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Halford > Resurrection > Reviews
Halford - Resurrection

Excellent comeback, even if it does lose steam towards the end - 85%

Agonymph, July 23rd, 2023

At the time when Halford’s debut album ‘Resurrection’ was released, it was frequently compared to ‘Accident at Birth’ by Bruce Dickinson, who had recently re-joined Iron Maiden. Both albums featured a return to heavy metal – with a somewhat modern bite – by iconic singers after a couple of years of experimentation. Let me emphasize that Roy Z produced and co-wrote both albums. Many people saw ‘Resurrection’ as Rob Halford’s open application to re-join Judas Priest, which of course inevitably happened. However, that reunion eventually obscured ‘Resurrection’ and its follow-up ‘Crucible’, both of which are superior to anything else Rob Halford was involved with this century.

Returning to a style that made musicians household names can be a tricky affair. ‘Resurrection’ is far from a watered-down effort to reconnect with a prior audience, however. In fact, Halford (the singer), Roy Z and guitarists Mike Chalsciak and Pat Lachman created a surprsingly contemporary tapestry of aggressive, slightly downtuned riffs, which are immediately turned into classic heavy metal by Halford’s instantly recognizable voice. ‘Resurrection’ isn’t quite as modern-sounding as Fight’s ‘War of Words’, but it has an equally tough, American-sounding foundation, enhanced by Ray Riendeau’s thick, beefy bass. The album manages to sound fresh without alienating the Priest audience, unlike Priest itself at the time.

The first half of ‘Resurrection’ spawned a couple of modern classics, among which the uptempo title track that opens the album. It’s sort of a mission statement, with its uncomplicated, yet powerful riffs and Halford screaming at the top of his head voice throughout. ‘Made in Hell’ does a similar thing with lower vocals, while ‘Locked and Loaded’ is a pounding midtempo stomper. The dark, intense and expertly structured power ballad ‘Silent Screams’ is probably the highlight here and the brief ‘The One You Love to Hate’ is even a duet with Bruce Dickinson, as if to drive the point home even more.

Why I mentioned the first half explicitely, however, is because ‘Resurrection’ takes a bit of a nosedive after the atypical, but pleasantly surprising modern rocker ‘Slow Down’. None of the last four tracks is anywhere near as good as what came before, with ‘Twist’ in particular outstaying its welcome. The 2006 remaster of ‘Resurrection’ does a bit of damage control there, breaking the lesser tracks up with interesting bonus tracks, like the speed metal of ‘Hell’s Last Survivor’, the Fight-esque ‘Fetish’ and the particularly Priest-like ‘Sad Wings’. But even then, the dropoff in quality from the first seven or eight songs is simply too noticeable.

Having said that though, ‘Resurrection’ is an excellent comeback featuring a revitalized Rob Halford and an expert backing band that combines the hungry agression of a young band with the measured experience of seasoned musicians. Some of these guys – Roy Z, Chlasciak, drummer extraordinaire Bobby Jarzombek – later proved to be specialized in successfully revitalizing older rockers’ careers, but they rarely come as energized and simply fun as ‘Resurrection’. The quality of the album and its follow-up kind of make me wish he had not reunited with Judas Priest shortly afterward, but at least he is the one Priest member who managed to put out something this good over the last couple of decades.

Recommended tracks: ‘Silent Screams’, ‘Made in Hell’, ‘Resurrection’

Originally written for my Kevy Metal weblog

In Your Face, Down Your Throat And Up Your Ass! - 91%

Metal_Jaw, June 14th, 2012

Some metalheads on here, giving this less than 90%. Some people. Well, after the more groove metal-oriented Fight in the early 90's and the infamous 2wo a little after, The Metal God decided to head back to his roots. To traditional heavy metal. The result was the beastly 2000 debut, the unfortunately-titled "Resurrection". Shit, aside from the woefully overused title, this record rocks from start to finish. It's straightforward metal in your face, down your throat and right up your ass!

Halford's vocals are just about at the top of the game here. He lets loose a colorful array of his wails, some gruff mid-ranged growling, as well as cleaner, more mellow humming. Joining Halford on this metal crusade are a turntable of old pros and hungry newbies alike. On guitars are "Metal" Mike Chlasciak and Patrick Lachman. They make a fairly formidable duo, though the solos can be a bit underwhelming. These guys' strong point is the riffing; they shred some cool and catchy riffage up and down this place! Ray Riendeau is our bassist foe the evening. He's pretty solid, but buried a tad in the mix. Still his efforts and ability don't go unnoticed. A highlight here is the drumming of the great Bobby Jarzombek, formerly of Riot and now with Fates Warning. He's not as frenetic or as whiplash-inducingly technical, but I always felt he was a damn good, underrated drummer. He's great here, as he always has been.

