Review by JD on December 18, 2016.

Al Atkins, a name lost in the annals of metal history… the original front man of Judas Priest. Here is a man that the Juggernaut called the mighty Judas Priest would have never been… a man still putting out music that instills and inspires the truest form of metal and throws away all the varying side roads metal has taken over the years.

As the original singer for our favorite NWOBHM act, Allen Atkins wrote many of the songs with K.K Downing and Ian Hill that made it on the first album called: Rocka Rolla. It was not one of my favorite Priest album by any stretch, but it was not a full on dud either. I have to say his Anthology does rather the same for me as well. I love some of the more intriguing tunes here like the balls out chug-o-rama of 'Bitter Waters' and the pure musical opus 'World at War'. Others on this disk leave me feeling flat, certain songs seem to just lay there like a brick and do nothing but be filler. 'Theatre of Fools' is a perfect example of it, it starts off as a promising ballad, then just lays there and becomes a whiny track that never develops and dies in a sad and drawn out boredom filler track that it is as predictable as it is over played.

A good look into a man that has been somewhat ignored, overshadowed by the band he had spawned. Is he a good singer, yes… but Al Atkins's song writing seems to be his weak point at this stage, although the album has its amazing points as well. It is one of those collection albums that neither hits nor misses. Listen and make your own opinion, I will let my rating do it.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10