In a recent interview conducted by Rob Rush from Long Island’s 94.3 The Shark radio station, former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing and current member of KK’S PRIEST, was asked about the absence of the two studio albums, Jugulator (1997) and Demolition (2001), sung by Tim “Ripper” Owens, on major streaming platforms.
“Yeah, [it’s] a little bit of a mystery, really,” Downing responded. “Obviously, I no longer have any control over those records, but I don’t think that it’s a label thing ’cause labels always like to sell records, don’t they? And, obviously, myself and Ripper, we’re still very proud of everything that we’ve done as a part of our history and legacy, and we’d very much like to see the records out there in the stores once more.
“So, hopefully, we’ll see that come to fruition. But the good news is that this band KK’S PRIEST will be out there playing those songs throughout this year, so everyone is welcome to come down and experience those magical times that we now refer to as the ‘Ripper era’ or the ‘Ripper years.’ And, yeah, so everyone can enjoy those songs again in a live format, which, in a lot of ways, is even better. But let’s hope the records will appear at some point.”
In a 2019 interview with “Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon,” JUDAS PRIEST bassist Ian Hill was asked about whether the absence of the albums from the Owens era was due to rights-related matters or if it represented a deliberate effort to suppress that chapter of PRIEST‘s history.
Hill responded at the time: “It’s an odd one, really, because there’s some good material on both of those albums. And Ripper is a terrific vocalist, and he did a tremendous job on ‘Jugulator’ and ‘Demolition’. And why they’re not for sale has got nothing to do with us — put it like that. Whether it’s a contractual thing between Sony and whoever owns the copyrights to those albums, I don’t know.
“But it is a shame, because there’s some good material there. And as a band, it’s still JUDAS PRIEST. I know it wasn’t the trademark lineup, but it was still JUDAS PRIEST nonetheless. So, it’s disappointing — if that’s true that the material is not available. It really is.”
