Customer Reviews

War of Words

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD was seriously underrated in the industry. It is fantastic and without question one of the best metal records of the '90's. Entirely composed and produced by Rob Halford, it shows the genius which helped make Priest one of the definitive metal bands. The songs are catchy and some of them fairly melodic, but the CD has a number of memorably brutal and raw thrashy tracks, and it is mostly significantly heavier than Priest at its heaviest. The lyrics are deep and well-written. Crunchy riffing and great song concepts that carry you right along. Halford's vocal power and range are as evident here as anywhere. Powerful, sharp and extremely satisfying. The better of the two Fight CD's.

Just pretend for a moment you are the vocalist of one of the all time top selling Heavy Metal bands (yes, it is quite a stretch of the imagination!), and you are not happy. The band has only sporadically produced worthwhile material for the best part of a decade, and you are feeling like letting loose. If you are Rob Halford, you form Fight.

Yes, Fight, the side project that saw Rob Halford ejected from Judas Priest, inadvertently revitalising both Halford and Priest. Rather than reinventing the wheel, Fight took a huge slab of Priest, and added a dash of Thrash sensibilities, which left an unfettered Halford free to revive the forgotten art of Screaming for Vengeance.

So what do we get? Well, lots of Priest influenced, headkicking metal, not terribly original, but entertaining and as catchy as hepatitis in a spitting competition. There are straightforward stompers like "Into The Pit", "War Of Words", "Kill It" and "Vicious". "Little Crazy" is a little different, using slide guitars to add an almost country feel. "For All Eternity" and "Reality: A New Beginning" let Halford explore power ballad country.

There really isn't much more to say about this album. It is solid, straightforward 1990s Heavy Metal. Fans will know what to expect. It is unlikely to convert the unconverted. It is metal, simple as that.

As most of you do know,Fight was,of course the band that Rob Halford formed after twenty years of fronting Judas Priest,along with Priest drummer Scott Travis.Bassist Jay Jay and guitarists Brian Tilse&Russ Parrish round out the group's line-up.The killer tracks are easy to spot here,like "Into The Pit",the in-your-gut "Nailed To The Gun",the heavily riffed "Immortal Sin","Contortion" and "Reality,A New Beginning".Plain and simple,a truly great '90's metal release.The follow-up to this effort,'Small Deadly Space' isn't as good.Thank goodness Halford has now rejoined Priest.I ALWAYS thought he would have,eventually.

THE BAND: Rob Halford (vocals, guitar), Russ Parrish (guitar, keyboards), Brian Tilse (guitar/keyboards), Jay Jay (bass), Scott Travis (drums & percussion).

THE DISC: (1993) 12 tracks clocking in at approximately 59 minutes. Included with the disc is a 4-page foldout including 1 black & white band photo, song titles, equipment used, and thank you's. Recorded at Wisseloord Studios in the Netherlands... a prestigious and well-known studio used also by - Def Leppard, The Police, Scorpions, ELO, Elton John, and others. All tracks written by Halford. Label - Epic / Sony.

COMMENTS: 1992 saw hard rock and metal revamped a bit with Megadeth ("Countdown to Extinction") and Rage Against The Machine (self titled debut). The following year ('93) however, I feel was a tough year for the hard rock and metal scene. Grunge and alternative was still a driving force, as Nirvana ("In Utero"), Smashing Pumpkins ("Siamese Dream"), and Pearl Jam ("Vs.") all had good releases. A few well-known band's that fell a little flat - Rush ("Counterparts") and Scorpions ("Face The Heat"). However, there were several other albums that stood out - Robert Plant's "Fate Of Nations", Mr. Big ("Bump Ahead"), Lillian Axe ("Psychoschizophrenia"), BulletBoys ("Za-Za"), Coverdale/Page's only album together... and Fight's debut. With Rob Halford and Judas Priest parting ways in '92 who knew what to expect with Fight. This debut did get some notice - reaching #83 on rock's mainstream chart (the song "Little Crazy" reached #21). The sound was a bit different. Still metal, but gone was the 70's and 80's Judas Priest trademark sound, and in was that 90's Pantera/Anthrax edge. Halford's been around for 4 decades now... and outside of his work with Judas Priest, and his solo "Resurrection" (2000) album, I strongly feel this Fight debut is the best thing he's been involved with. Parrish and Tilse are very talented on guitar - extremely crunchy rhythms, and lighting quick solos. Scott Travis is an animal on the drum kit. Highlights include - the faster "Into The Pit", "Nailed To The Gun" and "Vicious". Several of the songs are mid temp metal rockers... simply great songs - melodic, dark and ultra heavy - "Life In Black" (my favorite song on the album), "Immortal Sin", "For All Eternity" and "Little Crazy". The only negative is the last track... "Reality, A New Beginning" is a great song, however there's a hidden bonus track here - "Reality" lasts for about 4 minutes, then there is a 4-5 minute empty gap, followed by a 3-4 minute hidden song (judging by the repetitive chorus it's probably titled "Jesus Saves"). I just don't understand why band's (and/or their labels) present it like this... just give it to us - don't make us wait. Overall, this Fight debut is a wonderful album - one of a handful of metal highlights for me in 1993 (4.5 stars).

War Of Words is the first album Rob Halford released after his departure from Judas Priest. War of Words does not really sound like the music from Judas Priest. Sure there are minor resemblances with Judas Priest's Painkiller album, but overall it was a new start for Halford. By the way, Judas Priest drummer Scott Travis played the drums on this album.

