GIRLSCHOOL — Demolition (review)

GIRLSCHOOL — Demolition album cover Album · 1980 · NWoBHM Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
AtomicCrimsonRush
The debut “Demolition” for all girl British metal band Girlschool is quite an achievement featuring some of their best material and two bonafide classics that became live staples and huge hits in the UK. The single that topped the chart was a cover of The Gun’s ‘Race With the Devil’ with some scorching lead riffs played beautifully by Kelly Johnson. She was their lead vocalist but did not sing on this, that job was left to bassist Enid Williams. She does a fine job and the film clip shows her having a lot of fun on this; she was always cracking up while the other members were rather serious. The hit was a blockbuster version and always stayed firm in my memory as a teen listening to these rocking babes. Kelly on guitar is devestating on this.

The other big hit was the single, ‘Emergency’ with the chorus “911 Emergency” repeated over and over. The chords were simple, skull crushing ‘A’ and ‘E’ chords that crashed down. The themes of the lyrics was simple, “Can't make out, things they said, Spent too many nights getting out of my head, Must be mad, must be blind, Driving me crazy right out of my mind...” In other words the song is about going crazy, confused by too many voices and the drink, so you better call 911. A typical theme of the band was to get drunk and party such as ‘Nothing to Lose’ or ‘Deadline’.

The opening track, ‘Demolition Boys’ is one of the best songs with a fabulous rhythm and raucous chorus, “things used to be different for me, till I heard the noise, demolition boys, demolition boys...” The riff is killer all the way and a prime example of aggressive 80s metal.

Other great tracks are ‘Not for Sale’ and ‘Take It All Away’. The latter song features an infectious chorus with harmonies that are well executed. The verses have some interesting lyrics; “One day you're up, next day you're down, Nothing you can do but just stay around, Trying to do your best, hoping they're impressed, But can you hurry up 'cause you wanna know who's next... they’re gonna take it all away.” Once again it is about standing up to the men, I assume, who are always trying to take from you and trying to make you be something you are not. Girl Power.

‘Midnight Ride’ is another highlight with a catchy chorus with repeated words that stick in your head. There are no terrible songs with everything turned up to 10 and rocking hard with attitude and flashy melodic metal grooves.

Overall the album was a solid start to the band but the followup was the brilliant “Hit and Run” and it never got better than this. “Demolition” has a lot of great metal and is worth a listen as one of the early NWOBHM albums.
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