The album has a slick but kinda crunchy production, courtesy of Roy Z. In other words, a good, typical modern metal production. If you have the original release, you're treated with 12 tracks, 16 on the remastered reissue. The album begins with a wicked one-two punch of the title track and the wicked "made I Hell". Both are some of the heaviest on the album, charging along with fearsome riffage and wild Halford shrieking on the title cut. Lyrically, as with most of this album, it gets pretty corny. It's to be expected but it doesn't bother me much. Other crushers include the rolling and menacing "Drive", though the lyrics get to be amuch in this song, and the short, sweet final song "Savior". Some other highlights include the fast and catchy "Cyberworld", which on the other hand hand actually has pretty clever lyrics. "The One You Love To Hate" features a team-up of Halford and Bruce Dickinson. Yes, THE Bruce Dickinson. It's a really catchy, straightforward metal speeder but with the team-up behind it, one would expect something more significant and less so-so. The moody epic "Silent Screams" may be the album highlight next to the first two songs; it's filled with great time changes, escalating from a slowish ballad to a more evil, aggressive pace. Some lesser cuts are "Slow Down", a chugging Accept-type song. Frankly it has one of my favorite riffs on the album but it does get repetitious, particularly towards to end. "Twist" and "Temptation" come armed with a similar construct, though with less solid riffage and a somewhat boring overall feel to them.
The bonus songs on the reissue are "God, Bringer of Death", "Fetish", "Hell's Last Survivor", and "Sad Wings". The latter two, while fast and generally pretty heavy, have too-melodic singing and choruses that take away from the mood. "God" has the heaviness and speed again but just comes and goes. But "Fetish". Oh...FUCK! This song kicks so much fucking ass!!! It's heavy as holy hell (maybe the heaviest this band ever put out) and comes armed with some of Halford's meanest vocals. If you can't get a hold of the remaster, I'd HIGHLY recommend downloading this sick puppy!

Overall, most of the songs are pretty cool, despite a few clunkers cheesy lyrics. The best cuts would have have to be "Resurrection", "Cyber World", "Made In Hell", "Silent Screams", "Savior" and "Fetish" off the remaster. The performance of the band is pretty good and the production is really good. I definitely recommend it for Judas Priest fans and those who just dig no-bullshit heavy metal.

Resurrected... and left for dead again - 45%

The_CrY, March 10th, 2010

After a few adventures with relatively unknown bands like Fight and Two, Rob Halford returns to his roots with his new band Halford, or so they say. If you listen to Resurrection I do hope you don’t hear Halfords roots, for that would mean opera, something Rocka Rolla-ish or whatever Judas Priest was doing in the 70s. I don’t hear anything of that sort on this album. With this album, Halford did get back into the picture with a mixture of oldschool metal and a modern touch. The most important aspect of all is whether this combination works for Halford.

This release features some very heavy metal, distortion in every corner of every song. Apart from the heavy guitars, Halfords voice is rawer than ever before or after and at times even too raw for its own good. And furthermore we have the drummer adding his own definition to the word ‘heaviness’. Bobby Jarzombek uses his double bass drums wherever he thinks it’s necessary. I do think the band had a little too much faith in their vocalist and therefore were a bit sloppy on the songwriting department. While this album certainly has its moments, there are some terrible songs on here and most of it is pretty forgettable as well. Songs like “Night Fall”, “Twist” and “Temptation” have a nice theme overall and perhaps a nice riff or two, but don’t have enough content to keep me listening. The forced epic “Silent Screams” has its moments but it’s very poorly written and sung at some moments, especially the heavy part. On the other hand, this album does contain “Resurrection” and “Made in Hell”, which are two kickass powerful songs with good riffs and great vocals. To gain a better view of the album, we will go a bit into details.

The album opens with the title track, which is just a damn good song. It starts off mysteriously, with suddenly Halfords shrieking vocals screaming and then the riffs come in and the drums. A great way to open the album and the chorus is very powerful, with Halford continuously singing with his high-pitched voice, the only time Halford does that throughout the entire song. Then there’s “Made in Hell”, another great powerful song. This one is more oldschool in sound but still kickass nonetheless. Here we are already given a sign that our dearest Rob likes to sing with the rawest voice ever and that is one of the reasons this album will start to irritate. “Locked and Loaded” is terrible. The way the song begins, with Halford singing ‘I’ve got no sympathy’ like he is Mr. Cool Guy, is really awful and the awful riff doesn’t add anything either. Then there’s “Night Fall”, it's not a bad song per say, but it doesn’t have ‘it’. I guess the chorus is semi-catchy, but it doesn’t do it. “Silent Screams” is, as mentioned before, a forced epic. It starts off with arpeggiated chords, like all wannabe epics do, and the whole band joins in on the slow chorus. It’s actually not that bad a ballad so far, but Halford wants more and they add a fast aggressive part in it where Halford sings with the rawest voice ever and that just sucks! This really ruined an otherwise okay song. Though the return to the slow chorus is really great, this song will not reach the status it could’ve had. A notable but unmemorable collaboration with Bruce Dickinson on “The One You Love to Hate” is extremely heavy but in the end not so very spectacular. With “Cyberworld” as a quite enjoyable song mostly due to its fast-paced drums and cool outro, we are entering the more balanced second part of the album.

