Halford III: Winter Songs
Halford III: Winter Songs is the third studio album by the heavy metal band Halford. It was released on November 3, 2009, in the United States, November 9, 2009, in Europe and November 13, 2009, in Germany.[4] It was written, arranged and recorded between 2008 and 2009.[5] The album is Christmas-themed, consisting of traditional holiday favorites made into heavy metal fashion along with a few original arrangements by Rob Halford and producer/guitarist Roy Z.[6]
| Halford III: Winter Songs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 3, 2009 (US) November 9, 2009 (EU) | |||
| Recorded | 2008–2009 | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal, christmas music | |||
| Length | 41:57 | |||
| Label | Metal God Entertainment | |||
| Producer | Roy Z | |||
| Halford chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [1] |
| Lords of Metal | 77/100[2] |
| Metal Express Radio | 9/10[3] |
The first single, "Get into the Spirit", was released on September 29, 2009.[7] In 2019, Halford released a second Christmas-themed album entitled Celestial, although this was recorded with family and friends rather than his usual bandmates.[8]
Track listing
All songs arranged by Rob Halford, Roy Z, Ed Roth, John Baxter.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Get into the Spirit" | Rob Halford, Roy Z, John Baxter | 5:26 |
| 2. | "We Three Kings" | John Henry Hopkins Jr. | 4:06 |
| 3. | "Oh Come, O Come, Emanuel" | John Mason Neale | 4:38 |
| 4. | "Winter Song" | Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson | 5:38 |
| 5. | "What Child Is This?" | William Chatterton Dix | 4:27 |
| 6. | "Christmas for Everyone" | R. Halford, Roy Z | 3:06 |
| 7. | "I Don't Care" | R. Halford | 3:14 |
| 8. | "Light of the World" | R. Halford | 4:13 |
| 9. | "Oh Holy Night" | Adolphe Adam | 4:09 |
| 10. | "Come All Ye Faithful" | John Francis Wade | 2:27 |
Personnel
- Halford
- Rob Halford – vocals
- Roy Z – guitar
- Metal Mike Chlasciak – guitar
- Mike Davis – bass
- Bobby Jarzombek – drums
- Additional performer
- Ed Roth – keyboards
- Production
- Produced and engineered by Roy Z
- Executive producer – John Baxter
- Mixed and engineered by Pete Martinez
- Sound design, percussion, and engineering by John Mattox
- Drum tuning by Mike Fassano
- Mastered by Maor Appelbaum
- Graphic direction, web marketing, and design by Attila Juhasz
- Cover illustration and packaging design by Marc Sasso
- Photography by John Eder, Marc Sasso, David Hildreth, and John Baxter
References
- Monger, James Christopher. "Review: Halford III: Winter Songs". Allmusic. Retrieved November 1, 2009.
- "Halford - Winter Songs | Review | Lords Of Metal metal E-zine - issue 99". Lordsofmetal.nl. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
- "Metal Express Radio". Metal Express Radio. January 21, 2012. Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
- "Chart Attack: Rob Halford Releasing Christmas Album". Archived from the original on February 18, 2010. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
- "The Aquarian Weekly: Interview with Rob Halford: A Metal God Christmas". Archived from the original on February 18, 2010. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
- "Rob Halford Sings Christmas Carols. No, really. Rob Halford has also single handedly created the greatest christmas metal album of all time". SMNnews.com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2010. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
- laut.de | Rob Halford - "Winter Songs" (CD-Kritik)
- "Judas Priest's Rob Halford to release 'Celestial' Christmas album". ultimateclassicrock.com. September 6, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2020.