If the tone of my review seems a bit defensive, it's because I've read the bad reviews for this puppy, and I'm kinda fed up with it. I fail to see why anyone would dislike this album, though I respectfully Disagree.

In 1992 Original vocalist Rob Halford had a bitter falling out with the band and departed Judas Priest. Conventional Wisdom, which I believed, was that the band was Kaput without him. How do you replace a Legend?

Well the answer to that is you can't. But that's not what they were trying to do. With a different singer the band was to explore new musical territory.

Ripper Owens came to the bands attention because he was a frontman for a Judas Priest tribute band, British Steel. At a Concert in Western Pennsylvania the girlfriend of Current Judas Priest drummer Scott Travis was in attendance. She was so impressed that she told Scott and the rest of the band. They're reaction to Ripper Owens was identical. They immediately invited Ripper to England for a tryout, and he nailed it on the spot, Thus completing one of the most Fairytale stories in Rock History.

The first album Judas Priest released with Ripper was "Jugulator". Their Heaviest album to date. But a minority of fans refused to accept the fact that someone else is singing for Priest and not Rob Halford. And they're entitled to their opinion. Although some of these fans (Not All) tell me that it was more the music itself that they didn't like and not the vocalist. Though something tells me if Hypothetically Halford sang these tunes Some of them (Not All) would be impressed...Go figure.

This scenario has happened to many other great bands like Black Sabbath, AC/DC, And Van Halen.

While a few tunes on "Demolition" pick up where it's preceding album "Jugulator" left off, others are more varied in terms of sound. The band explores slower, more acoustic material as well as ballad fare magnifecently.

Also worthy of mention is the sound of the guitars. Axemen K.K Downing and Glenn Tipton are legends in the world of Rock. They didn't wanna rehash what had been done before, so a possibility was for them to broaden their horizons and throw us a curveball. And they did just that. The Two experimented radically, infusing modern effects and computerized distortion into their arsenal. Admittedly if you're a fan of Vintage Judas Priest like "You've got another thing coming" and have trouble accepting change, this album will be difficult to listen to.

But speaking for myself, as a fan of every Judas Priest-Era, the new Guitar sounds are so fresh it's amazing. Excitable to some degree, because from listening to these songs, if you didn't know these guys (The tandem of Glenn Tipton and K.K Downing) were veterans in their 50's, you'd think they were an up-and-coming band of 20-Something year olds!

The Afforementioned Ripper Owens doesn't disappoint on the vocal front. There's only a few slight separating traits between him and Rob Halford. First, if you already know this, forgive me, Ripper Owens hails from Akron, Ohio. So he doesn't have a noticeable British Accent like the Birmingham-Born Halford. Also, Ripper doesn't employ a semi-snarl wailing that Rob did. And finally, Listening to this record, I couldn't picture Rob singing over this music, because it's such a departure from the bands older sound, and also, during Very Heavy moments Rob doesn't Growl, whereas Tim does like a PitBull.

The Production effort on this album was handled by Glenn Tipton, with assistive work by Sean Lynch. I would rate the resulting "Production" sound from the Studio to be very good, because I can finally hear Ian Hill's engaging bass lines, which on past efforts were buried so deep into the mix.

If there's one problem I do have thougfh, it's Scott TRavis' Snare Drum isn't as loud as I'd like it to be, I reference albums like AC/DC's "Fly On The Wall" and Aerosmith's "Permanent Vacation" as a Good, loud Snare sound. Otherwise, Scott is a decent drummer, he uses current day double bass drum tricks, though I still prefer their previous drummer, (the guy Scott replaced) Dave Holland.

The final recording was mastered by Jon Astley at Close To The Edge. I recall him doing an excellent job on The Who's "Ultimate Collection" album. Ironically enough, Judas Priest and The Who have the same manager.

I think the front cover is fantastic, the new Judas Priest logo plus reD + Black colors. It grabs my attention. Luckily enough the cover is pretty basic, so the "Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics" label doesn't block out any of the artwork.

