DEMON: Better The Devil You Know

Cover	Release	Style
	2005-05-16	hard rock / metal
	Label
	spaced out music
	Website
	Demon
	Contact

	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	40:07	SPMCD 13
	Review by	Rating
	Edwin	8/10
nederlands	Review
As a teenager only starting to explore the world of (hard) rock music, I was instantly attracted to the album cover of Demon’s debut album “Night Of The Demon” (1981). The gruesome image of two hands coming out of a grave and ripping open a surprisingly organic cross-shaped headstone, hid some fine intense and melodic rock. In fact, this was one of the better offerings to come out of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, and it was a regular on my turntable alongside the classics of Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Praying Mantis and Saxon, to name but a few. On later albums, the band added a symphonic touch to their music, and a more conceptual approach. This led to the all-time classic “The Plague”. Tragedy struck, though, when guitarist, co-writer and founding member Mal Spooner died in 1985. They still produced some great albums after that, with “Taking The World By Storm” and the live “One Helluva Night” in particular being very impressive. In 1992, though, after a remarkable number of lineup changes, the band bowed out with “Blow-Out”, which was rather poor and seemed to suggest the band had run its course. But you can’t keep a good band down, and a new century brought about a new Demon and a new album, “Spaced Out Monkey”. Although that wasn’t bad at all, it just wasn’t the Demon I used to love and I’m afraid “Monkey” has been gathering dust in my cd rack. There’s little danger of that happening to their latest offering, “Better The Devil You Know”, though. The demonic cover art, the devilish intro, the pretty straightforward, but effective hard rock,… it’s all very reminiscent of their early albums. Maybe a step backward for the band, but in these days that is often a good thing. The band again welcomes a couple of new members, but essentially this is still Dave Hill’s band. His voice is what defines Demon, and although technically he’s never been a great vocalist, you just can’t imagine the band without his expressive vocals. Admittedly, “Dead Of The Night” -my favourite here- and perhaps “Warriors” are the only tracks that can really compete with the early classics, but also tracks like “Better The Devil You Know”, “Taking On The World” and “Standing On The Edge” are actually very good. “Change” proves that also in the slower material, Dave Hill & Co still shine. Not all songs are equally good, but then they did have a few fillers on those classic albums as well. Not exactly the best album they’ve ever done, but this is definitely a worthy addition to their discography. Fans of the band’s early days will be happy with this.
Musicians
Dave Hill: Vocals Ray Walmsley: Guitars Andy Dale: Bass Karl Finney: Guitars Paul 'Fazza' Farrington: Keyboards Neil Ogden: Drums
Tracklist
Better The Devil You Know Dead Of The Night Standing On The Edge Taking On The World Temptation Warriors Live Again Obsession Change
Discography
Night Of The Demon (1981) The Unexpected Guest (1982) The Plague (1983) British Standard Approved (1985) Heart Of Our Time (1985) Breakout (1987) Taking The World By Storm (1988) One Helluva Night (1990 – live) Hold On To The Dream (1991) Anthology (1991 – comp.) Blow-Out (1992) The Best Of Demon, Vol. One (1999 – comp.) Spaced Out Monkey (2001) Better The Devil You Know (2005)


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