Ozzy Osbourne has accomplished many astounding things in his life. Considering some of his antics and habits it's amazing that he has done/achieved even half of them. However, he is now mulling over one particular honor that still eludes him: knighthood. Osbourne was recently asked about it when an online campaign to get Osbourne knighted was mentioned in an interview with Time Out Dubai. Osbourne says:
“I’ve heard about that. Getting knighted? I can’t imagine anything better. And my wife would become a Lady, which would be pretty cool. But I’m not gonna get upset if it doesn’t happen. I never thought I’d get further than [my childhood hometown of] Aston.”
Even if Osbourne doesn't achieve knighthood (which I personally doubt he will, as much as I am a fan of his), he still has many wonderful things going on in his life currently, such as having reunited with Black Sabbath a few years back. From there he has recorded a new album with them (13) and gone on tour with them. Due to the success of that the band will be doing one more album and one more tour.
I still think that the idea of "Sir Ozzy" would be a weird thing to have come off of one's tongue. He may be a decent guy these days but somehow I don't see him fitting the bill of knight. If anything, he has spent most of his life doing the exact opposite things that would constitute proper behavior for one. However, crazier things have happened so it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility.
Think of what you consider a pretty exciting day that you might have. Well whatever it may be, it is NOTHING compared to AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd's day on November 25th. Things began with an arrest warrant and drew to a close with a near car accident. Your day definitely pales by comparison, doesn't it?
According to The Guardian Rudd was supposed to appear in court at 9 AM that day for charges of drug possession and threatening to kill a man. However, he missed that appointment. When that happened, the judge issued a warrant for his arrest. Luckily for Rudd, he managed to slide right into the doors of the court house half an hour before the warrant could take effect.
It doesn't end there, though.
During Rudd's hearing, he offered no plea toward any of the charges raised against him. From there, he was informed that the case would then be taken to district court. When this decree was issued, Rudd decided to jump a security guard's back, after which he then gave the bird to photographers while leaving the building. After that, Rudd took things a step further by just barely avoiding hitting a truck while reversing his car onto its path while out on the road.
Now I'm as much a fan of rock n' roll antics as the next guy, but I think Rudd needs to dial things down several notches if he is going to get through this court case. However, I get the impression that he intends to do no such thing. Rudd seems to have gotten to a point where he gives absolutely ZERO f***s about laws, propriety, and what people think of him. Admirable to a certain extent, but his recklessness may possibly cost him his life.
AC/DC are about to put out their 17th studio album Rock or Bust next week (December 2nd). To get their fans warmed up and psyched for it they have released a music video for the title track Rock or Bust.
Unfortunately, two founding members are not featured in the video. Rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young has retired due to dementia and has been replaced by his nephew Stevie Young. Drummer Phil Rudd is currently being stood in for by Bob Richards due to drug possession and death threat charges.
This video doesn't seem too different from any of AC/DC's other music videos. Then again, when you're someone like AC/DC all you need is the band doing what they do best (rocking your socks off) for an audience. Any other form of imagery would be excessive, distracting, and quite unnecessary as far as I'm concerned.
If you would like to listen to the rest of the Rock or Bust album it is currently streaming temporarily on iTunes. It will be released to the general public for sale on December 2nd. AC/DC does plan to tour with their current line-up in support of Rock or Bust starting next year.
5 Songs to Get You Through the Week is a feature I run on Young Ears, Fresh Perspective on Sundays/early hours of Monday morning where I pick out 5 tunes that I think are notable and tell you a bit about them. The point is to give you some rocking music to help you deal with your weekday blues. You can either listen to one each day, listen to them all at once, or any other combination that you feel. As long as you can get through the week without the man getting you down, that's all I care about. Without further ado, here are the 5 tracks I've picked out for this week:
1. Cities on Flame With Rock n' Roll, by Blue Oyster Cult
Most people who know of this song these days discovered it through the video game Guitar Hero III back in 2007. However, it is a tune from Blue Oyster Cult's 1972 debut album Blue Oyster Cult. The guitar work on this track is of course fantastic. Through both the music itself and the lyrics to a certain extent I really do get a picture of standing on top of a building in a city in the middle of the night just shredding on a guitar with fire behind me. It is a great musical manifestation of true rock n' roll rebellion.
2. Come On, by Whitesnake
I'm well aware that most of you only know of Whitesnake as the 80's hair metal band that did the famous radio hit Here I Go Again, but this wasn't always their identity. Whitesnake actually got their start back in 1978 as a bluesy/R&B type rock n' roll band when singer David Coverdale was forming a brand new project after the collapse of his former band Deep Purple two years prior. Coverdale decided to get back to his basic musical roots and from the ashes arose some EXTREMELY under rated rock music. This song Come On was one of the first songs the band did and was released on the Snakebite EP in 1978. It is a very uplifting and fun rock tune. It being a Whitesnake song, love is very much the theme of it but it isn't all soft and girly either. It's always put me back in a good mood whenever the weight of the world was getting me down and I bet it can do the same for you.
