Glenn Tipton - Baptizm Of Fire

General Information

Original Author: The Uncreator

Artist: Tipton

Album: Baptizm Of Fire

Genre: Heavy Metal

Tracklist

01. Hard Core
02. Paint It Black
03. Enter The Storm
04. Fuel Me Up
05. Extinct
06. Baptizm Of Fire
07. The Healer
08. Curse Control
09. Kill Or Be Killed
10. Voodoo Brother
11. Left For Dead
12. Himalaya
13. New Breed

Sound

9 Glenn Tipton, lead guitarist for one of the greatest music acts of all time, Judas Priest, unleashes a fury of heavy, punishing riffs, super fast solo's, personal, dark, and ominous lyrics coupled with one of the freshest guitar sounds in ages, Fan of Priest? Fan of Metal? Fan of virtuoso guitar work? Keep reading.

Guitar

10 Well Glenn already holds his place in the list of my favorite guitarists, and this is only supported by his godly performance on this album. Songs like the opener "Hard Core", "Fuel Me Up", "Baptizm Of Fire", and "Himalaya" show us how much creativity lies inside the head of sir Glenn Tipton. The riffs are heavy, crushing, powerful, and are some of the catchiest ive heard. They are the ideal riffs to headbang to with a couple of your pals. And the solos, Good lord the solos!!! Every solo is an adventure through guitar virtuosity, Sweeping, legato, tapping, insane AP, and creative melody work shower this album in beauty. The trade-offs Glenn does with bassist Billy Sheehan on "Baptizm Of Fire" are simply genious!! This album is without a doubt a shredders album, but also a riff lovers album as well.

Bass

8 I have but one name to mention, Billy Sheehan. While not the bass player on all the songs, the sheer fact that his fingers play a note on this album make it worthy of an eight. His solos trade-offs, like i mention before on a few songs are just mind blowing, the overall bass is very impressive, extremely groove oriented. Other bass players on here are Robert Trujillo, and CJ De Villar, who all add there unique style an approaches to this record.

Drums

7 The drummer for this album is Cozy Powell, he is a great drummer, but i guess this album wasnt his best work, Dont get me wrong though, there are some awesome fills, grooves and beats, but it seems to get a bit stale near the end. Certainly no bad by any means, maybe just not the best is all i can say.

Vocals

8 I was not aware at the time i bought this album, 2005, that Glenn possessed such a deep, rich, classic rock n roll voice. He can even hit some VERY VERY high notes, maybe something Halford showed him? His performance on here puts many career vocalists to shame, i think that this proves this man is truly and ever growing musicians, his art is growing more diverse with every album he releases, solo wise and with priest, maybe we will see some vocal work on the new priest album. Either way his vocals are just amazing.

Lyrics

8 They seem to get very personal with songs like "Fuel Me Up", and very story teller like with songs like "Enter The Storm". they are very interesting and continue to intrigue me to this day

From "Fuel Me Up"

Don't pass me by
Without a drop
Just step across
And fill my cup

Gimme more
It's not enough
Rejuvenate me
Fuel me up

Running drier
Every day
Low on gas
High on octane

See the needle
Running hot
Once you start
It's hard to stop

Galvanise me
To the spot
Immunise me with
Everything you've got

Don't pass me by
And never stop
Step across and
Fill my cup

Gimme more
It's not enough
Rejuvenate me
Fuel me up

From "Enter The Storm"

Enter the storm
You probably won't survive
But if you do
You'll be much stronger cos you tried

The mighty fall
A world gone mad beneath it all
Nothing to loose
Step through and watch all hell break loose

Rip away the rotten wood
You've been reborn
End the lies and face the truth
The blackness comes

The risk no greater than the gain
But if you stay
Your soul evaporates away
Cyclonic winds
Will blow away the sins you gained
A tidal wave

From "Himalaya"

Cities in the sky
Secrets locked inside great minds
Hold answers to all the mysteries of time
Walk amongst the clouds

Listen to the mountain sounds
Speak gigantically
And tell me how it ought to be
Awake inside

Learn that you can find
Every single thing
You ever left behind you
Look into the sun

Raise your voice and say
Oh! Oh!
You gave me strength
And Killed me fear

You answered my prayer
Himalaya
We who know it all
Simply decided to ignore
For a million years

All wisdom leaving here
On Tibetan nights
If you reach up you can touch the sky
As the changing light

Overall Impression

8 A Fantastic album with awesome riffs, even betters solos, incredible bass work, and a fresh new voice to grace the metal scene, Without a doubt a diamond in the rough, a diamond amongst a sea of dirt, this album is just AWESOME.