I Re-discovered this album today ...

Never could get into industrial metal. I remember seeing this at National Record Mart and out of curiosity gave it a listen to. Man I thought it was terrible. I was doubly shocked when I found out that it was Rob Halford.

The main issue I had with 2wo is the same one I have with most "metal singer" side projects - they never seem to put their VOCALS on display when they do their own records. You've got these amazing vocalists who seem to just put their own instrument on the back burner more than their day job would in the "let me showcase power and range" arena.

Though it was less noticeable, it was the same issue I had with Fight. It just never felt like he was using his instrument to its fullest on these projects, though I may be alone in that one.

Another album along the same line was the first Geoff Tate solo album. I love it musically for the variety. It's a bold thing considering they'd just come off of Q2K if memory serves when that dropped. At the same time, the vocal melodies were, for the most part, not anything to write home about.

More of the "would have," "could have..."

I don't mind an occasional bit o'industrial in my metal (love me some Violent New Breed from Shotgun Messiah) but what little I heard from 2wo when it came out didn't exactly grab me by the 'nards, so I never bothered with it.

It certainly didn't help that while promoting that 2wo record, Rob was being a MAJOR dick about the whole thing. I have an old Metal Edge interview w/him somewhere where he goes on about Limp Bizkit and Korn being "the new sound of Metal for the new millennium" and bad-mouths Priest and other 80s bands like Maiden ("that stuff is dead"). It seemed like he was going out of his way to alienate his old audience so he could be "down" with the nu-metal crowd.

I suppose if I came across a copy of it cheap nowadays, I might give it a shot tho... now that I think about it, it's the only missing piece in my collection of Halford's studio work.

It's also the missing piece of my Halford collection two (terrible pun very much intended) but I never seem to run across it in the used bins anywhere. It would have to be real cheap for me to pick it up though.

As for what Runicen said, I think vocalists should really crank it up on their solo albums especially if that is what they are known for (Halford, Dickinson, Midnight, John Arch). I know a lot of people say they should do something that is different b/c that's the point of branching off and making the album they want to make it, but I disagree. Of course they can do whatever they want, it's their craft, their talent, etc.; but there is a reason I am interested in that solo record...I am a fan of that band and that sound. I love HoL mostly due to James Christian's awesome voice and the type of music they play. If his solo album is so far removed from melodic hard rock (say it's Irish Folk songs) I am not interested. Throwing a monkey wrench into the equation is whether or not it's a side project or the singer has left the band for whatever reason. But that's a whole different debate.

the sentinel wrote:

It's also the missing piece of my Halford collection two (terrible pun very much intended) but I never seem to run across it in the used bins anywhere. It would have to be real cheap for me to pick it up though.

As for what Runicen said, I think vocalists should really crank it up on their solo albums especially if that is what they are known for (Halford, Dickinson, Midnight, John Arch). I know a lot of people say they should do something that is different b/c that's the point of branching off and making the album they want to make it, but I disagree. Of course they can do whatever they want, it's their craft, their talent, etc.; but there is a reason I am interested in that solo record...I am a fan of that band and that sound. I love HoL mostly due to James Christian's awesome voice and the type of music they play. If his solo album is so far removed from melodic hard rock (say it's Irish Folk songs) I am not interested. Throwing a monkey wrench into the equation is whether or not it's a side project or the singer has left the band for whatever reason. But that's a whole different debate.

I'm 50/50 on this front. For my money, I'm a little confused when you have a singer who is still a part of a going concern (say, as Tate was) who goes off and makes a solo album that sounds exactly like what they do at their "day job." At that point, I have to ask why they aren't putting their best material on the table for their main band. Now, I'm not exactly DISAPPOINTED if both the solo album and concurrent band albums are awesome, but it does make me scratch my head a bit.

Now, if a musician wants to go off because the material they want to do doesn't fit with their normal gig, that is where a solo album makes the most sense (again, if the main band is still a going concern and I realize that's not the case for Halford or a few others). Where I end up losing the plot is when the solo album doesn't showcase the solo artist's INSTRUMENT. If you're a singer, I don't care if you're from a metal band. Those irish folk songs better have some AMAZING vocals on them! If you're a guitarist, I don't want to hear a solo album that sounds like it was recorded in the back room of a Guitar Center by a 16 year old who just started playing. And so on...

