Metal went through a lull period, the likes we’ve never seen since. That period saw major turmoil across the board for some of our favorite bands. One such band that saw turmoil and lineup changes was Judas Priest. After Rob Halford left the band in 1992, they went into a period of little activity. That is, until they found a replacement in Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens in 1997. With Owens, they released two albums Jugulator and Demolition. They also released two live albums 98 Metal Meltdown and Live In London. Those albums, like others for huge metal bands, underperformed from a sales and critical standpoint.
Owens sat down recently with The Metal Voice for an interview and talked about his career and the ’90s metal scene.
“I think it was the time we were at. I think if we released ‘Jugulator’ and ‘Demolition’ right now, it would be totally different in my opinion. Because metal was so bad [popularity-wise]. Bands were playing smaller places. At the end of Judas Priest and the ‘Painkiller’ tour, they were playing in front of 1,000 people in Europe. And it was a totally different kind of an animal.
2,000 or so when it started coming back. You start seeing it. Now, you get Maiden and Priest out there still selling out these big concerts… well, Maiden are selling out the really big concerts.”
Owens is the lead singer of KK’s Priest, which is an offshoot of Judas Priest from former guitarist K.K. Downing. They’ve recently released their second album, The Sinner Rides Again.
Owens has a similar vibe to that of Iron Maiden’s former lead singer, Blaze Bayley. Except in this case, Judas Priest does seem to sweep Owens’ tenure under the rug. They haven’t performed any songs from Jugulator or Demotion live since his departure, and there really hasn’t been any mention of that era of the band.
Here’s what Owens had to say about being the replacement for Rob Halford.
“It’s hard to replace somebody. I don’t care how great the records would have been, they still want Rob. Just like people still yell that they want Ken in Priest, that’s a normal thing. But I think no matter what we would have released, it would have been about the same.”
You can read our reviews of Jugulator and Demolition as part of Judas Priest-A-Thon, the album by album review series chronicling their entire music career.
Judas Priest is set to release their latest album, Invincible Shield, next month.
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Source: The Metal Voice
