I'm watching Heaven and Hell on VH1 Classic right now. For those who don't know, and who don't read I ♥ Guitar, Heaven and Hell is the new name for Black Sabbath, minus Ozzy and Bill Ward, plus Vinny Appice and Ronnie James Dio. Heaven and Hell-era early 80s Sabbath. Considering the revolving door on the vocalist slot since Mob Rules, the band has more claim to the Sabbath name than nearly any point in the last 25 years, occasional reunions with Ozzy like Live Aid to the contrary. Of course, any band that includes Tony Iommi with a detuned SG has the right and nearly the duty to call itself Sabbath. Which makes the H&H decision much more confusing to me. Maybe Tony's tired of "Paranoid" and "Iron Man".
But there is a big difference between Ozzy-led and Dio-led Sabbath, isn't there? Later Sabbath is more ambitious to my ears. I like Ozzy, really, but clearly Ronnie can sing circles around him.
But since the name has been left sitting around, I guess someone should pick it up. Seems it's Ozzy. This really puzzles me. By whatever name, Sabbath has been Iommi's band since before Ozzy joined in and now for 30 years after Ozzy was kicked out. I have problems understanding the grounds Ozzy thinks he has.
Oh well.
3 comments:
This has Sharon Osbourne written all over it.
That it does, I suppose.
Ultimately, I find myself more curious about why Tony and Ronnie put the name down than about why Ozzy and Sharon decided to pick it up.
I agree with Sammy... like father like daughter I think on that one.
It is a real shame that these things have to ruin this kind of thing.
Whatever - go listen to the new Heaven & Hell CD and compare it to Ozzy's last outing. Now both excellent albums of their genre but within seconds of Heaven and Hell there is no doubting the lineage of that music right back to Paranoid and before. I agree with you as well, I saw Sabbath on the Heaven and Hell tour and thought they a great band - this revival has a lot going for it as well.
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