Though this side is more balanced, it doesn’t mean it’s more enjoyable. There're just no more outbursts of coolness and sadness (with one exception which we’ll get to later on). We have a few songs ahead of us that mostly all have a nice chorus but are quite basic in structure and very stripped down. “Slow Down”, “Twist”, “Temptation” and “Saviour” all fall under this category. It’s meaningless to discuss them all separately, since there’s nothing more to say about these songs. They’re okay, fine, but I would count them as filler material. One thing is worth a mention though: on “Temptation” on the bridge we have a clear hint towards Priests “A Touch of Evil”, for using the exact same melody and way of singing there. Then we get to the final abomination of this album... “Drive”. Though bands have sung about sex before, I don’t think I’ve ever come across a lyric so damn dirty before. As this one uses the comparison to driving a car, ‘I got you under my wheels now baby’, this is really awful. Not to mention the music is awful too, with Halford singing with full distortion on his voice again and the riff being terrible as well. This is terrible and too low a quality for a man with the reputation of Metal God.

In short, this album is very forgettable and there’s nothing spectacular about it. Get the first two tracks somehow and perhaps listen the other tracks once, but that’s it. The rawness of Halfords voice ruins most of the songs and with the majority of the songs being very basic in structure and filler material this album is not worth your money. Go check out some other Halford albums instead, like Crucible or Winter Songs. This is collectors only.

Strongest tracks: “Resurrection” and “Made in Hell”.
Weakest tracks: “Locked and Loaded” and “Drive”.

http://thecryreviews.blogspot.com/

Something for Everyone - 75%

caspianrex, October 13th, 2009

I've got good news and bad news about Halford's Resurrection. The good news is: there's something for everyone on this album. The bad news is: there's something for everyone on this album. Okay, have I confused you yet? Allow me to elucidate. It's like having a favorite restaurant. You may love Mexican food, or you may love Chinese food, or you may love good ol' American food. Chances are you have favorite restaurants that specialize in one of these foods. But how many people have a favorite restaurant that serves every kind of good food? Once the same restaurant serves tacos, pizza, burgers, and egg rolls, it loses the distinctive identity that makes it so good.

Now, to apply my restaurant metaphor to Halford's Resurrection. People love the classic albums of Judas Priest: British Steel, Hell Bent for Leather, maybe even Painkiller. And people love Iron Maiden, and all kinds of non-NWOBHM metal. But do they want all of those styles on the same record? Not usually. So when they hear an album like this one, that combines the newer metal sound of Roy Z's considerable talents, the classic voice of Rob Halford, and the guest vocals of Bruce Dickinson on the admittedly hard-rocking "The One You Love to Hate," the reaction...varies.

Oh, there are definitely nice moments on the record. The aforementioned duet with Dickinson is exciting. Hearing these two voices together is an abundance of riches, one you don't often get to experience. I find the lyrics and music of the title track "Resurrection" to be an interesting glimpse into the mind and (dare I say) soul of Rob Halford. (I'm not sure exactly who "the Son of Judas" is, but we'll let that slide for now.) "Made in Hell" is a fun little "looking back at the old days" rocker. And the mighty Halford vocal quality is consistently strong.

Other moments don't shine quite as brightly. Or rather, they shine with a borrowed light. "Cyberworld" sounds considerably more like Iron Maiden to me than Halford usually does (interesting, considering Bruce's presence on the album), while the intro to "Night Fall" sounds like Roy Z channeling Eddie Van Halen. And "Saviour" is...well...lame. (The lyrics sound like Rob had a rhyming dictionary close at hand.) While the band plays consistently well, there isn't anything here that you won't hear on a hundred other metal albums.

But, overall, as mentioned above, the main problem with the record is what should be its greatest strength. In attempting to assimilate so many different styles and sounds of metal, the album lacks much of what should make it Halford. A little Judas Priest here, some Iron Maiden there, a dash of Van Halen for flavor. It's not a bad album, it's just not all that Halford has consistently shown us he has in him. I suspect that's why the review here tend to range from "loved it" to "hated it." Something for everyone can sometimes add up to very little for anyone.

Heaven's calling Thee,the place where Thou belong - 91%

Starkweather222000, May 20th, 2009

Rob Halford returns to heavy metal? How this one could be even mediocre? That phrase really could wrap it up, but since I am writing a review and not having a discussion with some friends, let me explain my point of view a bit more.