Musically War Of Words reminds of then popular bands like Fear Factory, Pantera, Prong, and Biohazard. To put it in other words, expect a mixture of Thrash Metal and Hardcore. The guitarists mainly play heavy chunky riffs, but there are also more melodic songs like "Immortal Sin". Also expect some excellent solos. The opening song "Into The Pit" reminds me the most of the Judas priest area. It is a song that goes from mid tempo to fast. The song sounds like a mixture of the albums Painkiller and Jugulator. The song "Life In Black" reminds me of the doomy Black Sabbath.

For a 1993 release, the production is really excellent. The production is really heavy and clear. Are there also negative aspects on this album? Yes there are. Some songs could have used more diversity, more tempo changes, different patterns, etc. Musically, some songs are based around only a few riffs and that's it. The remix album Mutations, where 5 songs from War Of Words have been remixed, shows that with use of electronics these songs become more interesting. Also the clean vocals of Halford could have been better. The clean vocals should have been less raw, but maybe the rawer clean vocals suites the music better. Vocally there are also some typical hardcore shouts like in the song "Contortion".

It is strange when you compare War Of Words and Jugulator, Priest their first album without Halford. These albums have more in common with each other than with other Priest records. Strange! Overall, War Of Words is still a great album.

Rob Halford with a new band including Priest drumnmer Scott Travis is amazing. I first became acquainted w/ Fight on Halford's Live Insurrection. The Fight songs were some of the best on the album. Rob copies Painkiller-era Judas Priest. This is a good thing. Painkiller is one of the best/the best Priest album, and had a sound distinct from any other release. When people think of Rob Halford, they think of Painkiller, etc. It's the voice- he's best when he uses his high pitched shriek as opposed to mid-range melody. Halford's shriek is quite different than King Diamond and he doesn't use it as much. If you're a fan of Judas Priest or Halford, do yourself a favor and pick up this Fight CD.

Back in the early 90's, Rob Halford left Judas Priest to produce music not musically fit for Priest. Drummer Scott Travis left with him and while Judas Priest hired Ripper Owens; Halford formed Fight. Listening to it, the band is definitley different from Judas Priest. A lot of people say its Pantera-inspired.
I disagree with that. Pantera is harder than Fight and Pantera vocalist Philip Anselmo has a deep voice. On this album, Rob Halford (who's a very gifted vocalist and can sing in many different pitches) sings a majority of the songs in a very high pitched voice. Some of the songs he sings the same way he did in Judas Priest, but on very few songs could you classify Halford's voice as even "kind of" deep. But the music does have a crunching guitar sound, a great bass rhythm wall, and Scott Travis's abnormally fast drumming. It's got a different sound from Priest most definitley and the lyrics are different too. The fact is, bands like Judas Priest aren't known for their lyrics. In a band like that, lyrics don't matter. In Fight, Halford has lyrics about freedom of speech and gun control among other things. The songs are as follows:

1. Into the Pit-5/5-The drums come out loud & fast. Then Rob Halford begins singing in his abnormally high pitch voice he can do. It sounds great.
2. Nailed to the Gun-5/5-Rob Halford now sings in his regular voice. The backup vocals on the chorus are really cool.
3. Life in Black-4/5-This song is just OK.
4. Immortal Sin-5/5-Really good song. The beat is grinding and good. There are times when Rob Halford doesn't even sound like Halford.
5. War of Words-5/5-Really good lyrics about freedom of speech.
6. Laid to Rest-4/5-Not my favorite song.
7. For All Eternity-5/5-This is more of a ballad, but it sounds like a Judas Priest song.
8. Little Crazy-5/5-Really good song. The guitar playing is great.
9. Contortion-5/5-"Contortion. All I see is red." Rob Halford in angry mode.
10. Kill It-5/5-As I said, I don't see this album as being Pantera-inspired at all, but if it is it's most evident on this song.
11. Vicious-5/5-One of the best on here.
12. Reality, A New Beginning-5/5-A good album closer, Halford's cadence on this song is cool.

At the end of the last track if you wait a few minutes, there's a hidden track that would probably called "Jesus Saves" and features some really odd sounding vocals by Rob Halford. Sounds like overlapping vocals of Halford and a young child. I have one more thing to add. Before rejoining Judas Priest, Rob Halford was in three bands. This bad, Two (which was produced by Trent Reznor and featured Marilyn Manson-guitarist John5),
and Halford. I haven't actually heard the Halford album, but if I walked into a music store and was going to buy this or Two, I'd buy Two. This album is pure heavy metal. Two was really electronic/Nine Inch Nails sounding. All the songs on that album, it's the same on this one too though, were awesome and really catchy although Halford's voice sounds really almost unrecognizably different. Anyway, Judas Priest will always be Rob Halford's band but this is a worthy entry in Rob's discography.

GRADE: A-

This album really rocks
I was sad about Halford leaving Priest but Welcome to FIGHT
from Into the pit to Reality... no weak songs
Halford is the voice of metal no other like him
Very heavy, this album can teach the new kids a lot about the good music
buy this album
even the hidden track is good

Heavy riffs and leading edge drums make this CD worht buying. Rob Halford shows he can make magic with a new group. Well worth buying, worth the effort to find concert tickets too.

rob halford shows once again that he was meant to be the frontman of heavy metal with wailing vocals and non-stop new grunge metal sound. halford vents his frustrations in this album caused by the dismantling of JP. some songs do become repititious and mono tone but are only saved by the never ending creativity and consistency of his superb voice. if they ever come to town, i'm there!!!