Join Tim Durling for another one of his channel’s fun features: Music charts from this time in history! This week, Tim goes back 50 years to August 2, 1970. Some interesting charting albums here from the 2001 soundtrack to Black Sabbath’s debut LP. Tim asked me to say a few words about Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath for this episode, so check it out!
For the love of the Ozzman, friends gathered together to mourn and celebrate the unique talents and charms of one John Michael “Ozzy” Osbourne.
Peter Kerr stated, if you walked up to an average person and asked them to name one icon of heavy metal, they’re likely to answer “Ozzy Osbourne”. As a founding member of Black Sabbath, whose 1970 debut is generally credited for creating “heavy metal”, Ozzy was on the ground floor as the voice and face of the founding fathers. Ozzy deserves far more credit than we could shower on him in just 80 minutes.
Joining me was Peter Kerr from Rock Daydream Nation, his fellow countryman Ash Geisler, and Jake (Not From State Farm) in his live debut on Grab A Stack of Rock. Each of us brought parts of our collections and stories of the ways in which Ozzy impacted our lives. We also had a special video clip from Uncle Meat, on Ozzy’s effect on his life trajectory.
Each of us had some stacks of Ozzy rock to show. Ash had some cool radio broadcast stuff and some interesting early CD pressings of Sabbath classics, not to mention a rare early Sabbath single in a picture sleeve. Peter and Jake brought their Diary/Blizzard box sets, and some favourite records. Mike provided Japanese imports, box sets, bonus tracks, and stories of discovery.
Peter came to us with some perspective from Bob Daisley, who he interviewed on Rock Daydream Nation. Ozzy’s vocal prowess in the early days was emphasized, and we also addressed that final concert that everyone is still talking about.
We ended the show with Uncle Meat’s performance of “Fairies Wear Boots”, with his old band Heavy Cutting.
On a sad note, we also paid tribute to a cast member of the Grab A Stack Gang that we lost this week. Yes, we didn’t just lose Ozzy, Hulk Hogan, Malcolm Jamal Warner, and Chuck Mangione. We also lost the beloved, fan favourite Gimley the Cat. I said a few words for Gimley, who was always by Rob Daniels’ side on his every appearance. I am sorry for your loss Rob.
Thank you for joining us on this very special episode of Grab A Stack of Rock. Next week: back to 50 Years of Iron Maiden.
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
With special guests Peter Kerr, Ash Geisler and Jake NFSF
Episode 110: Memories of Ozz
We had no plan for this. Tonight’s episode was supposed to be a regular, old-fashioned Grab A Stack of Rock, where we grab a bunch of albums and talk about them at random. Unfortunately the Metal gods had another plan, and they called upon Ozzy Osbourne to join them in Rock Heaven. And so our plans were upturned.
Peter Kerr and Ash Geisler remain on the guestlist to talk about Ozzy Osbourne. Favourite memories, favourite albums, favourite songs. Things that mean something to us. Ways in which Ozzy touched our lives. Peter has interviewed Bob Daisley and John Sinclair, and has that perspective to add. Unfortunately Harrison Kopp the Mad Metal Man felt unqualified to join, so in his stead will be Jake (Not From State Farm) for a special appearance.
I will never forget my Grandma buying me an Ozzy tape as a gift. I don’t think she picked it herself, given the cover art. I will always smile when I think of road tripping with my friend Peter, to the sound of the early Black Sabbath stuff. Specifically, “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” from the recently acquired Ozzy Osbourne Years box set. Or, my dad discovering Ozzy in the 2000s when he made his mainstream TV debut.
Jake, Ash and Peter will bring their own stories to the fore. Join us tonight as we salute the original Madman of Metal, on Grab A Stack of Rock.
Friday July 25 at 7:00 PM EST, 8 PM Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or Facebook.
We all knew this day would come. We just didn’t know it would be today.
Only a couple weeks after his final concert, Ozzy has joined his bandmates in Rock and Roll Heaven.
I really don’t have the words. You’d think I’d be prepared for this. I was not. The biggest loss in metal, ever?
I’ll think of more to say later.
Rest in Peace, Ozzy.
I played Bark At the Moon and No Rest for the Wicked on the weekend. MY albums. MY Ozzy.
Ozzy – that guy who I thought was “crazy”! He looked scary to a 12 year old.
Then I saw a picture of him in a cowboy hat. “He doesn’t look so scary.”
