ROB HALFORD Releases 'Morning Star' Lyric Video From 'Celestial' Christmas Album

JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford has released the official lyric video for his song called "Morning Star". The track appears on his all-new Christmas album, titled "Celestial", which arrives today (Friday, October 18) via Legacy Recordings.

Without question, Halford is one of heavy metal's all-time great vocalists — as heard through his highly influential and groundbreaking work with JUDAS PRIEST. But over his career, he has also proven able to master a variety of other styles vocally — including holiday-themed music.

"Celestial" is also available for pre-order on Rob's artist store — with exclusive merchandise and a limited, autographed metallic-gold color version of the vinyl.

Credited to ROB HALFORD WITH FAMILY & FRIENDS, the album mixes holiday classics with all-new compositions, and will appeal to lovers of traditional holiday music and headbangers alike.

"The great thing about heavy metal is it's got these kinds of multiple dimensions," explains the man also known as the Metal God. "I think when you look at it from an outside point of view — if you're not really familiar with the metal scene — it can look pretty intimidating. And it is a very strong, powerful experience. But it comes at different levels. I think the music that we've made on 'Celestial', for example, gives a display of that. Metal maniacs — as we call ourselves — are just as ready for the holidays as everybody else. And what we've tried to do with this music is to reach out to as many of those metal dimensions as we possibly can."

And judging from the ROB HALFORD WITH FAMILY & FRIENDS banner, "Celestial" sees Halford joined by a supporting cast of those very close to him — his brother (Nigel) on drums, his nephew on bass (Alex, son of PRIEST bassist Ian Hill),has sister (Sue) on bells, and twin guitar tandem of Robert Jones and Jon Blakey.

Once all the contributors were in place, Halford "went away and listened to a lot holiday music and Christmas carols. Traditional stuff. 12 tracks — including original tracks that I'm particularly excited about. And in that way, because of the dimensions of each song and the messages of each song, I think we cover a really broad platform. To me, more than anything, I wanted it to have its own characteristics and be a little bit more different than the regular rock 'n' roll Christmas album."

Halford has certainly accomplished this goal, as evidenced by such standout originals as the album-opening title track, "Donner And Blitzen", and "Protected By The Light", as well as reworkings of such holiday standards as "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", "Joy To The World" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing", among other standouts. "'Donner And Blitzen' gets the snowball rolling for 'Celestial' — a song full of excitement, love and hope," says Rob. "You can hear and feel the power of Christmas time — energy roarin' with rockin' reindeers haulin'!

"I think the holidays for any family are a mixture of fun and excitement and apprehension of the whole event," he continues. "The magic of it more than anything else. It's just a beautiful time of year — which a lot of us wish would be for every day of the year. It's a beautiful thing as far as bringing families together. So, what better way to celebrate it than with your family, friends...and music. You must have music at Christmas time."

"Celestial" track listing:

01. Celestial [new song]
02. Donner And Blitzen [new song]
03. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
04. Away In A Manger
05. Morning Star [new song]
06. Deck The Halls
07. Joy To The World
08. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
09. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
10. The First Noel
11. Good King Wenceslas
12. Protected By The Light [new song]

HALFORD's first holiday CD, "Halford III - Winter Songs", came out in 2009. The disc was a collection of new Halford-penned tracks plus traditional holiday favorites presented with original arrangements by HALFORD (Rob Halford on vocals, Roy Z. on guitar, Metal Mike Chlasciak on guitar, Mike Davis on bass and Bobby Jarzombek on drums).