Crucible

Halford

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 25, 2002)
• Original Release Date: June 25, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Metal-Is
• ASIN: B000068QXS
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (78 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #37,320 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Park Manor

2. Crucible

3. One Will

4. Betrayal

5. Handing Out Bullets

6. Hearts Of Darkness

7. Crystal

8. Heretic

9. Golgotha

10. Wrath Of God

11. Weaving Sorrow

12. Sun

13. Trail Of Tears

14. she

15. Fugitive

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Rob Halford's 2000 comeback album, Resurrection, won over even the most jaded metalhead, and Crucible is likely to do the same. Paying no attention to current trends and sell-out bandwagons, the former Judas Priest frontman and his mighty crew stay true to traditional heavy metal, yet they never come across as dated. Guitar duo Patrick Lachman and Mike Chlasciak swap monstrous riffs and fluid solos that are as solid as a brick wall, while Halford himself is in top form, able to reach high notes with an ease that could put youngster metal shriekers to shame. Even when he belts out the disc's only ballad, the bonus track "She" (found on initial pressings, along with the cut "Fugitive"), it's with unsurpassed conviction. The album is a nonstop metallic assault complete with anthems ("One Will"), speed metal ("Betrayal"), and accessible midtempo rockers ("Sun"), as well as dark and moody moments, such as "Crystal" (which deals with the dangers of crystal-meth addiction). Looks like this metal god is going to be with us for a long time. --Gail Flug

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This CD Should be a Hit but won't get airplay, September 12, 2002

By	Joseph Jorgensen "Pickledjoe" (Watertown, MA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am a lifelong Judas Priest/Rob Halford fan, therefore, I am admittedly biased towards a positive review. When Resurection came out I liked it and recomended it FOR FANS FOF 80'S STYLE HEAVY METAL. The album was what it was, good for its genre with a few cheesy moments, but fun.

This CD on the other hand straight ROCKS! Yes it has a few songs that remind you of Shake your fist 80's style Metal with an updated production (Golgotha, but for the most part its quite innovative and modern.

The opening Title track crucible is awesome Heavy and deep without being cheesy. The first half of the CD follows this standard pattern, but what really turns me on is the 2nd half, which is more experimental..Heavy, melodic, and yet very modern. I would compare the sound more with Tool, but Rob Halford Style vocals. The song Sun is truly great

The musicianship is superb and the production is very deep and moody. The lyrics, a few tongue and cheek momonets asside, are also surpringly introspective.

Impossible as it sounds I think this might be the best release of the singers three decade career. At least its the one I am enjoying the most right now. I think this CD, if it recieved airplay, could be a fair size hit. Unfortunely, promotion has not been great and there is no tour to package the group on this year. I am not sure why they couldn't have been a Ozzfest Side-Stage act, but it didn't happen. Only room for one 50+ singer on that tour. If you liked REsurection I think you will very much like Crucilbe. If you know nothing of this band check it out and keep an open mind..I think you will be surprised.

Pickledjoe

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Totally Different Metal Direction And Still Awesome, December 19, 2004

By	Stephen B. O'Blenis (Nova Scotia, Canada) - See all my reviews

I'll admit that the first time I listened to this, I was a bit disappointed, but it grew on me tremendously until I quickly considered it "Resurrection"'s equal, and still do. I think the reason for my initial lack of enthusiasm is that what I wanted in this was in fact a "Resurrection Volume II" which "Crucible" most certainly is not. Instead it's a very different album from anything Halford has ever done, or anybody else for that matter. It still has its similarities with Judas Priest, but just as many with as varied bands as Rammstein, Pantera, Nevermore, Motorhead and a slew of other bands. Not a simple cross between them either; this is actually done in a wholly original style that bears some passing resemblances to numerous other sounds but exists independantly of them all.

It's a searingly heavy album with crystal-clear production, seen particularly in the opening moments of the awesome title track. Lyrically it's wide open to interpretaion and it's in lyrics that it holds a great deal of its potency. Something like "Handing Out Bullets" could easily be interpreted as nastily satanic on a casual listen, with some extremely provocative llines, but if yu carefully listen to the whole thing you get (or at least this is my interpretation) that this a venomous attack on the corruption of religion, not the idea of religion itself. It's like an attack on the supposed adherents of any faith - Christianity, Islam, Judaism, whatever - who use their 'faith' as an excuse for their depraved acts and discredit the whole notion of whatever they claim to believe in - people we've seen throughout history from Torquemada to bin Laden. "Wrath Of God" isn't ambiguous though; living up to its title "Wrath Of God" is Armageddon, both sonically and vocally. "Sun" is a motivator to strive towards life in the face of suffering, a common theme either directly or indirectly in many of the tracks off Halford's 'solo' albums. The slower, haunting "Trail Of Tears" can be read as a play on divine abandonment; personally I see it in a totally different way - just because the pain has yet to lift doesn't mean God isn't there (I know some metal fans are going to hate that kind of sentiment, but that's what I get out of it).

"She" and "Fugitive" were apparantly bonus tracks that were going to be available for a short time only, but judging by the site here they're still available on current copies. I recommend getting this quickly in case they do disappear from later pressings; both are excellent, with "She" - Rob's tribute to his mother - a particularly noteworthy track. Every song top-notch, and overall one of the alltime great albums.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Get the limited edition because the bonustrack "She" rules, October 11, 2004

By	Rick van der Ham - See all my reviews

Crucible is the second album from the "band" Halford. The band is, of course, named after Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford. When I first heard the album, I was surprised that the album sounded totally different from the more traditional based Metal album Resurrection. Crucible sounds like a mixture between traditional Metal and modern Metal. (Luckily it does not sound like Nu-Metal.) Maybe you can even see Crucible as a mixture between his work with the band Fight and the Resurrection album. Halford's vocals refer more to his Fight period than to his Priest period or Resurrection album. There are some more traditional Metal songs on the album like the song "Betrayal". I personally prefer the more ambitious and slower songs on the album, because I am not so fond of simple traditional Metal structures anymore. The most standout track for me is the bonus-track "She". I haven't heard Rob Halford use his clean vocals in such a impressive way since the Judas Priest albums in the 70's. Wow. Compared to his previous album, the songs are more complex, sound more heavier, and are stronger. Also, the songs on Crucible are less based around the vocals than Resurrection. Crucible sounds more like a band effort. If you like his previous album Resurrection because it sounds like traditional Metal or traditional Priest, then listen to Crucible first before you buy it. You could be disappointed after listening to the album. If you, like me, prefer more modern sounding Metal, without sounding trendy, then check out Crucible.