He wasn’t.
Ozzy wasn’t the prince of darkness. He was the clown prince of metal, and I think he loved it that way. Joking, pulling faces, making people laugh just as hard as he made them rock. Ozzy was my companion during the awkward teenage misfit years. Ozzy was cool without being cool. He was simply Ozzy. There was only one. He couldn’t be replaced in Black Sabbath. Any time they tried, they embarked on a new journey, because you cannot replace Ozzy Osbourne.
Ozzy had a knack for a melody, and impeccable taste in guitar players. From Randy Rhoads to Jake E. Lee to Zakk Wylde, he made them famous.
Ozzy’s real talent was as a facilitator of talent. He brought together drummers, bassists and guitarists. He formed bands that we still talk about today, from the original Blizzard of Ozz to the Wylde/Butler/Castillo lineup that is my personal favourite. His knack for bringing people together, both in bands and in audiences was unparalleled.
There will NEVER be another Ozzy. Only pretenders to the throne.
Rest in peace.
Hot on the heels of his excellent interview with bassist Bob Daisley, Peter Kerr suggested we run through the Top Five Ozzy Osbourne solo songs, and a brilliant idea it was! Ozzy’s solo career is rich, especially in the early years, with beautiful ballads and incendiary metal. There are heavy progressive moments, advanced arrangements, and brilliant lyrics. We gave Ozzy’s career a solid listen this week and extracted our lists, and not without difficulty!
Your panel this week:
I bought a guest list from Jex Russell, and the combined six lists covered a lot of ground! Hits, deep cuts, lots of ballads, and almost every lead guitarist who played with Ozzy. Lots of love for Randy and Jake here especially. Besides the first two classic Ozzy records, there was a lot of respect here for No Rest for the Wicked. The Ultimate Sin, Ozzmosis, No More Tears and Scream were mentioned multiple times. There were a number of B-sides mentioned, and one track that almost got me disqualified!
Stay tuned for some cool honourable mentions!
Thank you everyone for watching tonight, and we’ll see you Monday with brand new guest Len Labelle, and a run through the discography of Brighton Rock. See you then!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 53: Top Five Ozzy Tracks with Peter Kerr, John Clauser, and the return of Mike Slayen!
All aboard! Ah ha ha ha ha!
Peter Kerr is back, having survived his encounter with Stevie Rachelle and his army of trolls! He is also fresh from an interview with bassist Bob Daisley, so why not do a list show on our Top Five Ozzy Osbourne songs?
For this epic topic, spanning Ozzy’s solo career, I have recruited a special panel:
We continue to wish Harrison a speedy recovery. I hope to see you back on the show soon, my friend. We all miss you.
Tonight will be all about the Prince of Darkness, and together we will list Ozzy’s Top Fives according to each of our tastes. Deep cuts guaranteed!
Friday March 1 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 4:00 P.M. Pacific. Enjoy on YouTube, or Twitter!! (Facebook has been problematic of late.)
And it should be over; it had its run. It had a start, middle, and a couple endings. And it should be over now. Ozzy is right and this is good.
Ozzy is also right when he says the music he recorded with Tony Iommi on the excellent Patient Number 9 could have made great Black Sabbath tracks. He also sounds legitimately sad that he’s not touring and his health isn’t up to it.
All things considered (and there is a lot to consider), Ozzy looks pretty good here. Rock on Ozz.
OZZY OSBOURNE – Patient Number 9 (2022 Epic)
It’s very easy to be cynical about any new Ozzy album since about Down To Earth and onwards. Corporate constructions. Special guest writers and performers. “Here Ozzy, sing these new songs we wrote for you.” Prior to that, it felt like Ozzy had a band, and that band took different directions on each album. Now Ozzy has Andrew Watt and a slate of big-namers. It’s been this way a while. This time the difference is, the process resulted in a pretty decent album. Sure it’s still Watt at the helm, with special guests in big letters on the back cover and front stick. Jeff Beck! Eric Clapton! Tony Iommi! Zakk Wylde! Of course without a real band, you don’t get that cohesive band sound, but what you do get ain’t bad indeed.
Each track (except for “Darkside Blues” which is either a new version or a new mix of the Japanese bonus track from Ordinary Man) has credits by Andrew Watt and professional songsmith Ali Tamposi. She’s more known for Kelly Clarkson, Nickelback, and a slew of Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus hits. She also co-wrote most of Ordinary Man so there’s a formula at work here. Other co-writers include Ryan Tedder, Duff McKagan, Chad Smith, Robert Trujillo, Tony Iommi, Chris Chaney, and the late great Taylor Hawkins.
