Touch of Evil: Live

Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford virtually created the archetypal metal look with his studded leather garb, and the band's ultra-clean technophilic riffing and fleet dual lead guitars set the standard for power metal on an arena-filling scale. This is the band's fifth live album, and it's much closer in quality to 1979's glorious UNLEASHED than any of the others. Part of that was no doubt due to the state of the band in the 21st century: Halford's 2004 return lit a fire under the others, and the two studio albums they released immediately following were among their most satisfying and, in the case of 2008's NOSTRADAMUS, shockingly ambitious. This disc, recorded on tour in 2005 and 2008, features one song from ANGEL OF RETRIBUTION and two from NOSTRADAMUS ('Prophecy' and the crushing 'Death'), and otherwise concentrates on deep album cuts from the band's copious back catalog. Fans are spared one more run-through of 'Breaking the Law' or 'Electric Eye,' instead getting thunderous versions of 'Between the Hammer and the Anvil' from 1988's underrated PAINKILLER, the powerful 'Beyond the Realms of Death' and 'Dissident Aggressor,' a song so heavy that even the mighty Slayer couldn't do much but speed it up a bit when they covered it for SOUTH OF HEAVEN. The band even busts out 'Eat Me Alive,' its hilariously PMRC-baiting sex anthem from 1984's DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH. This rip-roaring live set proves that even nearly 40 years into the band's career, Priest still delivered one of the best shows in metal.