Ronnie James Dio in hospital

This text comes from the RJD website..

"The European tour has been cancelled after Ronnie was taken ill. "Ronnie has been hospitalized and we are waiting for further news," explains Ronnie's wife/manager, Wendy Dio.

No further information is available at this time, but we wish Ronnie a speedy and complete recovery."

I got an email from Wendy saying they were at the hospital for tests, but they did not elaborate as to WHY he was at the hospital. Ronnie's no spring chicken anymore, he's 67 (as far as I know), and if it's something really bad that required him to cancel a tour to deal with - it can't be good. Ronnie never cancels anything.

If I get an update (like WHY), I'll post it, but given Ronnie keeps his personal life close to the vest, I'd be surprised if we get a real WHY. Either way, I say to keep them in your prayers.

Tony Iommi & Eddie Van Halen

1978 Tour Mates come together for the 30th anniversary of Guitar World Magazine cover.. Check it out:

Return to Bass

As those of you who follow my site know, I like to pay attention to more than just the well known stuff in Black Sabbath's history. That means more than the Ozzy & Dio eras. I'm partial to the Tony Martin era, and Tony's solo band has been the only way that era of Black Sabbath can live on these days. They had a tour jacked up in the US this past summer, which is a shame, as I've never seen the Tony Martin solo band live. However, his solo band has been mostly consistent during it's time. The keyboardist you know, that being Geoff Nicholls. However, also on bass is Jamie Mallender. Jamie had some stuff to say about the tour problems a few months ago, but after he got over that, he got into the studio and recorded an album called "Return to Bass", and that's what I'm here about today. I'm letting you know you should go check it out. If you click on the cover art here, you'll be taken to a page for it where you can buy the CD or download MP3's. Here's a bit of what Jamie had to say for himself about the album...

"As many of you Sabbath fans will already know, I should have been doing 3 months of touring the USA, Canada and Brazil Tony Martin this summer. But for reasons I can't discuss, it didn't happen. The last night we had in the UK before embarking upon our tour, all but the Brazil section was cancelled. It worked out that they couldn't take me to Brazil either - just to make matters worse. When I got home I was very down, and I didn't know what else to do, so I just got out my bass and started playing. Very quickly I wrote and recorded "The Bass Player Answers Back," channeling all my anger and disapointment into it. That meant I needed just 1 more track to complete my album - "Return To Bass." Last week I recorded "Theme From nowhere," and then mixed the finished album. The tracklisting is:-

1. Layla's Funk
2. The Bass Player Answers Back
3. Theme From Nowhere
4. The Amazing Adventures Of An Interstellar Glam Hippy
5. Planet Happiness (A Tribute To The Cardigan)
6. The Guilt
7. Return To Bass
8. Kidney Bean
9. Captain Blake vs The Lion

Jamie is also reachable on Facebook, Myspace, & Twitter, too. Enjoy!

UPDATE: The album is now available for download on iTunes, too. Check it out there.

Some Free Tunes

Today I was browsing the free music section over at Amazon.com's store, and ran across an album that got my attention. It was a sampler from Eagle Records music. While there's no directly relevant music on it (read Black Sabbath), there are some related tunes you should check out. They are:

• Rapture of the Deep - Deep Purple
• Holy Diver (Live) - Dio
• Stay Hungry - Twisted Sister
• Kill the King - Rainbow

So there's some decent stuff - and you can pick it up for free by clicking on the cover art shown here. It's all free, and you get 'em via DRM free 256kbps mp3 files. What do you have to lose? Click over. :)

Various Things

Well, several things have happened since the last time I updated. I'm still deep in unemployment, unfortunately, and that's kind of sapped my desire to the work on the site. In turn, that's taken a hit on me, as ad revenue is down, and I really need that now, more than ever. So click on a few links, would ya? :) And if you use Adblock on my site, turn it off for here, please. I don't run obtrusive ads, they're placed well, and they don't fly in your face, I'd appreciate the help.

iTunes Sale: If you haven't bought "The Devil You Know" yet, you can now get it at a good discount. iTunes now has a metal page in their store, and as part of that sale, they have two Black Sabbath albums on sale for $7.99. We're talking about "The Devil You Know" ($7.99), and "Black Sabbath: The Dio Years" ($7.00). Check 'em out if you don't already have them!

