1094. Judas Priest / Live in London [Live]. 2003. 4/5

It’s probably a sure sign of desperation, given you have only released two live albums in the first 25 years of your existence as a band, and then you release two in a startlingly short space of time. Ostensibly it seems like an effort to keep the band in the public eye, and show their relevance despite a struggle to get fans to accept two albums without your big time lead singer. Whereas '98 Live Meltdown was an audio release only, Live in London was filmed and released as a video as well as this audio contribution. But if you have one, do you need the other? And if the first did the job of introducing your new vocalist in a positive fashion, do you need another to try and shore that support up?

To be honest, I really enjoyed '98 Live Meltdown as a live album. It had a couple of rough pieces, but overall it was a good set list performed by a great band who can still do the job. It introduced new material effectively, and the energy throughout is excellent. And that is where this release falls down for me. The set list has a few necessary changes, incorporating a couple of songs off of Demolition and some other older songs, but for the majority it is the same songs that were played on the previous world tour and as such off of the previous live album. And – for the most part – they don’t sound as good here as they did then.
The first problem that is encountered is that the old songs completely outshine the newer material. There is a massive gap in the vitality and speed and overall metal value of the old classics than there is of the material from the Ripper era. “Hell is Home”, “Feed on Me” and even “One on One” sound slow, clunky and devoid of life compared “Electric Eye”, “Living After Midnight” and “Metal Gods”. They get completely shown up here and exposed badly for their deficiencies. “Blood Stained” and “Burn in Hell” don’t fare any better. It’s a disappointment, and one feels that they could have done a better job in promoting these songs good sides.
The second problem is that this doesn’t seem as energetic and exciting as the previous live album. It’s nice to hear a little bit of variety with songs such as “Desert Plains” and “Running Wild”, but neither of these two songs sound as good as Halford sang them, and the choice of “United” doesn’t work either. And as I said, I think '98 Live Meltdownsounds better overall.

This is still a good live album, and you can’t argue with the amount of material that you get for your money. It also serves as the finale for Tim “Ripper” Owens and his time in Judas Priest. He is a fine front man and he did his job in keeping Judas Priest alive, and I can vouch that seeing the band live with him out front was a worthwhile experience. As an epitaph for his time in the band, this is a reasonable tribute.

Rating: “Judas! Priest! Is! Back!!!”… but only for a short time. 4/5