In a new interview with John Parks from Legendary Rock Interviews, former BLACK SABBATH singer Tony Martin talks about his solo work, the current goings on with Sabbath and much more. An excerpt follows:
Q: You are very forthright with the fans who have supported and continued to support you during your career. Do you think that the current situation with Bill Ward and the Sabbath situation is one of the more divisive or difficult things fans have had to swallow over the years?
A: “The Bill Ward thing is weird cause they always loved Bill. In fact, they never had a bad thing to say about him so I don’t quite get why they wouldn’t take time out to nurture him back into the fold. If he had any problems I cant see how a period of rehearsal and help from his band would not fix them and if its about money then WHAT THE FUCK??. He IS the original drummer, so yes he should be given a good cut of whatever, BUT I am not privy to the conversations between them so I don’t really know. I just see bands like DEF LEPPARD who’s drummer had an arm RIPPED off in a car accident and they waited for YEARS until he developed a drum kit he could play with ONE ARM!!!!! Amazing dedication, which proves so well that nothing is impossible these days. THAT is why I dont get the Bill Ward thing.”
Q: “You’ve been on the inside at various points and have maintained communication with your fans possibly more than any other member of the band. Do you think Black Sabbath fans have a tremendous amount of patience and forgiveness for some of the business end of things?
A: “Sabbath fans are just as awesome as other rock fans, they will always want to see what the next chapter of the story is EVEN if it is just to criticize. In some ways it is a reflection of life in general, we don’t wanna look sometimes but we HAVE to! Not sure its patience as much as the human condition, but I DO know that rock fans in general are the most loyal and determined fans in the world. Great to see old timers STILL wearing the shirts and young things singing songs that were written WAY before they were born… All good… all good!! I just wish people regarded the music itself more respectfully, its become a worthless art now and music has become a cheap throw away product, a fate that it does not deserve.”
BLACK SABBATH have been recording their long-awaited reunion (minus Bill Ward) album at Malibu’s Shangri-La Studio with producer Rick Rubin (SLAYER, METALLICA). Original members Ozzy Osbourne – vocals, Tony Iommi – guitar, and Geezer Butler – bass, along with session drummer drummer Brad Wilk (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE) are creating the group’s first studio album – tentatively titled 13 – since 1978’s Never Say Die!
A new three-minute teaser can be viewed below:
During the video, Sabbath’s original members talk about the sessions and what they mean to their career:
Butler: “If you try to live up to the expectations of the past albums you’ll fail dismally.”
Iommi: “You can’t always repeat what you’ve done, you just have to go on. It will be todays version of where it was 40 years ago I suppose. The last time we were in the studio together was 1978. It’s different altogether now. We have much more of a thing going than we did in those days. The new material, I really like it.”
Ozzy: I want it to sound current, but still have the Sabbath vibe you know. I’m really excited that Rick Rubin is doing it.”
Iommi: “He’s looking for a raw Sabbath and were looking for that as well.”
Ozzy: “This Black Sabbath album is quite possibly the most important album of my career.”
Current Black Sabbath dates are below:
April
20 – Vector Arena – Auckland, New Zealand
22 – Vector Arena – Auckland, New Zealand
25 – Brisbane Entertainment Centre – Brisbane, Australia
27 – Allphones Arena – Sydney, Australia
29 – Rod Laver Arena – Melbourne, Australia
May
1 – Rod Laver Arena – Melbourne, Australia
4 – Perth Arena – Perth, Australia
12 – Ozzfest at Makuhari Messe – Chiba-shi, Chiba, Japan
Legendary heavy metal band BLACK SABBATH will release its much-anticipated new album, “13”, in June via Vertigo/Universal Republic in the U.S. and Vertigo in all other territories. The drum tracks on the group’s first LP with Ozzy Osbourne since 1978 were laid down by RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE sticksman Brad Wilk following original drummer Bill Ward‘s decision to bow out of the reunion.
Osbourne, Tony Iommi (guitar) and Geezer Butler (bass) recorded the album primarily in Los Angeles with producer Rick Rubin. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include “God Is Dead”, “End Of The Beginning” and “Age Of Reason”, the latter two of which stretch out to as long as eight minutes.
A full behind-the-scenes video from the “13” recording sessions will be released tomorrow. In the meantime, check out a 30-second teaser below.
“I wanted to make an album that stood alongside their first four albums,” Rubin tells RollingStone.com. “The first album wasn’t a straightforward heavy metal record. You could hear the jazz influence, so that was the goal, and to capture that live interaction.”
Ward in May 2012 announced again that he was declining to join his former bandmates for its scheduled 2012 dates, as well as the recording of the new album, due to a contractual dispute. After SABBATH shot down Rubin‘s suggestion to replace Ward with Ginger Baker (CREAM) (“I thought, ‘Bloody hell?'” Iommi tells the magazine. “I just couldn’t see that.”), Rick suggested Wilk.
