1008. Halford / Resurrection. 2000. 5/5

After the separation of Rob Halford from the rest of Judas Priest following the tour to promote the Painkiller album, there was a feeling that the decade of the 1990’s was lost for all sides. That’s not to say that they were inactive, but the sum of their parts still probably didn’t add up to the whole that had come before it. Halford himself had already done projects such as Fight and 2wo, which had received reasonable hearings and reviews. It wasn’t until the year had clicked over to 2000 that a third project began, this time simply titled Halford, and with it the album titled Resurrection.

While there were differences in the music produced in his other projects before this one, Resurrection immediately feels like it is a return to the heavy metal that Halford was renowned for in Judas Priest. In the main, this can be attributed to the presence of Roy Z, who not only produced the album but co-wrote the majority of the material that was recorded. Z had previously performed a similar ‘second coming’ for Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson, whose off-the-rails solo career was revitalised and reborn under Roy Z’s watch on the albums Accident of Birth and The Chemical Wedding. It had propelled him not only to being the solo star he deserved to be with his talents, but also back into the Iron Maiden fold. Here on Resurrection, Z does a similar thing, taking a man of unquestioned talent and a vocal range that was considered one of the best in all of the metal genre, and putting together a package that returned him to the top of his profession by writing songs that appealed to his main market. Along with Halford and Z, the songs were written in the main with the help of the album’s two guitarists, Pat Lachman and Mike Chlasciak, and their contribution both to the writing of the songs and their instrumental performance should not be overlooked.
Having everyone on the same page, in order to produce an album that best summed up the times in heavy metal and giving their leader the platform to sell it was massively important. This is an album that helps to slam the door on the previous decade, figuratively for Halford himself and on the slumber and increasing variety of music under the ‘metal’ banner. What Resurrection does is show that traditional heavy metal music was not dead, it had just been on hiatus, waiting for men such as these to bring it back to the surface once again.
This album has all of that, and more. The opening tracks are full of autobiographical lyrics brought forth with the energy that they deserve. Halford’s scream to introduce the opening title track is what punters had been waiting for, along with the squealing guitars, flying drums and fast paced track. “Made in Hell” followed this up with the same amazing energy pumping out of the speakers. It’s a great way to start the album, and it immediately draws in all of the naysayers.
The song output on the album does have a lovely contrast about it. Songs like “Silent Screams” and “Temptation”, where the tempo might be tied back a little but the intensity of the vocals certainly isn’t, “Twist”, which again bends and rearranges the tempo and sound of the song such that it isn’t traditionally metal but retains all the characteristics, and “Slow Down” all help to strengthen the show of versatility that Halford has in his music without compromising any of the characteristics that he is looking to reinforce here. Then you can concentrate on the faster, heavier songs that dominate and bring back the masses, songs such as “Cyberworld” and the album closer “Saviour”, and the duet/duel with Bruce Dickinson on the song “The One You Love to Hate” which mightn’t feature anything ground-breaking in the way of riffs or chords but still highlights the album because of the two vocalists involved.

It may be too simplistic to suggest that this is the album that Judas Priest should have followed up Painkiller with, apart from the fact that it is almost a decade on from that album and metal had been through some tough times during those years, and the fact that it contains different musicians and writers. That is also not to completely diss Priest’s Jugulator album, as it had similar differences. Looking back however (and again not trying to be detrimental to the other material) this album is better than anything that has been released by Judas Priest since Painkiller, though nailing down a reason for that would be difficult. Even my well-worn theory of the heavy involvement in this album by Roy Z doesn’t completely answer the question. In the end, we can simply be thankful that it not only revitalised Halford’s career and standing, but hastened his return to Judas Priest and the further works that band has done since. Even though, as expressed, they don’t match up to what he did here.

Rating:  “Here I am now, I’m your Saviour, there can be only one”.   5/5