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5 Frontmen Who Deserve Way More Respect!

Give these guys a break will ya!

Some frontmen seem to work their asses off without ever receiving the respect they deserve. More often than not, it’s those brave souls who step up to replace a departing singer – a delicate situation for any band – who finds themselves on the receiving end of an unnecessary backlash, particularly when the frontman departing is an icon of rock and metal.

For every Black Sabbath, who achieved the almost impossible in replacing one legend with another (Dio for Ozzy, if you hadn’t already guessed), history is rife with more than just a few big-name bands who have experienced a rather trickier transition.

The animosity levelled at some of these ‘new boys’ has often derailed careers entirely. A situation that at times has been absolutely preposterous and whether they have found themselves mocked, derided or ignored completely, did they really deserve to be treated with such disdain….we think not!

Here’s 5 frontmen who deserve way more respect for their stints in some of the world’s biggest bands….give these guys a break, they’ve earned it!

Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens – Judas Priest

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Albums: Jugulator (1997), Demolition (2001)

The arrival of Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens should have been seamless.

Here was a voice that could not only mimic his predecessor perfectly (the inimitable metal god himself, Rob Halford) but arguably added a grittier edge to the Judas Priest sound with lower lows, higher highs, grunge-inspired inflection (particularly on Jugulator‘s “Blood Stained”) and a powerful tone that resonated through each and every track on Jugulator and Demolition.

The problem, in this case, can be laid directly at the feet of the musicians backing ‘The Ripper’. While Jugulator embraced the groove-metal of the era it at least still sounded like Judas Priest. Demolition, on the other hand, was disturbingly dark and would have benefited from being released under a different band name entirely. Demolition bore no resemblance to Priest’s canonical sound of old and in reality this was simply not a Judas Priest album….but it sure was a great album!

Irrelevant of the music written for these 2 highly underrated albums, it’s Tim Owens’ vocals that are up for discussion here and in all honesty, they bordered on perfection. He sang loud, he sang proud and his screams, growls and shrieks more than matched his illustrious predecessor.

Hats off to you lad, you pulled it off with aplomb….it’s a shame the metal masses didn’t give you more credit at the time!

About Chris Jennings (1957 Articles)
I love metal. Always have. Always will. As editor of Worship Metal - a site dedicated to being as positive about metal and its myriad of sub-genres as possible - my aim is to 'worship' metal through honest reviews, current news and a wide variety of features; offering the same exposure to underground bands as we do to mainstream/well known acts. Our mantra; the bands are partners and we exist to serve the bands \m/

15 Comments on 5 Frontmen Who Deserve Way More Respect!

  1. Derrick is amazing. Specially if you compare him and Max nowadays. Max lives of his own shadow, while Derrick is getting better and better

    • Chris Jennings // October 18, 2017 at 8:39 pm // Reply

      Couldn’t agree more!

    • I’ve been a great proponent for the two sides, pro-Max and pro-Derrick, to just enjoy the music of Sepultura, acknowledging the talent and effort these guys put in year after year releasing great records. That task proved impossible because of narrow-minded people and in particular Max with his dumb statements. That guy is a shit vocalist, shit guitarist and an even shittier person.

  2. I really like the new Sepultura, especially their last two albums. But I just can’t put up with Derrick Green performing live. Just like Max, he’s been losing his voice over time.

  3. I’m sorry, Blaze Bailey is the worst Maiden singer out of the three. I’m more than OK with Derrick on Sepultura, I think Tim Owens is great singer, I like John Bush especially with Armored Saint, but I never did like Bailey’s voice. I think it lacks power and volume. And I’m not saying that comparing him with Dickinson. I’ve seen him live in 93 I believe. He didn’t impress me. That’s just my opinion.

    • Chris Jennings // October 19, 2017 at 12:52 pm // Reply

      Valid point and your opinion is always valid. As you can probably tell, this wasn’t about ranking the Maiden vocalists per se, just highlighting the fact that Blaze Bayley deserves more credit for taking on a very difficult role as replacement for Bruce. Thanks for reading and commenting \m/

  4. Felipe Holguín // October 19, 2017 at 10:54 am // Reply

    Without the cavalera’s that band is just the best sepultura’s covers band…

    • Chris Jennings // October 19, 2017 at 12:54 pm // Reply

      Not true at all. Machine Messiah is an incredible album and one in a long line of outstanding releases from Sepultura. Yes, they play Max-era songs, why shouldn’t they, but to dismiss 8(!) original albums is ridiculous and hardly warrants them being referred to as a covers band! Anyway, it’s good to debate so thanks for reading and commenting \m/

  5. I would add Tony Martin (Sabbath), Andy Deris (Helloween)& Robert Lowe(Candlemass). Ripper is a great frontman and he definitely is underrated.

  6. Great article! Massive fan of both Tim and Blaze. Also would have to mention Tony Martin, absolutely phenomenal voice and for me, as much as i love Blaze, would have been the perfect fit for Maiden when Bruce left. Cross Purposes is my favourite Sabbath album.

    • Chris Jennings // October 31, 2017 at 11:57 am // Reply

      Cheers Phil! You’re right, Tony Martin is more than worthy of a mention and a follow-up feature is necessary!

  7. Tony Martin! A man who sang on 5 black sabbath records and has done more than 10 albums solo and w different projects before & after! Dio made 4 studio CDs with Sabbath (one under a different name). Tony made 5. Eternal Idol, Headless Cross, Tyr, Cross Purposes, Forbidden
    (props to this piece tho. I agree. Super cool to name the Ripper twice!)

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