Ozzy falls into his comic horror persona a bit too much. There was once a time when he was trying to shed that “crazy madman” image but he’s really leaned into it again for the last couple decades. As such the album opens with silly “insane asylum” sound effects that only delay us getting to the good stuff. The opening title track is over seven minutes long with that nonsense attached. It’s also one of the poorer of the new songs, overly formulaic and modern with robotic hooks. Jeff Beck’s unconventional and slippery solo work makes it worth a listen (Watt and Wylde play the rhythm and fills).
Things really get moving on track two, “Immortal” featuring Mike McCready of Pearl Jam and Duff on bass. Good riffing and grooving going on here, and the first memorable chorus. The Hawkins co-penned “Parasite” is another grooving highlight, featuring the Foo Fighter on drums. The chorus is really solid and just moves like a ‘Vette on the highway. That’s Zakk on lead guitar, but he’s instantly recognizable. Former Ozzy bassist and currently Metallicer Rob Trujillo on bass.
What’s really amazing is that with the help of Tony Iommi, this hodge-podge of creators managed to write a seriously Sabbathy dirge called “No Escape From Now”. You’d swear it’s Geezer Butler on bass, but it’s not. It’s actually Watt. It’s as Sabbathy, if not more so, than most of the 13 album. It feels a bit “token”, like, “Oh hey Sabbath fans, here’s a song with the riffs and time changes that you like.” Yet it’s one of the songs you’ll keep returning to, and probably for those reasons. Of note, this is the only song without Andrew Watt on rhythm guitar. It’s all Tony and only Tony which is the reason it feels heavy as a bloody brick.
In a throwback to Ozzmosis, “One of Those Days” with Eric Clapton really sounds a bit like “I Just Want You”. Clapton really adds a touch of class. One could imagine that the chorus will upset certain people with it’s refrain of “I don’t believe in Jesus”, but it is one hell of a chorus – pun intended. Unfortunately the ballad that follows, “A Thousand Shades”, is a throwaway, aside from the brilliant Jeff Beck guitar solo. One of the Hawkins co-penned tracks called “Mr. Darkness” takes a minute to get going, seemingly a song about fan letters that Ozzy once received. It and the next two songs all feature Zakk Wylde on guitar. Dull verses, but awesome chorus, with an awesome Sabbathy change towards the end. The only dumb part is the silly ending where Ozzy speaks, “You don’t even know my name you asshole.” Just…no.
“Nothing Feels Right” is another ballad, very Ozzmosis-y. Decent song, good chorus, with all the production bells and whistles. It really smokes during the solo section. Another Sabbathy sounding riff emerges on “Evil Shuffle” and it really seems clear that Andrew Watt is trying to channel Geezer Butler’s bass playing on this album. Not that it’s a bad thing. Then it’s the much-hyped “Degradation Rules” with Tony Iommi, a song about masturbation, but not as good as the prior Iommi song. The main hook here is Ozzy’s harmonica playing, a great throwback to “The Wizard”.
“Dead and Gone” is a deep cut highlight, with a latter-day Priest-like groove and lots of Zakk Wylde chunk. An album highlight buried way in the back end. Finally, “God Only Knows” is the last proper song, but unfortunately sort of a last gasp rather than a late highlight. Kind of a ballad, with lush backing vocals, but not a “Road to Nowhere” kind of late album winner.
The outro music, “Darkside Blues”, appears to be a remix of the original version from Ordinary Man‘s Japanese release. You can compare the waveforms below. It’s a swampy track with more of Ozzy’s harmonica, just a coda to the album.
It’s pretty amazing at this stage of the game that Ozzy is still cranking out new music, but of course he has a huge support team behind him. This time, the team produced an album better than the last one by a pretty fair margin. They could have cut two tracks and made it a more engaging and concise listen. It’s always a balancing act between giving the listener added value, or a streamlined experience. A minor quibble at the end of the day.
3.5/5 stars
2020 may have sucked, but the music didn’t. This year I bought and reviewed more new releases than ever before, which I narrowed down to the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten studio albums of 2020 listed below.
I would like to dedicate this list to my good pal Uncle Meat who originated the concept of a “Nigen Tufnel Top Ten” earlier this year. It has become our thing.
