(Rated this album with 8 out of 10) Reviewed by
Shawn Branchcomb
from Pensacola, Florida USA
With "Demolition," Tim 'Ripper' Owens finds himself sounding more natural and a little less like he's trying to sound exactly like his predecessor, the legendary Rob Halford. for one thing he uses a lot less falsetto (the high-pitched vocal style) this time around. He sounds a little more modern and gritty, yet still fits with the classic Priest style. Now if only we could have seen how well he can write lyrics because unfortunately Glen Tipton reprises his Jugulator role as lyricist. The only bad thing I can say about "Jugulator" is that Tipton's lyrics range from spotty to dead on horrendous! Some of the lyrics on that album made me want to hurl. Many lines of lyrics in the songs sounded awkward and forced. Its not enough to rhyme words, but it should make some sense and at least have some grammatical acuracy. The lyrics sounded like they were coming from someone still learning English or a high school garage band! On Demolition, Tipton shows us he's still not going to be considered for Poet Leaureate anytime soon, but he is getting better. Nothing on Demolition is as bad as Jugulator's "Dead Meat," for instance, (man! great riffs ruined by those silly lyrics!). I was still hoping he would have let Ripper write because he, I'm sure, had to have had experience writing lyrics with Winters Bane. Oh well! Musically, Demolition isn't as brutal as Jugulator, but it is still a thunderous set with great riffs and some good hooks. Highlights are "Machine Man," "One on One," "Hell is Home," "Subterfuge," and "Metal Messiah." Another minor complaint is that the album cover is boring! What no giant bionic beast swinging a wrecking ball and throwing dynomite! Some of the best Priest albums always had some character on the front such as the Painkiller, the Metallian from DotF, The Hellion from SfV, The fallen angel from SWoD, and even the Jugulator. Demolition's cover is just so bland compared to all the other album covers!
