Black Sabbath: Classic or Dud?

its Bill fucking Ward!

― One Way Ticket on the 1277 Express (Bill fucking Magill)

I mentioned upthread that when I saw Sabbath a decade ago, I thought Ward was having trouble keeping up. This was after his return from his heart attack. But then, he did keep up, so I'm not sure what the prob is. Maybe he got worse? But of course, if he couldn't do it, it's not a "I think I can, I think I can" situation. If he couldn't do it he couldn't fake it, so it seems unlikely that performance is an issue.

Geezer and Ozzy have it easy. All Geezer has to do is sleep through his rote-simple (but don't get me wrong, still awesome!) riffs, and Ozzy just has to be subtle about peeing his pants.

at least he's being subtle about something for once

By "subtle" I meant "subtly dumping buckets of water over himself to hide the fact that he is incontinent."

I don't think it's a secret I like these guys a little bit. This kind of stupidity really bothers me. But I'm an idiot for thinking it's not about money at this point.

this is fucking infuriating bullshit

I'd find some satisfaction, at least, in how hated Sharon Osbourne is in the metal community, if not for the fact that so many housewives love her now

Ever since the Iron Maiden debacle, Sharon has had no cred at all.

cause she had so much before?

for exasperating lols go find the few defenders of this move on Black Sabbath's Facebook page, including one especially aggro clueless dude who opines that "the drummer [is] the most expendable position in any band" - lol anyone who believes this knows literally nothing about bands

couldn't resist

http://whatdrummer.tumblr.com/

Geezer Butler sez...

Hmmmm...he sorta wins me over with the "stay frosty".

That Geezer bit is total bullshit. Key takeaway:

He hadn’t told any one of us he was having contractual problems, and frankly those things are worked out between our representatives, and never between the four of us let alone in public.

So basically the band, not surprisingly, is in Fleetwood Mac lockdown land, where the members don't talk to each other, and every member has its own manager, each looking out for their client's best interests. That's fine, but on that count Geezer's take is so disingenuous. He likely has no idea how much Bill may have been getting hosed, or maybe how much more he was slated to make than Bill. He has no idea what Bill's contract looked like, or exactly what Bill was offered. He says Bill was asking an "unreasonable" amount, but maybe that "unreasonable" amount was much less than his. Maybe the contract severely limited Bill's rights, or curtailed his potential participation, seeing how it seems the other three had been planning this "reunion" with either no or another drummer all along.

The good thing about being in the dark is that it allows you to write what Geezer wrote with this falsely objective tone. The fact that he plays Tony's condition and this "charity" show for sympathy is a further bullshit red flag.

via Alex in NYC

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4bpzukgJA1qaxybpo1_500.jpg

Yeah, the whole "We never talk to each other about these things; why didn't he talk to us about this?" angle gives it a distinct whiff of bullshit.

i've still only ever heard 'iron man' and 'paranoid'. and since it power gets on my tits when singers follow the guitar lines PRECISELY, without bothering to come up with a vocal melody, i've explored no further.

ignorance is never anything to crow about, y'know
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4zlAd_eXjM

yeah theres enough people with that shtick on ilm

As you may expect, a one off show at Donnington Festival (Download) costs an absolute fortune to stage, involving over 50 people, transport, air fares, hotels, meals, agents, promotors, accountants, lawyers etc,

pfffffffffbbbtt fuck off Geezer

I do like that lawyers are exempt from the category of 'people'

Geezer, doing it for the people.

Josh, I wanna know why Kot isn't writing about this. Since the C3 promoters made a very explicit point to state that the headliner would be "all four original members". like the guy, but he slobs at Lolla's knob every year.

I think it just happened a couple of days ago, right? I bet it shows up, but DeRo is a bigger bee on Perry's bonnet.

Wonder if E3 will do the right thing and offer refunds to the five people who would take them.

How was the Birmingham show, er, charity event received?