Bill Ward on Music Biz: Bill Ward has given an interesting interview about the early days and the music biz. As you probably know, their business relationships in the early days can be described as uh, difficult - the point of being the source of at least one song on the Sabotage album. Anyway, Bill lays out some steps for young musicians. They are:

1) You Don't Have to Be Cool
2) You Don't Have to be Fit
3) Cherish Your Band
4) Read your Contracts
5) Power to the People
6) Have a Laugh

Bill gets into details on all of them, so check out the full article for all of this.

Tony's Hand Surgery Coming Along Nicely: There was an article up on the BBC Website (and other places I saw) about Tony Iommi's hand being "on the mend". Originally, he was going to have surgery, but then opted for a stem cell treatment, which as I understand it was a less invasive procedure. There's no word as to when he'd be able to fully get back into playing. The article says he can play now, but that's not the same thing as "no restrictions", especially as he still talks about "taking it easy". The BBC article also has some quotes from other guitarists about Tony. They are Janick Gers & Brian May. Check out the full article here.

Bill Ward - The Heavy Metal Vegan: As you may or may not know both Geezer Butler & Bill Ward are vegans. Geezer has done spots for PETA, and while Bill doesn't do that kind of thing too much, I did just run across a cool article about Bill's diet called "Bill Ward - The Heavy Metal Vegan Pt 1". It talks about his food choices, what he makes, and what it's like being a vegan where he lives. There's also a recipe available for "Bill Ward's Enchilada Pie". It actually looks good, I might have to try making it myself. This is part of a larger site (which is newly launched) called "The Rock & Roll Cook".

Dio Band Playing Live: The Dio band will be going out and playing live in November and December around Europe. You can get a list of tour dates here. They're an American band, it'd be nice if they came back here - they haven't toured here since the Master of the Moon tour in 2004. On this tour, Doug Aldrich is temporarily rejoining the band as Craig Goldy is playing with another band when these gigs came up. However, the band is supposed to be playing a new song from the two Magica sequel albums. That song is "Electra". Don't know anything else about it other than that. If you want to read more about the Dio band, check out this article, which also talks about a possible new album and tour from Elf?!?!?!

Discounted Heaven & Hell Stuff

Now that the Heaven & Hell tour is over, and we await whatever happens after Tony's surgery, now's the time to get in on some deals.

The Rhino website is having a 50% off sale on some Heaven & Hell merchandise. I'm told the sale is only running for a week, so if you're interested, head on over and check it out here:

http://www.rhino.com/store/merch/blacksabbath/

Black Sabbath - The Unholy Trinity And The Birth Of Heavy Metal

As regular followers of my site know by now, I've been out of it most of the summer due to real life. I'm trying to plow through my backlog, and found this article written back in July by John Doran for the UK music site "The Quietus". It's not your usual take on Black Sabbath's early days, it's got a nice writing style, and is worth your time to read. If you haven't seen this by now, go check it out here.

This does touch on some of the usual stories a well versed Black Sabbath fan knows about the genesis of the band, but the writing style is rather cool - or so I thought. Has some videos to check out in the article too; check it out.

Heaven & Hell Stage Equipment Tour Video

The latest in the series of videos from the last night of the tour that just ended. This one is cool, it's Damian onstage a few hours before the concert, showing where the various bits of equipment for the band members are, and shows you some places you would probably never see otherwise. It's a really cool little tour of the stage area.

Check it out:

Halestorm Interview with Lzzy Hale

The next in our video series from the Atlantic City gig is tonight, on the opener, Halestorm.

For most of the US tour that just concluded, the opening band was Coheed & Cambria. Except for the final date. The last date (August 29th) in Atlantic City, the opener was a band called Halestorm. To be perfectly honest, I had never heard of them before. However, since they were opening for the Sabs, I thought I'd check 'em out. I was rather surprised at what I heard. Their story is quite interesting in that the band was formed about 10 years ago (there's more on Wikipedia). The lead singer is (in 2009) just 23 years old. You do the math.

Anyway, the lead singer was cool enough to spend some time with Damian, who was there covering Heaven & Hell, and we also got some good performance video to go with the interview. You can see that video below.

