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BLS-Pride
 Rep: 212 

Re: Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell/Ozzy

BLS-Pride wrote:

HEAVEN AND HELL Drummer: 'This Has Been An Amazing World Tour!' - Oct. 14, 2007
HEAVEN AND HELL drummer Vinny Appice (ex-BLACK SABBATH, DIO) has posted the following message on his web site:

"The U.S. tour has ended. Our thanks go out to ALICE COOPER, QUEENSRŸCHE and to all the fans who came out and spent the evenings with us!! This so far has been an amazing world tour! Mid-October we move on to Japan for four shows and Singapore for one show. The UK is our final leg of the tour with ICED EARTH and LAMB OF GOD on the bill. It's great to end the tour where the roots of BLACK SABBATH started and heavy metal was born."

HEAVEN AND HELL played the final show of its U.S. tour with tour with ALICE COOPER and QUEENSRŸCHE on October 6 at the Verizon Wireless in Irvine, California. Before the encore, Indie 103.1's Full Metal Jackie presented the band with gold plaques on stage to honor U.S. sales in excess of 50,000 copies of the group's "Live at Radio City Music Hall" DVD. Vocalist Ronnie James Dio thanked the fans for their support, then dedicated the encore song ("Neon Knights") to veteran KNAC DJ Tawn Mastrey, who died last week of liver failure brought on by hepatitis C.


I wasn't a huge Dio fan but I must say after picking up the DVD and Live Album I am converted. I still love Ozzy but Dio just brings something different to Sabbath. He's a class act as well and gave birth to the devil horns. \m/

BLS-Pride
 Rep: 212 

Re: Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell/Ozzy

BLS-Pride wrote:

Ozzy will embark on a short tour of Australia in March. Confirmed dates are as follows:

March 15 - Melbourne, AUS @ Rod Laver Arena
March 18 - Sydney, AUS @ Acer Arena
March 20 - Brisbane, AUS @ Brisbane Entertainment Centre

monkeychow
 Rep: 661 

Re: Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell/Ozzy

monkeychow wrote:

Awesome!! I'm so going to that!!

Getting expensive to pay for all my tour habbits this year!

RussTCB
 Rep: 633 

Re: Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell/Ozzy

RussTCB wrote:

removed

monkeychow
 Rep: 661 

Re: Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell/Ozzy

monkeychow wrote:

^So ozzy isn't cool live anymore? Hope its not true cos i bought tix today!

Do you like the "Black rain" album?

RussTCB
 Rep: 633 

Re: Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell/Ozzy

RussTCB wrote:

removed

BLS-Pride
 Rep: 212 

Re: Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell/Ozzy

BLS-Pride wrote:

HEAVEN AND HELL To Begin Writing New Album In March - Feb. 22, 2008
The official web site of legendary heavy metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio (HEAVEN AND HELL, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW) has been updated with the following message:

"If you've been wondering what Ronnie is up to, wonder, no longer: After taking some well-deserved time off after last year's monster HEAVEN AND HELL world tour, Ronnie will be heading off to the UK in March to begin writing the new HEAVEN AND HELL record with the guys. Tony Iommi [guitar] will then travel to L.A. to reunite with Ronnie, Geezer [Butler, bass] and Vinny [Appice, drums] to continue working on the record during April and May. Then Ronnie will take a break during the summer to play a few special up-close-and-personal dates for the DIO fans."

Upcoming DIO shows:

May 27 - Birmingham, UK - Academy (w/ GIRLSCHOOL)
May 28 - London, UK - Astoria (w/ GIRLSCHOOL)
May 30 - Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene
May 31 - Karmoy, Norway - Kopervik Festival
Jun. 02 - Malmö, Sweden - KB Halle
Jun. 03 - Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser
Jun. 04 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Tradgarn
Jun. 06 - Oulu, Finland - Teatria
Jun. 07 - Lahti, Finland - Water & Rock Festival

DIO's last release was the "Holy Diver Live" CD, featuring a performance of the classic "Holy Diver" album in its entirety, from start to finish, recorded live for the very first time in 2005 in front of a sold-out London crowd. It also includes, among others, "Heaven & Hell", "Sign of the Southern Cross" and "Mob Rules" from vocalist Ronnie James Dio's BLACK SABBATH days, "Tarot Woman", "Man on the Silver Mountain" and "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll" from the RAINBOW era and "We Rock" from his solo career.

HEAVEN AND HELL played the final show of its U.S. tour with ALICE COOPER and QUEENSRŸCHE on October 6, 2007 at the Verizon Wireless in Irvine, California. Before the encore, Indie 103.1's Full Metal Jackie presented the band with gold plaques on stage to honor U.S. sales in excess of 25,000 copies of the group's "Live at Radio City Music Hall" DVD. Vocalist Ronnie James Dio thanked the fans for their support, then dedicated the encore song ("Neon Knights") to veteran KNAC DJ Tawn Mastrey, who died in early October of liver failure brought on by hepatitis C.

