After you’ve spent a day listening to Auto-Tuned dance club crap, there’s only one place to go: METAL.
Halford — Come All Ye Faithful (download)
From Halford III: Winter Songs 
Jeff: Drumroll!
Jason: Drumroll! Like before an execution.
Jeff: Oh. Wow.
Jason: …and here’s the execution.
Jeff: He does sound like he’s dying. Wow.
Jason: Who asked for this album? Who told Rob Halford he needed to make this album?
Jeff: Someone who hates him? And Christmas?
Jason: Remind me to play this one for Grandma. She’ll LOVE it.
Jeff: Ha ha ha ha ha! Oh, I wish I could be there for that. This is kind of a train wreck.
Jason: It’s not that I think his voice is that bad. It’s just assaulting my ears.
Jeff: I think his voice sounds kind of…off. But maybe it’s just the overall experience of this “song.”
Jason: Listen to that vibrato.
Jeff: He just repeated the word “Christ,” which is what I’ve been doing since this started.
Jason: Ha ha ha ha ha! Wait. It’s over? It was so short.
Jeff: You aren’t complaining, are you?
Jason: I can’t believe I’m saying that in a way that sounds like complaining.
Jeff: The first song, “Get Into the Spirit,” is 5:26. And it’s “the first single.” Single. Stop it, Halford. Is there a radio format anywhere on the planet for this? Even among Sirius XM’s eleventy bajillion stations? Awful Holiday Music No One Asked For, 24 hours a day!
Jason: I haven’t heard it. And I hate to say this, but I’d be willing to listen to it.
Jeff: Oh, I’d TOTALLY listen to it.
Jason: I imagine it’s an original song.
Jeff: Wait, you mean the song. I meant the radio station.
Jason: Ha ha ha ha ha! Yes, I meant the song. It’s 5:26, which means it’s torturous. And it’s an original, which means we can’t even go on nostalgia for the traditional version.
Jeff: Okay, let’s do it.
Halford — Get Into the Spirit (download)
From Halford III: Winter Songs
Jeff: Whoa.
Jason: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! YES! METAL! Jeff, I kind of love this so far. Those guitars are awesome. All seven of ‘em. Listen to that vocal! It’s the metal Bee Gees!
Jeff: Ha ha ha!
Jason: Get into the spirit!
Jeff: Get into the spirit! Reach up to the sky!
Jason: Reach up to the sky!
Jeff: Raise your spirits high!
Jason: Pick slide!
Jeff: Pick slide!
Jason: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I have no idea what this has to do with Christmas.
Jeff: Man. Three and a half stars from Allmusic! “It’s a surprisingly cohesive and listenable addition to the genre — and if skillfully disguised in a Mannheim Steamroller jewel case, it could make Christmas morning truly joyful.”
No it is not.
And could not.
Jason: I don’t know, Jeff. I kind of like this.
Jeff: Why? Explain yourself.
Jason: It wouldn’t make a Christmas playlist of mine, but like it says, within the genre, I think it works. I’m banging my head. Only a little, because I don’t want to mess up my hair.
Jeff: Wait, the Christmas genre?
Jason: No, the METAL genre! I think that’s what they meant.
Jeff: Because it doesn’t…oh, hey, that guitar solo kind of rules.
Jason: Ha ha ha ha ha! Halford is winning you over! YES!
Jeff: Here comes the dream that’s been waiting!
Jason: You are falling under his gay metal spell!
Jeff: I’m getting into the spirit!
Jason: Get into the spirit, Giles!
Jeff: I’m reaching up to the sky!
Jason: Reach up to the sky! Get into the spirit! Raise your spirits high! And your ass!
Jeff: What was that aryan metal song we listened to last year?
Jason: Vergissmeinnicht?
Jeff: Vergissmeinnicht! This reminds me of that, a little.
Jason: That song was WAY darker. This one is “It’s a Small World” compared to that one.
Jeff: Well, yeah, ’cause Halford is a clown.
Jason: I like this song. I think it’s fun. I’ll never listen to it again, but I like it. Listen to him wail!
Jeff: Yeah, really!
Jason: He almost sounds like he’s crying!
Jeff: That was incredible. I don’t know what I mean by that, but it was.
Jason: It was something, wasn’t it. I can’t say it was awful. I know I’m supposed to, but I can’t.
Jeff: No, no, it wasn’t. Unexpected, certainly.
Jason: It kind of rocked my balls. Which I think is what Halford wanted.
Jeff: I think Halford would rather cup them than rock them.
Jason: Is that what he would mean by “a cup of Christmas cheer”?
Jeff: Either that or he’s talking about a cup of warm Osborne.
Jason: I don’t want to know his definition of wassail, then.
Tags: Jason Hare, Jeff Giles, Mellowmas, Rob Halford, Vergissmeinnicht
