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February 23, 2005
Black Sabbath returns to Greece
Overnight another concert date has come to light. This one is June 25th in Athens, Greece. The gig will take place at the Terra Vibe venue, and will be part of the Rockwave Festival. The list of known dates on the 2005 tour is available on the 2005 Tour Dates Page here on my site.
This marks only the second time in the entire history of Black Sabbath's existance they will have played in Greece. The only other time they played was back on July 20, 1987 as the first ever live gig Tony Martin did with Black Sabbath. We have a review (and a couple of pictures) of this gig online here if you want to check it out.
I'm sure Greek Black Sabbath fans are pretty excited at this news!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 10:41 AM
Adam Wakeman on Keyboards for Sabbath's 2005 Live Dates
Overnight I got an email from Adam Wakeman who handled keyboard duties (what that they were) on the Ozzfest 2004 gigs. Adam told me that he will be handling keyboards again for Black Sabbath during their 2005 live dates.
I was curious about this, as keyboards have mostly been hidden - the keyboardist in Black Sabbath has only once (the 1986 Seventh Star Tour) been onstage. Adam told me that other than his keyboard fills, he played rhythm guitar with Tony on Paranoid. For many years (1979 or so through the last live gig in 2001), Geoff Nicholls handled keyboards for Black Sabbath with varying degrees of involvment. Geoff also played rhythm guitar, and even handled background vocals for several singers in the band's history (including Ozzy).
So it appears that Geoff Nicholls isn't coming back - I wonder what happened there after so many years?
Posted by Joe Siegler at 10:35 AM
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February 22, 2005
Two more Black Sabbath European Tour Dates
Two more Sabbath European tour dates have come to light. They are:
June 23rd in Sofia, Bulgaria & a second Norweigan date, that being July 9th in Bergen. That brings the total number of dates to 11 at the moment; they are:
Jun 09 – Dortmund, GER @ Westfalenhalle 1
Jun 11 - Derbyshire, UK @ Donington Park (Download)
Jun 14 – Leipzig, GER @ Arena Leipzig
Jun 16 – München, GER @ Olympiahalle
Jun 18 - Nijmegen, NETH @ Fields of Rock Festival
Jun 20 - Vienna, AUT @ Wiener Stadthalle
Jun 23 - Sofia, Bulgaria @ Arena Music Festival
Jul 01 - Roskilde, DEN @ Roskilde Festival
Jul 03 - Stockholm, SWE @ Globen
Jul 07 – Oslo, NOR @ Oslo Spektrum
Jul 09 - Bergan, NOR @ Koengen
More as I get them. Again, if you have any ticket stub images or concert tour ads from your local newspapers, please email them to me, I'd love to use 'em on the site. Thanks!
Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:57 AM
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February 21, 2005
Black Sabbath's First Album Best of All Time
Black Sabbath's first album in 1970 has been named the Best British Rock Album of all time by Kerrang Magazine. Iron Maiden ranked second in the list with their 1982 album 'Number of the Beast.' The notorious Sex Pistols came in third place with their era-defining 1977 disc 'Nevermind The Bollocks.'
Black Sabbath's second album, Paranoid also placed on the top 10 chart, at #5. Other albums of note were Sabbath's Volume 4 at #14 & Ozzy's "Blizzard of Ozz" (The original, not the 2002 fiasco, I'm sure) at #16, along with Ozzy's Diary of a Madman (again the original) at #33.
The Top Ten British Rock Albums are:
1. Black Sabbath - 'Black Sabbath'
2. Iron Maiden - 'Number of the Beast'
3. Sex Pistols - 'Never Mind The Bollocks'
4. Led Zeppelin - 'IV'
5. Black Sabbath - 'Paranoid'
6. Muse - 'Absolution'
7. The Clash - 'London Calling'
8. Queen - 'Sheer Heart Attack'
9. Iron Maiden - 'Iron Maiden'
10. Manic Street Preachers - 'The Holy Bible'
Black Sabbath's first album just passed it's 35th anniversary (having been released originally on Friday the 13th of February, 1970. If you don't have this album, you can get some more information on it here, including ordering links to purchase it.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:07 PM
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February 19, 2005
More Black Sabbath 2005 Dates
More Black Sabbath European dates have come to light. While none of these have still been officially confirmed to me by Black Sabbath's management, I have no reason at this point to believe they're false.
