Metal God Entertainment
2010
1. Undisputed
2. Fire and Ice
3. Made of Metal
4. Speed of Sound
5. Like There's No Tomorrow
6. Till The Day I Die
7. We Own the Night
8. Heartless
9. Hell Razor
10. Thunder and Lightning
11. Twenty-Five Years
12. Matador
13. I Know We Stand a Chance
14. The Mower
Halford's solo career isn't a thing that's held a great deal of interest for me up to this point. Out of 3 albums, I have liked one of them (Resurrection) and would be happy if Crucible and that horrid Christmas album didn't exist at all. That being said... it's almost obligatory to check out a new album from a metal legend like Rob Halford. Even if my expectations aren't high, I simply had to hear it to see what it was like.
The answer is this album isn't so bad. Certainly better than anything except Resurrection in this reviewer's opinion. I'm not gonna say this a perfect album, because it's not even close, but it's better than I had hoped for which is something. This won't end up near the top of my list of albums for the year, but nor will it be at the bottom. There are some negatives here as this album is fairly cliche, more toward the melodic and commercial, and at times fairly cheesy in lyrical content. Made Of Metal also lacks a lot of screams or heavy energy, but taken on it's own, the songs are pretty decent melodic songs in their own right. Nothing here makes me go 'He's back!' or hit me as hard as Resurrection, but taken sheerly on it's own... this isn't bad. Actually, I find that many of the songs, though not entirely what I'd have asked for, are growing on me the more I listen to them.
In terms of songs Undisputed kinda sets the tone as it is kinda formulaic and the lyrics cheeseball, but at the same time it's just not a bad song at all. Let's face it... there's a fair amount of cheese in some Judas Priest songs as well and while this is nothing to rival the classics, it does get the head moving with it's straight forward metal gallop. Speed of Sound is also kinda similar as Halford and his band seem to try to recapture a sort of 80s Priest feel or perhaps something similar to Resurrection if not as hard edged and screaming. One thing these songs do seem to lack if Halford really wailing, but not to such a detrimental degree that it ruins the songs for me. More like there was room for improvement.
Other tracks have more of a melodic flow like Fire And Ice, Like There's No Tomorrow, and Thunder And Lightning, and go for a vaguely epic tone. Likewise none of these grab me as instant hits, but nor are they bad tunes and have a pretty good flow about them. One surprise is the sort of blues rock sounding Till The Day I Die which oddly works and has a good feel to it. Kind of a good mood establishing song. Songs that fall flat include Twenty-Five Years a semi-ballad that gos nowhere and The Mower, which despite being somewhat more aggressive, actually tries too damn hard and seems pretty forced.
In conclusion, this isn't a classic or an album likely to turn a lot of heads. In fact, I can see a lot of people disliking it based on the sort of uninspired and cliche approach. At the end of the day I find this an improvement over the last couple though and not a bad overall listen. Not every album is amazing or sucks and this is one of those middle of the road sort of releases. I found some enjoyment in it and wouldn't call it a total waste or even completely mediocre. Not a rave review, but it is what it is.
Highlights: Undisputed, Speed Of Sound
Rating - 3.0/5
2. Fire and Ice
3. Made of Metal
4. Speed of Sound
5. Like There's No Tomorrow
6. Till The Day I Die
7. We Own the Night
8. Heartless
9. Hell Razor
10. Thunder and Lightning
11. Twenty-Five Years
12. Matador
13. I Know We Stand a Chance
14. The Mower
Halford's solo career isn't a thing that's held a great deal of interest for me up to this point. Out of 3 albums, I have liked one of them (Resurrection) and would be happy if Crucible and that horrid Christmas album didn't exist at all. That being said... it's almost obligatory to check out a new album from a metal legend like Rob Halford. Even if my expectations aren't high, I simply had to hear it to see what it was like.
The answer is this album isn't so bad. Certainly better than anything except Resurrection in this reviewer's opinion. I'm not gonna say this a perfect album, because it's not even close, but it's better than I had hoped for which is something. This won't end up near the top of my list of albums for the year, but nor will it be at the bottom. There are some negatives here as this album is fairly cliche, more toward the melodic and commercial, and at times fairly cheesy in lyrical content. Made Of Metal also lacks a lot of screams or heavy energy, but taken on it's own, the songs are pretty decent melodic songs in their own right. Nothing here makes me go 'He's back!' or hit me as hard as Resurrection, but taken sheerly on it's own... this isn't bad. Actually, I find that many of the songs, though not entirely what I'd have asked for, are growing on me the more I listen to them.
In terms of songs Undisputed kinda sets the tone as it is kinda formulaic and the lyrics cheeseball, but at the same time it's just not a bad song at all. Let's face it... there's a fair amount of cheese in some Judas Priest songs as well and while this is nothing to rival the classics, it does get the head moving with it's straight forward metal gallop. Speed of Sound is also kinda similar as Halford and his band seem to try to recapture a sort of 80s Priest feel or perhaps something similar to Resurrection if not as hard edged and screaming. One thing these songs do seem to lack if Halford really wailing, but not to such a detrimental degree that it ruins the songs for me. More like there was room for improvement.
Other tracks have more of a melodic flow like Fire And Ice, Like There's No Tomorrow, and Thunder And Lightning, and go for a vaguely epic tone. Likewise none of these grab me as instant hits, but nor are they bad tunes and have a pretty good flow about them. One surprise is the sort of blues rock sounding Till The Day I Die which oddly works and has a good feel to it. Kind of a good mood establishing song. Songs that fall flat include Twenty-Five Years a semi-ballad that gos nowhere and The Mower, which despite being somewhat more aggressive, actually tries too damn hard and seems pretty forced.
In conclusion, this isn't a classic or an album likely to turn a lot of heads. In fact, I can see a lot of people disliking it based on the sort of uninspired and cliche approach. At the end of the day I find this an improvement over the last couple though and not a bad overall listen. Not every album is amazing or sucks and this is one of those middle of the road sort of releases. I found some enjoyment in it and wouldn't call it a total waste or even completely mediocre. Not a rave review, but it is what it is.
Highlights: Undisputed, Speed Of Sound
Rating - 3.0/5
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