The Liner Notes are good, a List of Thank You's is nowhere to be found, but there's a great photo of the band, production info, songwriting credits, and lyrics for every last song.

And speaking of the lyrics, I'll come to the defense of Ian Hill, Scott Travis, K.K Downing and Glenn Tipton. ANYBODY At their age's best material would've been written years before. They are like aged Marathoners: past their prime and no longer winning medals, perhaps, but still in full stride and extremely Proficient. In my opinion they write great stuff.

At first listen, these songs weren't so great, but they grew on me drastically with each listen.

On "Machine Man" the verses are about the Race of Life. They'res lines like "...Renegades" and "Fell no Mercy as I cross the Line/Watch the Suckers self destruct with time". The Song Title is fitting because at first the Riffs are smooth flowing, and they then mimic a Machine Gun firing! This process repeats.

"One On One" showcases the new Guitar noises of Tipton and Downing which I mentioned earlier. As for Ripper, he singsa his lines in Saddistic fashion: "I am your final Hour/I am your fall from Power

"Hell is Home" utilizes the Acoustic/Electric shift. The Chorus reeled me in, the band collaborate on vocal harmonies. "Jeckyll And Hyde" is reminiscent of that story because some portions are just spoken word and keyboards, then soon enough the Guitars kick in. The Chorus goes: "Oh it's killing me/You're Un-Pre-Dic-Ta-Bi-Li-TY", that line being akin to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

After the first chorus Ripper starts singing in a way similar to the late great Layne Staley of Alice In Chains. Repeated Growls and a Menacing riff cap things off.

The overall feel of "Close To You" is very sad, And so are the lyrics. I was intrigued by, in the opening minute, how there's a keyboard line that ascends (Climbs). "Devil Digger" is a little simpler, which isn't a bad thing. The song is carried by the JackKnife distortion. And at first glance of the Back Cover, I thought with a song name like "Devil Digger" the lyrics must be horrible. They were much better than I imagined, very thoughtful. Themes of no one wanting to get old, and there being no desire to fade away. This line was also enjoyable: "Layed his hands upon my brow/That was the last of me/Devil/Digger/Un-For/Giver!".

The following track is "Blood Suckers". Ian Hill plays an exceptionally good bass line on this song. The main lyrics don't pertain to Blood Suckers at all, only on the chorus is that the case. The Bridge is erry, with haunting backrounsd vocals, church choir style, and a synthesized breeze of wind.

"In Between' hass a Grunge element to it, and "Feed On Me" stands out somewhat because the word "Dancefloor" is sung a few times. As a Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, And Gangsta Rap fan, that's the last place you'd ever find me! Judas Priest deserve credit though cuz besides AC/DC I can't think of many Hard Rock/Metal bands would put that word in one of their songs. Just because most of your fans don't dance, (which is Great :) ) doesn't you're barred from using words pertainig to the activity.

"Subterfuge" is a great tune. It also expanded my vocabulary and made me grab the dictionary off the shelf. In America we don't use that term very often. On the Chorus Ripper Barks and Growls the way a Rottweiler does. The only quite part is a two note tandem of Chords which are in similar pitch. The Furious, Aggressive Riff, ast times lets up ever so slightly to sound like plastic beads rubbing, for lack of a good comparision, and an Ivy League vocabulary ;).

"Lost And Found" strays a bit from the Rock your socks off formula. It's a beautiful ballad that tugs at my heart. Yep I have a weak spot for 'em. And Unlike Latter day Aerosmith, it doesn't come off as sappy. The Acoustic guitar is present throughout, On occasion the electric will show up more in the background. The whole band chants on the chorus. Ripper sings with so much passion and emotion, words can't describe. The band would downplay a song like this because it's so Un-Priest Like. I.E They wouldn't released as a single.

