Confess: The Autobiography

It isn’t really a ‘confession’ to say that I’ve been a Judas Priest fan since the early 80s. Defenders of the Faith is my favorite album followed by Painkiller. Halford’s voice, along with other powerhouses of the genre, cemented my love for real singing in metal and it continues to this day. So when I saw that Halford himself narrates his memoir, I knew I’d spend an audible credit on it. Definitely worth the price of admission.

With a warning - if you can’t handle frank discussion of homosexuality, man-on-man encounters and the repercussions of being in the closet, this might not be the book for you. It’s not a blow-by-blow account (pardon the pun), but it is pretty blunt. As is everything in Halford’s Confession. show more After many false starts and years of shame and repression, I was very glad to hear Rob found the love of his life and has a contented relationship that nurtures and supports him. He lets us in on his thoughts, feelings, alcohol and drug abuse, personality, spirituality, triumphs and mistakes. Overall it’s an even-handed look at a life many of us would be envious of from the outside looking in.

But it isn’t easy becoming a Metal God ™ and Rob tells it like it was. I liked the balance of narrative - you get a lot about the band, but also a lot about the man. I feel like I know a lot more about Rob than I do about Priest (other than Ken “KK” Downing being pretty much an asshole), but there is enough about the band that I have a better sense of what it’s like not just being in a metal machine like that, but being the face of it. And even one further - the iconic embodiment of the heavy metal genre as a whole. Not an easy burden to carry, but Halford does it with aplomb and a dose of humility that isn’t of the ‘humble-brag’ variety.

Rock on, Metal God ™ . I hope you’re flashing the horns and cracking the whip until you drop. show less

Halford, the singer and lead lyricist for Judas Priest, doesn't do an autobiography halfway, and the title is spot on. Would we have ever known that he's been banned from Camp Pendleton for lewd behavior?
He tells the reader all about it.
He has chapters about growing up in an industrial Northern town with loving parents whose arguments sometimes included his father slapping his mother. He remembers the exact moment in school, when asked to sing on his own, that the music teachers realized he had talent, and that his family was always behind him as he first pursued an acting career before returning to music.
And he recounts how he joined a band called Judas Priest that needed a singer, and their long career together. He discusses the show more making of each album and gives his honest opinion of any shortcomings, even with his own performances. He also discusses the dynamics within the band, such as the decades long friction between guitarists K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton, and the reasons why they've gone through as many drummers as Spinal Tap. He also explains how he accidentally quit Priest and why his absence from a band he loved dragged on for so long.
Throughout the book is Halford's stress in hiding his homosexuality. First from his family, then from bandmates and the fans, Halford describes the intense loneliness in being unable to openly pursue romance, and he speaks very intimately of how gay men in the 70's and 80's found each other, and of how often he pursued relationships with straight men, which always ended in unhappiness.
The book concludes right now in the pandemic, with plans for what fans can expect from the band once this is over. show less

Is there any need to introduce Rob Halford? Judas Priest's lead singer!?? THE 'Metal God'!??

Let's clear the air. I've read my fair share of metal musician's autobiographies, and, being who I am (I don't do 'sex, drugs and rock n' roll', I just love the music for the music's sake and so the lifestyles of many annoys me, to say the least) such reads (again: with me personally) usually go one or two way: either the person is a complete jackass, stupidly off their heads, and full of sh#t were it not for their music, or, surprisingly intelligent, very sensible, and full of insights to treasure. Halford's easily (very, very easily) falls into that second category. So what's there to learn?

First, of course, he retells his personal life and show more childhood, which is fascinating because he seems to always have been an outcast. For example, I was pleasantly surprised to see him candidly opening up about his 'arty youth', and even more so to learn that he could have easily gone into a stage/ theatre career. I didn't know that part of his personality. In fact, it was his discovery of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple that essentially changed his path, by not only drawing him more towards music and away from the stage, but, also, clearly affected his approach to singing. More surprising, though, is how his life, overall, turned out as a result...

