War of the Metal Gods

[charles21o7]

Ok , this has been on my mind since I read that article in GW about Judas Priest getting together for Ozzfest. Judas Priest and Iron Maiden have always been known as gods of metal. I know of people who consider Iron Maiden to be Priest's apprentices of sorts. Now I am a huge Maiden fan , Powerslave and Somewhere in time are two of my favorite metal albums , so to me , Maiden are pretty much the gods of metal . But I always hear stuff about how Priest are the greatest and how Rob Halford is the best singer in metal and blah blah. I never understood what was so great about Judas Priest. Ive heard most of their albums and theres nothing really that amazing in em . Most of their songs sound the same to me anyway, I mean cmon , Heading to the highway and living after midnight are practically the same song . So could someone please explain to me what makes Priest so great. Its not like they originated metal - Sabbath and Zeppelin did that, nor were they the first to popularize it- Sabbath again and Uriah Heep, Rainbow, and those types came before Priest. Rob Halford is nothing compared to Bruce or Dio or Ozzy, Id rather even listen to Lemmys voice than Halford. So could someone please tell me what makes Priest so great????????

[Matt Till]

I actually dislike Halford's voice. They've got a few good tunes, but very very overrated.

[BassGod]

Originally Posted by Matt Till

I actually dislike Halford's voice. They've got a few good tunes, but very very overrated.

Agreed. On both counts.

Peace,
Graeme

[Against Will]

I always liked Iron Maiden best. Bruce Dickinson has a great voice, which I always found sort of epitomized the NWBHM bands.

I can't offer any explanation....maybe the people that think that are very sad, confused individuals.

[xyllion]

To each their own. Priest was at their peak when I was in high school. I got to see them live my freshman year of college and have to say that they put on a great show. You don't have to like them, but I have many fond memories of listening to Judas Priest.

BTW, Iron Maiden definitely kicks ass. I think Iron Maiden is a highly underrated band. They deserved greater fame than they actually got.

[Eyescream]

I never liked either of them. Go figure.

[invisiman]

Maiden>>Priest

But I still like Megadeth and Dream Theater better

[BlasphemyArise]

I'd rather listen to Maiden then Priest but if I had a choice I'd listen to neither. If I was gonna listen to old school metal I would rather listen to Zepplin or Sabbath or Alice Cooper.

[P. Aaron]

Originally Posted by xyllion

To each their own. Priest was at their peak when I was in high school. I got to see them live my freshman year of college and have to say that they put on a great show. You don't have to like them, but I have many fond memories of listening to Judas Priest.

BTW, Iron Maiden definitely kicks ass. I think Iron Maiden is a highly underrated band. They deserved greater fame than they actually got.

I like both bands. And fortunately, we are blessed with the variety to choose our favorite.
There are songs by Preist that Maiden couldn't do and vice-versa. I've seen Judas Preist 3 different times in three completely different venues and they sounded great everytime. I've never been able to see Iron Maiden, but they rock. Ain't we lucky!

[Stephen Soto]

i think all that stuff pretty pointless. i never really got into the first oldschool metal bands, nothing there for me. a lot of sabbath is good, but not a lot else.

[Benjamin Strange]

I did an image search for Rob Halford, and I came up with this. If that doesn't demonstrate the ultimate superiority of Judas Priest, I don't know what will.

[nonsqtr]

Wow, look at the size of those dogs! It's not often you find someone with the range of a Halford, that can reach it on demand, night after night. I have a lot of respect for that guy. Even if he is a hot dog.

[Schwinn]

Well I think Maiden was the best, but my friend thinks Priest was the greatest metal band. What can you do...matter of opinion.

IMO Maiden and Metallica beat Priest anyday, but check out "Painkiller" for a really cool Priest album!!

[jrthebassguy]

For me I kinda like Priest better since they were a bit more straight ahead Rock N Roll, whereas I get tired of some metal bands where the guitarists just try to outsolo each other.

[Kavorka]

I loved both back in my high school/metal days (80's). Have to say, now, though, I only listen to Maiden when I need a NWBHM metal fix. For some reason, the old Priest doesn't do it for me any more.

[Matt Till]

Speaking of fond Judas Priest Memories: I had an ol' Judas Priest tape in my moms minivan, and me and my friend drove around town in a green minivan rockin' "Breakin' The Law" very loud shaking our fists in a metal fashion at innocent bistanders.

[bill h]

You ask this in a bass forum, what do you expect. Priest is a more know-en band.

[McHack]

It's because Judas Priest filled this time gap... JP was doing metal, before IM was together. Besides, were all bassists.. OF COURSE we love IM,,, thx to Steve Harris... JP's bassist is a role-player... but not really allowed to do anything extravagant.

[McHack]

This thread got me looking through all my JP mp3's, & I gotta say, I like almost all of thier old stuff MUCH MUCH better than anything newer... Anything AFTER Screaming for Vengance just blows, But, we all now know that Screaming was thier pinnacle.

Conversely, I picked up IM's Rock In Rio a couple of months back, & there's really only about 6 songs I REALLY like on that disc.

[Schwinn]

In terms of bass playing, nothing beats the old Maiden stuff. The Trooper is a little tough for me to play cleanly but I love jamming on that one, and I know a few other Maiden tunes like Hallowed be thy name, Flight of Icarus, Where Eagles Dare, Wrathchild... and the bass lines are fun and some have challenging right hand technique.

Priest on the other hand, at least their classic stuff, is boring to play on bass. We do Another Thing Comin' which is a great song, but the bass pretty much rides F# throughout....