Halford - Resurrection World Tour - Live At Rock In Rio III (DVD)
Metal God Entertainment
Heavy Metal
Disc 1: 15 songs (97'00) Disc 2: 16 songs (62'08)
Release year: 2008
Halford, Metal God Entertainment
Reviewed by Marty
Major event
Rob Halford recently obtained all the rights to the music he did with Fight as well as all his solo material with the Halford band. Re-launched under the Metal God Entertainment moniker, a series of live DVD's, documentaries of the Fight years as well CD reissues have been released with lots of bonus material and never before seen footage. This particular DVD chronicles the return of Rob Halford to the metal world after a post-Fight attempt at modern industrial hard rock with the Two project; a collaboration with both Trent Reznor and John 5 of Nine Inch Nails. The Resurrection album was a glorious return to form and the subsequent tour with Iron Maiden was huge success, culminating with an appearance at Rock In Rio III before some 200,000 fans. The entire Rock In Rio performance is included with this package as well as a re-mastered version of the Resurrection album complete with 2 never before released bonus tracks.

Many seem to have forgotten or simply put aside any memories of the Halford band once Rob re-united with Judas Priest. The band he assembled for Halford included Metal Mike Chlasciak and Pat Lachman on guitar, Ray Riendeau on bass and Bobby Jarzombek on drums. It was as fierce and as tight a heavy metal unit as you will ever find and even though Halford has been put on ice for now, Rob has stated that the Halford band will be heard from again. The set list for the Rock In Rio performance includes a large chunk of the Resurrection album including Resurrection, Made In Hell, Locked And Loaded, Silent Screams, Cyberworld and Nightfall. We also get killer live versions of Fight's Into The Pit and Nailed To The Gun which are both played with such ferocity and tightness that it seems like they (not Fight) recorded these in the first place. Besides the obvious Judas Priest classics like The Hellion/Electric Eye, Metal Gods and Breaking The Law, we are pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of Priest's Jawbreaker and a rarely performed Stained Class; from the album of the same name. Many of these tracks also appeared on the Live Insurrection live album that came out shortly after this tour was over. Also included with this package is lots of behind the scenes footage of not only the tour but also the recording process for the Resurrection album and the assembly of one of the fiercest heavy metal units that ever existed. Footage of Bruce Dickinson in the studio with Rob during the duet on The One You Love To Hate is also included and as bonus features we get the complete video for the track Made In Hell as well as trailers for the Fight War Of Words and Crucible Live World Tour DVDs and a promotional bit for the Metal God Essentials Vol. 1 CD that came out earlier this year.

I'm not sure why the Resurrection album needed to be re-mastered but it has been and is included in this package as a separate CD. As well, we get the 2 Japanese bonus tracks Sad Wings and Hell's Last Saviour and 2 never before released bonus tracks; God Bringer Of Death and Fetish. God Bringer Of Death fits in very well with the "classic" heavy metal sound of the rest of the Resurrection album whereas Fetish has more Fight-like aggressive overtones. Both songs are very good and certainly not filler or throw away tracks by any means. Overall, this is a nice package and one that presents the mighty Halford band in its prime. The Rock In Rio performance is awesome aside from the fact that Rob decides to let the crowd sing Breaking The Law (he doesn't sing a single note for the whole song). Sure Metal Mike and Pat Lachman really hotdog it onstage, but there's no denying their talent as excellent guitar players. This is a great package for the Halford fans and especially if you don't yet have the Resurrection album. A fantastic live performance, a great tour documentary, lots of behind the scenes footage and a re-mastered version of Resurrection complete with 2 bonus tracks. Well.....what are you waiting for??

Killing Songs :
Resurrection, Into The Pit, Nailed To The Gun, Stained Class and Jawbreaker
Marty quoted no quote
Other albums by Halford that we have reviewed:
Halford - Made Of Metal reviewed by Marty and quoted 80 / 100
Halford - Crucible reviewed by Marty and quoted 96 / 100
Halford - Live Insurrection reviewed by Danny and quoted no quote
Halford - Resurrection reviewed by Danny and quoted 98 / 100
2 readers voted
Average:
 88
Your quote was: 89.
Change your vote

There are 3 replies to this review. Last one on Tue Dec 09, 2008 4:00 am
View and Post comments