Halford

The recent Judas Priest episode of Behind the Music predictably focused on lead singer Rob Halford's homosexuality, not that there's anything wrong with that. The most intriguing part of the show was how Rob, frustrated at being a closeted gay man in the most macho form of rock-and-roll, went to a gay sex shop in London and bought a whole bunch of spikes, leather, chains & whips to wear onstage, a look that was soon copied by metal bands everywhere and ultimately became the standard look for headbangers worldwide. So...in essence, the whole "chains & leather" metal image was inspired by a gay man secretly expressing his sexuality!

Makes you think, doesn't it?

"Resurrection"

  1. "Resurrection" (3:58)
  2. "Made in Hell" (4:12)
  3. "Locked and Loaded" (3:18)
  4. "Night Fall" (3:41)
  5. "Silent Screams" (7:06)
  6. "The One You Love to Hate"--featuring Bruce Dickinson (3:11)
  7. "Cyberworld" (3:08)
  8. "Slow Down" (4:51)
  9. "Twist" (4:08)
  10. "Temptation" (3:32)
  11. "Drive" (4:30)
  12. "Saviour" (2:57)

Ah, yes...after fronting the passable side project Fight and the oft-maligned (and IMO underappreciated) Two, the Metal God returns with a healthy dose of classic, Priest-like rock and roll! This solo album could have easily been a follow-up to Painkiller -- chock-full of healthy riffs, ear-splitting screams, and butt-shaking hooks. One of my favorites here is "Twist", which I think is a cover song (at least, it's the only track not written by Halford & his bandmates) but I haven't been able to confirm that anywhere? (No, it's NOT the Chubby Checker song!!)

"Live Insurrection"

    disc one:
  1. "Resurrection" (4:02)
  2. "Made in Hell" (4:13)
  3. "Into the Pit" (4:15)
  4. "Nailed to the Gun" (3:35)
  5. "Light Comes Out of Black" (5:00)
  6. "Stained Class" (5:32)
  7. "Jawbreaker" (3:25)
  8. "Running Wild" (3:02)
  9. "Slow Down" (4:48)
  10. "The One You Love to Hate"--w/Bruce Dickinson (3:11)
  11. "Life in Black" (4:26)
  12. "Hell's Last Survivor" (3:24)
  13. "Sad Wings" (3:33)
  14. "Saviour" (2:57)
  15. "Silent Screams" (7:32)
    disc two:
  1. "Cyberworld" (3:18)
  2. "The Hellion"--instrumental (0:48)
  3. "Electric Eye" (3:29)
  4. "Riding on the Wind" (3:10)
  5. "Genocide" (7:36)
  6. "Beyond the Realms of Death" (6:51)
  7. "Metal Gods" (4:34)
  8. "Breaking the Law" (3:50)
  9. "Tyrant" (4:41)
  10. "Screaming in the Dark"--studio track (3:41)
  11. "Heart of a Lion"--studio track (3:51)
  12. "Prisoner of Your Eyes"--studio track (4:33)

Ehh, this kind of pisses me off. According to the liner notes, this live set is actually "virtual live", with many songs actually taken from sound checks & demos, and mixed in with the crowd noise thanks to "studio wizardry". (That is, Bruce Dickinson never sang that duet live onstage.) All well and good, except the track listing will give you an impression that this is a genuine live concert, with "First Encore" and "Second Encore" listed on side two before tracks 6 and 8 respectively! Also, the Japanese import lists a bonus track called "Power Failure" which I assumed was a faithfully recreated moment when the stage lost power -- but maybe not?? There's certainly no such incident included here...

But enough about that. This is a monster live set, containing nearly every song from Resurrection, including two tracks ("Sad Wings", "Hell's Last Survivor") only available on the Japanese import (grrr...) Plus a healthy dose of classic Priest and Fight songs -- side two, in fact, is almost entirely composed of Priest! (Although the mastering is a bit strange...track one consists of seven seconds of crowd noise, with "Cyberworld" actually starting on track two.) We also get a triplet of newly recorded studio demos, including "Heart of a Lion" which was originally recorded by the band Racer X in the mid-80's, though written by Halford/Downing/Tipton...always thought that was interesting.

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