Tim “Ripper” Owens – the frontman of Judas Priest during the late ’90s and early ’00s – has expressed his desire to completely re-record the albums he performed on.
If you were to ask any Judas Priest fan, they would likely agree that the ’90s were not exactly the group’s best years. Following the departure of longtime frontman Rob Halford in 1992, the group were on hiatus for a handful of years until they hired their new singer, Tim “Ripper” Owens, in 1996.
Having previously fronted the Judas Priest cover band British Steel, Owens appeared to be a fitting choice for the group. However, when the band released 1997’s Jugulator and 2001’s Demolition, fans were less than impressed.
While Rob Halford would reunite with the band in 2003, Owens went on to work with bands such as Iced Earth and Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force. However, eager fans might have noticed that the records that Owens recoded with the band are some of the only Judas Priest records to be out of print.
As Metal Injection points out, Tim “Ripper” Owens recently took to Facebook to respond to a fan who called for a reissue of the records Owens made with the group.
“Great to see my time in JP has erased and my CDs and ME from their past,” he began. “Well I haven’t forgot my past and I will be working on re recording the studio CDs and releasing them myself!! Why not?”
While we’re not sure if this counts as an official announcement at all, it appears that Owens might indeed be putting together a band to re-record a bunch of Judas Priest’s tracks from the turn of the century. Legal issues might prevent him from actually using the Judas Priest name in regards to these releases, but we’re somewhat curious as to what these re-recordings might actually sound like (if they ever eventuate).
In related Judas Priest news, the band announced back in August that they’re planning to celebrate their 50th anniversary next year, though they’ve not yet revealed what is in store for their fans.
Sadly, this anniversary comes marred with a bit of sorrow, with longtime guitarist Glenn Tipton having retired from touring following his diagnosis with Parkinson’s Disease earlier this year.
Judas Priest are set to hit up Australia in February for the 2019 edition of Download Festival, so be sure to come out in full support to help the band celebrate 50 years in the game!
Check out Judas Priest’s ‘Burn In Hell’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yps3qCbo0F0
Download Festival 2019 Lineup
Ozzy Osbourne
Slayer
Judas Priest
Alice In Chains
Ghost
Rise Against
The Amity Affliction
Anthrax
Halestorm
Behemoth
Me First And The Gimme Gimmes
I Prevail
Converge
Frenzal Rhomb
Luca Brasi
Code Orange
Andy Black
The Fever 333
War On Women
High Tension
Outright
Ruins
Alien Weaponry
Plus Loads More To Be Announced!
Download Festival Australia 2019
Saturday, March 9th, 2019
Parramatta Park, Sydney, NSW
Monday, March 11th, 2019 (Long weekend)
Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, VIC
