Artist:   Halford
Title:    Halford IV: Made Of Metal
Label:    Metal God
Genre:    Heavy Metal
Bitrate:  215kbit av.
Time:     01:02:42
Size:     101.45 mb
Rip Date: 2010-10-01
Str Date: 2010-10-01

01. Undisputed                                                    5:16
02. Fire And Ice                                                  2:52
03. Made Of Metal                                                 4:01
04. Speed Of Sound                                                4:31
05. Like There's No Tomorrow                                      4:20
06. Till The Day I Die                                            3:50
07. We Own The Night                                              3:54
08. Heartless                                                     3:37
09. Hell Razor                                                    3:44
10. Thunder And Lightning                                         5:27
11. Twenty-Five Years                                             7:00
12. Matador                                                       5:39
13. I Know We Stand A Chance                                      3:51
14. The Mower                                                     4:40

Release Notes:

After the past two mediocre Judas Priest albums Nostradamus and Angel
of Retribution, and the only marginally entertaining Christmas album
Rob released last year, I have to admit that I was not quite excited
for his next true, original-loaded solo venture. Then, when the single
for "The Mower" dropped, I was even further perplexed, for it featured
Rob's Painkiller era screaming over some extremely weak, chugging riffs
that did absolutely nothing of note. Fast forward a few months, and you
can see the terrible cover art to his latest album, Made of Metal. Yes,
by this point, expectations were not running high at all! But, you see,
Halford is just one of those folks one should NEVER count out, because
lo and behold, this new record is the strongest he's done since his
first solo under the Halford moniker, Resurrection, trumping Crucible
in the overall songwriting.

Yes, Made of Metal is far better than it has any right to be,
especially when you consider this man's age. But his vocals are still
on top, conjuring up a performance here that should prove a thrill to
fans of his 80s work like Turbo, Defenders of the Faith and all leading
up to the amazing Painkiller. This is also a fairly diverse album, with
Rob trying his hand at new subjects and slight tweaks to the formula
he's been a part of for nigh on 30 years. You've got your more modern
power metal with NWOBHM roots, namely "Fire and Ice" with its
descending, gorgeous slopes of melody, and then a number of pure old
school Priest-like pieces via "Speed of Sound", "Hell Razor", "We Own
the Night" and two of the strongest songs the man has written in
forever, "Like There's No Tomorrow" and the "Breaking the Law"-like
"Matador", the latter showing him in extremely strong form vocally,
arguably the equal of anything in his career, with hard as hell
drumming courtesy of veteran Bobby Jarzombek.

The whole band turns in an amazing performance here, with Metal Mike
Chlasciak and Roy Z ousting their prior lead work on Resurrection and
Crucible, and Mike Davis throwing it all down with his steady, powerful
plucking. The solos are all well written, adding interesting aspects to
the songs that go above and beyond a mere formulaic acknowledgment of
the rhythms beneath. This is especially true of "Matador" or the arena
metal anthem "Thunder and Lightning". There are very few songs on this
album I would kick out of bed for crackers. Strike that, only one. And
if you were paying attention, you'll know exactly which I mean.
Thankfully, "The Mower" is tacked on to the end of the album, almost as
if Halford & company saw the reactions from the early release and
realized it was not the single they might have been expecting. But
alas, it still remains, a stain of poison in an otherwise pure,
delicious apple. A few of the other tracks suffer lyrically, like the
ballad "Twenty-Five Years", the metal boxing anthem "Undisputed" and
the goofy but lovable robot alien sci-fi schlock of "Made of Metal"
itself, which...sort of addresses the cover image?!

The Made of Metal mix is quite superb, and perhaps this is one of the
reason's Rob sounds so good. He literally soars across the metalscape,
but not at the expensive of the instruments. The rhythm guitars are
given excellent crunch, the melodies ringing off beautifully into the
night, and the drums are loud, clear, and forceful. Like the latest
from Accept, or Saxon's excellent streak through the late 90s to the
present, it's an album that enforces the cliche of 'old dogs with new
tricks'. Surely, Halford is paying tribute to his own career, but this
is once again about getting with the times, without losing what made
you so important in the first place. My hat is off to this living metal
deity, now if only he could convince Priest to write something
worthwhile...it has been far too long.



