''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 An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It i ...

'' to feature Rob Halford. The album debuted at on the US

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of ar ...

chart, which makes it the fourth highest charting Judas Priest album in the US. The album was produced by

Roy Z Roy Z (born February 1968) is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Bruce Dickinson (from Iron Maiden), Halford, and Judas Priest. He also is the founder of Tribe of Gypsies, a Latin-influenced har ...

, who co-wrote the song "Deal with the Devil". It won a 2005

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

award for Best Album. In the 2005 ''

Burrn! is a monthly Japanese magazine for fans of heavy metal music, published since September 1984. It is the major publication on heavy metal music in the country. As of 2013, it is published by Shinko Music Entertainment in Tokyo. The magazine's c ...

'' magazine Readers' Pop Poll, it was voted Best Album of the Year and Best Album Cover.

Album Information

''Angel of Retribution'' was originally scheduled to be released in late 2004, but the label changed the release date to early 2005, hoping for better sales. Early pressings have the year 2004 printed on the covers. In a descriptive detail about the album,

Glenn Tipton Glenn Raymond Tipton (born 25 October 1947) 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 heavy metal band Judas Priest. Early life and ...

explains, "We've got a lot of energy. We're firing on all cylinders and it's obvious on this album. I think it's the most natural JUDAS PRIEST album. A lot of people who have listened to it have said it's timeless. You couldn't really date it." Rob Halford adds, "That decade that we were out of each other's company just seems to have vanished in smoke. When we got together to begin writing the new material for 'Angel of Retribution', it was really a continuation of where we would have been had we made the next record after 'Painkiller'. All the pieces were already in place." Six of the album's songs have been performed live, with "Hellrider", "Deal With the Devil", "Worth Fighting For" and "Revolution" only appearing on 2005 setlists. "Judas Rising" was also performed in 2005 and returned for the 2011–12 and 2019 tours, and "Angel" being added to the setlist in 2008-9 and then reappearing for a few shows in 2018.

Lyrical references

Within the album, nods to the sound of past albums and songs are found, as well as lyrics that apparently reference earlier songs. The song "Demonizer" references both "The Hellion" from ''

Screaming for Vengeance ''Screaming for Vengeance'' is the eighth studio album by the English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released in July 1982 by Columbia Records. Considered the band's commercial breakthrough, it has been certified double platinum in the United S ...

'', as well as "Painkiller" from ''

''. "Hellrider" mentions the title track of '' Ram It Down'', and "Tyrant" from ''

Sad Wings of Destiny ''Sad Wings of Destiny'' is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 23 March 1976 by Gull Records. It is considered the album on which Judas Priest consolidated their sound and image, and songs from it su ...

''. "Eulogy" references "Stained Class" and "The Sentinel" from the albums '' Stained Class'' and ''

Defenders of the Faith ''Defenders of the Faith'' is the ninth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 13 January 1984 by Columbia Records. The album was certified platinum by the RIAA, and spawned the singles "Freewheel Burning", "Some ...

'', respectively. Finally, "Worth Fighting For" acts as a sequel/prequel to "Desert Plains" from '' Point of Entry''. The song "Deal With the Devil" can be viewed as an autobiography of Judas Priest, telling their origins from the Black Country of England's West Midlands, mentioning their transitory days gigging around England and practising at the Church of Holy Joseph in Walsall, which is where Judas Priest was effectively born. "Deal With the Devil" also mentions the song "Blood Red Skies" from ''Ram It Down'' and "Take on the World" from '' Killing Machine''.

Reception

The album generally received favourable reviews from critics and fans. However,

Classic Rock Magazine ''Classic Rock'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future. It was launched in October 1998 and is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 60, ...

reviewer Geoff Barton awarded the album three out of five stars in March 2005, dropping the overall score solely due to his dislike of the track '"Lochness". Barton claimed that the track sends 'the entire record crashing down in flames... Lochness is so ill-conceived, so long-drawn out, droning and dismal, that is single-handedly destroys what would otherwise have been a triumphant Halford-led return.' The song, however, has since been reappraised by many fans as underrated.

DualDisc

The album was released on the

DualDisc The DualDisc is a type of double-sided optical disc product developed by a group of record companies including Michael Jackson, MJJ Productions Inc., EMI, EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, ...

format which had traditional CD content on one side and DVD content on the other side. The DVD side of this album featured a documentary entitled "Reunited" as well as the entire album in an enhanced audio format. In Japan, it was released as a 2-disc set containing Compact Disc audio and DVD video.

Track listing

All tracks written by Rob Halford, K. K. Downing and

except where noted.

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes:

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Official album website
{{Authority control 2005 albums Judas Priest albums Epic Records albums Albums produced by Roy Z