Ian Hill looks back on JUDAS Priest's Tim 'Ripper' Owens era: “he wasn't Rob Halford”
06-05-2024
In a new interview with Mark Frankhouse of the 107.7 RKR radio station, JUDAS PRIEST bassist Ian Hill reflected on the two albums the band recorded with singer Tim “Ripper” Owens, 1997’s “Jugulator” and 2001’s “Demolition”. Asked what the “transition” was like from longtime singer Rob Halford to Owens, Hill said: “It was pretty simple, really. We didn’t really want another name per se, if you know what I mean. Because they always bring their baggage with them, and it really would change the band dramatically. And we didn’t really want that; we wanted to continue in the vein that we were in. So, we wanted someone who could pretty much cover what we were already doing. And Ripper was an obvious choice. He had a tremendous voice, and he was actually playing in a PRIEST tribute band at the time, so he knew most of the songs, which was a bonus. So, we went with Tim. And it was a pretty easy process. Tim‘s a great bloke, an easygoing fella, so it was an easy process, really. But the problem was he wasn’t Rob, and that’s what people wanted — they wanted the trademark lineup. And in the end, Rob sort of started to hint that he wouldn’t mind coming back and whatever, and I think Tim, he agreed. He was a fan of the band as well, and he could see the point. So even that was a comparatively smooth process as well, when Rob came back.”
Hill went on to say that “there was some fine material” on PRIEST‘s two Owens-era albums, “especially ‘Demolition’ — I think ‘Demolition’ was a fine album. But it was what it was,” he explained. “And, like I say, we weren’t making a great deal of headway either, and neither was Rob with his solo career. It was a good idea all around to get back together with Rob. It just made so much sense. Our fans wanted it, and in the end, we wanted it, and even Ripper wanted it. So, it made a lot of sense. And Rob came back, and we stepped straight back to where we left off with ‘Painkiller’, and it went off from there.”
This past January, Owens told The Metal Voice that if JUDAS PRIEST “released ‘Jugulator’ and ‘Demolition’ right now, the fan and media response would be totally different, in my opinion. Because metal was so bad back in the 1990s. Bands were playing in smaller places. At the end of JUDAS PRIEST, on the ‘Painkiller’ tour, they were playing in front of a thousand people in Europe and stuff; I mean, it was a totally different kind of an animal. In 2000 or so, when it started coming back, you started seeing it. Now you get IRON MAIDEN and PRIEST out there still selling out these big concerts — well, MAIDEN selling out their really big concerts. And I think those records… It’s hard to replace somebody like (Rob Halford). I don’t care how great the records would have been. The fans still want Rob, just like people still yell that they want Ken former JUDAS PRIEST and current KK’S PRIEST guitarist Kenneth ‘K.K.’ Downing in PRIEST. I mean, that’s a normal thing.”
Owens was also asked if his lack of songwriting contributions to PRIEST was primarily the result of the fact that he was the “new guy” in the band, Owens said: “Oh, exactly. You’re joining JUDAS PRIEST. At the end, I did wanna write. I came to the table with a few songs; ‘Scream Machine’ (which appeared on the 2006 album from his BEYOND FEAR project) was one of them, actually, which would have probably been one of the better JUDAS PRIEST songs on those records. But it’s JUDAS PRIEST. It’s K.K. You know what I mean? You just go with it, and I was fine with how everything went. I loved the records, and I learned a lot from working with Glenn (Tipton, PRIEST guitarist) and Ken, and working in the studio. I learned a lot.”
Last September, Owens spoke to Cassius Morris about his relationship with Halford. He said: “I think it made people very angry that there never really was a rivalry between us. I mean, there was a little bit of things said back in the day, but we’ve always been friends and I’ve always respected him, obviously. And he’s always talked well about me in the press. So I think it does make people mad that that they’re that we don’t hate each other and we say bad things. But we definitely consider each other friends and there’s respect there.”
Asked if he thinks there is a chance of PRIEST staging a one-off reunion concert featuring all current and former members of the band, including Owens and Downing, Tim said: “Should there be? Yes. Will there be? I don’t think so. I don’t think they would ever do it. They don’t seem to make those kind of good decisions, so I don’t think it would happen. I mean, this is a band that went to one guitar player in 2022” he added, referencing the fact that PRIEST announced it would tour with one guitarist before quickly reversing its decision and going back to the two-guitar format. “So I really don’t think that that it would happen.”
He continued: “I think it would be great if they got Ken back and they did a tour. I think the world would love to see that especially. Me? It definitely is not gonna happen, I wouldn’t think. But I think fans would love it. I think it’d be great and it would be fun… but I don’t think it’ll ever happen.”
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