BEST ALBUMS OF 2020
11. Now or Never – III
10. Mr. Bungle – The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo
8. Kim Mitchel – The Big Fantasize
6. Stryper – Even the Devil Believes
5. Harem Scarem – Change the World
4. Dennis DeYoung – 26 East Vol 1
Storm Force’s debut album goes straight to #1 on their very first appearance! No surprise here. I’ve been raving about this disc since February and I owe it to Superdekes for putting these guys on my radar in the first place. This is a well-deserved #1. Age of Fear is an uplifting album with depth. It’s a thoughtful, heart-pounding blast of classic hard rock.
Deep Purple’s Whoosh! and AC/DC’s PWRUP prove two things: old dogs that both learn and don’t learn new tricks can all be champions. (I call this theory “Schrödinger’s Dog”.) Deep Purple’s growth continues while AC/DC managed to tap into the vein of success that always worked for them. Both records deserve their spots in the Top 3.
It was a thrill for me to learn that Dennis DeYoung both read and enjoyed my review of his newest album 26 East Vol 1. It’s a terrific, Styx-like conceptual work that will please the old fans. As will the new albums by Harem Scarem and Stryper, who didn’t stray far from their successful classic hard rock formulas. Kim Mitchell and Sven Gali on the other hand dared to be different. Kim went laid back and acoustic, while Sven Gali went with their heaviest uninhibited inclinations. As for Mr. Bungle, it has been 21 years since their last album California. All four Bungle studio albums are completely different from one another — four different genres. For The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny, they teamed up with Scott Ian and Dave Lombardo to re-record their first thrash metal demo tape. And it could be their best album since the self-titled debut in 1991. Not bad for a bunch of songs they wrote in highschool.
Corey “Mother Fuckin'” Taylor makes his debut on any list of mine with his solo album CMFT. It’s a surprising collection of commercial hard rockin’ tunes. Also appearing for the first time is Now Or Never (NoN) with their third album called III, featuring singer Steph Honde. It’s an excellent, dramatic metal album with light and shade.
BONUS LISTS
Most disappointing: Ozzy Osbourne – Ordinary Man
Song of the year: “LeBrain Train“ by T-Bone Erickson
Single of the Year: Mammoth WVH – “Distance”
Ultimately whether or not you liked the new Ozzy, its success or failure falls at the feet of producer/guitarist Andrew Watt. He is already working on the next Ozzy album, so….
Huge thanks to T-Bone Erickson for the “LeBrain Train” theme song, which amazingly and unexpectedly became the song of the year in 2020! Weird how that happened. No bias here I assure you.
Finally, Wolfgang Van Halen finally released his first solo music under the name Mammoth WVH. The non-album single “Distance” is dedicated to his late father Eddie. Though musically it’s a modern power ballad, the lyrics and especially the music video evoke serious emotion. Well done Wolfgang. Can’t wait to check out his album in 2021.
TOP FIVE LIVE OR COMPILATION ALBUMS IN 2020
5. Metallica – S&M2
4. Thin Lizzy – Rock Legends
3. Sloan – B Sides Win Vol. 1 1992-1997
2. Def Leppard – The Early Years 78-81
1. Iron Maiden – Nights of the Dead – Legacy of the Beast
There were a lot of cool rock releases in 2020, so we need more lists! Of course the brilliant new live Maiden deserved some loving attention. Meanwhile, Sloan, Def Leppard and Thin Lizzy have continued to put out quality collections of rarities & unreleased material, well worth the time and money you’ll spend on them. The Sloan collection is a vinyl exclusive and the first in a series of LPs re-releasing some of their B-sides and non-album and bonus tracks. Finally, Metallica delivered the goods even without Michael Kamen on S&M2, a very different live set than the first S&M. That’s the way to do it!
BEST LOCKDOWN SINGLE
5. Queen + Adam Lambert – “You Are the Champions”
3. Marillion – “Made Again 2020”
1. Alice Cooper – “Don’t Give Up”
A LOOK AHEAD AT 2021
It’s naive to assume that major touring and concerts will return in 2021. This appears highly optimistic at present, with Covid still ravaging the landscape and vaccinations only just beginning. Instead of looking ahead at things like the resuming Kiss tour, or the Motley Crue reunion, we should continue to put our faith in new music.