They also put out a new album this past April, which has a pretty good song called "I Get Off" (which according to iTunes was the most purchased song off the album). Anyway, check out the interview below, and if you're interested in buying the album, you can click on the cover art above, or listen to some song samples below. Thanks to Lzzy for the time!

Heaven & Hell Fan Reaction Video

Second up in our series of videos from the final gig on the tour in Atlantic City is available now. The first video was put online last night (and was an interview with Ronnie James Dio). This video focuses on some of the fans that Damian ran into in the concert hall, and at places like the merch table and the like. A few of them are actually folks from our forums here, which was a cool thing to have happen. (Hello to Serpentine and H&H!)

More video is coming, but check out this fan video below:

Ronnie James Dio Video Interview

The 2009 "The Devil You Know" tour is over now. As you probably have heard by now, Tony Iommi needs some surgery, and from what I can gather, that's part of the reason the tour is ending now. They didn't come to where I am, and it's a pretty regular stop (Dallas, Texas). Anyway, my friend and "Super Moderator" on the forums here Damian is from that area, and did attend. Since Damian does video stuff for a living, we thought it would be cool to have him go up there and film some things. Well, due to the kindness of the Heaven & Hell management, he was allowed access backstage to film a ton of things. Not all the video has been gone through yet, but we wanted to bring you something given the tour has just ended.

First up on our video selection is a short interview with Ronnie where he talks about how he feels about the tour now that it's ended, and what will happen going forward from this point. Check it out below:

There will be more video bits from backstage at the Atlantic City gig coming up shortly, once all the video has been gone through. :) If you want a preview, and want to see what Damian had to say about his time, check out this post on the forums here.

Heaven & Hell vs Britney Spears

This is freakin hysterical. Found a concert review story on noisecreep.com where they talk about the differences between Heaven & Hell and Britney Spears. I'm not going to post the whole thing, you need to head over to newscreep and read it, but check this part. Made me laugh. ESPECIALLY when coupled with the picture of Iommi that's in the story...

It was a quintessential New York moment at what's billed as the 'World's Most Famous Arena': One throng of people at Madison Square Garden are queued up to see Britney Spears in the arena, and another to see Heaven & Hell play downstairs, at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden. In the end, age won out over beauty as Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice held sway over a sold-out crowd during a 90-minute set in support their latest album, 'The Devil You Know.'

While Britney's 'comeback' tour saw the 27-year-old lip-syncing through her 10-year body of work, a man easily old enough to be her grandfather effortlessly led a band that's been around for over 40 years. And instead of costume changes and choreography, Heaven & Hell let the music do the talking. One thing's for sure -- unlike others associated with their band, Heaven & Hell's talent has not diminished over time. As the architect of some of the best riffs in metal, Iommi also knows how to play tasteful solos alongside his shredding -- shredding that still holds up well.

Saturday Night's Concert

A quick comment about the final gig on the TDYK tour, which is Saturday night in Atlantic City..

I was informed that it's a 21 and over concert. If you're under 21, you're not going to be admitted.

While it was not specifically stated, I have to believe the reason for the restriction is that the concert is technically inside a casino.

Some HUGE Heaven & Hell Advertising

I was poking around Google Street View this afternoon, and looking at places I do business with, and/or buildings where some of my friends work. I hit the building in Burbank, CA where the Warner Bros / Rhino offices are. When I saw the building, I saw they had this massive side wall advertising area. Depending on which "view" you used on Street View, you either saw a Smashing Pumpkins advert from the summer of 2007 up there, or you saw an advert for an album called "Press Play" by Diddy in 2006. I captured views of those below:

So I emailed my contact at Rhino and asked them if they had anything like that up on the wall for Heaven & Hell this year. They indeed had a giant Heaven & Hell advert up on that wall, from a time not too long before the album was released a couple of months ago up until mid August, when it was taken down. My contact also sent me over a picture of it to use on the site. You can check it out below. I live right outside of Dallas, TX - Burbank, CA is not a place I visit, so I haven't seen it with my own eyes. Have you seen it in person? Drop me a line if you have, I'm curious.

I did inquire what happens to them after they are taken down. My contact said they're taken down by some outside firm who deals (presumably) in exterior advertisments, and then it's delivered back to Warner. I assume they go into storage somewhere, but I didn't get a conclusive answer as to what happens to them, but they aren't destroyed, which is what I figured happened to them.

Check it out below.

