{"id":67985,"date":"2019-12-27T19:52:04","date_gmt":"2019-12-28T00:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=67985"},"modified":"2019-12-27T19:52:04","modified_gmt":"2019-12-28T00:52:04","slug":"halford-celestial-music-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2019\/halford-celestial-music-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Halford | Celestial"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Dan Skiba<\/span>
\n\u2014 Staff Writer \u2014<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Rob Halford shocked the Heavy Metal Community back in 2009 with Halford III: Winter Songs<\/em>, which proved both the Metal God was spiritually devoted to the Christmas Holiday and that you could indeed Metalize virtually any seasonal song into a true rocker \u2013 no matter how sacred — if you wear black leather and studs while in Santa\u2019s Studio. At that time in 2009, word had it that Halford was considering making several Holiday albums, and perhaps entertaining thoughts of touring during the Christmas Season to perform his concoctions \u2026 similar to Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Dee Snyder, and Mannheim Steamroller (to name but a few).<\/p>\n

Fast-forwarding ten years later to 2019, Halford has resurrected the Holiday-themed album concept, however, this time its creation was a true \u201cfamily and friends affair\u201d that Halford quickly admits he had little influence over. Who exactly did what and how much may never be known to the public at large, but whenever Halford\u2019s voice is stamped on a piece of work, it\u2019s going to be labeled as a Rob Halford creation \u2026 so then shall it be considered such here as well.<\/p>\n

That said, Celestial<\/em> contains an introduction, \u201cCelestial\u201d, along with 11 full length tracks, of which 3 are original compositions. The originals vary widely in technique and presentation; but are all interesting and certainly contribute to the overall enjoyment of the album. \u201cDonner and Blitzen\u201d is a full-out rocker \u2026 funny, but it almost sounds like Halford is admonishing both of them for (perhaps) not carrying their full load. \u201cMorning Star\u201d is much more lighthearted and uplifting, if you will \u2026 and it\u2019s filled with enough Whoa Oh Oh Oh Oh\u2019s to get you singing along by the second round of that chorus. \u201cProtected By The Light\u201d comes across as a Scottish Folk Song of sorts, and sends the clear message that family being together is by far the most important element to cherish at Christmastime.<\/p>\n

The \u201ccovers\u201d of traditional Christmas songs are all very recognizable, yet all vary in style \u2026 some have acoustical elements, some are Metalized, and some fall somewhere in-between. Halford provides the pipes, but friends and family do the rest \u2026 and by all considerations, they collectively do a fine job. If you enjoyed Winter Songs<\/em>, then owning a copy of Celestial<\/em> is a must.<\/p>\n

Genres: Christmas Metal, Folk Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nRob Halford \u2013 Vocals
\nRobert Jones \u2013 Guitars
\nJon Blakely – Guitars
\nAlex Hill \u2013 Bass
\nSue Halford – Bells
\nNigel Halford – Drums<\/p>\n

Tracklisting:
\nCelestial
\nDonner and Blitzen
\nGod Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (cover)
\nAway In A Manger (cover)
\nMorning Star
\nDeck The Halls (cover)
\nJoy To The World (cover)
\nO Little Town Of Bethlehem (cover)
\nHark! The Herald Angels Sing (cover)
\nThe First Noel (cover)
\nGood King Wenceslas (cover)
\nProtected By The Light<\/p>\n

Label:
\nSony Music<\/p>\n

Website:
\nhttps:\/\/robhalford.shop.musictoday.com\/store<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: [usr 7.0 size=20]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Dan Skiba \u2014 Staff Writer \u2014 Rob Halford shocked the Heavy Metal Community back in 2009 with Halford III: Winter Songs, which proved both the Metal God was spiritually devoted to the Christmas Holiday […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":67986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-67985","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music-reviews"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}