Halford III: Winter Songs is the third studio album by the heavy metal band Halford

Halford (band)

Halford is a heavy metal band formed in 1999 by Rob Halford, the lead vocalist for Judas Priest. Halford formed the band to return to his heavy metal roots...

, the solo project of Judas Priest

Judas Priest

Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...

 frontman Rob Halford

Rob Halford

Robert John Arthur "Rob" Halford is an English singer-songwriter, who is best known as the lead vocalist for the Grammy Award-winning heavy metal band Judas Priest. He is nicknamed the "Metal God" as a tribute to his influence on metal, and after the Judas Priest song of the same name from 1980's...

.

History

It was released on November 3, 2009, in the United States and on November 9, 2009, in Europe. Written, arranged and recorded between 2008–2009, it is Halford's first solo release in more than seven years. The release includes a collection of new Halford-penned tracks plus traditional holiday favorites presented with original heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 arrangements by Halford himself and producer/guitarist Roy Z

Roy Z

Roy Z is a guitarist, songwriter and producer known for his work with Bruce Dickinson , Rob Halford and Judas Priest. He also is the founder of Tribe of Gypsies, a hard rock band with Latin influences.-Biography:...

.

The first single "Get Into the Spirit" was released on September 29, 2009.

Track listing

All songs arranged by Rob Halford

Rob Halford

Robert John Arthur "Rob" Halford is an English singer-songwriter, who is best known as the lead vocalist for the Grammy Award-winning heavy metal band Judas Priest. He is nicknamed the "Metal God" as a tribute to his influence on metal, and after the Judas Priest song of the same name from 1980's...

, Roy Z.

Roy Z

Roy Z is a guitarist, songwriter and producer known for his work with Bruce Dickinson , Rob Halford and Judas Priest. He also is the founder of Tribe of Gypsies, a hard rock band with Latin influences.-Biography:...

, Ed Roth, John Baxter.

Reception

Personnel

Halford

• Rob Halford
  Rob Halford
  Robert John Arthur "Rob" Halford is an English singer-songwriter, who is best known as the lead vocalist for the Grammy Award-winning heavy metal band Judas Priest. He is nicknamed the "Metal God" as a tribute to his influence on metal, and after the Judas Priest song of the same name from 1980's...
  
   – vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  
• Roy Z
  Roy Z
  Roy Z is a guitarist, songwriter and producer known for his work with Bruce Dickinson , Rob Halford and Judas Priest. He also is the founder of Tribe of Gypsies, a hard rock band with Latin influences.-Biography:...
  
   – guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  
• Metal Mike Chlasciak – guitar
• Mike Davis – bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Bobby Jarzombek
  Bobby Jarzombek
  Bobby "Wire" Jarzombek is a heavy metal/progressive metal drummer and best known for his work with Halford, Sebastian Bach and Riot. He has also recorded and toured with Fates Warning, Arch / Matheos, Iced Earth, Rob Rock, Spastic Ink, and Juggernaut, among others.-Biography:Bobby Jarzombek was...
  
   – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  

Additional performer

• Ed Roth – keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  

Production

• Produced
  Record producer
  A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
  
   and engineered
  Audio engineering
  An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
  
   by Roy Z
• Executive producer
  Executive producer
  An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
  
   – John Baxter
• Mixed
  Audio mixing (recorded music)
  In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
  
   and engineered by Pete Martinez
• Sound design, percussion, and engineering by John Mattox
• Drum tuning by Mike Fassano
• Mastered
  Audio mastering
  Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
  
   by Maor Appelbaum
• Graphic direction, web marketing, and design by Attila Juhasz
• Cover illustration and packaging design by Marc Sasso
• Photography
  Photography
  Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
  
  by John Eder, Marc Sasso, David Hildreth, and John Baxter