Demolition (Judas Priest album)

Demolition is the fourteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, and the first in the decade of the 2000s. It is the second and final studio album to feature Tim "Ripper" Owens on vocals. It is also the only Judas Priest studio album to feature a Parental Advisory label on the album cover due to the songs "Machine Man", "Hell Is Home", and "Metal Messiah" containing profanity.

Demolition
Studio album by Judas Priest
Released	16 July 2001 (2001-07-16)
Recorded	1999–2001
Studio	Silvermere Studios, Surrey, England
Genre	Heavy metal^[1] nu metal^[2]
Length	70:44
Label	SPV
Producer	Glenn Tipton
Judas Priest chronology
Jugulator (1997) Demolition (2001) Angel of Retribution (2005)
Singles from Demolition
"Machine Man" Released: 1 June 2001

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Blabbermouth.net	4/10^[3]
Kerrang!	^[4]
Rolling Stone
Sputnikmusic	1.5/5^[5]

Background and reception

In 2018, Tim "Ripper" Owens pledged to re-record this album and its predecessor Jugulator as he feels that his era of the band has "been erased".^[6] Ever since Rob Halford rejoined the band, songs from both albums have been left off the band’s concert setlists, although Halford stated that he wouldn’t mind performing the songs live.^[7]

Guitarist Richie Faulkner cites "Hell Is Home" as his favourite song, "It's really heavy and the vocal melody is really great. I think Ripper sings it really well. It's probably one of my favorite Priest songs of the Ripper era. 'Hell Is Home' — I really like that."^[8]

Songwriting and production

The album was produced by guitarist Glenn Tipton, who also took over as the primary songwriter. The band's main songwriting team had long consisted of Rob Halford, K. K. Downing, and Tipton. After Halford departed, however, Downing and Tipton wrote all the songs on Jugulator. On this album, many of the songs were written solely by Tipton, with contributions from Downing on several songs. Former producer Chris Tsangarides, who cowrote "A Touch of Evil" on Painkiller, also assisted in the writing of a few songs. Drummer Scott Travis cowrote "Cyberface" – his only contribution to writing in the band's history. (Les Binks was Priest's only other drummer to cowrite a song.) This was the first album since Painkiller to feature a guest appearance by keyboardist Don Airey, who had played on "A Touch of Evil."

"People will wonder if a new Priest album is as good as any of the fifteen that came before it," Tipton acknowledged. "I'm confident they'll think this one is. It has some manic, hooligan tracks, like 'Machine Man' and 'Bloodsuckers', as well as a typical 'Ripper' song in 'Jekyll and Hyde'.^[9]

The songs "Machine Man" and "Feed on Me" were included in Judas Priest's box set Metalogy.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Machine Man"	Glenn Tipton	5:35
2.	"One on One"	K. K. Downing, Tipton	6:44
3.	"Hell Is Home"	Downing, Tipton	6:18
4.	"Jekyll and Hyde"	Tipton	3:19
5.	"Close to You"	Downing, Tipton	4:28
6.	"Devil Digger"	Tipton	4:45
7.	"Bloodsuckers"	Downing, Tipton	6:18
8.	"In Between"	Tipton	5:41
9.	"Feed on Me"	Tipton	5:28
10.	"Subterfuge"	Tipton, Chris Tsangarides	5:12
11.	"Lost and Found"	Downing, Tipton	4:57
12.	"Cyberface"	Tipton, Scott Travis	6:45
13.	"Metal Messiah"	Tipton, Tsangarides	5:14
Total length:			70:44

Bonus tracks on Digipak pressing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
14.	"Rapid Fire" (Re-recorded version)	Rob Halford, Downing, Tipton	3:53
15.	"The Green Manalishi" (Re-recorded version)	Peter Green	4:09
Total length:			78:46

Bonus tracks on Australian pressing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
14.	"What's My Name" (also bonus track on Japanese pressing)	Owens, Downing, Tipton	3:45
15.	"Rapid Fire" (Re-recorded version)	Halford, Downing, Tipton	3:53
16.	"The Green Manalishi" (Re-recorded version)	Green	4:09
Total length:			82:31

Personnel

Judas Priest

• Tim "Ripper" Owens – vocals
• K. K. Downing – guitars
• Glenn Tipton – guitars
• Ian Hill – bass
• Scott Travis – drums

Additional musician

• Don Airey – keyboards

Production

• Produced and arranged by Glenn Tipton; co-produced by Sean Lynch
• Mastered by Jon Astley
• Front cover and booklet by L-Space Design
• Back cover image by Benjamin Davies
• Photography by Mick Hutson

Charts

Chart (2001)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[10]	50
French Albums (SNEP)^[11]	72
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[12]	16
Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[13]	22
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[14]	55
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[15]	72
US Billboard 200^[16]	165

References

1. "Judas Priest - Demolition Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic". AllMusic.
2. "Demolition by Judas Priest". BraveWords.
3. Krgin, Borivoj (17 December 2001). "Demolition - JUDAS PRIEST". blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
4. Beebee, Steve (14 July 2001). "Albums". Kerrang!. No. 861. UK: EMAP. p. 46.
5. "Judas Priest - Demolition (album review 2) | Sputnikmusic". Sputnikmusic. 16 October 2006. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
6. "TIM 'RIPPER' OWENS Says His Time With JUDAS PRIEST Has Been 'Erased' From Band's Past, Vows To Re-Record Both Albums". Blabbermouth.net. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
7. "Rob Halford Open to Singing 'Ripper' Owens Era Judas Priest Songs". Loudwire.
8. "JUDAS PRIEST's RICHIE FAULKNER Names One Of His Favorite Songs From TIM 'RIPPER' OWENS Era". Blabbermouth.net. 18 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
9. "The big picture: Demolition derby". Classic Rock #28. June 2001. p. 13.
10. "Austriancharts.at – Judas Priest – Demolition" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
11. "Lescharts.com – Judas Priest – Demolition". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
12. "Offiziellecharts.de – Judas Priest – Demolition" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
13. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
14. "Swedishcharts.com – Judas Priest – Demolition". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
15. "Swisscharts.com – Judas Priest – Demolition". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
16. "Judas Priest Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 March 2015.