007 wrote:

Never could get into industrial metal. I remember seeing this at National Record Mart and out of curiosity gave it a listen to. Man I thought it was terrible. I was doubly shocked when I found out that it was Rob Halford.

I'm still not into industrial metal. I think that Two album was just a nice change of pace for me. It cleansed the palate, so to speak, from all the other "regular" metal I was ingesting all week. I don't love it or the genre, but I don't hate it like I used to either.

I have less of a problem with Halford doing something different than Priest running out and finding a dude named "Ripper" as their fill-in.

There are some industrial artists that really work, such as Circle of Dust, Brainchild (I know same thing), Ministry, early Nine Inch Nails. Halford's project does not work at all.

S.D. wrote:

I have less of a problem with Halford doing something different than Priest running out and finding a dude named "Ripper" as their fill-in.  

Uhhh .. he wasn't named "Ripper" when they found him.

They gave him that name when he joined the band (as a marketing thing I am sure, because they thought it sounded cooler than "Tim").

Industrial Metal, like Black Metal is a great concept but so rarely works well in execution.

I have no problem with Halford doing something different as long as he does it well. It can't be much worse than that last JP disc.

I also have always found Fight to be incredibly overrated. Not a fan.

I really don't care how he became "Ripper", regardless it's f*cking stupid.

Temple of Blood wrote:

I have no problem with Halford doing something different as long as he does it well.  

Totally agree. Fight was great (well, the first one was at least). That industrial stuff was crap.

The first Fight album is/was awesome and the second was pretty darn good. I love Halford the band's solo stuff.

corplhicks wrote:

I also have always found Fight to be incredibly overrated. Not a fan.

Same. It lacks hooks.

MetallicSeminarian wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

I also have always found Fight to be incredibly overrated. Not a fan.

Same. It lacks hooks.

Yeah and the mix is terrible. From my understanding you and I are in the minority haha.

corplhicks wrote:

MetallicSeminarian wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

I also have always found Fight to be incredibly overrated. Not a fan.

Same. It lacks hooks.

Yeah and the mix is terrible. From my understanding you and I are in the minority haha.

That would appear to be the case 

I never liked Fight either, it was a little too much "posturing tough guy bullshit" for my taste.

The first Fight album is pretty good. Mutations is meh - the very definition of a stopgap EP. A Small Deadly Space is generally terrible and sounds very dated.

Witchfinder wrote:

The first Fight album is pretty good.  Mutations is meh - the very definition of a stopgap EP.  A Small Deadly Space is generally terrible and sounds very dated.

Totally agree on all counts.

That's it, I'm not talking to any of you anymore!!!

Temple of Blood wrote:

Uhhh .. he wasn't named "Ripper" when they found him.

They gave him that name when he joined the band (as a marketing thing I am sure, because they thought it sounded cooler than "Tim").

You're more likely than not right about the marketing thing, but when your last singer's name was "Rob," I don't think you can give a guy named "Tim" too much crap for having a lame name.

Witchfinder wrote:

The first Fight album is pretty good.  Mutations is meh - the very definition of a stopgap EP.  A Small Deadly Space is generally terrible and sounds very dated.

I dunno. I've recently re-visited both of the Fight albums and the K5 demos (I never heard the ep) and found them all pretty enjoyable. A little dated now, sure and the tough-guy posturing is laughable, but the songs are good. I've even grown to appreciate A Small Deadly Space more than I did before. I used to think that was the weaker of the two, but it's grown on me.

There's tough guy posturing, but it's basically a grittier version of what was already in Priest with the whole biker thing. Yeah, it's taken to extremes, but you've also got tracks on the War of Words album like "Life in Black," which are almost morose breakup songs. It's not all balls...

Runicen wrote:

There's tough guy posturing, but it's basically a grittier version of what was already in Priest with the whole biker thing.  Yeah, it's taken to extremes, but you've also got tracks on the War of Words album like "Life in Black," which are almost morose breakup songs.  It's not all balls...

I think Rob was hanging out too much with Phil Anselmo and getting caught-up in the new sound of Pantera's groove metal or whatever they called it. Even the look of the baggy cargo shorts, ripped flannel and combat boots looks silly now. Rob was trying too hard.

This somehow looks less ridiculous to me...