I am not the kind of blindfolded fan that would worship any "return" or "reunion" album without a good reason. And the good reason always means good songs. So if we're talking about good songs, we're talking "Resurrection", "Made In Hell", "Twist", "Cyberworld" to name a few. I didn't rate this with a 91/100 just because it's the Metal God singing over a few flat and predicable heavy metal songs. I gave it a 91 because it's the album everybody expected from Halford for a full decade. And with this I mean a straightforward, kick-ass heavy metal album that would make the hair stand on your back. For once in his career, he is trying to prove a point, he is trying hard to convince us that he's not finished when it comes to heavy metal. And he delivers the goods-if anyone deserves this quote, it's him after all. He is screaming like there is no future at all and proves the haters wrong. He's still got it and nobody can doubt that-"Night Fall", "Saviour", "The One You Love To Hate".

I decided to leave a last paragraph about "Silent Screams". It's the kind of song that you get a tattoo with the lyrics, or get it played at your funeral, or at your wedding or...you get the point. "Groundbreaking" is little of a term to describe it, "epic" is too. Just take my word that it is the best thing that Halford ever did since 1990-and I'm not quite sure that it might be even deadlier than some of the "Painkiller" stuff, too. Starting in a keyboard-backed way, it then starts to lift off with a marvellous chorus riff, so it can break down to a headbanger's mania and then again ascend to Asgard with the double-layered vocals. Clocking in at about 7 minutes that do seem like a millisecond in eternity, "Silent Screams" is a sort of wake up call. Wake everybody up, Rob's back. Wake Ripper up, pay the man, he did the job but it's time to go home. Wake Glenn and KK up, they got some phone calls to make.

Thank God everybody woke up.

Painkiller v.3.0 - 65%

DawnoftheShred, October 24th, 2007

It’s a shame that Rob Halford thinks that his only prior glory worth repeating is Priest’s Painkiller material. I’d like to think that’s not his stance, but it’s precisely what he’s done every time he gets a band together. Fight’s War of Words was Painkiller number two and lackluster enough that a third was unnecessary. Yet here I am, reviewing Halford’s solo debut Resurrection, aka Painkiller number three. Those expecting just that will embrace this with open arms; the album is full of songs that sound like they could have been B-sides and off-cuts from that period. Those expecting something new….well you’re out of luck, at least for now.

The band Halford has assembled for his solo project is talented, at least. The drumming is formidable, the guitar solos are good, and everything sounds pretty tight. Even Halford himself sounds as good as he ever has, though he overuses his falsetto a bit in the opening track (the most Painkiller-esque of the album). But it’s not the musicianship that is the problem, it’s the songwriting. Some tracks are classic Priest-style speed metal, while others are down-tempo modern shit.

Obviously it’s the speed metal ones that make this at all worthwhile. “Resurrection” is pretty sweet; carrying on that proud Painkiller tradition unhampered by Halford’s aged voice and the modern sounding, down-tuned guitars. “Made in Hell” keeps up this pace, sounding at times like Comeau-era Annihilator (or rather, Comeau-era Annihilator sounds like this). Both of these tracks make you forget that this isn’t Judas Priest pumping through the speakers. The pace suffers after these tracks, but is resurrected by “Cyberworld,” another killer speed metal tune. Everything else is questionable at best and embarrassing at worst. “Locked and Loaded” and “Night Fall” are the first ones to show signs of weakness; the modern metal influences really start to show their faces when the tempo drops. Of course, never does this album descend to the level of what Judas Priest was doing with Tim Owens at just around this time period, but I digress. “Silent Screams” is kinda epic in a “Dreamer Deceiver” sort of way, but nothing too special. Similarly, “The One You Love to Hate” features guest vocals by Bruce Dickinson, but that’s about all it has going for it. Afterwards, expect lots of stuff that borders on modern rock (“Twist” especially) and mallcore, though I find “Drive” somewhat catchy despite the lowest tuned guitars on the album. “Saviour” tries to bring the tempo up one last time before album’s end, but it’s too little, too late.

So with Resurrection, we get a couple new classics and a good bit of new shit from the once-legendary Rob Halford. This isn’t the worst he has to offer, however, so it can still provide the occasional spin without regret.

Halford's Rebirth. - 88%

hells_unicorn, February 20th, 2007

Rob Halford has always had a high place in the metal world, either with Judas Priest or after leaving their ranks for more than ten years. After bouncing back and forth between 2 other projects, the latter being a misguided industrial project known as “Two” which yielded something so ugly that only its mother (Trent Reznor) could love it, the former Priest front man decided to re-establish his credibility as a singer with a solo project bearing his name. Thanks to the productive genius of Roy Z and the combined efforts of 4 rather strong musicians we’ve been given a release that is worthy of Halford’s voice.

“Resurrection” lives up to its name and resurrects the great spirit of Judas Priest that lived throughout the 70s and 80s, albeit with some added darkness courtesy of Roy Z’s special brand of production. A large collection of speed metal tracks worthy of the high octane children of Exciter found on both “Painkiller” and “Ram it Down”, combined with some riff happy heavy rock that could be found on “Screaming for Vengeance” and “British Steel”. All the while Halford himself remains perfectly capable of utilizing the full range that he had on display during Priest’s high period.

