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Artist: Tim Ripper Owens |
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Well
documented is the rise from humble fan and tribute band singer to world
wide recording artist with Judas Priest, Tim Ripper Owens lives the
dream. He started out in his own Priest tribute act British Steel,
but in Erie, Pennsylvania one
night the seeds of the future were about to be sown, when two friends of
Priest drummer Scott Travis caught Owens and British Steel playing one
night and recorded the show and sent the tape to the Travis and the rest
of the band ... the rest as they say, is history. In
2003 Owens and Priest parted company, but it wasn’t back to the
tribute scene for Owens whose albums with Priest had received critical
acclaim, so much so that in 2005 Owens was invited to sing on the new
Iced Earth album 'The Glorious Burden', which to be honest was the first
time I’d heard Owens vocals and was completely blown away. The
rest of the metal community must have also been suitably impressed too
as this was the best vocals Owens had done to date and was hailed as the
best Iced Earth album to date. Not
one to rest on his laurels Owens put together his own band Beyond Fear
and released the bands debut album through SPV in 2006. Now
in 2009 Owens returns with his new solo album ‘Play My Game’ on
which he includes contributions from Doug Aldrich, Chris Caffery, Rudy
Sarzo, Steve Stevens, Billy Sheehan, Jeff Looms, Michael Wilton, Craig
Goldy and many more. With
a line-up like this you know the album has to be something rather
special and believe me it is. A great Metal album with Owens
powerhouse vocals being the backbone of the album. Things
get off to a great start with the opener ‘Starting Over’, a song
which features the guitar wizardry of Bob Kulick, the bass of Sarzo and
the drums of Simon Wright. A real powerful opener with Owen
showing what a great vocalist he really is as he towers above everything
else. A superb start to the album. The
human dynamo Owen continues with one of my favourite tracks off the
album ‘Believe’, with Craig Goldy taking over the lead guitar role
on this real Metal ball buster. Thunderous
metal assault is the best way to describe the likes of ‘Pick Yourself
Up’ and ‘It Is Me’. Two tracks that are as Heavy Metal as
they come with a dominant bass and hulking drum beat, complete with
streaming guitars and Owens monolithic vocal. It's
hard and heavy for sure with the fantastic ‘No Good Goodbyes’, a
track that could be on any Iced Earth album such is the majesty of the
track. The
album just progresses on a mammoth scale with each track out doing the
previous one as metal monster after metal monster are unleashed, with
the likes of the old school rocker ‘To Live Again’ and the grinding
title track ‘Play My Game’, an awesome fist pumping slice of pure
metal. There’s
no doubting Owens vocals are metal through and through and it would have
been a crime if that fateful day in Erie hadn’t come to pass, because
one of the most powerful metal vocalist of all time could have been lost
to obscurity. Just
goes to show no matter what band you're in, play each show like it's
your last because you never know who's watching you and how they could
change you life forever! |
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Tracklisting:
1. Starting Over |
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