The Devil You Know Second Single [UPDATE]

The first single from the new 2009 album was "Bible Black". The song was pretty darned good, and now word comes out that the second single has been chosen. That track is "Follow the Tears". After I read that news, I hit up my contacts at Rhino records and asked them a few questions about said single:

1. Q: Is there going to be a video?
   A: I was told there was no video planned.
2. Q: Is it going to have a physical release of media to the public?
   A: I was told there is no physical media release, unlike Bible Black. Whether it turns up as a digital single release on iTunes or whatnot, I don't know. Given you can already buy the song individually on iTunes, I would think not, but we shall see.
3. Q: Is there a press release for it or something?
   A: I was told there's no formal press release announcing the single.

So it appears that there's a "single" release, but you won't be able to purchase it. Given how much attention this kind of music gets in the US (sarcasm), I wonder if I'll hear this on the radio at all. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Seriously, if you hear this on your radio station, let me know, I'll be curious to know if there's any impact from a non physical media single release like this.

UPDATE: I received one of the promo CD's from Rhino in the mail since I originally posted this story a couple of weeks ago. It has two tracks on it. Both of them are "Follow the Tears". Track 1 is a "Radio Edit", and Track 2 is "Album Version". The running times vary significantly. The "Radio Edit" is just 3:43, where the standard version is 6:10. The inside of the jewel case paper insert has US tour dates on it, and there's no artwork to speak of save for what's below. It's a pretty bare bones thing, but it was not intended to be sold, so it kind of makes sense. But to be honest, other than my own talking about this, I've not seen a word about this anywhere. Has anyone else? Anyway, here's the cover art for it.

Black Sabbath 2 CD Deluxe Edition Video Review

It's been pointed out to me several times in email that I have never said anything about the new "Deluxe Edition" versions of the first three albums. That's right, but if you've been following my site, I've had some heavy "real life" situations get in the way. Today I'm changing that. I've posted not just a review, but a big VIDEO review of the first of them, the original self titled album, "Black Sabbath". Check out the video below where I talk about the release. I show you a complete unboxing, showing everything that is inside there, speak to the sound quality, the extras on the second CD, etc, etc...

But before we get to the video, here's some ordering links for you. If you want to buy it, please use the links here on my site - I could use the coin right now (again, real life). Thanks, and enjoy!

ORDERING LINKS:

• Amazon UK Store
• Amazon.com US Store

ORDERING NOTE: Actually, given the current rate of exchange as of Aug 18th, it would cost $22.20 to buy it from Amazon's UK store and have them ship it to the United States. Given the value of this package, I say it's worth every penny.

Oh, you can discuss the review on this thread on my forums.

REVIEW UPDATE: Minor updates to my review. The book I mention towards the end is not Mark Weiss, he was the photographer, I believe. And the poem from the original release *IS* here, but not the upside down cross. That was my error.

Tony Iommi Needs Hand Surgery

A few years back, Tony Iommi had to have surgery for carpel tunnel syndrome. When I talked with him backstage after a 2007 concert, I asked him how he was doing with that, and said it was fine, didn't seem to be an issue. A little while ago, I had heard on the grapevine that Tony needed hand surgery, but since I couldn't get confirmation, I didn't want to post it here. There's enough rumour out there without me inventing more. So this morning, I saw an interview with Tony linked to from Blabbermouth, and it confirms the hand surgery issue. Whether or not it's a re-occurrence of the carpel tunnel or something else I don't know. I've attempted to find out from Tony's manager, but as of yet haven't gotten any details.

There's also that concert on the current tour where Tony had such severe back pain where he had to be taken out on a stretcher, and Ronnie, Vinny, & Geezer came out and apologized for canceling at the last second.

So hopefully Tony can get the surgery he needs, and that it's successful. That issue aside, the interview linked to is quite good. Talks about more than Tony's health problems. What Tony thinks of the new album a few months down the road, what it's like with different singers, and more details on his hand issue. Make sure to read it.

Geezer Butler PETA Testimony

While I'm personally not a vegetarian, I ran across this video of Geezer Butler giving his testimony on why he doesn't eat meat, and hasn't since age 8. Unlike a lot of Peta videos, there's no overt "shock imagry" to the thing, so if that kind of thing turns you off (like it does me), then you can watch this video and not worry about that.