Judas Priest – The Chosen Few
Legacy
www.judaspriest.com

Rating: A

Okay, I admit it; this is not the first Judas Priest compilation to hit the market. In fact, it isn’t even the most in-depth, as the band have collections that go much deeper than the 17 tracks found here. It is, however, the coolest one they have ever put out, which, in this Metal Head’s opinion, goes a long way to keeping the Metal flame burning brightly, as the Metal Gods hit the road on their Epitaph tour, which is their last full out, world tour, ever.

The seventeen songs on the CD were selected not by Priest, not by the record company and not by fans; they were selected by Judas Priest’s peers. Each rock star chose a song and then told what they loved about that song, or Priest in general. David Coverdale chose “The Green Manalishi (with the Two-Pronged Crown)" and said, among other things, “That is right up there as one of my personal faves.” Def Lep’s Joe Elliot chose “Diamonds and Rust” and states, “I still play this song a lot nowadays, it just does it for me.” Alice Cooper, Steve Vai, Geoff Tate, Lars Ulrich, Kerry King, Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Zakk Wylde, Geezer Butler, Slash, Klaus Meine, Chris Jericho, Joe Satriani and members of Pantera, Slipknot, and Korn all chime in on what they love most about Priest.

The comments make reading liner notes as cool as they used to be back in the days of vinyl, and speak volumes about how the heroes of the Hard Rock and Metal community feel about one of the best bands to ever crank it up to 11 and throw the devil horns in the air. Gene Simmons of Kiss said it best, “They [Judas Priest] have never wavered in their commitment to treating the Stage as Holy Ground.”

Metal Gods indeed!

By Jeb Wright