(Rated this album with 2 out of 10) Reviewed by
Bill Murphy
from Kentwood, MI United States
What a huge disappointment and waste of $15 this CD is! The only thing this CD "demolished" was Judas Priest's reputation for creating some truly memorable riffs and powerful songs. The lead singer has a voice that grates on my nerves. No style. No finesse. Just lots of toneless growls. The guitar riffs are second-rate in their originality, and have that ubiquitous tone you can't seem to get away from these days (every band sounds exactly the same!). So there nothing original even in the way their guitars *sound*, let alone in their arrangements. After listening to the remastered British Steel, Screaming For Vengeance, Point of Entry and Defenders of the Faith CDs, Demolition is so far below that level I pulled the latest CD off after just five songs. I couldn't stand to hear any more. Priest sounds like a band trying its best to sound young and hip and contemporary -- yet falling flat on its very wrinkled face. There's nothing wrong with being an aged rocker. Some of my favorite bands are pushing or exceeding 50. But there *is* something wrong with trying to be something you're not. Judas Priest will never be Everclear or Korn or Staind or any other band of today. And they shouldn't even try to be. They should just be what they always were: metal pioneers with a distinct sound and an attitude to match. Sorry to say, I think Priest should hang it up...or go crawling back to Rob Halford and beg him to return. He's pretty lousy on his own, too.
