(Rated this album with 4 out of 10) Reviewed by
Steven A Stroppiana
from Oakland, CA United States
Well after four years, you'll wonder where the time went when you initially listen to their new disc, "Demolition." The first half of this disc, with the exception of "Machine Man," blows. A lot of ever changing tempos within each song, horrible bridges, a wrong turn here, a bad turn there. HOWEVER-things really pick up with songs like "Bloodsuckers" and my personal fave, "Subterfuge." (It actually has FUNK! You go, Ian!) The interesting thing is the two best songs on this album (Metal Messiah, Subterfuge) were co-written by Tipton and Chris Tsangarides...remember him? He co-penned Priest's LAST hit "Touch of Evil" 11 years ago. Is this guy the secret honorary member of Priest? DRAFT HIM NOW. Glenn Tipton forgot this is a group, and not his own solo project. Like Jugulator, it's basically all Glenn, with contributions from KK Downing, and get this, Scott Travis.... but most glaring is the absence of any contribution by Tim "Ripper" Owens. I wonder why...is it because he is ultimately Glenns parrot? After all, Tim WAS a Halford impersonator before he got the best job in the world. Ripper has tried to establish himself as a legimate voice, and succeeded-now it's time for everyone to swallow their egos, (Glenn, maybe Halford,) and get back together. Halford has remained true to the classic Priest subject matter in a majority of his songs while solo, as opposed to the speed/death metal ideas Glenn has been marinating in for the last decade. And since when did we need to hear swearing in Priest songs? It doesn't fit, and it's embarrassing. I love this group to death, and it kills me to hear this happen. I'll still see them live in 6 weeks, because after they get the new stuff out of the way, they're STILL Judas Priest. Of course, all goups MUST evolve if they are to stay alive, vibrant vital....but some ideas instead of just noise would be a good place to start.
