Album Review: Halford - Made Of Metal

The album starts of with Undisputed. I can't say it's a bad song but it sounds as if it were written specifically to be the entry music for a studio wrestler. It may have been for all I know. I will say the music is great, the lyrics I am not wild about. The second track, Fire and Ice, really takes it to a better place. The third track and first single, Made of Metal, is right there with Turning Left from Chickenfoot's debut album and sounds like a giant NASCAR add. At this point in the album the thing that stands out to me is that the album is sounding like Priest record more than previous Halford albums. Not nearly has "heavy". Then we come to Speed Of Sound which starts out with a very Iron Maiden feel to it. It ends up sounding very much like 80's Judas Priest including the dual leads. Like There's No Tomorrow is a great song, I think it would have been a great lead off single. The guitar riff under the verses still to me sounds a lot like Maiden's The Trooper. There has been a lot of talk on the internet about Rob not being able to sing like he used to. As far as a pure "singing" voice, I think he sounds great. You can debate his "screaming" ability. Till The Day I Die starts out like an old blues song and sounds great. When the song really kicks in it really keeps the cool vibe. Dare I say almost like a bluesy Cinderella song? We Own The Night is certainly an original sounding song from the Metal God. It has a very cool piano part to it. Heartless is a straight ahead metal song with a very cool guitar solo. Rob does appear to be at his vocal limit on Hell Razor but it works for him. Thunder and Lightning to me is hands down the best song on the album. It has a very catchy chorus that'll have you singing along in no time and the guitar has a very slinky line going on under the versus and punches you in the face during the big chorus. Twenty-Five Years is some what of slower almost power-ballad type song. Certainly not a love song though. The track Matador starts has a nice Latin flare to it. Great drumming on that track. I Know We Stand A Chance is a mid-tempo song. It has a very cool atmosphere to it. The album rounds out with the fourteenth song, The Mower. Fourteen songs into it and it is the first song that sounds like older Halford material.

Certainly 14 songs makes this song a bargain. If you found previous Halford albums a little "too heavy" for your taste or didn't want to hear Rob doing his fire siren vocals, this album would be right up your alley.