http://www.bravewords.com/news/156119

Quote:

According to a new interview with guitarist Craig Goldy (DIO) conducted by Jeb Wright from Classic Rock Revisited, TIM "RIPPER" OWENS (HAIL!, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, BEYOND FEAR, ex-JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH) will be singing in place of RONNIE JAMES DIO (BLACK SABBATH, DIO, HEAVEN & HELL, RAINBOW, ELF) on some unreleased Dio material the Dio band is going to be recording. Says Goldy: "Wendy has given Rudy Sarzo and I permission to go through Ronnie’s computer and find music. We are going to get together with the Dio band and perform with Ripper Owens. I am really looking forward to that. It has been a long time since I have felt proud to be a part of something."

And I ask: why??

So is Ripper like the default replacement singer for every band in the world now? It's like a reflex, a band loses a singer, for whatever reason, and the first thought in everyone's head is " Call Ripper, he'll sing on anything. " Not that I mind, I like his voice, I just wish he'd stick with a project for more than 5 minutes at a time. I actually thought his voice gave Yngwie's last album some much needed oomph, I was hoping for two or three more albums with that lineup.

I really thought it would be the other fly-by, aka Jorn Lande, but Ripper seems a logical choice too

This will be awful.

I thought it would be impossible for him to become a bigger joke than he already is. I was wrong

Given that Jorn was asked to pay tribute along side Heaven and Hell I would have thought that the prime choice for anyone singing Dio's unreleased material was going to be Jorn.

Ripper's voice doesn't fit Dio's style at all. Sure it makes sense for Ripper to sing Priest songs but getting him to sing Dio material is about as misguided as when Harris hired Blaze in Iron Maiden.

Anyone hired to sing DIO is misplaced. I only hope they would change the name to Holy Diver or something.

Would personally have liked to have seen Mike Tirelli (Holy Mother / Messiah's Kiss) get the gig. A far better singer in my opinion than "Ripper".

Good grief...you guys are something else...LOL!

They're not going to call it "Dio" for pete's sake...quit overreacting.

I would think it safe to say that his wife/manager and his bandmates knew him a little better than any of us did. There is even a very good chance that RJD & Wendy discussed his legacy and his wishes and his music ideas being used were part of that.

It baffles me how fans sometimes adopt a sense of ownership and entitlement when it comes to thier favorite artists. I am not saying anyone has to like the idea. But I think this is better than having the music rot on a hard drive...plus Goldy and Sarzo will be involved to help maintain Ronnie's honor.

And the answer to "why Ripper?" is because Wendy is his manager too...

I'm curious about what will come out of this...

Tirelli would be 1000 times better for this ....

Well, he has done the last two Malmsteen albums and he's working on a new Beyond Fear. I'm looking forward to this, give a different spin on Dio's stuff and I like Tim's voice a lot. In the current music biz, this is getting more normal.

Ripper could sing the phone book and I'd at least give it a listen. So I'm interested.

I laugh but it's true. I even liked Charred Walls of the Damned.

Well it should be an interesting listen, but I think Jorn would be a better choice.

Man, ya'll are dogging Ripper hard.

- being out of Priest, not his decision

- being out of Iced Earth, not his decision

- Beyond Fear, he is the only one in the bunch who is a pro musician...not easy to maintain

- Hail!, all-star tribute band for the money...he need's to make a living

- Yngwie, hired gun like any other Yngwie singer, not his decision

- Charred Walls Of The Damned, tried to pull together a band with some known people, it didn't take off...Christy has a day job that makes MUCH more money than being on Metal Blade and it's his project, not Ripper's decision

He's become the Jeff Scott Soto of the Metal world...he goes where the opportunities are. He came into the scene on the back of 2 established bands...he had no other prior known legacy to build on...he's working hard to maintain a living...cut the guy some slack.

The second Yngwie album he's on was a surprise to him. It's all songs from sessions he did on the first album...he had no idea it was even coming out.