Since Judas Priest reunited with Rob Halford in 2003, the band has still been putting out some pretty good music. However, none of the past three releases have really wowed me. Firepower, on the other hand, was completely unexpected. This is one of hell of an impressive album, and I am greatly pleased as a long time fan.
The style here is everything we've always loved about Judas Priest, but it still sounds amazingly fresh and creative. Without question, Rob Halford's performance here is by far the greatest aspect of the album. He sounds pretty damn close to how he sounded on Painkiller, which is incredible considering his age. The high pitched screaming is less in quantity but very high in quality. Most of the songs are sung at a moderately high pitch, with the occasional ear-piercing falsetto scream thrown in at all the right places. He still can belt pretty damn high most of the time, and from what I've heard he is still doing very well on tour.
I honestly love every song on the album. They're short, sweet, and very well written. And, like the Painkiller album, there are no soft songs, with the exception of "Guardians", which, actually is just the intro to "Rising from Ruins", and the final song on the album - the beautiful, passionate ballad "Sea of Red". For me, there are 4 magnificent songs - "Lightning Strike", "Never the Heroes", "Flame Thrower", and "Never Surrender". All the rest are still really fucking great. I really can't think of anything bad to say about any one song on the album, which is really quite remarkable.
Seeing as though Rob Halford dominates the whole album with his kickass voice and lyrics, I suppose one could offer some slight criticisms in regards to the degree of musical virtuosity of the other band members, when compared to some of Priest's other records. I myself am not a guitar player, so I'm probably not the best person to judge the quality of the guitar solos. I can just say that I very much enjoyed everything I heard. Without question, the blazing guitar sounds of Painkiller tears Firepower's lead guitars apart. However, a good song is still a good song, and if it can succeed in making me enjoy it, and it does, then I still can't even really complain here either. Additionally, there's some pretty damn nice drumming throughout the album, and when Scott Travis plays a good fill, it definitely gets noticed.
Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Official promo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Official promo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Official promo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
