Founding Manowar guitarist Ross "Ross The Boss" Friedman left the band in 1988 after recording six classic albums with the band, including Battle Hymns and Kings Of Metal. Manowar has since re-recorded the two aforementioned albums (Battle Hymns MMXI in 2010 and Kings of Metal MMXIV in 2014), to which Friedman said in an interview with Sofa King Cool that the band should "leave genius alone." Friedman also didn't mince words about how he feels the re-recordings sound, adding "both suck."
"[Battle Hymns] record has been reissued so many times. I was asked to leave Manowar in 1988, right after the release of Kings Of Metal. And [bassist Joey DeMaio] has repackaged everything up so many times… He re-recorded Battle Hymns; he re-recorded Kings Of Metal. Both suck. 'Cause you can't re-record a record; you can't redo it. It's like Twisted Sister redoing 'Stay Hungry'; you just can't do it. Especially, he did it without me.
"I mean, I could see if he had the original lineup playing Battle Hymns and the original lineup playing Kings Of Metal, with just Donnie instead of Scott; Scott's not with us no more. But without me? And you tune down those songs. They were written in standard pitch. And then Manowar's tuning 'em down for Eric. Those songs lose all their energy. No. Nah nah nah nah nah nah. You've gotta leave genius alone, leave greatness alone. They're untouchable."
Friedman later adds that he and DeMaio could potentially patch things up one day, but DeMaio "doesn't want any part of me telling him what he should be doing" and that "I don't have to be in a band with a tyrant." So yeah, not looking great.
