clearly influenced by genres like Speed Metal, Thrash Metal, and even Industrial. The album was a flop, but after its release, the Priest went on tour anyway.

If the studio compositions of "Jugulator" don't seem like much, it must be said that live they bring a certain satisfaction, as can be understood from this live collection, where the aforementioned album is well represented with 5 songs.

Alongside the latest songs from the last album are immortal classics, excellently reinterpreted by Owens, such as "Electric Eye," "The Sentinel," "Victim Of Changes," "The Ripper," and many others.
All the songs presented are played and sung in an absolutely impeccable manner: from the majestic intro of "The Hellion," as always followed by "Electric Eye," to early classics like "The Ripper," passing through the highly acclaimed "Painkiller" (opened by the usual rumble of motorcycle), the magnificent "The Sentinel" and the latest "Blood Stained" or "Burn In Hell."
The new singer delivers an excellent performance, alternating incredible high notes (still unreachable compared to Rob Halford from "Screaming For Vengeance" or "Painkiller") with much more subdued parts, as can be seen in the acoustic version of "Diamonds And Rust," a Joan Baez cover originally found on "Sin After Sin" from 1977.

The instrumentalists also give an excellent performance, in particular: Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing produce incredibly virtuosic solos ("The Sentinel," "Metal Meltdown") despite their ever-increasing age (45 years old!!!), demonstrating that for the Priest, time seems to stand still, Scott Travis devastates his drum set with killer rolls (just the intro "Painkiller" would be enough to understand his enormous value) and only Ian Hill remains "in the background". He also gives a great performance, of course, but is practically covered by the others.

This live album has only one flaw, and it's quite evident: many albums of absolute value such as "Rocka Rolla" (well, that one is understandable), "Point Of Entry," "Turbo," and "Ram It Down" have been neglected. It wouldn't have hurt to have one more "Sinner" or an "Exciter" instead of two songs from "Jugulator" (in particular "Abductors" and "Bullet Train"), but all in all, it is a great live album, very enjoyable, especially for longtime Priest fans.