Band:	Demolition 23
Album:	Demolition 23
Style:	Hard rock
Release date:	1994
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Nothin's Alright
02. Hammersmith Palais
03. The Scum Lives On
04. Dysfunctional
05. Ain't Nothin' To Do
06. I Wanna Be Loved
07. You Crucified Me
08. Same Shit Different Day
09. Endangered Species
10. Deadtime Stories

After the release of "Jerusalem Slim", Michael Monroe, totally disappointed by the bad treatment of Polygram Records, went on with an anti-promotional tour in which he was asking from his fans to not buy any copy of Jerusalem Slim and, finally, not even a single Jerusalem Slim composition made it to the tour play-list.

After Jerusalem Slim disbanded Michael Monroe started searching for musicians to form a band that would keep on going and not disband after a single record. Having arranged with Little Steven Van Zandt the production of his upcoming album, Sami Yaffa (ex-Hanoi Rocks) joined on the bass guitar and then Jay Hening and Jimmy Clark joined on the guitar and the drums. The name of the band was Demolition 23 and the new songs were mainly composed by Michael Monroe, Little Steven and Jude Wilder, except for some covers on Dead Boys, Johnny Thunders etc.

"Demolition 23" has an intense glam punk attitude, in the vein of New York Dolls/Dead Boys, as it was expressed in the 70s, but sounding heavier and more modern in a way. Michael Monroe and the boys offer ten compositions filled with the energy of punk rock, the heaviness of hard rock up to an extent and the dirtiness of the glam/sleaze movement, which means all the good things came together in one single record!

The guitar riffing rolls all the way and it relies on the 70s glam punk riff structure, expressed through a heavier prism though. Whenever some wonderful solos make their appearance from time to time they make the compositions more affected and lend a different kind of rolling magic to the overall feeling. The rhythm section lends the appropriate groove and pulse to the songs in an unerring and vivid way and the sound of harmonica adds another sense to the sound attitude of Demolition 23 in such a fabulous way! Michael Monroe really shines on the album, sounding really bad-ass and rolling our world with his brilliant interpretation keeping the interest of the audience, along with the inspired compositions, to the highest levels!

The production is genius if I may say, bringing the 70s feeling/sound into the first half of the 90s in the most appropriate way, which means that Little Steven made the album sound heavier without losing it's punk edge, succeeding in such a stunning way if you ask me!

The absolute highlights of such a wonderful attempt have to be the dynamic and full of energy "Nothin's Alright" that opens the album in the most ideal way, the groovy "The Scum Lives On", the wonderful Dead Boys cover "Ain't Nothin' To Do", the more fragile "You Crucified Me" and the upbeat and rolling all the way "Same Shit Different Day".

Demolition 23's one and only attempt is a must-have album for all the glam freaks out there to haunt your nighttime with bad-ass sleazy dreams!