Twilight of the Demon
Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 10/18/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"If you look past the truly awful cover artwork and the fact that by 1992 Demon was pretty much vocalist Dave Hill and a rotating cast of musicians, Blowout is actually a surprisingly good album. I say surprising because the musical climate in 1992 starting to be decidedly unfriendly to hard rock and metal bands, particularly former New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) bands that had long since moved into almost AOR territory.
Like its predecessor (1991's Hold on to the Dream), Blowout is very much a straightforward rock album, with very little of the metal sound that characterized Demon's early NWOBHM albums. Instead the sound tends toward a melodic yet still epic style similar to that of later day Uriah Heep and Blue Oyster Cult. It's not quite as impressive as Hold On To the Dream, and it's obvious that shouldering sole responsibility for the band was starting to take its toll on Hill.
Blowout is a very solid hard rock album, especially given circumstances, and is a more than worthy addition to the Demon discography. Unfortunately, it would be the last Demon studio album for the better part of a decade. Whether Hill was worn out and needed time to regroup, or he knew that the grunge-laden 90's were no place for a band like Demon, he would not bring the band back until 2001's Spaced Out Monkey.
Edition Notes: Blowout was reissued in 2003 by Dead Ringer. The updated version features a much needed digital remastering as well as a trio of bonus tracks - alternate mixes of the songs "Tell Me What You're Looking For", "War Games" and "Stop the Fire". They're interesting enough, but don't really add all that much."
Track Listings (15) - Disc #1