Prior to his stints as frontman for bands like Yngwie J. Malmsteen and Iced Earth, vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens fronted Judas Priest between 1996 and 2003 in the absence of Rob Halford. Owens recorded the albums Jugulator in 1997 and Demolition in 2001 with Judas Priest, as well as two live albums – Meltdown and Live in London.
Recently a fan asked Owens on his Facebook page if and when all four of the aforementioned records would be available on vinyl again, as they've been out of print for quite some time.
Owens responded says he feels as though Judas Priest is trying erase him from their history and that he's planning on re-recording the albums himself.
Yep Great to see my time in JP has erased and my CDs and ME from their past!!!!! Well I haven’t forgot my past and I will be working on re recording the studio CDs and releasing them myself!! Why not?
It'll be interesting to see how this pans out on the legal end, though I guess if Owens just re-records them and pays royalties for the covers (and doesn't trying to use the Judas Priest name) then he's probably good to go. Would you want Priest-less Jugulator and Demolition?