Iommi tells RollingStone.com that Ward‘s demands came out of the blue. “I didn’t know Bill was having these issues when we got together — he never even mentioned it to us,” he says. “It was quite confusing. We wanted him involved, but it was just getting too hard.” Adds Osbourne: “You can’t go, ‘Well, I don’t like it.’ You get off your ass and get your shit together. The life of a bohemian rock star is fucking long over.”
Iommi was diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2011, and his treatments forced BLACK SABBATH to cancel all but three tour dates in 2012 after announcing their reunion in November 2011.
“Things are fairly good, dare I say, at the moment,” Iommi tells RollingStone.com. “I’m still here and it’s okay. We had to do this album now. Christ, if it happened in another 10 years, I don’t know if we’d be around.”
Osbourne, who describes the new SABBATH album as “Satanic blues,” also spoke about one of the band’s new tracks, the provocatively titled “God Is Dead”. “It starts off, ‘God is dead,'” Osbourne says, “but at the end it says, ‘I don’t believe that God is dead.'”
Legendary heavy metal band BLACK SABBATH will release its much-anticipated new album, “13”, in June via Vertigo/Universal Republic in the U.S. and Vertigo in all other territories. The drum tracks on the group’s first LP with Ozzy Osbourne since 1978 were laid down by RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE sticksman Brad Wilk following original drummer Bill Ward‘s decision to bow out of the reunion.
Osbourne, Tony Iommi (guitar) and Geezer Butler (bass) recorded the album primarily in Los Angeles with producer Rick Rubin. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include “God Is Dead”, “End Of The Beginning” and “Age Of Reason”, the latter two of which stretch out to as long as eight minutes.
A full behind-the-scenes video from the “13” recording sessions will be released tomorrow. In the meantime, check out a 30-second teaser below.
“I wanted to make an album that stood alongside their first four albums,” Rubin tells RollingStone.com. “The first album wasn’t a straightforward heavy metal record. You could hear the jazz influence, so that was the goal, and to capture that live interaction.”
Ward in May 2012 announced again that he was declining to join his former bandmates for its scheduled 2012 dates, as well as the recording of the new album, due to a contractual dispute. After SABBATH shot down Rubin‘s suggestion to replace Ward with Ginger Baker (CREAM) (“I thought, ‘Bloody hell?'” Iommi tells the magazine. “I just couldn’t see that.”), Rick suggested Wilk.
Iommi tells RollingStone.com that Ward‘s demands came out of the blue. “I didn’t know Bill was having these issues when we got together — he never even mentioned it to us,” he says. “It was quite confusing. We wanted him involved, but it was just getting too hard.” Adds Osbourne: “You can’t go, ‘Well, I don’t like it.’ You get off your ass and get your shit together. The life of a bohemian rock star is fucking long over.”
Iommi was diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2011, and his treatments forced BLACK SABBATH to cancel all but three tour dates in 2012 after announcing their reunion in November 2011.
“Things are fairly good, dare I say, at the moment,” Iommi tells RollingStone.com. “I’m still here and it’s okay. We had to do this album now. Christ, if it happened in another 10 years, I don’t know if we’d be around.”
Osbourne, who describes the new SABBATH album as “Satanic blues,” also spoke about one of the band’s new tracks, the provocatively titled “God Is Dead”. “It starts off, ‘God is dead,'” Osbourne says, “but at the end it says, ‘I don’t believe that God is dead.'”
Legendary heavy metal band BLACK SABBATH will release its much-anticipated new album, “13”, in June via Vertigo/Universal Republic in the U.S. and Vertigo in all other territories. The drum tracks on the group’s first LP with Ozzy Osbourne since 1978 were laid down by RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE sticksman Brad Wilk following original drummer Bill Ward‘s decision to bow out of the reunion.
Osbourne, Tony Iommi (guitar) and Geezer Butler (bass) recorded the album primarily in Los Angeles with producer Rick Rubin. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include “God Is Dead”, “End Of The Beginning” and “Age Of Reason”, the latter two of which stretch out to as long as eight minutes.
A full behind-the-scenes video from the “13” recording sessions will be released tomorrow. In the meantime, check out a 30-second teaser below.
“I wanted to make an album that stood alongside their first four albums,” Rubin tells RollingStone.com. “The first album wasn’t a straightforward heavy metal record. You could hear the jazz influence, so that was the goal, and to capture that live interaction.”
Ward in May 2012 announced again that he was declining to join his former bandmates for its scheduled 2012 dates, as well as the recording of the new album, due to a contractual dispute. After SABBATH shot down Rubin‘s suggestion to replace Ward with Ginger Baker (CREAM) (“I thought, ‘Bloody hell?'” Iommi tells the magazine. “I just couldn’t see that.”), Rick suggested Wilk.
Iommi tells RollingStone.com that Ward‘s demands came out of the blue. “I didn’t know Bill was having these issues when we got together — he never even mentioned it to us,” he says. “It was quite confusing. We wanted him involved, but it was just getting too hard.” Adds Osbourne: “You can’t go, ‘Well, I don’t like it.’ You get off your ass and get your shit together. The life of a bohemian rock star is fucking long over.”