The album kicks off with the title track, which is cut right from the Painkiller formula featuring plenty of high end vocal majesty and double bass driven speed. “Made in Hell” follows suit with a similar tempo, but more toned down vocals and an interesting retrospective on the roots of metal in Birmingham. “Locked and Loaded” is slower and heavier, but doesn’t sacrifice any of established energy. “The One you Love to Hate” is a brief duet between Halford and Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson, setting a good collection of lyrics flipping the bird to the establishment to music.

Although the album consistently rocks and features plenty of solid and memorable tracks, “Silent Screams” steals the show. This is probably the longest song I’ve heard with Halford singing, and his vocal performance crosses over from being simply amazing to being God-like. Similarly, the music behind him is dark, haunting, and loaded with atmosphere. It is an epic ballad in the sense that it has plenty of changes, as well as quiet and loud sections, but the lyrical content would suggest something a bit more sinister than what the term epic is normally associated with.

I picked this album up at around the time I had gotten into Gamma Ray and immediately I knew where they got their high speed and original sound from. Even though Gamma Ray plays much faster and closer to the Painkiller sound, fans of Kai Hansen’s music will find a lot of things on this album to love. Likewise anyone who wishes that there had been a Judas Priest release with Halford during the early part of the new millennium should get this if they haven’t already, it’s a worthy purchase.

Hmmmm... well, it's a great album - 95%

Condor_Lord, May 13th, 2004

Although I rated this album with a 95%, I must say it dissapointed me when I heard it some years ago. Why? My expectatives were too high. Some years later I can see things with more clarity: it is not Stained Class, but it's certainly the best thing Halford can put out these days. It is also a great relief to know that I can live my life safe without taking a high risk of listening to Two again.

The cover sleeve is great. It is cheesy, but what did you expect? This is a Halford come back!

The album starts with Resurrection, one of the best songs of the album. It is a mid tempo heavy metal piece, but somehow it trascends traditional standars adding certain thrash-like riffs that are, as well, updated from what classic thrash may sound like. It has the best vocal performance of the album -from listening to the rest of the songs, you might think that Halford lost the abbilities that made him big, but this song proves you wrong- and the chords played at the chorus are great. Nice solo, but those little high notes played at the beginning of the song when the drums enter -and after the solo at the equivalent moment- are rather annoying. I love the lyrics, they have an obvious personal value for Halford and, somehow, they constitute an "apology" to the metal community ("I tried to look to far ahead, And saw the road go to my past instead").

Made In Hell is the second track. Riffs are more traditional than Resurrection's and it is mid-tempo as well. Is a great track, very energetic, mainly because of the drumming -check the chorus-. The two-guitar harmonies at the end of the solos is very cool and the Judas Priest's Steeler-like part at the end of the second chorus, although "plagiarized", adds a nice touch to the song. Now, on this song, vocals make you remember that Rob is not a youngster anymore, he sounds a little "old and tired". Lyrics are cheesy, but they must be good live -as most cheesy lyrics-.

Locked and Loaded goes next. This is the most modern song of the album, although the riffs are quite classical: the way they are put in the song and the distortion give them a weird touch. This is Rob's voice lower point of the album.

Nightfall! One of my favorite tracks of the album. The intro is amazing and, again, the mid tempo traditional metal element is all around, but certainly it isn't outdated. Voice improves here, notably on the chorus. The rythm section, as in the rest of the album, is outstanding. I don't like the solos but, afortunately, the rythm guitar that goes with them makes up for them. Lyrics seem to be quite deep in a twisted/love idea.

Silent Scream. I've grown to like this track, but when I heard it in 2000 it used to bore me. I still think the mix of ballad-heavy-ballad-heavy with almost any addition to each change is quite boring, but it is a high quality track -my favorite part is the power chords played right before the second pre-chorus-. The chorus still bores me, and the heavy part in the middle I find it to be rather mediocre -and it's vocals are horrible-.

The One You Love To Hate. I know now why this album dissapointed me: how the hell do you manage to put the best metal singers together and have such a mediocre song? It sounds like a "Chemical Wedding meets Fight" nightmare. I won't torture myself talking about it.

Cyberworld. Best track on the album, often overviewed. The fast intro will wake you from the TOYLTH nightmare and drive you to the cyberworld! The verse riff is great and the chords played to enter the chorus -and the chorus itself- are meant to be together with the finest metal hours of Halford and the genre itself. Vocals could have been better -if you can do it on Resurrection, why don't you try it here?-, but they do it for me. The ending part is amazing as well, ranking high the two-guitar riff; the vocals improve here.

Slow Down. Yes, this track slows down the record. But it's cool and, although a powerful song, it's quite nostalgic in general. Drumming is too modern for my tastes. The vocals before the last chorus "Will I rise..." are great, it reminds me of my favorite Halford performance (The Rage).

