Judas Priest - Demolition (2001)

After a pretty mild reception of the last album, "Jugulator", Judas Priest investigated on why that happened. Instead of seeing the obvious fact that Rob Halford was gone, they came up with the idea that the fans did not enjoy "Jugulator" because it was too different, not enough of the classic Priest in it. With that in mind, they created the follow up "Demolition", a album that definitely sounds more like a Judas Priest album, but still incorporated several new angles.

This definitely sounds good and all, only if the band actually had the song material that lives up to the hopes. "Demolition" is filled with songs that are either pretty good, or are just laughable, and that is at its most obvious in the lyric department, that is unusually stupid for a Judas Priest release. Let us all just gander on this line I took out from the opening track "Machine Man".

So you motherfuckers want to race
You've all got loser tattooed on your face

I expect these types of lyrics from anything released by Strapping Young Lad, but Judas Priest? Hell no, this is under all dignity for them, and it definitely ruins an otherwise kick ass song. That literally is the low point in the lyrical department, but the overall lyrics quality is not up to par.

Now, I have already stated that the song material is not the best, but there are some songs on "Demolition" that are worthy of a positive mentioning. "Bloodsuckers" sounds like it should be a corny song, but it is actually pretty cool, with its nice structure and a Tim Owens that brings out his inner Metal God in the best way possible. The album also have some good ballads in "Close To You", "Lost And Found", and "In Between", some cool futuristic inspiration in "Subterfuge", and a good, chunky banger in "Feed On Me".

But then we have a butt load of songs that are either uninspired or just flat out garbage, or maybe it is the haphazard production that make them seem that way, but either way, they are the reason to why "Demolition" is one of the least loved Judas Priest albums. And then we have the fact that the band wanted this to be more old school Judas Priest, however, it isn't. We don't get tons of awesome riffs, the choruses are not catchy, and the speed is not as it used to be. I can take the album as it is, but if the goal was to please those who loved "Painkiller", "Screaming For Vengeance", and all the other classics, then the band failed.

"Demolition" is far from a perfect album, but knowing how much shit it has gotten through the years, I expected it to suck more. Just like "Jugulator", it has some interesting ideas that could have worked out really well, but it is the song material that makes this album what it is, a failure. I really feel bad for Tim Owens, because he deserves more than what he got. He got in a band that was experiencing its most turbulent time, and he did what he could, and got mostly blamed for it. But no matter how good of a job Tim does, he cannot save "Demolition", a bad album that could have been interesting, but was the aftermath of a band that had lost its way.

Songs worthy of recognition: Bloodsuckers, Machine Man, Close To You

Rating: 4,5/10 Cyberfaces

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