Putting them together with the already known dates, that makes the 2005 tour itinerary this:
Jun. 09 – Dortmund, GER @ Westfalenhalle 1
Jun. 11 - Derbyshire, UK @ Donington Park (Download)
Jun. 14 – Leipzig, GER @ Arena Leipzig
Jun. 16 – München, GER @ Olympiahalle
Jun. 18 - Nijmegen, NETH @ Fields of Rock Festival
Jun. 20 - Vienna, AUT @ Wiener Stadthalle
Jul. 01 - Roskilde, DEN @ Roskilde Festival
Jul. 03 - Stockholm, SWE @ Globen
Jul. 07 – Oslo, NOR @ Oslo Spektrum
I'd expect a lot more dates than that to be announced. :)
There's also the rumours online this past week that Iron Maiden, Rob Zombie, Anthrax, & Black Label Soceity will be on the Main Stage for Ozzfest 2005 in the US (along with Sabbath) Read tonight that Megadeth might also be one of the bands, but I have no solid footing on that one, so don't shoot me if it's wrong. I've also read a few (unsubstantiated) rumours that this may be the final Ozzfest, and if it is, looks like it probably will be the best colletion of bands (in my opinion) in the 10 years of the festival.
Hopefully we'll get some sort of official announcement on all this soon.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 9:55 PM
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February 15, 2005
Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, & Anthrax on US Ozzfest 2005
A news story posted this afternoon over at blabbermouth says that Ozzfest 2005 will hit the US with Black Sabbath & Iron Maiden headlining. Along with that will be a "classic" version (read not the current version) of Anthrax.
While it's really cool we have Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden on Ozzfest, I'm a little disturbed by the report that Anthrax has "secured a spot" by putting together an old version of the band. I have been reading rumours about that for some time now, and the one I've read the most is that Sharon Osbourne (Ozzfest tour promoter) said that Anthrax could play, but only if it was a version of the band that was responsible for their best selling albums (meaning not the current John Bush fronted version). What bothers me most about that is the precedent set where a tour promoter can say "Well, you can play, but I only want the band if this guy, this guy, and this guy are in there. The other ones can go sod off".
However, let me also add that these Anthrax/Sharon things are just rumour and speculation. I have no proof that is really the way it comes down, but even if it is just a rumour, I don't like the possibility of a tour promoter dictating band lineups. This is all also unconfirmed by Black Sabbath management, so I'm hoping to see some sort of official press release on all this soon.
Still no word on the rumour that Tony Iommi & Glenn Hughes might also have a slot on this coming Ozzfest, which for me would be a huge attraction.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:08 PM
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February 11, 2005
Ozzy's Prince of Darkness Update
This morning, I received word of some changes to the track listing for Ozzy's forthcoming "Prince of Darkness" 4 CD set due on March 22nd.
There's been some tracks added, and a few removed. Here's a summary of the changes as I noticed them:
- Originally, Disc 1 was to include the Randy Rhoads instrumental, but it was deleted.
- Originally, Disc 3 was to include Led Clones (Ozzy with Gary Moore), but it was replaced by Black Sabbath's Psycho Man.
- Originally, Disc 3 was to include Stayin' Alive (Ozzy with Dweezil Zappa), but it was replaced by the Dog Series theme song.
- Originally, Disc 4 was to include Hi Ho Silver Lining (Jeff Beck Group), but was replaced by Working Class Hero (John Lennon).
It's kind of annoying that the Stayin' Alive track won't be on there. That's been floating around in collector's circles for quite awhile, and is rather an interesting cover. Personally, I think it should have stayed.
