Black Sabbath: Classic or Dud?

God, people pretending there's been no Black Sabbath original line-up reunion in 30 years are worse than people pretending Van Halen hasn't toured with DLR in the same span.

Who is "pretending" that?

Well, the Black Sabbath tour has now been replaced by an "Ozzy & Friends" tour, which just makes me think of a line from the movie King of New York: "Friends? That cocksucker ain't got no friends."

AVClub:

The rest of the European tour will be rebranded as “Ozzy and Friends,” featuring the intermittently cognizant Osbourne and a bunch of special guests (including Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler and guitarist Zakk Wylde), which is kind of like being told you’re getting Black Sabbath but then instead just getting Ozzy Osbourne and a bunch of other people, which is pretty much exactly what Black Sabbath fans have been getting for the past 34 years.

Except when they got, you know, Black Sabbath.

Yeah, that's a weird statement. That said, at least Ozzy is honoring the dates. They could've just canceled. Axl Rose has canceled shows/tours for way less (he got a hangnail! He poured orange juice in his cereal instead of milk!)

yeah #shotsfired at Dio too >:(

Message From Tony

Hiya,

A little update on how it's all going:

Well, I've had the last dose of chemotherapy so hopefully my body will start to get back to normal soon, the steroids were the worse. I've now got three weeks of radiotherapy coming up which I'm told can be very tiring so we'll see.

A big thanks to Ozzy and Geezer for coming over to England, it was a big incentive for me, we managed to work most days and have some great new tracks.

And, importantly thanks again for your kind messages, hope to be seeing you soon.

- Tony

Good news, but where is Ward?

Still in the States, I assume.

Classic in theory, dud to actually listen to for more than 2-3 songs in a row

Poliopolice wrote this on thread Islands (Ex-Unicorns project) on board I Love Music on Mar 7, 2012
pitchfork gave it a good review

Poliopolice wrote this on thread Genesis: "Land Of Confusion" on board I Love Music on Mar 16, 2012
this song kicks ass all over the place

Poliopolice wrote this on thread MTV Buzz Bin: Volume 1 - The Zen of Buzz Clips: From a Guy Named Buzz on board I Love Music on Mar 20, 2012
gin blossoms by a country mile, fuckaz

Hooray! Someone learned how to use search.

By the way, 3 posts do not completely encapsulate someone's tastes, and to think that you have found damning evidence against my ability to appreciate art suggests that you have bought into a rather silly fallacy that you can generalize heavily about someone by using a very small number of data points.

http://www.essexma.org/Pages/EssexMA_Police/PoliceCar.gif

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Rooseveltinwheelchair.jpg/270px-Rooseveltinwheelchair.jpg

: )

So Black Sabbath has been confirmed for Lollapalooza this summer (which, given past years, means they won't be playing another Chicago show this year), and the promoters are swearing that all four original members will be there.

wut

That's encouraging.

Having seen Black Sabbath (original line-up plus replacement model) in (relatively) recent years, plus a few Ozzy solo sets, I fear this show will find the band at ... off-peak. But I bet the crowd will be a blast.

Hey, even doddering old Black Sabbath would be a treat for me, since I've never seen them before. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. Wouldn't be the first time a Chicago promoter was blowing smoke.

I saw the originals in '06 and they were incredible, and the Dio model at Radio City and the subsequent tour and they were incredible. Granted that's a few years ago, and as everbody knows I'm a little biased, but you definitely have to go.

I really hope Ward is involved, its not the same if he's not

The question is not whether they're booked, it's whether they'll ... make it. When I saw them years ago I thought Ward looked half-dead (because he had just recovered from a heart attack, for sure). Ozzy was a mess, barely hitting his cues. And now with Iommi's deal, I dunno. I hope they pull it off.

