War of Words is the debut album by the American heavy metal band Fight, released on September 9, 1993, by Epic Records. This is the first release Rob Halford recorded after his departure from Judas Priest in 1992. He brought with him drummer Scott Travis from the band and recruited three new members. The music is a mixture between the heavy metal sound created by Judas Priest and a groove/thrash metal sound similar to that of Pantera. Halford is also credited with playing guitar but only recorded vocals for the album. Music videos were made for "Nailed to the Gun", "Immortal Sin" and "Little Crazy".
| War of Words | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 9, 1993[1] | |||
| Studio | Wisseloord, Hilversum | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 59:18 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Producer | Attie Bauw and Rob Halford | |||
| Fight chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Alternative cover | ||||
 2008 Remixed and Remastered edition cover | ||||
| Singles from War of Words | ||||
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| Rob Halford chronology | ||||
| ||||
Reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 6/10[4] |
| Rock Hard | 9/10[5] |
The Philadelphia Inquirer called War of Words "a solid album of thrashing mosh-pit rock".[6]
In 2005, War of Words was ranked number 386 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[7]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Rob Halford
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Into the Pit" | 4:13 |
| 2. | "Nailed to the Gun" | 3:38 |
| 3. | "Life in Black" | 4:34 |
| 4. | "Immortal Sin" | 4:39 |
| 5. | "War of Words" | 4:29 |
| 6. | "Laid to Rest" | 4:40 |
| 7. | "For All Eternity" | 4:42 |
| 8. | "Little Crazy" | 3:49 |
| 9. | "Contortion" | 4:35 |
| 10. | "Kill It" | 3:30 |
| 11. | "Vicious" | 3:11 |
| 12. | "Reality, a New Beginning
| 13:18 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kill It (Dutch Death Mix)" | 3:36 |
Note
edit"Reality, a New Beginning" is a 4:40 song. A 5-minute silence occurs before a hidden track titled "Jesus Saves" is played. The remixed and remastered edition includes the song as a bonus track
Personnel
edit- Fight
- Rob Halford – vocals, guitar
- Brian Tilse – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals
- Russ Parrish – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals
- Jay Jay – bass, backing vocals
- Scott Travis – drums, percussion, backing vocals
- Production
- Produced by Attie Bauw and Rob Halford
- Executive producer – John Baxter
- Recorded by Attie Bauw
- 2008 Remixed and Remastered Edition
- Remixed by Roy Z
- Remastered by Andy Horn
- Art design – Marc Sasso
Charts
edit| Chart (1993) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[8] | 56 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[9] | 49 |
| US Billboard 200[10] | 83 |
References
edit- ^ War of Words (Japanese release) (booklet). Fight. Epic, Epic Japan, Sony. 9 September 1993. 4 988010 581923.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Usenick, Mike (June 15, 2022). "Wayback Wednesday: "War of Words" – Fight (1993)". AudioVein Entertainment. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
- ^ Hill, Gary. War of Words at AllMusic
- ^ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 155. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
- ^ Kühnemund, Götz. "Rock Hard review". issue 77. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
- ^ Stark, Karl (Nov 9, 1993). "War of Words". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. E3.
- ^ Best of Rock & Metal - Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten (in German). Rock Hard. 2005. p. 54. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Fight – War of Words" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Fight – War of Words". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ "Fight Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 6, 2024.