98 Live Meltdown
Many doubted that Judas Priest would find a vocalist to capably fill the shoes of legendary frontman Rob Halford. With Ripper Owens, the band found not only a Priest fanatic, but a talented screamer in his own right. Proving that his studio performance onJugulatorwas no hoax, Owens displays performing talents on this vigorous double-live album. For concert album cynics, heed this: half of these 23 tunes have not been performed on the two previous Priest live discs, and Owens really belts out those screams with greater accuracy than Halford was able to summon in his last few years in the band. The metal legends unleash the long-lost pre-speed-metal classic "Rapid Fire"; they play an inspired acoustic version of "Diamonds & Rust" that's closer to Joan Baez's original than Priest's 1977 cover; and they dig up two previously unperformedJugulatorsongs. Most of what's heard here rates from very good to excellent, though one wishes that "Burn in Hell" wasn't abbreviated and that "Dreamer Deceiver" wasn't excluded; and a few of the mixes could be cleaner. Still, this very live-sounding record (complete with essential raucous audience participation) captures the potent force of a Judas Priest concert performance.--Bryan Reesman