Neemo
 Rep: 485 

Re: Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell/Ozzy

Neemo wrote:

ZAKK WYLDE: Return To Oz
Posted on Wednesday, March 05 @ 11:00:00 EST by Simon 



Words by Simon Milburn

At 19 years of age, who really knows where they will be in a few years time, five years time, ten or even twenty years time. When unknown shredder Zakk Wylde was chosen to replace Jake E. Lee in Ozzy Osbourne's band in 1987, this beer drinkin', hell raisin', fret blazin' teenager had no idea of where his new job would take him. His first outing alongside the Prince Of Darkness would be 1988's No Rest For The Wicked, and soon enough as Osbourne churned out 1991's No More Tears and 1995's Ozzmosis, Wylde's presence and stature grew accordingly. Zakk Wylde branched with Pride & Glory, a solo record (1996's Book Of Shadows) and eventually his own Black Label Society, and all along the way, his commitment as Osbourne's right hand man never faltered.

After six years, Ozzy fans were rewarded were 2007's Black Rain and although Osbourne (who will be 60 this year) is looking to slow some aspects of his career down, the group (which alongside Osbourne and Wylde, consists of bassist Rob '˜Blasko' Nicholson (formerly of Rob Zombie's band) and ex-Faith No More drummer Mike '˜Puffy' Bordin) are finally returning to destroy Australian audiences with their evil, aural assault. Enjoying some time at home in California (U.S.A.), guitarist Zakk Wylde is 'just chillin', liftin' weights, practicing; life as usual' as he so succinctly puts it. I caught up with Wylde to talk about Ozzy's return to Australia, the writing process for an Ozzy album, Wylde's goals as a songwriter and guitarist, and just how unreal it is to think that the once unknown 19 year old has shared the stage with one of metal's all time legends for over twenty years.





'It's nuts man! We were just laughin' the other day, I was 19, I'm 41 now. It might not be (unreal) at 41, but it is in dog years. So that makes me about 523 years old right now,' jokes the guitarist.

As daunting as a new job could ever be to someone so young, Wylde took it all in his stride with a strong focus, particularly when it came to expectations he had of his new job.

'I'm gonna get good and fuckin' smashed drunk. That was about it. No, y'know, just try and do the best job I could and try and hang with Randy (Castillo, former Ozzy Osbourne drummer who died in 2002), and the guys, y'know? That was about it. Just do the best job I could, because they were some pretty big shoes man. That was about it. Just work my ass off, just try kick some friggin' ass and that's about it man. Just drink some beers and be cool, man.'

There's no doubt that the vacant position of Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist was going to be a huge gig for whoever was chosen to fill it. They would not only be taking the place of Jake E. Lee, but they were also stepping into the position held by the legendary Randy Rhoads.

'With Randy and Jake, coming after Tony (Iommi, Black Sabbath guitarist), you can't fill somebody's shoes. You just gotta come down and kick the door down with your own shoes. So I just took the lead after that, y'know what I mean? You just give it your best shot and that's about it, man.'

Over the course of the next two decades, Wylde's profile as a guitarist would sky rocket from the humble beginnings of an unknown 19 year old to today which sees him feature regularly in just about every guitar magazine that budding guitarists read. But it's a position that Wylde never gave much thought to.

'Um, no. I don't think you ever think about that. You just play for the pure love of playing, and you can always get better. I don't care what you do, you can always get better. I doesn't matter whether it's technique or song writing or whatever, I mean look at The Beatles! They could have stopped after '˜She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah,' (referencing The Beatles single She Loves You from 1963)' sings the frontman of Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society. 'I mean that was massive! There was a whole bunch of stuff going on. Then they started moving along, and then they hit Sgt. Pepper's (Lonely Hearts Club Band, released in 1967), and it was like '˜Oh my God! What the hell is this?' You look back to the first couple of early Beatles records - Help and stuff like that, if they would have ended then, they still would have been a legendary band. Then all of a sudden, they released Sgt. Pepper's and that topped everything, then Let It Be, and that was an amazing record too.'

Whilst Wylde has defined his own unique style over time, at the end of it all regardless of how fast or smooth or whatever his playing might be, for Wylde the end goal for writing songs is just that - the songs.

'To me, it's all about the songs. You can always put ripping guitar solos on it or fast things, or whatever the hell you want to do. But the whole thing is with the tunes - it always comes down to the songs. Led Zeppelin - Jimmy Page can do ripping solos and stuff like that. But when you think of Zep, it's not just the guitar playing. It's the whole package - the songs, the production, the performances of all the guys - it's the whole thing.'

Regardless of whether Wylde is writing for Ozzy or his own projects, the ideal remains solely around the songs themselves.

