Invincible Shield | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 6 March 2024 | |||
Recorded | 2022 – May 2023 | |||
Genre | Heavy metal | |||
Length | 52:36 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | Andy Sneap | |||
Judas Priest chronology | ||||
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Singles from Invincible Shield | ||||
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Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.4/10 [1] |
Metacritic | 79/100 [2] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Classic Rock | [4] |
Kerrang! | 4/5 [5] |
Record Collector | [6] |
Metal Hammer | [7] |
Blabbermouth.net | 9/10 [8] |
Sputnikmusic | 4.3/5.0 [9] |
musicOMH | [10] |
The List | [11] |
laut.de | [12] |
Invincible Shield is the nineteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 6 March 2024 by Sony in Japan, [13] and globally two days later through Columbia and Epic Records. [14] [15] It was produced by the band's touring guitarist Andy Sneap, who also produced 2018's Firepower , while the album's last two tracks ("Sons of Thunder" and "Giants in the Sky") were co-produced by Tom Allom.
The album debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart, the highest position in the band's discography to date. In the US, it debuted at number 18 on the Billboard 200 and topped the spot for the Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums chart, earning 25,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. [16]
In February 2020, the band officially began writing sessions for their 19th album, [17] but as guitarist Richie Faulkner stated later, they "faced some challenges with schedules due to the pandemic" and had not been able to get together and work on new music: "We wanted to keep it the same dynamic as Firepower – as we all got together, played the songs in pre-production before recording them". [18]
In September 2021, after the pandemic restrictions were lifted the band started their 50 Heavy Metal Years world tour. "So the next obstacle, if you wanna call it that, was the tour. We had to go out and tour and record bits and pieces in between the tour legs." [19] Due to ongoing restrictions, the album was recorded in various places: Scott Travis and Richie Faulkner in Nashville, Tennessee (where they reside), Rob Halford in Phoenix, Arizona, and Ian Hill while on tour in various European cities. [20]
In March 2022, Faulkner revealed that the drums for the new record had already been recorded [21] and emphasized that the songs "are a bit more progressive in places" having a few twists and turns musically that Firepower does not have. [22] To avoid misunderstandings Faulkner stated later that the album will not be a musical continuation of the experimental Nostradamus or progressive in a Rush-like interpretation, but "instead of verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, chorus, finish, sometimes it goes off and plays it a little... like the old '70s Judas Priest used to, like the 'Sinner' and stuff like that". [23]
In May 2023, after Rob Halford laid down his parts in the studio in Phoenix, Arizona with producer and touring guitarist Andy Sneap, the band stated they had finished tracking and the album had moved on to the mixing and mastering stage. [24] The songs "Sons of Thunder" and "Escape from Reality" were written by Glenn Tipton, and he performed guitar solos on both "Sons of Thunder" and "Vicious Circle." [25] [26] The bonus track "The Lodger" was written by Bob Halligan Jr., who has written other songs for the band, most notably "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll".
The album was announced on 7 October 2023 before the band's performance at the first Power Trip festival in Indio, California. [27] The album trailer was then uploaded on the band's YouTube channel containing the intro of "Panic Attack". [28]
The first single, "Panic Attack", was released on 13 October 2023, [29] followed by "Trial by Fire" on 17 November, [30] "Crown of Horns" on 19 January 2024 [31] and "The Serpent and the King" on 22 February. The band will embark on a world tour from the month of the album's release. [28]
All songs written by Glenn Tipton, Richie Faulkner and Rob Halford except "The Lodger" by Bob Halligan Jr.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Panic Attack" | 5:25 |
2. | "The Serpent and the King" | 4:19 |
3. | "Invincible Shield" | 6:21 |
4. | "Devil in Disguise" | 4:46 |
5. | "Gates of Hell" | 4:38 |
6. | "Crown of Horns" | 5:45 |
7. | "As God Is My Witness" | 4:36 |
8. | "Trial by Fire" | 4:21 |
9. | "Escape from Reality" | 4:24 |
10. | "Sons of Thunder" | 2:58 |
11. | "Giants in the Sky" | 5:03 |
Total length: | 52:36 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
12. | "Fight of Your Life" | 4:19 |
13. | "Vicious Circle" | 3:01 |
14. | "The Lodger" | 3:52 |
Total length: | 63:48 |
The three bonus tracks on the deluxe edition were also released on a bonus 7" EP sold separately and included in promotional bundles.
Judas Priest
Additional personnel
Design
Chart (2024) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [32] | 16 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [33] | 1 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [34] | 3 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [35] | 5 |
Canadian Albums (Billboard) [36] | 16 |
Croatian International Albums (HDU) [37] | 1 |
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI) [38] | 6 |
Danish Albums (Hitlisten) [39] | 15 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [40] | 5 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [41] | 1 |
French Albums (SNEP) [42] | 5 |
Greek Albums (IFPI) [43] | 2 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [44] | 1 |
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) [45] | 8 |
Irish Albums (OCC) [46] | 18 |
Italian Albums (FIMI) [47] | 8 |
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [48] | 7 |
Japanese Digital Albums (Oricon) [49] | 6 |
Japanese Hot Albums ( Billboard Japan ) [50] | 6 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [51] | 25 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [52] | 14 |
Polish Albums (ZPAV) [53] | 2 |
Portuguese Albums (AFP) [54] | 8 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [55] | 1 |
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [56] | 3 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [57] | 1 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [58] | 1 |
UK Albums (OCC) [59] | 2 |
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [60] | 1 |
US Billboard 200 [61] | 18 |
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard) [62] | 1 |
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [63] | 4 |
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in the latter half of the 1970s, the band struggled with indifferent record production and a lack of major commercial success until 1980, when their sixth studio album British Steel brought them notable mainstream attention.
