10 Terrible Rock Albums (That Aren't As Bad As You Think)
7. Jugulator - Judas Priest
99% of the people who become fans of Judas Priest are converted by Rob Halford. Ever since the band's beginnings, Halford's powerful scream has turned more than a few heads and more than a few rock fans into full-on metalheads. If you take Rob out of the equation, the band's pretty much setting themselves up for failure, right? Wrong.
When Halford decided to leave the Priesthood in the '90s, the band's decision to draft Tim "Ripper" Owens ended up being too good to be true. Coming from a Priest tribute band, Owens had an impressive shriek that ended up gelling perfectly with the band once they went in to jam.
Even though a Halford-less Priest got ignored by the public at large, Owens' first step up with Jugulator was an absolute thrill ride, reaching some high notes that many even wondered if Halford come pull off.
Priest could have easily built off of this, but the declining sales of their followup Demolition and reconnection with Rob sent Owens packing at the dawn of the '00s. Nevertheless, Jugulator is still a golden outlier in Priest's catalog, with killer hooks on songs like "Death Row" and "Burn In Hell." Priest had lost faith in their Metal God, but even without that trademark voice, they were still pretty damn solid.