Ward was good in '06 post heart attack. The weak link was totally Ozzy, which was the case in their heyday as well. 70's era Sabbath was great due to a combination of cruashing riffage combined with a killer bass-drums pocket. Elmer Fudd could have sung for them, I wouldnt have cared

there's a lollapalooza this summer? lol

there's a lollapalooza every summer!

lol

I'm just pissed that the Afghan Whigs are on the bill, which means they won't play somewhere I'd rather see them and will force me to find a way to go just for them. Ideally on Black Sabbath day.

yeah, its sort of annual ritual of disappointment, looking over the Lollapalooza schedule seeing 2-3 bands out of hundreds that I really want to see, then realizing I'm not going to pay ridiculous money to see those 2-3 bands but also realizing they won't be playing anywhere else around town any time soon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTOyhv2-btg

What an incredible and underrated song

I did a little Audacity work and mixed the drum & bass tracks for three tunes ("After Forever", "Sweet Leaf", "Into the Void"), check 'em out here:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?bczmt70ehltjq05

Original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward made a statement confirming that "a final effort to participate in the upcoming Sabbath shows a failure to agree has continued."

Writing on his website, the drummer said.

"At this time I have to inform you that I won't be playing with Black Sabbath at the Birmingham gig dated May 19th, 2012, nor will I be playing at Download on June 10th, 2012. Further, I will not be playing at Lollapalooza on August 3, 2012.

It is with a very sad heart that I bring you this news. I am sincerely passionate in my desire to play with the band, and I'm very, very sorry that it's fallen to this. This statement is even more painstaking to write, as I was particularly excited to play alongside Tony Iommi after the recent treatments he underwent. I wanted that to become a reality.

He goes on to say:

"Earlier in April 2012, I'd been asked to participate "minimally" in the Download festival. I believe I'd been offered no more than three songs to play while another drummer presumably played the rest of the show with Black Sabbath. I was not willing to participate in that offer. I was not prepared to watch another drummer play a Sabbath set, while I was to play only three songs."

disgusting. fuck osborne and fuck the rest of sabbath for going along with this. it's a disgrace.

ozzy's just a pathetic joke at this point.

I'd been offered no more than three songs to play while another drummer presumably played the rest of the show with Black Sabbath. I was not willing to participate in that offer. I was not prepared to watch another drummer play a Sabbath set, while I was to play only three songs.

this is fucking ridiculous

lame.

yeah, indicates that they just wanted his name & endorsement for marketing purposes. bastards.

sharon to blame or all of them?

My wife likes to watch America's Got Talent (we all have our weaknesses) and, as a result of only seeing her on that show, thinks Sharon is just "the sweetest" and she rolls her eyes at me whenever I launch into a "Sharon is evil" tirade.

wow, that's messed up. is there some reason to think that Ward isn't physically capable of playing the drums for these gigs?

sharon to blame or all of them?

it might be sharon's idea, but the other three are willing to go along with it.

i don't know. maybe bill ward's an intolerable person to be in a band with. i find it hard to believe though, and the osbournes have previous when it comes to fucking over their rhythm sections.

maybe bill ward's an intolerable person to be in a band with.

^never met him, but by all accounts he's one of the best guys in rock. Fuck the osbournes, and fuck iommi and butler for going along with this shit. This is one of the most insulting things Ive ever heard of. 3 songs????? It's Bill fucking Ward!

BLACK SABBATH Statement:

We have decided not to make any detailed comment on Bill's latest statement. There are two sides to every story. We have been working hard at rehearsals making excellent progress after Tony's treatments and we have engaged a substitute drummer for the forthcoming shows. See you at Download.

--Black Sabbath, 5/17/12

in other words bill is telling the truth and they cant come up with a truthful credible reply

^^^

Didn't they have an agreement (similar to the Sex Pistols' one) where it's not "Black Sabbath" if it's not the four originals? (witness the release of the RJDio fronted live album where even that's who Black Sabbath was at the time, they couldn't name the band on that CD?)...

or was it 'verbal'..

I've seen the original Black Sabbath, plus "Black Sabbath" with Mike Bordin from Faith No More on drums, so no. Also, there have been lots of other Black Sabbath permutations on the road. Always business, never personal.

but then sharon bought the rights to the name from Iommi.

When did that happen? Because I don't think there's ever been a Black Sabbath minus Iommi. In fact, I want to say that Iommi is the only one who has never been replaced in Black Sabbath, and weren't there lawsuits regarding the name as recently as a year or two ago?