'Yep, it's the same thing. It's just gotta be cool tunes, man. Simon, I know you're capable of shreddin' on the guitar. I know you can play Dave Gilmor (Pink Floyd) solos, you can play Yngwie (Malmsteen) solos. You can do both. You can do the slower stuff and you can do the fast stuff. But when you got a song like Comfortably Numb (by Pink Floyd, from the 1979 album, The Wall) that you could put the slow solo on, y'know what I mean? And when you got a fast song that requires you playing a fast solo, you can do that as well. Even if it's gotta be a heavy song, it's gotta be a good heavy song.'

That in mind, the writing process with Ozzy has remained a constant for some time now.

'Usually, the way it's always been, I'll just write the riffs and everything like that and when there's a riff that Ozzy likes, he'll go '˜Zakk, I really dig that one. I really dig that one and that one. That one's crap, but I really dig that one. That one's really good. That one? I don't like that one. That one's really cool.' That's the way it usually works. Then Oz will just start singing something over it and maybe him or Kevin will start working on lyrics. Then the next thing you know, bam! Badda boom, badda bing - we got a song.'

Whilst other artists who have their creative hands in multiple cookie jars might save a riff or a song for a particular act instead of one of their others, Wylde is definitely not of that school of thought.

'Whatever comes out comes out man. Y'know, I might die in a bizarre gardening accident tomorrow, y'know what I mean? No, just put out all the best shit you got man. Don't hold back. Just because you wrote a great song today, I mean, if you wrote Yesterday (referencing The Beatles 1965 song Yesterday from their Help! album), and you go '˜No, I'm gonna hold on to that one for (Zakk Wylde's) Black Label (Society). The next day, you write a song called '˜Hey Jude' (referencing The Beatles 1968 single Hey Jude),' sings the guitarist in his best Paul McCartney inspired voice. 'It's just like, well that's a great one too, or Let It Be (referencing The Beatles 1970 single Let It Be) or whatever. There's another great one. You just keep writing them. You just keep going. It doesn't matter whether Oz is singing on it, or you're singing on it in (Zakk Wylde's) Black Label (Society). Who cares? A good song is a good song.'

Ozzy and Zakk had a good six years to come up with the material on Osbourne's latest effort, 2007's Black Rain. With Ozzy doing the Black Sabbath reunion thing and The Osbournes TV show and Zakk Wylde busy with his Black Label Society, even Wylde admits that there was a time that there might not have been another Ozzy album. That all changed when he got '˜the call'.

'Oh yeah. Oz was jammin' with the Sabbath guys again, and I was off doing the (Zakk Wylde's) Black Label (Society) stuff, and he knows what he wants. He goes '˜Just call Zakk up and he'll come down and come jam on it. Don't worry about it.' He was like, '˜I wrote a whole bunch of songs. I want you to just put your touch on it. Just do what you gotta do and we'll finish the album,' because Oz will just go '˜Zakk, I'm just tired of the whole writing process. I've been writing with all these other people.' Usually, we write all of the songs together. He'll go, '˜Zakk, just come on down and play your ass off on these things and we'll call it a day, alright?' I'll say, '˜Alright boss, whatever you want. We'll knock it out.' It's that easy, man. We never get into arguments or anything stupid like that.'

Six years between albums is nothing when you consider that it's been just over a decade since the Prince Of Darkness played to Australian audiences on his inaugural down under tour in 1998.

'We were down there with Mike Inez and Randy Castillo. It seems weird, y'know? Now, we're coming down there with Mike (Bordin, drummer, ex-Faith No More) and Blasko (Rob '˜Blasko' Nicholson, ex-Rob Zombie band). They are a bunch of sweet guys, super talented guys, and there's Adam Wakeman playing the keyboards.'

Wylde's memories of that tour are true to form.

'There was definitely a lot of drinking going on. I can tell you that much. We had a blast when we were down there, man. I do the same stuff wherever I'm touring. I lift weights, jam, we'll do the shows, and then we'll go out and go to a bar and get something to drink. It's the way it always goes. Then you start all over the next day when you get up. You do what you gotta do whether there's press or this and that, then practice and next thing you know, we're on stage again whoopin' ass. That's the way it goes.'


With Ozzy's long awaited return to play to his faithful fans down under, Wylde's anticipation of the shows is short and sweet.

'Ah, same thing,' laughs Wylde heartily. 'Same thing, man. The beer tastes great down there so everything's good, man.'

Ozzy Osbourne's latest album, Black Rain, is out now on Epic Records through Sony/B.M.G. Music Australia in a limited edition tour edition. Ozzy Osbourne plays the following dates in Australia: March 15 Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne; March 18 Acer Arena, Sydney and March 20, Entertainment Centre, Brisbane. For more information on Ozzy Osbourne, check out www.ozzy.com.

Rex
 Rep: 50 

Re: Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell/Ozzy

Rex wrote:

I went to the Queensryche/Alice Cooper/Heaven And Hell show here in Reno.

Man, Dio has still got some pipes.  His voice is rare in that it actually seems to get better with age.

BLS-Pride
 Rep: 212 

Re: Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell/Ozzy

BLS-Pride wrote:

Yeah Dio is the man. He's like a fine wine. Only better with age.

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