Search - Judas Priest: Electric Eye on DVD

If you were ever into Priest at all, this needs to be in you

M. B. Link | USA | 03/11/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Electric Eye(2004). A DVD compilation of every Halford-era MTV video 1980-1990, the entire Fuel For Life '86 concert video, and a collection of various 70's BBC TV performances of the band.

Judas Priest was my first real induction to heavy metal music, and while anyone will argue which band is in fact the greatest, for me I've always come back to Priest first and foremost before anyone else. Iron Maiden became very famous for delivering plenty of epic harmonious classic metal songs of the NWOBHM style, while Metallica, on the other hand, were able to pull off thrash metal correctly on their first several albums; both bands taking on a sophisticated approach to metal both lyrically and musically. So most often, I've found that metal fans who prefer their music to be progressive to an extent will prefer these bands over Priest anyday.

However, many a metal fan fail to realize that playing technical and having complex songwriting isn't the only way to tackle metal. Priest falls on the other side of the spectrum where power, feeling, and hooks are emphasized over sophistication. And so here is why I consider Judas Priest to be my favorite as far as metal music goes: Over the years I've gradually built up a much broader taste in music ranging from pop to metal to industrial, to classic, to progressive, to electronic, to whatever alse... and yet no matter what I'm into, JP never gets old to me. Sure, they do not always hit the high mark, and their lyrics and songs tend to come off as corny and comical to some, but whenever JP is firing on all cylinders, they get into this special "zone" where not even Maiden or Metallica can really touch them (they still are some of my favorite metal bands though!). They throw this high degree of force and sharp edge into their music that while simplistic most of the time, lifts them above most of their peers, which is clearly evident during Priest's best songs. Listening to many of the bands that they influenced, a lot of them fail to distinguish themselves from their peers and so this is why I have always held Priest in such high regard. They manage to successfully emphasize a traditional metal sound without sounding _exactly_ like any other traditional metal band out there.

And though they often tread between catchy happy pop metal (Point of Entry, Turbo), dark and sinister (Stained Class, Defenders, Painkiller) and everything inbetween, Priest refuses to stay the same from album to album. And so that brings us to this collection:

For those that grew up during the early-mid 80s, I'm sure these videos are all a real nostalgia trip, matching visuals with the music (some successful, others look real dated).

MTV VIDEOS

Here we get every video the band has put out, including: Living After Midnight, Breaking the Law, Don't Go, Heading Out To The Highway, Hot Rockin', You've Got Another Thing Comin', Freewheel Burning, Love Bites, Locked In, and Turbo Lover. And with those are 3 more that were previously not available on any video format: Johnny B. Goode, Painkiller, and A Touch of Evil. The early videos are all very primitive, but entertaining to watch. 'Breaking The Law' is just hilarious all the way through (especially with the band holding up in a bank with guitars!). 'Don't Go' is sorta indicative of Rob's orientation well before it was announced (just watch and see). I love the part in 'Hot Rockin' where the band's instruments all catch on fire and they just keep playing! And you can tell just how primitive technology was on videos such as 'Freewheel Burning' where Rob's head is crudely placed inside a Pole Position video game, and 'Turbo Lover' with the claymation skeleton-thing chasing after Rob, KK, and Glenn. 'Locked In' and 'Painkiller' have my vote as the best vids on here, the former because of its overtly dramatic story setup (band comes in and breaks Rob away from cavemen and scantly clad hot 80s women), and the latter because the black & white steel factory look and Rob's psychotically aaaAAANGRY expressions fit the sheer brutality of the song. 'Living After Midnight', 'Love Bites', and 'Johnny B. Goode' are ok, just live lip-synchings of the songs (Rob looks absolutely ridiculous with that ponytail in 'JBG').

PRIEST...LIVE!

Here we have the entire Fuel For Life video of 15 songs performed on the Turbo tour. Though some songs from that album should definitely not be here (Parental Guidance and Rock You All Around The World come to mind immediately), the rest of the concert smokes and Priest turns out one of their best live performances despite clearly looking like a Poison or Motley Crue while doing it. The setlist will turn off 70s Priest purists, but this concert at the time was meant to showcase the band's 80s material. I especially love the sped up 'Freewheel Burning' and 'Desert Plains', screamed out 'The Sentinel' and 'Locked In', and especially 'Heading Out To The Highway' which is acutally better than the studio version, brought to life with a heavier overall sound and an added solo in the middle. My only gripe is that they placed 'Metalgods' during the credits, and it's not even the complete song! Oh well. So unless you're the sort of fan that absolutely needs to hear 'Victim Of Changes', 'Sinner', 'Beyond The Realms Of Death', and 'Exciter' in every Priest live setlist and/or you simply can't stand the sight of Halford in a mullet, then I see no reason why any other priest fan would not enjoy this concert.

BBC TV Performances

Now here's something new (old) that all Priest fans can chew on: 'Rocka Rolla' and 'Dreamer Deceiver/Deceiver' played back in the band's early days on live TV! Gotta love the band in their psuedo-hippy getups (reminds me of the part in Spinal Tap where it show's the band's psychadelic days). I can't say I really like the album 'Rocka Rolla' much, but this song comes to life much better here (KK even stated in an interview that the original album's production should have come out much better in the mix, but that it was screwed up in the process). 'DD/D' sounds especially sharp (MAN that scream of Halford's had to scare the pants off of ANYONE back then, since there was nothing like it!)

However, the 'Take On The World', 'Evening Star', 'Living After Midnight', and 'United' performances are a huge disappointment since it just shows the band standing there and lip-synching to the original studio tracks (sorry guys, not letting that one slip by!). But the 'Rocka Rolla' and 'DD/D' songs make up for them.

So, if you are any sort of Priest fan who grew up in the early days of MTV or are a big enough new fan that just wants to check out what Priest was like in their prime, then Electric Eye should already be in your possession, no questions asked.

ROCK HARD RIDE FREE!! (wait, that song isn't on here!)"