Answer: well-received. Setlist:

INTO THE VOID
UNDER THE SUN
SNOWBLIND
WAR PIGS
WHEELS OF CONFUSION
ELECTRIC FUNERAL
BLACK SABBATH
THE WIZARD
BEHIND THE WALL OF
SLEEP
NIB
FAIRIES WEAR BOOTS
LORD OF THIS WORLD
TOMORROW’S DREAM
SWEET LEAF
SYMPTOM OF THE
UNIVERSE
IRON MAN
DIRTY WOMEN
CHILDREN OF THE
GRAVE
SABBATH BLOODY
SABBATH
PARANOID

Damn good setlist.

Jesus. You sure can't fuck with that setlist. my god

"Wheels of Confusion" for fucks sake

A ridiculously great setlist...and no Bill Ward. So mind boggling.

any money this is how The Stone Roses gigs end up.

If the Stone Roses ended up doing nothing but Black Sabbath covers that would be kinda amazing.

Maybe they can get Ward to sit in on drums.

There has been a long storied history of old classic rock drummers somehow getting with younger bands. Ginger Baker in Masters of Reality, Paul Thompson in Concrete Blonde. Um ...

Kenney Jones played on a Primal Scream record.

Bone Thugs 'N Harmony and Phil Collins amirite

Mo Tucker with the cruddy indie band that she toured with about 12 years ago? so bland and non-descript that I can't remember their name and can't be bothered to google. Only time I've seen Mo, though, and she was so sweet. @ the Empty Bottle

She did something with Half Japanese, didn't she?

Mick Fleetwood played on that one Matthew Sweet record.

nah, wasn't Half Jap .. i actually did buckle and check Mo's wiki and the shit isn't even mentioned there :-/

Mike Joyce was briefly in Suede.

Moe worked w/Magnet.

Elvin Jones toured with Hood

ok not really

ah, Magnet. google says that must have been it. god what a slog that show was. Seeing Mo at the Empty Bottle was super great, tho!!

Response To Geezer’s Statement

Posted on May.20, 2012 under Black Sabbath

Dear Sabbath Fans and Musicians,

I have read Geezer’s statement of May 19, 2012 titled “Heavy Heart.” Out of respect for the Birmingham gig, I wanted to wait 24 hours before releasing this statement. There are some points he brought up which I want to respond to.

1) I had indeed notified Ozzy, Tony and Geezer, well before my first public statement, that I was having contractual difficulties.

2) I came out into a public forum to be accountable to the fans primarily, and to say at a public level there’s a problem. The band members stopped talking and corresponding with me some time ago, with the exception of a nice letter from Tony on my birthday. Prior to that, Geezer and I were corresponding, but that stopped abruptly in late February after I emailed a specific question to him.

3) In my statement of May 15, I clearly stated I would play Birmingham for free. That was not a problem – charity or otherwise.

4) My Download fee was not an extravagant amount. Originally, when Download was part of a full tour, I had asked for a decent fee. More recently, as we were negotiating just Download/Birmingham and Lollapalooza, I told my attorney that I would accept the proposed small Download fee, but there were other parts of the offer that were unsatisfactory.

I will continue to be honest and respectful towards the band and our fans. I will also confront any untruths about me, and any fault finding missions aimed at me that come to my attention.

I hope the band and the fans had a good gig in Brum.

Stay safe/stay strong.
Bill Ward

No Supernaut, no credibility.

Bill's statements totally pass the smell test imho

You realise that eventually Universal will run out of semi-dormant or struggling record labels to buy, and will start buying up semi-dormant or struggling 'Legacy' band incorporations?

And that by the year 2201, Morrissey will be the sole member of Black Sabbath?

That setlist rules. No Supernaut though, which is weird, especially if they are playing Under the Sun and Tomorrow's Dream. Play those 3 and Cornucopia, and you can call it the Vol. 4 Tour.

this is true: "3) In my statement of May 15, I clearly stated I would play Birmingham for free. That was not a problem – charity or otherwise."

Still with Bill here.