The CD set is due to be released on March 22nd, and can be pre-ordered through Amazon.com by clicking here.
There is also one other Ozzy thing I wanted to add.
Lately, there's been a lot of stories in the press about silly little minutae in Ozzy's life, like Sharon buying lingerie, or some celebrity get together that Sharon & Kelly turned up at, or even to a recent one where Ozzy smoked tobacco that was on Sharon's ass (!). That stuff quite frankly is not newsworthy, and I don't comment on things like that. However, I bring this up, because there was one comment I saw by Ozzy the other day that makes me feel that there is some of the old Rocker Ozzy still in there, and not the money making machine the Osbourne family seems to have become to a lot of people.
Anyway, the quote says "For all the money we have, the way we live, the cars we drive, the first-class travel we take...I would gladly give it all up just to be simple old Ozzy again." He talks about how he hates the TV show "The Osbournes", and that revealing that much of himself has destroyed a lot of people's impressions of him.
Well, DUH! Anyway, read the link above. There's some other good things in there about his appearing to not totally enjoy the lifestyle he has now.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 10:55 AM
More Black Sabbath 2005 European Tour Dates
This morning I was sent news that some more Black Sabbath European Tour Dates have come to light. These dates are:
Jul. 03 - Stockholm, SWE @ Globen
Jul. 07 – Oslo, NOR @ Oslo Spektrum
That brings the dates I have to 6. It's pretty spotty as we still don't have a complete itinerary yet, as none of this has been announced or confirmed by band management to this date. Same goes for the rumoured US Ozzfest dates in late July through September. As usual, once I get official confirmation (and/or more dates), I'll report back.
In the meantime, you can check my 2005 Tour Dates Page for the complete list of dates to this point.
UPDATE: I've also got a few dates that people have sent me as being discussed, but I have to classify them as rumour, as they haven't been "confirmed" by the various venues they're supposed to be held at. These RUMOURED dates are:
June 14 - Dortmund Germany
June 16 - Munich Germany
Posted by Joe Siegler at 10:10 AM
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February 8, 2005
Geezer Butler "Ohmwork" Update
Today, I picked up some information regarding the long awaited third solo album from Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, "Ohmwork".
Ohmwork has a current release projection of April 2005 (the exact date is not set yet). The album will be released by Sanctuary. There's no cover art available yet, but Geezer's people tell me that it should be completed shortly, and when I have it available, I'll put it online here. The track listing for Ohmwork is:
- Misfit
- Pardon My Depression
- Prisoner 103
- I Believe
- Aural Sects
- Pseudocide
- Pull the String
- Alone
- Dogs of Whore
- Don't You Know
A bit about the band behind Ohmwork:
Of course, it's got Geezer Butler on bass. Geezer also produced the album. If you're reading this news on my Black Sabbath site, and you don't know who Geezer Butler is, what's wrong with you? :)
On vocals we have Clark Brown. Clark also handled vocals on Geezer's last solo release, that being 1997's Black Science.
On guitar, we have Pedro Howse, who has been on both of Geezer's previous solo releases in 1995 and 1997. He was also involved with Geezer back in 1985 when Geezer first tried to put together a solo project under the moniker of "The Geezer Butler Band".
Manning the drumkit and forming the rhythm section with Geezer is newcomer Chad Smith, a drummer from the St Louis area described as "incredible".
Also involved on the production side as the album's mixer is Toby Wright. Toby has been involved with a lot of high profile bands such as Slayer, Alice in Chains, Primus, Jerry Cantrell, & Sevendust.
The band will be marketed as "gzr". This is kind of amusing as on the Plastic Planet album the band was marketed as "g//z/r", and on Black Science as "geezer". So it'll have to be some other combination on his next album. :)
I hope to have album cover art shortly (within a week or so), when I get that, I'll repost with the cover art (or any other Ohmwork information I get).
UPDATE: I had a mistake in the song title list, it's been corrected now, the list that appears here is the proper one.
Posted by Joe Siegler at 4:31 PM
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