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August 27, 2004
Ozzy Out - Rob Halford back in Sabbath
Yup, this morning when I checked my email, I got quite a surprise. About 20 or 30 people who had attended the Philadelphia Ozzfest gig wrote me to say that Ozzy did not sing with Black Sabbath. Rob Halford of Judas Priest handled the vocal duties for this gig. This wasn't the first time Rob Halford sang for Black Sabbath. He did that back on Nov 14 & 15, 1992 when Sabbath played with Ozzy during Ozzy's "retirement" shows. This was quite intersting news, and my Ozzfest 2004 tour page for the Aug 26th gig has several reviews about this - much good reading there. However, I've decided to post this review on the news page, as I liked it.
Just got home from the show. In what came as a total surprise, as the Sabbath gear was put out on stage, roadies and stagehands tuning everything-anticipation building in the crowd--Bill Ward is standing at stage front-introduced to the crowd and greeted with loud applause--And then--A statement from Ozzy is read stating he's ill with bronchitis and won't be able to sing!! Rumblings in the crowd ( I'm thinking "this could get ugly") if Sabbath doesn't play. Then it's announced that Rob Halford is going to handle vocals for the show. Lot's of boos-lot of griping-Bill takes mike in hand saying--if your angry, just know that this band will play it's Fucking Balls off for you! if you feel cheated, just know that this band will play it's Fucking Balls off for you! AND THEY DID---Rob did a fantastic job handling the vocals, gradually turning the boos into cheers in what must have been a very tough spot to be in. The Sabs themselves played their hearts out. Tony just blistered on some extended leads, Bill adding some pounding extended endings, Geezer thundering on a nice selection of different basses. I'm sure most people wanted to see the Original Sabbath, but given the circumstances I don't see how they could have possibly done better. I myself feel privileged to have seen this line-up and just say THANK YOU to the players for pulling it off.
I have no word if or how this will affect the next Ozzfest date (Sat the 28th) or any of the remaining gigs beyond that. Several people who sent me reviews said they took pictures, so when I get those, they'll be in the photo gallery here.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:30 PM
Release Date for Ohmwork
Ohmwork is the name of the new solo album from Geezer Butler. There's little information available on it (as Geezer's website is in a perpetual state of "Coming Soon"). Website vtue.com is reporting the release date as Tuesday, January 18, 2005. More info as I get it.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:35 PM
Master of the Moon Out Next Week
The new album from Dio (Master of the Moon) is due out next week. To that, there's a very good and lengthy review of the album you should read. It's online here at Electric Basement. His review pretty much sums up mine. I'll write a full review later, but I have to say the album has really grown on me. The first couple of times through I didn't much care for it, but it's one of those deceptive ones that (for me anyway) doesn't grab you right out of the gate, but if you listen to it a few times, you'll end up loving it.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:35 PM
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August 26, 2004
Another Eighth Star Update
First off, before I post the update, I wanted to say why I haven't had any update in a couple fo weeks. Last week was my birthday, and I also found out a week ago that I'm going to be a father for the first time. I've had a few othe things on my mind besides this site. :) I know that's off topic, but I wanted to explain where I was with updates.
Since my last update, there has been another news story posted about the upcoming "Eighth Star" release by Tony Iommi. Here's the news story as it appears on iommi.com, Tony's official website.
Iommi material unearthed and scheduled for release in September 2004
8 tracks of previously unreleased Tony Iommi material featuring the singer Glenn Hughes is scheduled for release on 28th September 2004 on Sanctuary Records under the title ?The 1996 DEP Sessions?.
Read the exclusive story behind the release here first!:
In 1996 Tony Iommi was writing for his solo album and looking around for singers who might do justice to his music.
Tony and Glenn Hughes had stayed in touch since the ?7th Star? album and they arranged to meet, write and see what came up. These songs were recorded as a set of demos in Coventry and Birmingham in the autumn of 1996, the bulk of them at DEP Studios, owned by local band UB40.
The original players were Tony, Glenn (who sang and played bass), drummer Dave Holland and keyboard contributions by Don Airey, Geoff Nicholls and engineer Mike Exeter. No proper mixes were undertaken and both Tony and Glenn pursued other paths, although occasional conversations took place regarding the quality of the material and their possible release.
In the meantime a very poor quality bootleg CD became available on the web which was missing some of the tracks and made from a stolen cassette.
The tapes were then stored until early 2004 when Tony reviewed the multi-tracks in his home studio with a view to releasing them, and setting the record straight.
With new drums by Jimmy Copley (who had played on Tony?s ?Iommi? album), Tony and the original engineer Mike Exeter then got down to mixing the CD, stripping the original performances back to basics and giving them a clean feel.
Everyone who heard the work in progress was amazed at what had been unearthed and in a meeting with his label, Sanctuary, Tony played some of the roughs to Cory Brennan and Merck Mercuriadis who both jumped at the chance to release the album.
As soon as Tony finishes headlining Ozzfest with Black Sabbath he?ll start recording his next solo album for a release in the Spring of 2005. In the meantime be prepared to be amazed that what was stored for eight years can sound this good.
