[JT_Small_Deadly_Space] Friday, November 27, 2009 7:07:28 AM
AOR is not a weak album and i won't say that's opinion i would say that is fact. If it's not what you were expecting and for that reason you don't like it then fair enough i can accept that but it's not weak at all. If it had been released after Defenders, everyone would have been like, WOAH AWESOME! But because it follows Painkiller, it can't possibly live up to old Priest standards even though Painkiller is considered better than anything in their entire catalogue by many. Don't you see, Priest can't really churn out what they used to do beacause in todays market unfortunately, it wouldn't survive. Metal has reached new heights and as a result the bands have suffered, they will still receive a massive reception live but that's because people respect them for the hits that they had back in the day.
When bands like Sabbath, Priest, Motorhead, Saxon AC/DC, Deep Purple etc release an album now, they aren't going to get the same reaction that they got back in their high days of glory, it doesn't work like that. Plus Priest did try to go back to classic heavy such as Defenders with Ram it Down and as much as i think it worked, many were very disapointed and that's because the world had moved on and wasn't wanting it anymore. Painkiller was so successful because it showed a classic band that could be as heavy and aggressive as any thrash or metal band of the time.
AOR is a hybrid album resulting from fans demanding classic Priest and Heavy Priest. That's exactly what Priest gave but that just leaves the fans that want something different, enter Nostradamus. They covered everyone within those 2 albums and yet there are still disapointed fans. AOR is a modern metal masterpiece and i would say it is easily one of their best. Painkiller beats it on heavyness, but AOR beats Painkiller musically by far. When Priest write songs with layers, it works. When they right songs that are just heavy, it works but i know which one i prefer, even for a heavy metal band. That is why i love AOR and i would happily accept another album of the same standard if not better from them.
