Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Tim "Ripper" Owens is getting back to what he does best: Cover Bands.

Hahaha! Holy shit.
Do any of you remember Tim "Ripper" Owens? No? Not even a little bit? Come on! The guy that replaced Rob Halford for... no? The guy that replaced Matt Barlow in... really? Nothing? Winter's Bane? Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force? Beyond Fear? Charred Walls of the Damned? You never knew this guy did any of that stuff? You never even saw the movie Rock Star he inspired? Wow.

Well anyway, Tim Owens more or less began his journey to "stardom" when he got a lucky break in a Judas Priest cover band. Back in 1996, all the members of Judas Priest thought it would be wicked funny to bring in some nobody cover band singer to replace Rob Halford. The rest is history... until Halford came back and everybody forgot what happened anyway, so I guess not really. Since then, Owens has been the bald-headed stepchild of power metal music; performing temporary stints in this or that, here or there, never really making a solid name for himself in a band he could permanently represent as his own. Every album he did with a band, were the albums that fans around the world advised one another to disregard altogether in said band's discography. Poor Ripper... 

Finally things have come in full circle for Owens, and he's back to doing the only thing he was born to do:


That's right, Ripper is now the frontman of a Dio cover band. Referred to simply as "Dio Disciples". Wow, really? You couldn't have picked a better name than that? Maybe used a famous Dio song or album, like Dream Evil? Oh, right... Anyway, I imagine it will be truly mediocre and short-lived musical endeavor, considering Owens' past. I'm saying this even regarding that former Dio musicians Craig Goldy, Simon Wright, and Scott Warren are lending themselves to the cause. It's almost like they're trying to still be Dio without Dio. Oh Ripper, are there any beloved vocalists who's lyrics you won't mangle with your apparently universally shunned style? You cheeky devil, you. 

7 comments:

  1. Beyond Fear, Wintersbane and CWOTD are all excellent bands. Even his solo record was good.

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  2. CWOTD is excellent because Digiorgio and Christy are in it. On the subject, the glorious burden was a kinda nice album, above average

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  3. In my opinion he isnt bad for Dio Disciples, but he isnt good. It could have been worse though.

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  4. I really liked his records with Priest. Due to his slightly lower vocal range the band had to tune down, which made them sound heavier.

    The 'Live Meltdown' double album is a ball-tearer. I'd much rather listen to that then hear Halford squawk through that disgraceful 'Rising In The East' DVD.

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  5. Really don't understand why people hate on Tim, just because Rob Halford inevitably decided to come back and Iced Earth screwed him other, otherwise he probably would've become a little more established

    I concur with CashBailey...those are actually some of my favorite Priest albums (no I don't think they're better than Painkiller or w/e, just that they are really good and unfairly maligned, like Blaze Bailey's Maiden stuff)

    I liked the Glorious Burden as well, but really disliked his other Iced Earth albums, but that's because Jon Schaffer's songwriting started getting really shitty

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  6. Yeah, I think Tim Owens is a pretty cool guy. He does a superior version of Abigail and doesn't afraid of anything.

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  7. This is the stupidest if not the most ignorant post ever. Ripper Owens is a fan of Heavy Metal first off. He ain't in it for the money. When he was in 'Priest and Halford was doing his thing both were barely doing anything as far as record sales go. Apparently, Rob Halford is the Elvis/Sinatra of Heavy Metal. No matter how fat and senile he gets while forgetting lyrics ,using a teleprompter he will always be loved by the front runners who pretend to love heavy metal. I remember when he was in Fight and had to cheat using reverb during his high pitched screams. OK, get a clue.

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All readers that post under the name "Anonymous" and are too frail and weak to represent themselves properly with a title, shall be deemed false metal poseurs for the remainder of their pitiful existence.