Twist is a cover from the guy that Judas used to cover so much -I don't know who the hell he is or anything about his career... I know nothing-, the one responsible for (Take these) Chains and Some Heads Are Gonna Roll... Now, why would he write such a weak track? It is standable, but still it is boring.

Temptation improves the last song, but it is nothing compared to previous tracks as Cyberworld or Nightfall. This is, perhaps, the most modern song on the album -hey, it is a comeback album, but he can't deny his post-Judas career with such ease-, but it is enyojable. Quite emotional as well. The end seems endless, cause the chorus gets played over and over and it is rather simplistic.

Drive is a fun song, but it is not remarkable at all. The modern riffs are here again -it is like the album is parted on a traditional vein till Cyberworld and the modern tracks start later, with the respective expeptions of The One You Love To Hate and Saviour-. The drumming is rather uninnovative, but it is what provides the entertainment in the song. The vocals are nothing special, and the same about boring endings can be said. In the middle of the song, before the guitar play of vocal lines, there's this crunchy riff I found to be quite amusing, it is a little out of place.

Saviour is, together with Cyberworld, Nightfall and Resurrection, what make this album great. The same said about Resurrection can be said here: great trad. metal riffs with some update, but with disgusting high notes at the entrance of drums and bass and a great chorus. The vocals are not anything special, they are rather weak (to Halfors standards), but in the chorus they make up the song. Lyrics are very Judaslike -Painkiller era- and the song, as a whole, is really outstanding.

So that's it, a great comeback, if not the best comeback ever done in metal. Musically it is a great album, and it certainly stirred many emotions among Judas Priest and traditional metal fans.

I am Halford, and I am boring without Judas Priest - 62%

Symphony_Of_Terror, April 3rd, 2004

This album may be the best of all of Rob Halfords solo works, and its at best average. Three things stand out on this album that make it what it is, and those are three songs on this album that attempt to be something, and they suceed. These songs are Resurrection, The One You Love To Hate, and Twist. A good heavy metal song, a good ballad, and a good 80's style priest song, respectivly. The other nine songs on this album range from decent to boring/bad, none very good.

The album starts off with Resurrection, this is the best song on this album done in the straight foward heavy metal style. Its heavy, has good vocals, loud drum work, a fast song, with great riffs. Its a traditional heavy metal song that halford does some good vocal work on. The One You Love To Hate is a ballad with some nice soaring vocals. The chorus has volume and is long, its a powerful song that is a break from the heavy metal standard of this album. Halford does some nice range with his vocals on this track, and he sings pretty different on here than he normally does. Twist is very similiar to a mid to late 80's judas priest song, most similiar to the Turbo album. It has a catchy chorus and catchy guitars as well. I do think it was his goal with this song to capture a Turbo to Ram It Down era Judas Priest sound, and he does. Twist is most certainly better than anything off Ram It Down, and on Par with Turbo.

As for the rest of the music, its decent to good at times, sometimes its boring and bad. The album is inconsitent in its quality. Made In Hell is the best of the other songs I didn't mention, but its just more of Resurrection, so it can be a bore. Silent screams is better than the rest of the unmentioned songs as well, but again, the song doesn't do all that much to make it memorable. This album is no Painkiller follow up, and its not better than anything Halford did with Priest, so there isn't much draw to it. If you love Halfords vocals, you may really enjoy this album. I just couldn't get into it because I found it boring and inconsitent at times, I am able to listen to it though because there are 3 great tracks on it. There are much worse heavy metal albums out there.

He's Back! - 86%

langstondrive, February 14th, 2004

After leaving Judas Priest in the early 90's and drenching himself with experimentation through his other projects, most notably Fight and Two, Halford finally returns to the roots with Resurrection. Throughout the album, the band really does back off and let Halford take the stage with his vocal performance. This is NOT a bad thing, as Halford is the best vocalist of all time.

Now, this album has some insane moments of metal, such as the four minute mark of "Silent Screams", where the speed kicks in. This stuff is fairly heavy, most of it can be compared to Painkiller in terms of heaviness and speed, althought Painkiller is more speed-consistant. The instruments, as I said, mainly stay in the background but do an excellent job of holding the Metal God's vocals together.

Right from the opener (the title track), this album kicks your ass without fail. The verses on "Resurrection" are an audio orgasm, with Halford showing us that the Painkiller vocals are strong. Night Fall sounds like it wouldn't be out of place on Painkiller either, it is slower paced, with a classic heavy metal verse and catchy, melodic chorus. Silent Screams is a slower song, but picks up about halfway and really starts to kick ass. Made In Hell is a complete tribute to the 70's Priest, with the classic double guitar intro and riffs. Same with the lyrics, bring back memories of the old Priest.

Those four just about cover it in terms of diversity. The title track is the best song on here for sure, just because of the vocals. Are those high screams incredible or what?

Get this one for sure.