As usual, when I see a news story about Tony Iommi or Black Sabbath I immediately contact my guy who is at Tony's managment comapny. This is what he had to say in regards to this news story:
Dear Joe,
Many thanks for the hawk-eye! It may be, may not, this would be for Europe only, it will be on Sanctuary in the USA, but despite the spy in the camp report we have not agreed it yet.
So it appears that what was said might come to pass, but it appears it's not official yet. More as I get it.
Update: I mistakenly neglected to credit iommi.com with the press release above, I've edited that (sorry guys). Also I've gotten a few emails from folks saying that there are some online stores saying the release date is September 27th.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:41 PM
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August 10, 2004
Another Eighth Star Update
Another Eighth Star update was posted over the weekend on Blabbermouth. Here's what they had to say about it.
The Tony Iommi/Glenn Hughes album recorded in 1996, heavily bootlegged as the much in demand "Eighth Star" (not the project's official title), will be quite markedly different to the version currently on the underground market when it is officially released through Sanctuary Records later this year, according to RockDetector.com.
Strengthening the BLACK SABBATH connection is bassist Neil Murray, from the "Headless Cross", "Tyr" and "Forbidden" eras, who revealed his participation recently. "I spent one afternoon replacing the bass on two songs, one of which only had to be replaced because Tony Iommi had altered the riffs used in the song, or the original Glenn Hughes bass track would have been used," he said.
It is commonly known that Don Airey, himself a man with BLACK SABBATH connections and now a member of DEEP PURPLE, supplied some of the keyboards on the record. However, also involved in the sessions was BLACK SABBATH keyboard veteran Geoff Nicholls.
The biggest change though is a complete overhaul of the originally recorded drums. In 1996 former JUDAS PRIEST man Dave Holland put down all the percussion work. However, Jimmy Copley of TEARS FOR FEARS, the PAUL RODGERS BAND and a colleague of Murray's in M3, has re-cut the drum tracks.
I've updated my 8th Star page accordingly, and we're waiting on a press release from Iommi's camp about this recording. Once Ozzfest is over, hopefully the ball will get rolling with this again.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:44 PM
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August 7, 2004
Another Eighth Star Update
There was a short update regarding the release of the Tony Iommi "bootleg" album "8th Star". It appeared on the official Glenn Hughes website, and it says this..
I had dinner with Tony Iommi on Sunday night. We are pleased to announce that the album which was originally bootlegged (ele tá falando do 8th Star) will be officially released with an extra track called "Time is the Healer". It has been re mixed and mastered. It will be out on Sanctuary this fall. I will be going to the UK in October to write with Tony for a future project.
While this isn't new (I reported on this back in January), it's nice to see it hasn't been forgotten about. An official statement from Tony Iommi's camp should be forthcoming soon about a release date, what the actual album name is (8th Star is a fan created name, that didn't come from Iommi), and more. When there's more about this, I'll be sure to post it here. I've had this album for years, and I thought it was excellent in bootleg form. I can't wait to hear a properly cleaned up and released version!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:46 PM
Sabbath Members on VH1's Metal Moments
US cable music channel VH1 recently ran a program called "The Top 100 Metal Moments". Of the top 20, some of our boys from Sabbath made the list. Here's what's in the top 20:
- Ozzy plays Moscow Music Festival
- Ozzy & Nikki Sixx have a "gross a thon"
- Dio popularizes "Devil's Horns"
- Tony Iommi loses his fingertips
- Spinal Tap premieres (OK, it's only peripherally related)
The #1 metal moment was the Hear N Aid benefit, led by Ronnie James Dio. Check out the information about this episode of their show here.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 3:46 PM
Master of the Moon Samples Available
 The new Dio album is due out on August 30/31 (depending on where you are). However, you can hear some of the album now. Over on the SPV website, they have some short mp3 samples of all 10 songs from the Master of the Moon album available. Click here to check 'em out.
You can click on the cover art here to see my discography page for this album, or you can order it via the links here:
Amazon.com
Amazon UK
Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:46 PM
Tony Iommi on a New Sabbath Album
On July 23rd, the Rocky Mountain News website posted an interview with Tony Iommi in which they talk about a variety of subjects. But is what most interesting is that Tony talks about the attempt to record a new Sabbath album in 2001. Here's what Tony said about that.
The band took a run at recording some new songs a few years ago, but "it just came to an end, really," Iommi says. "We didn't go any further, and it's a shame because they were really good.
"It's quite different recording now. We've all done so much in between. In those days there was no mobile phone ringing every five seconds. When we first started, we had nothing. We all worked for the same thing. Now everybody has done so many other things. It's great fun and we all have a good chat, but it's just different, trying to put an album together."
I do give them credit though - in this day and age, a Sabbath article talks usually about Ozzfest, this one talked about some other aspects of the band's history. Not a lot of detail, but I was surprised they were mentioned at all (like Ozzy's first replacement, Dave Walker). Check out the full article here.
In an unrelated Tony Iommi remark, there's a pretty long audio interview with Tony available over at www.eddietrunk.com - as I write this, I haven't listened to it, but I thought I'd mention it here (it has nothing to do with the Rocky Mountain News one I just mentioned).
Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:46 AM
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