Doom Let Loose

This book came out last August, and I've had it on my to do list to get on the site forever, and in a rather unusual fit of forgetfulness, I've kept forgetting to do it. I want to issue a huge apology to Martin Popoff the author of said book. I told him several times I was going to do this, and I just flat out forgot. More than once. Martin, I'm sorry dude, I promise that won't happen again. :) I'm writing this story to tell you about this book if you don't already have it. I know several people have asked me if I knew about it, but I wanted to mention it just the same...

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Black Sabbath: Doom Let Loose is the title of a new Black Sabbath biography by BW&BK Editor In Chief Martin Popoff. Published by ECW Press, the book is similar in format to Martin's smash hit Rush biography, Contents Under Pressure, also published by ECW.

The book is 260 pages and full colour throughout, with many of the photographs leaning toward memorabilia shots versus photos of the band. ECW has issued the following description:

"Containing rare and previously unpublished material culled from Popoff's interviews over the last decade with all the principal members of the band, Black Sabbath: Doom Let Loose is an exhaustive song-by-song, album-by-album trek through the Sabs' 37-year history. Numerous one-on-one conversations with Ozzy, Tony, Geezer, and Bill, as well as ten interviews with Ronnie James Dio, and additional interviews with supporting musicians such as Tony Martin, Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Vinny Appice, and Neil Murray, make this full-colour retrospective a must for any fan.

The drugs, drink, depression, and doom surrounding this band have imbued songs like "The Wizard," "Paranoid," "Iron Man," "War Pigs," "Children of the Grave," and "Heaven and Hell" with an almost supernatural importance among lovers of dark music. In the wider realm, full albums such as Master of Reality, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Sabotage, and Heaven and Hell show up with regularity on lists of greatest records of all time. Doom Let Loose explains how such classics came to be. It also deals with their tour history, documenting the places rocked, the supporting bands, and most notably, the band's trials and tribulations as they tried to hold it together in the Satan-obsessed, drug-addicted America of the Nixon era. Look for all manner of Sabbath photos and artifacts that make this examination of heavy metal's fearsome foursome a feast for the eyes as well as the enquiring mind."

JOE'S COMMENTS ON BOOK:

I've been a fan of Martin's books for ages. The man has a knack of covering all the obscure bits that I personally am a fan of. So when Martin decided to tackle a book on Black Sabbath, you know I'd be interested in it. In short, this book differs from all the other "history of Black Sabbath" books by taking a different angle. It's not just a straightforward "story", it's a recreation of the feel of the time. As I said before, he goes after all the periods of this band, it's not just "The Ozzy Era". The other eras are treated with equal respect, and that alone should qualify the book as a "must purchase". It's actually hard to put the distinction between Martin's history and the other books on the history into perspective in just words. It's one of those "feel" things. Another bonus is that he gets into the meaning of the songs, and not just "OK, such and such left the band, and they need a replacement". You need to read the book.

US Paperback	U.K. Paperback

Posted by Joe Siegler at 2:19 PM

Heaven & Hell Live

Noticed over at blabbermouth today a couple of links to some really decent bootleg video from the Heaven & Hell gig at Radio City Music Hall in late March. The two clips comprise the band's performance of the song "Heaven & Hell". Check 'em out:

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:10 AM

Official US Tour Dates Announced

Some more US tour dates have been officially announced from band management. I'm here to pass them on to you. The announcement also stated that these are not ALL the US tour dates, these are all that are announced for now.

September 5 Binghampton, NY Broom County Arena
September 7 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
September 8 Long Island, NY Jones Beach Amphitheatre
September 9 Mansfield, CT Tweeter Center
September 14 Tampa, FL St. Petersburg Times Forum
September 15 Sunrise, FL Bank Atlantic Center
September 16 Orlando, FL Amway Arena
September 25 Denver, CO Coors Amphitheatre
September 28 Reno, NV Reno Events Center
September 29 Kelseyville, CA Konocti Harbor
September 30 Concord, CA Sleep Train Amphitheatre
October 2 Fresno, CA Selland Arena

The openers for these dates will be Queensryche & Alice Cooper.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 10:10 AM

Australasia 2007 Tour Dates

The Iommi folks confirmed some tour dates for Australasia this morning, so I'm bringing them to you:

August 2nd Perth, Challenge Arena
August 5th Adelaide, Thebarton Theatre
August 7th Wollongong, WIN Entertainment Centre
August 8th Newcastle, Entertainment Centre
August 10th Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena
August 11th Sydney, Entertainment Centre
August 14th Brisbane, Entertainment Centre
August 16th Auckland, Logan Campbell Centre

The tickets are now on sale at www.ticketmaster.com.au and usual outlets.