One hell of a debute! - 90%

FatalStrike, May 2nd, 2003

Well the title track opens the album. A killer scream opens the song and the first riff starts up. Killer song. The riffs chug and chug and Halford shrieks as only he can do. This is a definent highpoint of the album.
Made in Hell follows, and we are given another killer song. Much in the vein of the first track, great song.
Locked and Loaded is a slower song that crunches along. Good headbanging song.
Nightfall comes next with a cool intro. Not bad. Another slower song, but it doesn't get dull and repetitive like Halford's next album. Also great vocal work from Halford.
Silent Screams follows. The first half of the song is slower and gets pretty boring, but then the second half picks up and sounds killer. Turns out to be a pretty good song with some killer shrieking towards the end.
The One You Love to Hate follows. Here we have both Halford and Bruce Dickinson on vocals. Holy shit, this is a killer pairing. Both sound great, and the riffs are pretty good as well. They could have done alot more with this song, but it's not bad.
Cyberworld is next, this one opens with some killer riffs, and pretty good vocals. This one sounds like it could have gone on Defenders of the Faith, it has a definant Priest sound to it. Great song.
Slow Down is next, and this is probably the catchiest song on the album. Halford sings this one great. It crunches along well.
Twist is next, it sounds like Slow Down, but it just doesn't have what the last song did, and ends up being a boring song.
Temptation follows and is a great song. Another mid-paced headbanger. With a killer chorus that shows Halford still has it, and a pretty cool solo towards the end.
Drive is next, this one sounds the most like Crucible, but it sounds good. It isn't overlong and uneventful. There are some nice riffs and leads. Also Halford sounds great. Then we get a killer chorus. Good song.
Saviour ends the album great. A thrashy riff opens the song, and we get one hell of a closing song. Awesome riffs, and some of the best vocal and lead work.

All in all there is only one weak song on this album and thats Twist. The rest of the songs sound great. This is an awesome debute album from Halford. Go get this!

Heavy fucking metal, right in your face. - 87%

Nightcrawler, January 25th, 2003

Halford's solo debut is absolutely fucking great, I must say. Resurrection is one heck of an album, and stuff like the title track would fit in to Painkiller without feeling out of place at all.
This is a CD packed with energetic, powerful, straightforward heavy fucking metal brought to you by Rob Metal God Halford.
On this album, we are delivered loads of heavy guitar riffs and blazing solos, pounding drum attacks and wicked basslines, working together with catchy, memorable vocal lines full of attitude and strength.
The songs are very straightforward, not too complicated but not overly simple either. The songs usually have the classic riff-chorus-riff-chorus-solo-chorus pattern, but it's used in a good way and doesn't get annoying or repetitive.
Now, it's true that the album is slightly inconsistent, but I tend to like each single song in one way or another, even though some songs are not quite good as the others. Twist, for instance, has some nice, midpaced riffing and lyrics with a cool attitude, but the most annoying chorus Rob Halford has ever done vocals on. Well, on with the song-by-song review then...


The opening track is also the title track and in my opinion the best track of the album: Resurrection. Beginning with a cool, atmospheric intro, it gets going with a legendary high-pitched scream by Rob Halford, and in kicks the main riff and some heavy drums.
The song smokes with rage, aggressiveness and power, with the high-pitched vocals and fast and heavy guitar riffs pounding you right in the face, tearing you apart. An amazing opener for an amazing album.
This is actually the only song where Rob does high-pitched vocals all through- one more of those wouldn't hurt...

Made In Hell follows, and this is one classic heavy metal anthem. Well, it's not really an anthem; it's fast, heavy and catchy and has cool metal-owns-your-ass lyrics. It's a really energetic, catchy tune which somewhat reminds me of 80's Priest. A killer solo with a cool melodic lead at the end must also be mentioned.

Locked And Loaded slows down the pace, but the in-your-face attitude is stronger than ever, especially with the midpaced crushing riffs and I-will-kick-your-ass lyrics, and some nice groovy drumwork.
Another great guitar solo is to be found here.

Night Fall is also pretty damn good, with a cool melodic intro leading into some nice just above midpaced riffing. The verses have a dark but quite groovy, catchy feeling, while the chorus is more melodic. A pretty good song, but tends to be a bit forgettable.

Silent Screams next. This one shares the spot for best song on the album along with the title track.
The guitar melodies playing in the opening of the song is beautiful, and Rob's vocals are very emotional, and so are the lyrics.
The first few minutes could be compared to Beyond The Realms Of Death, with the emotional verses and a few heavy parts in between, although this song is not as sad as Beyond, and not nearly as excellent (Not to say it's a bad song, it's a bloody masterpiece!)
After the melodic beginning, the song turns into a fast headbanger filled with anger and attitude which totally kicks ass. Hell, I changed my mind. This is the best song on the album.

Now comes another headbanger, and this also filled with an in-your-face attitude. The One You Love To Hate, with special guest performance by none other than Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson!
This is a killer song with a catchy, memorable chorus and some wicked guitar riffs and a great solo.