Accept have a new album due January 15 intriguingly titled Too Mean to Die. It is their first without bassist Peter Baltes. Steven Wilson has a new record out at the end of that month. In February we get new Foo Fighters, The Pretty Reckless, Willie Nelson and Alice Cooper. Greta Van Fleet, Weezer, Rob Zombie, Ringo Starr, and Thunder will be back soon too. Many other bands are writing and recording without an announced due date. Ghost, Marillion, Scorpions, Megadeth and even Ratt are hard at work to make next year suck a little less. Support the bands by buying the music.
GETTING MORE TALE #833: Postcards From the Solo Summer of ’86
(Part Four of the 1986 Saga)
While we definitely had our fun in the summer of 1986, there was one person missing from all of it: Bob Schipper. I really missed my best friend. Bob was spending the summer in Calgary, Alberta with his older brother Martin. I was so used to doing…well…everything with Bob! It was really quiet around the neighbourhood without him. I had to come up with my own games and schemes without my partner in crime.
I spent a lot of afternoons watching TV in the basement, recording music videos and watching WWF wrestling. I wanted to update my buddy on all the latest songs I’ve been hearing, and the newest wrestling plots and turns. I was bored! But one day, I received a postcard from him. The first contact in weeks! I was so excited to hear from my friend again. Even in this brief postcard, he talked about music. We were both so into rock bands, it was already dominating our interests.
“Hey Mike, it’s me Bob, writing a post card to you to tell you that I’m still living. I hope everything is okay over there, because it’s great here. I got this awesome poster of Gene Simmons you’ve got to see. Well, see you soon.”
My mom got his address in Calgary from his mother, and I wrote him back a letter. I had to update him on all the gossip and goings-on in the world.
A short while later I got a letter back and jumped in glee. I read it twice through. One of the biggest pieces of news that I had to update him on, was that my parents had finally agreed to get a dog. “Boy, Katy finally got what she wanted,” Bob said. It was definitely my sister that wanted the dog most. I was not sure how I felt about it yet. Big changes, big adjustments!
Bob had news of his own. I had heard he was going to be seeing a concert, but didn’t know who.
“You know what, the concert I was going to see, well it was cancelled. The group I was going to see was OZZY OSBOURNE, and I was looking so forward to it, but now he’s coming back in October instead.” That would obviously not do, since Bob would be coming back home in August. The opening act was a group neither of us knew: Metallica.
“P.S. – Have you seen the commercial for Friday the 13th Part 6? I’m going to see it.” Bob loved his horror movies a lot more than I did.
The next letter from him arrived a couple weeks later.
“I can hardly wait to show you the two albums I bought. They’s both rare KISS albums! The first one I bought is a mint condition Killers album with the new KIZZ logo.” This is the very copy of Killers that I own today, acquired from Bob all those years ago. No longer mint condition, far from it in fact. I remember doing things like playing it backwards, and tracing the West German logo with the backwards Z’s. You can see the indentation from my pen. A shame, really.
“If you think that’s great,” he continued, “wait till you see my other one! It’s a picture-disc album, with a Kiss interview on it! On one side it has a picture of the unmasked Kiss, and the other side Gene with his axe guitar! The amazing thing was it was only twenty dollars! Also, I got two cassette tapes, Alive II and Love Gun. I also might be getting Dressed to Kill.” I recall the Kiss interview disc was from the Lick It Up era because they were talking about Vinnie Vincent and taking off the makeup. In fact I still have this interview on a cassette, because I taped everything from Bob.
We were getting closer to getting our new dog in August. Bob remarked, “I can hardly wait to see Katy’s new dog.” Funny how we always referred to it as her new dog. That does bring back memories though, of the way things seemed before we knew what it was like to actually have a family dog. It really did seem to me like it was Kathryn’s dog. And she is definitely the dog person of the family today. She always has multiple pets in the house.
In our letters back and forth, we took shots at the neighbour George, who was a bit of a punching bag for us. It was well deserved though, George earned every bit mockery we poured into our letters. He crossed the line when he tried to steal Bob’s brother’s bike. He stole Lego from us. He was, honestly kind of a dick back then. So Bob ended his letters with some drawings of himself, me, his new nephew Mike, and George.
Reading these letters today, it’s clear how important our friendship was to both of us back then. For me personally, I looked up to him and needed him by my side as I embarked onto my next journey: highschool! It was too bad that I didn’t have my best friend around for that last summer before highschool, but at least I still have the letters.
mikeladano.com 