My tour page has not been updated yet, but it will the next time I do an update.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:14 AM

Fan made video for "Ear in the Wall"

A little while back, I had posted a fan made video for the song "Too Late". Well, today I'm here to bring you another one. In my email box today was an email from Sabbath fan "Steven King" (yeah, I realize the irony of that). Anyway, he made a fan video for the song "Ear in the Wall". It's quite high quality stuff, check out what he had to say about the video:

Hi Joe! How are ya?

The reason I'm contacting you is to let you know of a fan-made music video that I've just done for my college media course. In the light of the Dio/Sabbath reunion, I've opted to make a music video out of the song, Ear in the Wall, splicing my own footage with archive stuff of the band and vintage horror films. I always found the lyrics to be very 'Edgar Allen Poe' like so opted to give it a vintage look.

If you have the time, please check it out and let me know what you think. Thanks man, your site is always fucking ace. It feeds my sabbath addiction! ROLL ON NOVEMBER WHEN HELL CRASHES ONTO THE UK!!!
Steve.

p.s. and of course, it is FAN-MADE i.e. I intend to make no profit out of it. I look at it as a celebration of the Heaven and Hell reunion!

I think you'll enjoy this very much. Just hit play in the media player here, and enjoy! If you liked it too, drop by this thread in our forums and let him know what you think of it!

Posted by Joe Siegler at 5:39 PM

Live at Radio City Music Hall Details

Out today is a press release for the forthcoming 2CD/DVD set, "Heaven and Hell Live at Radio City Music Hall". I won't bother you with my lame intro, I'll just post the text of the press release, which was sent to me by Jason over at Rhino records this morning. Here goes:

LOS ANGELES — Fans lucky enough to score tickets to Heaven And Hell’s Radio City Music Hall performance on March 30—the concert sold out in a matter of minutes—were fortunate witnesses to the glorious return of Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice. Onstage in the U.S. for the first time in 15 years, the group let loose an onslaught of iconic metal spotlighting Dio’s memorable tenure with Black Sabbath. Rhino relives every bone-crushing riff and thunderous howl from the evening with a trio of releases available August 28. HEAVEN AND HELL LIVE FROM RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL will be available at regular retail outlets both as a two-disc CD set and as a DVD for a suggested list price of $19.98 and $19.99 respectively.

Available exclusively from www.rhino.com, the concert will also be released as a deluxe three-disc set (2CD/DVD) for a suggested list price of $49.98. The special set features tour memorabilia including a tour program, backstage laminate, glossy photos of the band and other tour items.

LIVE FROM RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL captures the band bashing its way through some of the Dio era’s best including “Mob Rules,” “Die Young,” “Neon Knights,” “Children Of The Sea” and an epic 15-minute-plus version of “Heaven And Hell.” The quartet also performed a pair of new songs—the hit single “The Devil Cried” and “Shadow Of The Wind.” Both songs debuted earlier this year on Black Sabbath: The Dio Years (Rhino/Warner Bros. Records), the first comprehensive introduction to the Dio era’s legacy. The DVD will include the entire show shot in breathtaking HD as well as a tour documentary and other bonus footage.

Following this spring’s successful U.S. tour, Heaven And Hell is scheduled to spend the summer playing concerts and festivals around the world. In early September, the group will return to the U.S. for another round of shows. Look for dates and a full lineup to be announced soon.

Together for a short but memorable time—a trio of studio albums, a classic live album and a couple of tours—the second coming of Black Sabbath began in 1979 when founding members Iommi and Butler were joined by Dio. The former singer of Elf (and later Rainbow and Dio) added his fiery, demonic howl to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group’s unmistakable sound. The Dio-led lineup disbanded in 1983 and reunited in 1992 to record Dehumanizer and tour before again going on hiatus.