Iommi was diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2011, and his treatments forced BLACK SABBATH to cancel all but three tour dates in 2012 after announcing their reunion in November 2011.
“Things are fairly good, dare I say, at the moment,” Iommi tells RollingStone.com. “I’m still here and it’s okay. We had to do this album now. Christ, if it happened in another 10 years, I don’t know if we’d be around.”
Osbourne, who describes the new SABBATH album as “Satanic blues,” also spoke about one of the band’s new tracks, the provocatively titled “God Is Dead”. “It starts off, ‘God is dead,'” Osbourne says, “but at the end it says, ‘I don’t believe that God is dead.'”
BLACK SABBATH have been recording their long-awaited reunion (minus Bill Ward) album at Malibu’s Shangri-La Studio with producer Rick Rubin (SLAYER, METALLICA). Original members Ozzy Osbourne – vocals, Tony Iommi – guitar, and Geezer Butler – bass, along with session drummer drummer Brad Wilk (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE) are creating the group’s first studio album – tentatively titled 13 – since 1978’s Never Say Die!
In a new interview with David Browne from Rolling Stone, Osbourne describes the new album as “Satanic blues.”
In a nod to their roots, tracks like ‘End Of The Beginning’ and ‘Age Of Reason’ stretch out to as long as eight minutes. “I don’t know what’s going on in the music world,” Osbourne says. “My wife mentions bands to me and I don’t know what the fuck she’s talking about. We just do what we always did.”
“I wanted to make an album that stood alongside their first four albums,” Rubin adds. “The first album wasn’t a straightforward heavy metal record. You could hear the jazz influence, so that was the goal, and to capture that live interaction.”
Another new Sabbath song is the provocatively titled ‘God Is Dead’ takes an unexpected turn. “It starts off, ‘God is dead,'” Osbourne says, before adding a bit wistfully, “but at the end it says, ‘I don’t believe that God is dead.'”
Iommi also comments on the Bill Ward situation, when he announced last February that he wouldn’t be participating over what he calls “contractual difficulties.”
“It was quite confusing,” Iommi says. “We wanted him involved, but it was just getting too hard.”
Adds Osborne: “You can’t go, ‘Well, I don’t like it.’ You get off your ass and get your shit together. The life of a bohemian rock star is fucking long over.”
13 is set to be mixed this month. A North American tour is set for July and August, then the band will hit South America in October and Europe in November and December. In advance of the album’s release, Black Sabbath will head to New Zealand, Australia and Japan for a series of live performances. Additional tour plans will be revealed in the coming months.
Current Black Sabbath dates are below:
April
20 – Vector Arena – Auckland, New Zealand
22 – Vector Arena – Auckland, New Zealand
25 – Brisbane Entertainment Centre – Brisbane, Australia
27 – Allphones Arena – Sydney, Australia
29 – Rod Laver Arena – Melbourne, Australia
May
1 – Rod Laver Arena – Melbourne, Australia
4 – Perth Arena – Perth, Australia
12 – Ozzfest at Makuhari Messe – Chiba-shi, Chiba, Japan
Esquire.com has compiled a list of the 10 Craziest Drummers Ever which includes METALLICA‘s Lars Ulrich, LED ZEPPELIN‘s John Bonham, BLACK SABBATH‘s Bill Ward, HELLYEAH‘s Vinnie Paul, CREAM‘s Ginger Baker, THE WHO‘s Keith Moon, THE CLASH‘s Topper Headon, MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s Tommy Lee, Terry Bozzio (FRANK ZAPPA, MISSING PERSONS) and Josh Freese (NINE INCH NAILS, A PERFECT CIRCLE, GUNS N’ ROSES).
Five of the worlds finest drummers and D’Addario’s MARCO SOCCOLI convened for a private dinner during this year’s NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants) convention that took place January 24-27 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Drumming icons BILL WARD (Black Sabbath) GENE HOGLAN (Testament, Death, Strapping Young Lad, Dethklok) DAVE LOMBARDO (Slayer, Philm) BRANN DAILOR (Mastodon) and Shawn Drover (Megadeth) all gathered for a night out in Anaheim last Friday (Jan 25th).
GENE HOGLAN had this to say about the evening:
”I had dinner with these fine gentlemen last night. Brann Dailor, Bill Ward, Dave Lombardo, Shawn Drover and Marco Soccoli. It was amazing, incredible and inspirational! ‘Hoglan further elaborated, “We were blessed to be able to get together to show our love and support for our dear friend and godfather to us all, Bill Ward. He is the nicest, sweetest man one could ever meet, and he has given so much support to our scene for ages, that for each of us to be a part of this round table discussion, this ‘summit’, if you will, was truly an unforgettable honor. And many, MANY thanks to our brother Marco Soccoli from D’Addario for putting us all together for Bill. When it happens again, you can count me in, TOTALLY!”
Gene Hoglan recently released his instructional DVD, The Atomic Clock. Available at Hoglan Industries in the US and at Reversed Records in Canada, the disc showcases Hoglan’s three decades of experience of performing and recording with the world’s most well-known metal bands.
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