Then indeed, there was... Judas Priest! Their career is well-known, and so every metal fan will be familiar with that part of his biography. Nevertheless, how randomly his involvement seems to have been will be no less striking. How did he joined? His sister was dating their then bassist, and so he just auditioned! How did he leave when he left? Merely over a misunderstanding that no one seemed to have been willing to clear properly at the time! How did he re-joined when he re-joined? Well, as if nothing had happened much! There is indeed, here, a stoicism and a 'whatever-type-of-attitude' about the guy and the band itself which is not only funny, but quite astounding when one thinks that here are guys that marked music forever (he puts it down to their origins in the Black Country; they surely remained very down-to-earth...).

Staying on the music, I was also engrossed by his insights, not least because they echo my own impressions of the band. I personally never cared for their first album, so I was a bit taken aback to see him agreeing somehow by calling it 'tepid'. The twin guitars came on only following that first record contract -I didn't know that. Their path to success is hilarious, especially when he retells how their then manager, 'Corky', faked it 'til he made it. The NWBHM? Well, I personally have mixed feelings about the label, but his view makes sense:

'a lot of bands dislike being co-opted into music journalists' manufactured movements and lazily pigeonholed, but I liked the idea of the New Wave. I figured, after years of being ignored, it was nice for metal to get a bit of attention for a change. It felt like validation.'

You can't blame him for that. But...

But, most importantly, there was Judas Priest's songs! Bloody hell! The S.O.N.G.S. It's no secret (well, now...) that Rob Halford is gay, and it's no secret that, throughout his career, he has peppered his lyrics with inuendo by the plenty. What was great, here, is to see him nailing the point by recounting the stories and meanings behind 'Raw Deal', 'Jawbreaker', or, again, 'Eat Me Alive'. It's insightful of course, it's funny too, and, most importantly for a band playing such an otherwise loud, macho music, I found it hilarious to think about how many homophobes must have bang their heads to such inuendo... completely clueless. The guy has a sense of humour, and that's for sure. Another aspect of him where such sense of humour transpires, in fact, is when he speaks about his personal musical tastes embracing... pop music. Describing himself as -basically- being a 'gay pop tart' too, the passages about Madonna and Lady Gaga are quite worth a read if you want to be surprised... Having said that, though, being an arty youth, funny guy who was the leader of the metal genre is not only it.

Going back to him being gay, for instance, 'Confess' doesn't shy away from being a heavy read, reminding of how bad it was back in the days (the 1970s-80s) for homosexuals, and especially in such a macho culture as heavy metal was back then. From how gay men used to meet to his loneliness on tours, and from his troubled relationships with various boyfriends to the fear of being outed (with the impact this could have had upon the band), Rob Halford strips it all bare to tell it as it was; and it's as powerful as it is moving. Don't underestimate how tough it was: he ended up in rehab partly as a result, and, here too, it makes for compelling passages.

All in all, then, this is a very insightful, brave, sensible book, by a guy who has seen it all and those demeanour remains admirable. In fact, he is such a striking personality that his Biblical: Rob Halford's Heavy Metal Scriptures joined my 'to read' list straight after I put this down. Long live Judas Priest! Long live The Metal God! show less

Compulsively readable! This very entertaining autobiography takes the reader all the way from the Metal God's entirely ordinary boyhood all the way up to the Great 2020 Pandemic and how it has affected Judas Priest. Rob (or him and his ghost author at least) write in a conversational, witty style that is fun to read and feels surprisingly intimate. The title is certainly appropriate as he confesses to all sorts of indiscretions. Highly recommended to fans of Judas Priest and maybe to metal fans in general.

A great read. Almost seven decades of adventures, both public and private, on and off the road, from triumph to darkness and back again. I’d have loved more insight into his creative process, but what’s here feels honest, entertaining, touching and funny. Recommended to Judas Priest fans.