HEAVEN AND HELL LIVE FROM RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL CD and DVD
Track Listing

1. “E5150/After All (The Dead)”
2. “The Mob Rules”
3. “Children Of The Sea”
4. “Lady Evil”
5. “I”
6. “The Sign Of The Southern Cross”
7. “Voodoo”
8. “The Devil Cried”
9. “Computer God”
10. “Falling Off The Edge Of The World”
11. “Shadow Of The Wind”
12. “Die Young”
13. “Heaven And Hell”
14. “Lonely Is The Word”
15. “Neon Knights”

A few comments from me:

I did ask them about the DVD release in regards to region encoding. This is what they told me.. "the Rhino US release will be region specific but the DVD will also be released internationally." So if you are in Europe, importing it from the US probably won't work for you, but it appears it won't be an issue anyway.

The press release mentions that the footage was filmed in high-definition, so I inquired if the DVD release will be either HD-DVD or BluRay, or just a standard DVD, or if there would be a separate "high def" release. When I hear back on this issue, I'll update. But if I had to guess, it'll be a regular DVD.

More when I get it.

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:22 PM

Brum Rocks Charity Concert

I got an email this morning from someone alerting me to the fact that there's an upcoming charity concert on Friday, October 5, 2007. Here's what their website says about the gig:

The 19th-century Town Hall Triennial Festival concerts were fundraisers for the General Hospital. History comes full circle in tonight’s unique event: some of the world’s greatest rock legends join an all-star line-up to raise funds for the Birmingham Children’s Hospital Red Balloon Appeal. A celebration of the heyday of Brum Rock, this event is a fantastic opportunity for a trip down memory lane and a great night out.

A fundraising concert for the Birmingham Children’s Hospital Red Balloon Appeal, telling the story of the golden era of rock ‘n’ roll in Birmingham with an all-star line-up including Robert Plant, Bev Bevan, John Lodge, and Tony Iommi.

You can get more info about the benefit concerts here and here.

As is my custom I decided to check in with Tony Iommi's management when I see things like this to verify that they're legitimate. I forwarded the info to them, and got this email back from Tony's management office:

This concert is legitimate, and Tony was asked to get involved, however they are incorrect in advertising that Tony will be performing because he is not available on that date. Please feel free to let fans know via your site that Tony will not be performing.

So there you go; Tony will not be there due to scheduling. But it does seem like a worthy cause, so you should still support the event, even if Tony won't be there. Former Black Sabbath member Bev Bevan will be there. Think his band will play something from Born Again? :)

Posted by Joe Siegler at 1:12 PM

A Technical Wedding

As you should know if you follow this site, I've been collecting names for my Live at Hammersmith "list of numbers" since it started shipping a month ago or so. I was going through the latest batch of numbers this morning, and came across a really cool email from Sabbath fan John Orach of Santa Barbara, CA. It was about he and his wife met with Sabbath and included them in their wedding day. I rather enjoyed this story, and wanted to pass it on to others. Check it out:

Longtime fan of the site. Thanks for keepin' it crankin! I got my pre-ordered copy when it was released and you can add my # 2069 to your list. My info is..

John Orach
Santa Barbara, CA

Also, as a side note you might find fun. My wife and I got married a month ago. I'm 37, she's 36, and we've been together over 8 years. Part of our attraction was our love of music. 70's, 80's, 90's ..... metal ..... pop .... everything. At the Sabbath Reunion tour in 1999, before we were dating....I went to a pay phone in the LA Forum, dialed her work voicmail, and simply let her hear the bells toll............and Sabbath play........she instantly knew who left the message. Anyhoo, flash forward to our wedding. When we got engaged, I proposed the idea that instead of assigning our guest to "table 1, table 2, table 3", let's assign the guest to tables denoted by our favorite band's albums. We printed album covers onto table tents at the tables. We had a table for Rush, Def Leppard, Asia, Iron Maiden, Faith No More, Pink Floyd, etc...........and of course Black Sabbath. Part of the fun was people had to figure our what album cover was by who as we didn't print the name on the table tent. I've attached one of the ones we're most proud of. Anyhoo, I'm rambling and you've got better things to do.

Thanks again for your site. I really appreciate it!!!

Sincerely,
John

Here's a copy of the Technical Ecstasy card he sent along with his email:

Posted by Joe Siegler at 11:45 AM