Customer Reviews

Crucible

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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

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.

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.

CRUCIBLE, altough a strong heavy metal album, is definitely inferior to Ressurection and the great Live Insurrection.

The trouble here is that's all about the same tá'ta'ta, héhéhé, cliched heavy metal, devoid of the pure energy of the first release by this line-up.

Well, maybe I'm just in a bad mood.

Rob Halford delivers another success, but not as widely appreciated as his first album Ressurection. It seems the average tracks were put at the front and the end with the creme of the crop sandwiched right in the middle - it is what it is. Here's the track listings:

1. Park Manor - (10/10) Good scorching solo effort to start us off
2. Crucible - (6/10) Wait....for it
3. One Will - (6/10) Killer guitar work but the chorus is awful....
4. Betrayal - (7/10) Getting closer.........ditch the squeeky painkiller vocals
5. Handing Out Bullets (9/10) Ah, the cd begins. A true Halford classic. Sounds like Zakk Wylde's guitar and Dimebag's guitar emerge as one; this is what we came for. Start handin' em' out Rob.
6. Hearts Of Darkness (8/10) More killer guitar work
7. Crystal (10/10) Amazing vocals; the guitar work is intoxicating. 2nd best on the album.
8. Heretic (8/10) Your thrashier single.
9. Golgotha (10/10) We are back for more hellraising.
10. Wrath Of God (8/10) Your speedier/thrashier single.
11. Weaving Sorrow (9/10) This is Rob Halford's definite high point for this cd as he screams bloody 80's all over again to sparkling perfection.
12. Sun (10/10) The best song on the album. The guitars and vocals are very hypnotic and flow in a spiritual way. Something very different for Halford; perhaps his most unique.
13. Trail Of Tears (5/10) And something very unoriginal. This was to be expected.
14. she (5/10) Second ballad in a row. Looks like the cd is over. We want more!!!
15. Fugitive (7/10) Here's more. But not quite what I had in mind.

In comparison to Halford's first cd, you can find just as many good songs if not more. Plenty of variety here for those with different views, although probably could of been cut to ten tracks like most bands and polished to perfection. Halford seems more intent on delivering the goods without knowing exactly what those "goods" are. But if you like the songs One will, and She than I probably can't tell you either.

The mighty Halford is back in full s&m gear making the best music since Judas Priest's Defenders of the faith. Crucible is amazing in that every song is consistantly great. Each and every song is infused with highly distorted guitar levels, awesome drum blast beats, and astonishing singing and screaming. What I am most impressed with are the intense and complex guitar solos and Rob Halford's powerful multi styled voice. If this CD was made in 1991 it would have been a major hit; it would have been huge and deserving of compitition to Metallica's black album. The fact is crucible sounds real modern and contains thoughtful and intelligent lyrics. Do not expect the typical cheese metal lyrics about hot babes, drugs, and satanic rituals. Halford has created something very unique and special with Crucible in that it is nothing like 80s or 90s metal. Honestly, Crucible is much better than his 80s metal styled come back CD Ressurection, which was average at best. Overall Crucible has a very sorrowful and sinister tone combined with fiery energy and the production quality is excellent. Rob Halford's banshee wails will explode through your speakers and send shivers down your spine, and his deep growls will raise the roof of your house. Check crucible out it is among the best metal music ever made.

It seems like everytime a singer splits a band they try to move as far from "the band's sound" as possible. With Rob Halford's previous offerings, Fight and Two, it seemed he was doing just that. Luckily for hard rock and metal fans Halford has returned to the music that made him ne of the most popular singers of the 80's.

This CD is what Judas Priest sounded like in the mid-80's. This is what Judas Priest should sound like now! There is no pretense here. No "gotta make a rock/rap song for MTV". This is no holds barred, bang your head rock'n'roll.

If KK Downing and Glenn Tipton give this CD a listen maybe they'll discover where they went wrong. Nothing against Ripper Owens, but Rob Halford IS Judas Priest. And if I can't hear Judas Priest, I'll be perfectly happy with Halford's "Crucible" CD.

If You've been asking yourself, "Why doesn't anyone make good music today"? Get this CD, your prayers have been answered.

This Cd plain and simple, Kicks Butt!!!! If you liked Resurrection, you will definately love this latest offering from the Metal God. The CD has a great sound to it and the band is in absolute top notch form. Songs Like Crucible, Betrayal, Golgotha,Hearts of Darkness,She and Weaving Sorrow just come right out at you. I have been a Priest/Halford fan for over 20 years and I must say that the MeTal God certainly has given his legion of fans something really good. Rob Halford has been and always will be the BEST MeTal vocalist, PERIOD!!!! His range can still break windows and he has been doing it for 30 years now.
I cant wait to see HALFORD and his Mighty Crew live when they hit New York!!!

No sophomore jinx here. What Halford as a band have done is awe inspiring. The wide variety of shades of heavy metal are omnipresent here. After a gradual build up of Park Manor, Rob Halford sets the tone with a vocal assault on the title track. From there, it intensifies, as guitar riffs get more complex, and Halford's vocal range goes to infinity. Key standout tracks are: Betrayal, Handing Out Bullets, Golgotha, and Heretic. Heretic is perhaps my favorite song on the album, because it mixes the Judas Priest style with contemporary Halford.
What is different about this masterpiece is the writing. Halford writes about current issues of our times, and executes the sound with stunning conviction. I highly recommend this to all metal fans and those who are tired of hearing unfresh music.
Buy it!

I will never forget the rush I got when I first heard Resurrection and while this didn't do the same,(probably just because I hadn't heard Rob sing like that in years),this is a superb cd,maybe even better than the first!.Real Metal fans can rejoice knowing Halford is here. This album does not sound dated at all(to my surprise) and in fact it is fresh,energetic,fast at times,melodic at times,and all in all powerful right from the start. The band is in fine form throughout with crunching,yet crystal clear guitars,the drum work of Bobby Jarzombek is an absolute standout, Rob Halford's vocals are even better than the last album,and the songwriting is a cut above as well. I was worried that this band wouldn't be able to follow up Resurrection with a comparable offering-Well shame on me for ever doubting the Metal God and his boys! In a world of so called nu-metal and alternative rock,I feel so lucky to still be able to hear real metal that kicks! Halford's still got it-thank God for the Metal God!