This NFO File was rendered by NFOmation.net

Artist:   Halford
Title:    Halford IV: Made Of Metal
Label:    Metal God
Genre:    Heavy Metal
Bitrate:  215kbit av.
Time:     01:02:42
Size:     101.45 mb
Rip Date: 2010-10-01
Str Date: 2010-10-01

01. Undisputed                                                    5:16
02. Fire And Ice                                                  2:52
03. Made Of Metal                                                 4:01
04. Speed Of Sound                                                4:31
05. Like There's No Tomorrow                                      4:20
06. Till The Day I Die                                            3:50
07. We Own The Night                                              3:54
08. Heartless                                                     3:37
09. Hell Razor                                                    3:44
10. Thunder And Lightning                                         5:27
11. Twenty-Five Years                                             7:00
12. Matador                                                       5:39
13. I Know We Stand A Chance                                      3:51
14. The Mower                                                     4:40

Release Notes:

After the past two mediocre Judas Priest albums Nostradamus and Angel
of Retribution, and the only marginally entertaining Christmas album
Rob released last year, I have to admit that I was not quite excited
for his next true, original-loaded solo venture. Then, when the single
for "The Mower" dropped, I was even further perplexed, for it featured
Rob's Painkiller era screaming over some extremely weak, chugging riffs
that did absolutely nothing of note. Fast forward a few months, and you
can see the terrible cover art to his latest album, Made of Metal. Yes,
by this point, expectations were not running high at all! But, you see,
Halford is just one of those folks one should NEVER count out, because
lo and behold, this new record is the strongest he's done since his
first solo under the Halford moniker, Resurrection, trumping Crucible
in the overall songwriting.

Yes, Made of Metal is far better than it has any right to be,
especially when you consider this man's age. But his vocals are still
on top, conjuring up a performance here that should prove a thrill to
fans of his 80s work like Turbo, Defenders of the Faith and all leading
up to the amazing Painkiller. This is also a fairly diverse album, with
Rob trying his hand at new subjects and slight tweaks to the formula
he's been a part of for nigh on 30 years. You've got your more modern
power metal with NWOBHM roots, namely "Fire and Ice" with its
descending, gorgeous slopes of melody, and then a number of pure old
school Priest-like pieces via "Speed of Sound", "Hell Razor", "We Own
the Night" and two of the strongest songs the man has written in
forever, "Like There's No Tomorrow" and the "Breaking the Law"-like
"Matador", the latter showing him in extremely strong form vocally,
arguably the equal of anything in his career, with hard as hell
drumming courtesy of veteran Bobby Jarzombek.

The whole band turns in an amazing performance here, with Metal Mike
Chlasciak and Roy Z ousting their prior lead work on Resurrection and
Crucible, and Mike Davis throwing it all down with his steady, powerful
plucking. The solos are all well written, adding interesting aspects to
the songs that go above and beyond a mere formulaic acknowledgment of
the rhythms beneath. This is especially true of "Matador" or the arena
metal anthem "Thunder and Lightning". There are very few songs on this
album I would kick out of bed for crackers. Strike that, only one. And
if you were paying attention, you'll know exactly which I mean.
Thankfully, "The Mower" is tacked on to the end of the album, almost as
if Halford & company saw the reactions from the early release and
realized it was not the single they might have been expecting. But
alas, it still remains, a stain of poison in an otherwise pure,
delicious apple. A few of the other tracks suffer lyrically, like the
ballad "Twenty-Five Years", the metal boxing anthem "Undisputed" and
the goofy but lovable robot alien sci-fi schlock of "Made of Metal"
itself, which...sort of addresses the cover image?!

The Made of Metal mix is quite superb, and perhaps this is one of the
reason's Rob sounds so good. He literally soars across the metalscape,
but not at the expensive of the instruments. The rhythm guitars are
given excellent crunch, the melodies ringing off beautifully into the
night, and the drums are loud, clear, and forceful. Like the latest
from Accept, or Saxon's excellent streak through the late 90s to the
present, it's an album that enforces the cliche of 'old dogs with new
tricks'. Surely, Halford is paying tribute to his own career, but this
is once again about getting with the times, without losing what made
you so important in the first place. My hat is off to this living metal
deity, now if only he could convince Priest to write something
worthwhile...it has been far too long.



This NFO File was rendered by NFOmation.net