Then comes Cyberworld, an extremely underrated track in my opinion. It's got some pretty damn speedy guitar riffs, fast, catchy and somewhat evil verses and a cool, pretty memorable chorus.
And the killer melodic leads should also be mentioned.

Slow Down is another underrated piece, I noticed this after recently getting Live Insurrection, which brings the song to it's full potential.
It has a very cool feeling, and it's somewhat of a mix between a ballad and a headbanger. Nice, midpaced and fairly heavy riffs, and very good, clean vocals on the verses, and a very strong, memorable chorus, and a beautifully melodic bridge.

Twist is next, and this is probably the weakest song on the album. As I stated earlier, the verses are cool and have a great attitude, but the chorus is just plain annoying.
It's a midpaced and not very memorable track, and although it could've been better, the annoying and repetitive chorus somewhat ruins it.

Temptation is yet another overlooked track. Fairly heavy, over midpaced riffing and catchy verses, and an excellent melodic and memorable chorus.
But there is something missing about this song, it feels like it's not really finished. They could've done more with this one, I'm sure.

Drive rocks pretty damn well too. Wicked, mean and heavy headbanging riffs filled with a dirty attitude and homo-erotic lyrics, with a cool catchy chorus and a killer solo.
Some may dislike it due to the lyrics, but I love this song.

Saviour is a quite decent closer. Quite memorable verses and chorus, but the guitar riffs are quite uninteresting, and they somewhat lack the attitude that the lyrics has. Not really bad, but not great.


So overall, what we have here is an all-through solid metal album with many great tracks and a few that stand out among the rest.
The album has great variation in the songs, and they're all good in one way or another.
Most people tend to find it inconsistent, I tend to disagree.

The second coming of British Steel - 68%

UltraBoris, November 30th, 2002

There are some great songs on here, and some pretty crappy ones. The general atmosphere of this album is most reminiscent of British Steel, though Killing Machine wouldn't be a completely inaccurate comparison either, and sometimes it reminds me of Ram it Down.

Not really Painkiller, though... if you want Painkiller-like intensity, check out Halford's Live Insurrection - that is the album that you want to hear. But yeah, there's this one. It starts off pretty promising with "Resurrection", which is total fucking speed metal. Think "Ram it Down" meets "Freewheel Burning". Then, "Made in Hell" continues in the same vein. A bit of a thrashy groove too makes this probably the best song on here.

Then, Locked and Loaded is the most controversial song on here, simply because its homoerotic imagery. Okay, whatever, it's still a pretty decent song. Nightfall is where the album gets a bit boring for the first time. It's kinda midpaced, a bit uninspired... but then the album totally redeems itself with Silent Screams, which is the other canditate for the best song on here. This one kicks maximal ass, it starts off kinda slowly and then turns really fucking heavy.

"The One You Love to Hate" has Bruce Dickinson. Great. Otherwise, it's really forgettable. "Cyberworld" is decently cool speed metal, and thus is enjoyable just on that level. Then the album turns pretty crappy. Like Defenders of the Faith, it totally loses me. "Slow Down" is boring. "Twist" is totally fucking stupid. It's like Halford decided he needed to have a few more songs on here and forgot to actually take the time to write them. Temptation - blah. Drive is also really horrible.

Then, Saviour closes off the album in good style. This is pretty much what the bottom end of the album should be - that and Cyberworld. Leave out all the silly midpaced songs, that somehow lack inspiration. They sound like British Steel rehash sessions, and are mercifully omitted from Live Insurrection. Go there, kids. You won't be disappointed.

Disappointing - 55%

HawkMoon, August 11th, 2002

This guy needs no introduction or what do you say? Rob Halford, the metal legend himself, is back in the world of metal after a few steps in wrong directions. So now we shall take a closer look at his latest (studio)-effort.

After that horrifying "Two" project, I'm a bit sceptical but I turn it on anyway. Some background sound (made by a keyboard I think) followed by Rob shouting "Resurrection" and then he repeats the same word, but this time as high-pitched and piercing that only he's capable of. The riff that follows sets just the feeling you wanna hear, this is elite heavy metal, much better than the - I'm sorry to say it - crap! Judas Priest have been producing since Halford left.

Although.. I wish this wasn't such an uneven album. Tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 are all excellent but in between the story is another. I find (most of) the other tracks pretty boring, not to say sloppy written. For example the lyrics aren't exactly any bestsellers. Pretty cool though on "The one you love to hate" cause it features a duet between Halford and Bruce Dickinson (yeah you heard me), two of the best metal vocalists in my opinion, here on the same song (which isn't such a good song but the fact that this duet takes place makes it more interesting).

A pretty decent album, but the hopes of improvement for the next album were pretty quickly crushed, I don't want to say this but.. perhaps this old man has played out his role and the best thing would be retirement while he still has dignity left.