Celestial
The Metal God, Rob Halford, is no stranger to Christmas songs, or ‘Holiday songs’ I should say, having released a collection of ‘Winter Songs’ with the Halford band some ten years ago. That is an album that comes out and gets played every year so imagine my delight when I discovered that Rob is bringing another album of re imagined Christmas songs. Not with the ‘Halford’ band this time, but released as Rob Halford with Family and Friends.
And this is entirely a family affair. With Rob’s brother Nigel on the drums, his nephew Alex Hill on bass, his sister Sue on bells and the twin guitar tandem of friends Robert Jones and Jon Blakey. What ensues is a thoroughly enjoyable album that definitely has some surprises and unexpected moments thrown in too.
Opening with the title track, ‘Celestial’ really feels Christamassy, with a slow build up of Strings, a crackling fire in the background and wind sound effects. It begins with a distant vocal, foreshadowing a song later on in the album. The strings slowly build up and increase in power and it transitions into the first song almost seamlessly.
Donna and Blitzen has been released as the lead single of the album. This track leans very much on the Judas Priest sound, with the duel guitar work and classic Priest sounding riff. It has echoes of ‘Judas is Rising’, actually one of my favourite Priest songs. Rob Halford, despite his age can still belt out songs with as much power as ever. Completing the song is a great guitar solo, what a cracking song to open the album with. I loved it.
‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman’ is great. Very much a classic heavy metal take on a classic Christmas song. Yet again, very enjoyable guitar work. Quite a punchy little track very much following on from Rob’s Winter Songs album of ten years ago.
Next up is a fantastic version of ‘Away in a Manger’, unlike anything we’ve heard from Rob before. This is a slow, brooding take on the song. Almost blues rock with a little taste of country thrown in to. I love Rob’s re working of the melody as well, it really works along with the syncopated rhythms used in the vocal line as well. This is my album highlight. I absolutely love it. ‘Morning Star’ is another great track, definitely in the rock ballad category with a great sing along chorus with acoustic guitars and synths too.
Track 6, ‘Deck the Halls’ is a full on departure from all things soft. This is full on, loud and fast, thrash metal. Something we’ve not heard from Rob since his days in Fight. I enjoyed Deck the Halls, it took me completely by surprise, which is good. It is completely different to the other tracks we’ve had so far, I particularly enjoyed the guitar work. The track slows down and comes to a faux ending, with a great guitar solo before starting back up at full speed and railroading through to the end. Despite the tracks stylistic departure from the rest of the album, in a strange way it still works within the throughline of the complete album. A brilliant thrash moment.
Slowing momentum down slightly, ‘Joy to the World’ is up next. It begins and is quite manic, but throughout the song, the instrumentation gets less busy. This is a track that brings the listener back down after the previous high energy ‘Deck the Halls’ and prepares them for the next track ‘Oh Little Town of Bethlehem’. This has echoes of Pink Floyd’s Shine on you Crazy Diamond in the instrumental introduction. Again, as with ‘Away in a Manger’ Rob has changed the rhythm of the melody and what a great result. Another great rendition and I have to mention the excellent orchestration. It’s sublime.
‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ is up next. Another thrash metal moment on the album, this however, I don’t think worked quite as well as ‘Deck the Halls’. As a stand alone track it works and certainly at a gig, in a moshpit, at Christmas, I could think of nothing better, but does it fit in with the rest of the album. This, I’m not sure. Perhaps it’s a little bit too left field to work within the context the entire album…
Bringing things back is ‘The First Noel’, a great showcase of Rob’s incredible vocal power. This man certainly still has it! The song is Rob singing to an organ accompaniment and a choir singing the chorus. Brilliant! Continuing, ‘Good King Wenceslas’ is up next. This has a long introduction, that slowly builds. A crunchy guitar chord coming in at 1 minute 30, letting us know we’re in for something quite special. The intro continues to build for another 45 seconds before Rob’s iconic vocals come in. The song continues to build throughout culminating in a massive wall of sound and coming in at 7 minutes, 30 seconds, epic is an undertatement.
Concluding the album, is ‘Protected by the Light’, this is certainly less epic, and is a very traditional Christmas carol, complete with organ, penned by Rob and Mike Exeter. It really is a beautiful way to end the album with a lovely Christmas message, the true meaning of Christmas. I got a little emotional listening to this, it really is a gorgeous song that really does pull on the heart strings.
Rob Halford has done it again. Overall, what a fantastic album. Not full on metal, not full on soppy Christmas music, but a great mix. I loved the reworked melodies of ‘Away in a Manger’ and ‘Oh Luittle Town of Bethlehem’. This is an album for any rock fan, any metal fan and to be honest any fan of music in general. You will find something you’ll enjoy, I guarantee you. As for me, Rob Halford and Friends ‘Celestial’ will be joining Halford’s Winter Songs on my Christmas Day playlist. Happy Christmas everyone!!
Released by Legacy Recordings
Released on 18th October 2019