Defenders of the Faith is the ninth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 13 January 1984 in the US and on 20 January 1984 in the UK. The album was certified platinum by the RIAA, and spawned the singles "Freewheel Burning", "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll", and "Love Bites".
Kenneth Downing Jr. is an English guitarist and a founding member of the heavy metal bands Judas Priest and KK's Priest.
Glenn Raymond Tipton is an English guitarist. Often noted for his complex playing style and classically influenced solos, he is best known as one of the lead guitarists for the heavy metal band Judas Priest. He is the second longest-serving member of the band, after bassist and co-founder Ian Hill. Tipton and Hill are the only two members of the band who have appeared on every studio album.
Turbo is the tenth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 21 March 1986 by Columbia Records. The album is notable for the band's change to a commercial glam metal sound, that had them using synthesizers for the first time.
Angel of Retribution is the fifteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released in 2005. It is the band's first album since 1990's Painkiller to feature Rob Halford. The album debuted at No. 13 on the US Billboard 200 chart, which makes it the fourth highest charting Judas Priest album in the US. The album was produced by Roy Z, who co-wrote the song "Deal with the Devil". It won a 2005 Metal Hammer award for Best Album. In the 2005 Burrn! magazine Readers' Pop Poll, it was voted Best Album of the Year and Best Album Cover.
Ram It Down is the eleventh studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 13 May 1988 by Columbia Records. It was the band's last album to feature longtime drummer Dave Holland, and was promoted in Europe and North America with the Mercenaries of Metal Tour.
British Steel is the sixth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 11 April 1980 by Columbia Records. It was the band's first album to feature Dave Holland on drums.
Jugulator is the thirteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest. It was released in Japan on 16 October 1997 and the rest of the world on 28 October 1997. It was their first studio album since Painkiller in 1990 and the first of two studio albums the band recorded without Rob Halford and with American lead vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens. Jugulator is the only Judas Priest album that has never been released on any major digital media website, due to SPV falling under and going bankrupt around 2009.
Demolition is the fourteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, and the first in the decade of the 2000s. It is the second and final studio album to feature Tim "Ripper" Owens on vocals. It is also the only Judas Priest studio album to feature a Parental Advisory label on the album cover due to the songs "Machine Man", "Hell Is Home", and "Metal Messiah" containing profanity.
Nostradamus is the sixteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, focusing on the 16th-century writer Nostradamus. It is a double album and the band's first concept album. It was originally intended to be released in late 2006 before being pushed back to a 2007 release, and was finally released on 17 June 2008 on Epic Records. It is the last Judas Priest studio album to feature the Painkiller-era lineup with guitarist and founding member K. K. Downing retiring in April 2011.
Robert Sidney Halligan Jr. is an American singer, musician, music producer and songwriter who has collaborated with many artists, particularly in the hard rock/heavy metal genre, throughout his career. He is currently the lead vocalist and guitarist for the band Ceili Rain, a group he founded that combines Celtic, rock, and contemporary Christian music.
Richard Ian Faulkner is an English musician most known as one of the lead guitarists for the heavy metal band Judas Priest since 2011, replacing original member K. K. Downing. Faulkner has also performed with Lauren Harris, Christopher Lee, Voodoo Six, Deeds, and Ace Mafia.
Redeemer of Souls is the seventeenth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, which was released in the US on 8 July 2014, in Europe on 11 July, and in the UK on 14 July. It is their first album without founding guitarist K. K. Downing, who quit the band in 2011 and was replaced by new guitarist Richie Faulkner. It also marks the band's last album to be produced by Glenn Tipton. The album sold around 32,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to peak at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 chart, marking the band's first top 10 album debut in the US. It has sold 110,000 copies in the US as of February 2016.
Andy Sneap is an English guitarist, record producer and composer with over 100 albums to his name, most of which have been produced at his Backstage Recording studios in rural Derbyshire. Some of the most critically acclaimed production work on albums include Deliverance by Opeth and Disarm the Descent by Killswitch Engage; for which he earned a Swedish Grammis and a US Grammy nomination, respectively. As a performer, he first built his reputation as one of the guitarists in the British thrash metal band Sabbat, and played with them up until their disbanding. He is currently one of the co-guitarists of the British heavy metal band Hell. In 2018, Sneap joined Judas Priest as a touring guitarist, following long-time lead guitarist Glenn Tipton's diagnosis of Parkinson's disease which conflicts with his touring abilities, and while not an official member of the band, he contributed guitar work to their nineteenth studio album Invincible Shield (2024).
Battle Cry is the sixth live album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 25 March 2016. It was recorded at the Wacken Open Air festival in Germany on 1 August 2015 during their Redeemer of Souls Tour. The album was released as both a standalone title and a bundled package containing the DVD version.
Epitaph is a live video released by Judas Priest on DVD and Blu-Ray on 28 May 2013. It was filmed at the Hammersmith Apollo on 26 May 2012, which was the last date of the Epitaph World Tour, where they performed songs from each Halford-era album from Rocka Rolla to Nostradamus. The show was first seen in cinemas in New York City on 14 May and in London on 15 May with special screenings around the world on 16 May. It then premiered on VH1 Classic in the United States on 25 May.
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The Firepower World Tour was a worldwide concert tour by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, in support of the album Firepower. It ran from 13 March 2018 to 29 June 2019.