Rob Halford of Judas Priest: My Top Ten Favorite Metal Albums

Rob Halford, the iconic vocalist for British metal band Judas Priest, talks to Rolling Stone Magazine about his top ten favorite metal albums

The commentary under each album are Rob's own words

10. Ace of Spades, Motorhead (1980)

-This is a hardcore roar of wild bombastic f--- you!

9. Slipknot, Slipknot (1999)

-When this came out, it was nu-metal pent up rage searing a whole new era

8. Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk, Emperor (1997)

-I love this because it's sonic blasphemy from the dark side

7. Holy Diver, Dio (1983)

-This album has classic grooves, vibes and melodies supporting the king

6.Cowboys from Hell, Pantera (1990)

-The "Texas Massacre" started with this one

5. Reign in Blood, Slayer (1986)

-It's full frontal assault riffage and in your face lyrics

4. Iron Maiden, Iron Maiden (1980)

-This felt like fresh U.K. blood from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and it was top of the heap

3. Korn, Korn (1994)

-On their debut, Korn brought a new definition of metal that was a game changer

2. Kill 'Em All, Metallica (1983)

-This was full-on thrash energy that led the USA charge

1. Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath (1970)

-This is the blueprint that epitomizes everything metal

Cynic leader Paul Masvidal defends Sebastian Bach against homophobic joke made by comedian

 That's right. A comedian made a homophobic joke directed at Rob Halford. Cynic leader Paul Masvidal stands up and gives Sebastian Bach praise for defending close friend Rob Halford

During an interview on podcast Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll, Paul Masvidal gave high praise and applause to Sebastian Bach for his response to a homophobic joke directed at Judas Priest front man Rob Halford.

Early in the interview, Bach explained how he heard that Halford does not do pre-show warm ups, which a comedian named Big Jay Oakerson responded "His exercise is probably something gay he doesn't want to tell ya. You gotta gargle jizz, but I dunno how to tell you that, Sebastian."

Bach, immediately angry at the homophobic insult towards someone he calls a friend, responded "Dude, could you not wreck this interview?" He stated Halford is a close friend and that the comedian should "skip those kinds of comments". Not long after, he left the Zoom interview

Paul Masvidal came out as publicly gay in 2014. He felt Bach did something responsible and that he did "the right thing" by leaving the interview while saying that underscoring this incident is an example of how homophobia is "culturally perpetuated when a comic can use the word "gay" in a derogatory way disguised as humor."

Furthermore, Masvidal added in an Instagram post "This ain't about being uptight. It's about ending the normalization of homophobic bull----. And in the same way that Bach has grown up since the days he'd wear AIDS: kills f---s dead t-shirts, Big Jay Oakerson needs to as well."

Masvidal later noted that Halford commented on the situation, giving it his usual sense of humor by saying he swallows, not gargles, but that this shouldn't be a means for Oakerson to "feel justified" for his actions.

The Iron Maidens

The title might catch some attention. No, this is not about the REAL Iron Maiden. No, this is about a really cool band. This band is the world's only all-female tribute to Iron Maiden. I had seen them just this past Saturday with my sister at a local event venue here in Cincinnati called Bogart's. It's in the neighborhood of Clifton, which is dominated by two of Cincinnati's biggest universities-University of Cincinnati and Xavier University. This venue is a good go-to place for locals. Me and my sister had seen The Iron Maidens and they blew me away. When their singer Kirsten Rosenberg hit those high notes, I had chills. I was blown away!! Now it's going to be interesting to see the REAL Iron Maiden and Bruce Dickinson still trying to hit those high notes on songs like "Run to the Hills", "Aces High", etc.

Anyway, the band is five women from LA who have a wide variety of talent in a wide variety of music, ranging from rock to orchestral to blues to metal and more. They each took the name of a member of Iron Maiden and switched it to a female version

Members

Nikki Stringfield

-Guitars, backing vocals

-"Davina Murray"

 

Linda McDonald

-Drums, backing vocals

-"Nikki McBurrain"

Kirsten Rosenberg

-Vocalist

-"Bruce Chikinson"

Wanda Ortiz

-Bass, backing vocals

-"Stephanie Harris"

Courtnex Cox

-Guitars, backing vocals

-"Adriana Smith"

History
-The band formed in 2001
-The band is rapidly becoming popular worldwide as well as in the US
-In addition to being the world's only all female tribute to Iron Maiden, they are perfect examples of beauty and talent. They are able to take the high energy, theatricality and excellent stage shows of Iron Maiden and adapt them to an all female band
-The cool thing about this band is that they do not cover just one era of the band-they cover all the songs, both fan favorites and classics. They cover all the songs from the beginning of Maiden's career all the way up to modern day. So it's a good guarantee that you're probably going to hear your favorites from the Bruce Dickinson eras, Blaze Bayley era and Paul Di'Anno era.

Two new artists found!

Lauren Harris/The Raven Age

Ironically, they both have something in common-both have the same dad, Steve Harris of Iron Maiden fame, and both are musicians. Lauren is hard rock while The Raven Age is straight up metal. And obviously George Harris has a preference for tattoos like his dad because in the picture of The Raven Age, George is the one to the immediate right of the guy in front; his whole left arm is almost completely covered in a sleeve, but it is hidden. I discovered these two because I had heard about through Facebook. I like the Steve Harris Fan Club page on Facebook and whoever does the posting usually mentions these guys if they are on tour or are on tour with Steve's side band, British Lion. Or they will get photographed with their father, bass player Steve Harris.



Lauren Harris

The Raven Age

Day 17 — An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)

Nighthawks
-Edward Hopper

The Top 25 Best Metal Bands of All Time

Everyone I'm sure loves some metal band out there. According to a music site, for some reason, called MetalSucks, stupid name for a site devoted to heavy metal, they compiled a list of the top 25 best metal bands of all time. Here they are. And I'm definitely glad to see the Big 4 from Britain on this list. For those unfamiliar with the so-called "Big 4", it applies to the four biggest thrash metal bands from America- Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth. It would seem Britain has their own version- Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Motorhead. Glad to see they made it on here. As well they should- they inspired dozens of bands!!!

1
Black Sabbath
-Score!! love these guys!!!
-It's been said that no matter what genre of music exists, it could not have existed with a little help from the boys of Birmingham, that's right. The Godfather of British Heavy Metal themselves

2
Iron Maiden

3
Slayer

4
Metallica

5
Pantera

6
Judas Priest
-Score!! Love these guys too!!!

7
Megadeth

8
Death

9
Motorhead

10
Carcass

11
Cannibal Corpse

12
Anthrax

13
Sepultura

14
Dio

15
Mercyful Fate

16
Morbid Angel

17
Meshuggah

18
Opeth

19
Testament

20
At the Gates

21
AC/DC
-I wouldn't really define these guys as metal. They're more hard rock

22
Celtic Frost

23
Ozzy Osbourne
-Yup, he's cool!!

24
Napalm Death

25
Lamb of God