You can kinda guess what Cyberface is about. There's Computer metaphors abound; "Don't access the Site/Or Beware His Megabyte". Kinda clever

"Metal Messiah" could very well rank alongside Classic Priest closers, Ripper starts Rapping for a few lines, which I think is kinda cool. You're reaction, will of course vary depending on what your feelings are towards Rap. Afterwards, the pace breaks out into a Gallop which recalls Iron Maiden's material.

I heard a few months back that Halford was returning to Judas Priest. The news was No big Surprise to me. Truth be known Halford himself has gone on record saying he approved of Ripper Owens, and he'd sing his tunes on tour.

Owens was recruited by Iced Earth. Here's good luck to all camps involved.

In their 28th Year and 4th Decade, These legends show no signs of Rust on "Demolition" with Ripper Owens. Give this album a Shot.

First off, I LIKE Tim "Ripper" Owens and his performance. He's got a powerful voice and not too shabby of a Rob impersonation (though of course it's not entirely Halford quality). As far as "replacement" singers go, I believe Judas Priest fared much better, and made a better choice, than Iron Maiden did a few years back. At least JP realized that they needed to acquire someone who was somewhat similar to his predecessor.

Jugulator was an interesting album, showing Priest making an attempt at borderline death metal. I don't believe it was the musical failure that some do, but I can understand how some may not have appreciated it.

As far as Demolition goes, I found all of the...most of the...a few of the songs to be quite strong, but I got the feeling that some of them were leftovers from Glenn's solo album. Speaking of Glenn's solo album (of which this appears to be Part 2), he has also taken that horrible digitally processed guitar sound to new heights. That tone has dominated their sound since perhaps Ram It Down, but sounds even more like a microchip here. The "Defenders of the Faith" guitar muscle was the best they ever achieved and they would do well to find it again.

Songwise this record isn't too bad, aside from some of the frighteningly "techno" sound effects. "Subterfuge" is a great grooving headbanger, as is the bizarre "Metal Messiah"--though both suffer from those aforementioned techno flourishes. I also noticed some very bad editting in some songs, most notably in "Subterfuge", where there is an audible patch job done. I can't tell if they were linking riffs together or digitally repeating a couple bars, but at any rate it's pathetic to see on a major band's product.

Glenn has stated on countless occasions that Priest is always trying to be in step with the times and attempts to consistently update their sound by integrating new musical styles into the Priest's metallic melting pot. The problem there is that they tend to choose the wrong styles to borrow from, which are typically from fly-by-night bands that are outdated before their first album is even released. Hopefully Rob will be able to talk Glenn out of continuing in this current direction.

The ballad-ish "Hell Is Home" is a great anthem for heavy metal outcasts, while "Jekyll and Hyde" has some great metal riffing. Songs like "Devil Digger" and "Machine Man" could have come from Glenn's solo album, and the dark "Bloodsuckers" features some great Halfordian screaming from Tim in the chorus.

There is very little that can be compared to past classics from Priest, but it's still a strong batch of neo-metal (NOT "nu-metal") as Glenn continues to extend the boundaries of the genre (with dubious results).

I recommend it far higher than anything Iron Maiden has released in the past decade, that's for sure.

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.

Judas Priest with explicit lyrics? My Judas Priest? Blechhh! I guess their trying to be really cool and attract young listeners who like crude, angry music, that just makes my head hurt. Get real people. Ripper may be a lot of things, but a singer like Rob Halford he ain't. There's maybe 5 songs of the 13 tracks that I could stomach listening to. Glen is clearly lost without Rob. These "ballads"?, ... You'd be better off buying Halford's solo CD which is really good (other than Cyberworld), which Rob should have donated to this effort, as it would have fit right in...

If your looking for a Rob Halford sounding Judas Priest forget about this CD.

But if your looking for a good PILE DRIVING ROCK 'N' CD then this is for you.

Amazing powerfull DRUMS and fantastic RIPPING CORDS.

This is different from past Judas Priest CD's but well worth the purchase.

I'm glad I bought it.