3. When the Levee Breaks, by Led Zeppelin
This is one of Led Zeppelin's more basic blues based songs, though oddly enough it came on their Physical Graffiti album; which is quite some time after they had changed their direction to more of a straight rock sound rather than their original heavy blues one that had been heard on their first couple of albums. There is some absolutely wailing harmonica that really makes the tune for me in addition to guitarist Jimmy Page's slide guitar work. The pace of the song is fairly slow, but the rhythm still thunders throughout the entirety of the track.If you want a tune that will make you air drum, you've come to the right place.
4. Hit the Road Jack, by Ray Charles
Now I know this isn't exactly a rock n' roll song by any stretch of the imagination, but Ray Charles did have a lot of influence on people who would go on to make such music. Quite frankly, if you don't know this song I would say you have been living under a road your whole life. Then again, knowing today's youth and their crap music I wouldn't be surprised if many of them didn't. The chord progression is pretty basic blues/jazz, but what was done with it was phenomenal. The singing is so soulful and passionate. You can really feel like that woman wants that dirty no good scumbag out of her house and to never come back. This is one of the few songs I would actually consider dancing to.
5. Into the Void, by Black Sabbath
For those of you who like something a bit heavier than Mr. Charles, Black Sabbath has you covered with their song Into the Void from their 1971 album Master of Reality. If you ask me, this was one of the first true long epic heavy metal songs besides a couple of Black Sabbath's earlier tracks.Sadly, this song doesn't get as much recognition as I think it should; though they do still play it at their live shows to this day. It starts off heavy, dark, and slow while set in a very minor key. Things then kick up a couple notches with the verse riff and the tempo picks up. In general this song has a lot of variety to it. It doesn't stay in one mood for too long. Guitarist Tony Iommi really shines on this track with his creativity and overall guitar chops. Singer Ozzy Osbourne's singing really does make you feel like you're traveling through space. I wouldn't say this is a moshing song, but it will definitely get your head moving and your horns raised.
Former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler has always been notorious for his excessive partying and over-use of drugs. His habits and addictions were the direct cause of him being fired from the band in 1990 when he could no longer function effectively as a musician or person. However, recently Adler has made significant progress battling his addictions and has been sober for over 9 months now.
“Right now, I’m just taking care of myself. I’ve been having these problems with alcohol, and right now I’m just taking care of it. I have a nice program I’m working, and I’m looking forward to having one year [of sobriety]. Right now, I’ve got nine months and eighteen days.”
In 2012 Adler got a new band together and released an album called Back From the Dead. However, he couldn't stay off the drugs and alcohol and had to check back into rehab; causing him to have to cancel a summer tour in 2013. In 2008 Adler was also arrested at a sober-living home in possession of heroin and has been through two seasons of the TV program Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew. All of these incidents were discussed his autobiography My Appetite for Destruction: Sex, and Drugs and Guns N’ Roses, released in 2010.
Adler is feeling very positive about the coming year. He says, “I’m gonna start working and getting the band back together. I’m taking care of [my addiction] — cutting it off at the neck. I’m looking forward to going out and playing again … It’s just been very exciting. Having a new life is exciting.”
I personally hope that for his sake Adler can stay off of all that bad stuff. Those kinds of hard drugs and alcoholism are horrible stuff to begin with, but I can only imagine how badly they have been wrecking him up at his age [49]. I can't imagine him being able to bounce back as well as he did when he was in his heyday with Guns N' Roses.
In September of 1970, one of the most influential albums in the history of heavy metal was released out into the world. From here on out many bands would try to copy the riffs and general style of its dark, doom-ish, heavy music because in a way a template was put into place. The bar was raised and now a new standard existed. This album was Paranoid, by heavy metal fathers Black Sabbath. This would be their second album and would act as a near immediate follow-up to their successful debut release Black Sabbath.
Paranoid topped the UK charts for multiple weeks. It featured quite a few of Black Sabbath's most notable songs such as: Paranoid, Iron Man, War Pigs, etc. I personally don't know a single heavy metal guitarist who at some point or another has not at least attempted to cover one of these songs. Paranoid is probably one of the most covered heavy metal songs of all time from my experience. However, this is for good reason. At that point in time, there had never been music so loud, heavy, dark, thunderous, howling, etc.
Paranoid was originally not going to be on the album. The only reason it exists is because they needed to fill in a three minute gap in the record. That being said, in about half an hour they came up with one of the most memorable songs in rock history. The opening riff is pretty iconic. A couple of held out chords filled in with a simple lick and then the whole band comes in with a chugging rhythm that almost seems like a freight train. Surprisingly for as catchy as a song as Paranoid is, there is no chorus. Just a few verses and a couple interludes. The album would later be renamed after the song because the record company felt that the original title War Pigs would be too offensive. The funniest part about this whole song is that while recording his vocals, Ozzy Osbourne was reading the lyrics right off of the sheet!
Hand of Doom is one of my personal favorites from Paranoid. Geezer Butler's bass line has such a fantastic relaxed groove to it throughout the intro and the majority of the verses until the dynamics of the song kick up a few notches. The rest of the tune has a real swing rhythm (proving drummer Bill Ward's versatility) to it and features many of guitarist Tony Iommi's jazzy dark guitar solos. The lyrics as written by Butler discuss U.S. soldiers arriving in Britain at the time the record was being put together. These soldiers were arriving from the Vietnam War and were doing many hard drugs in order to forget or deal with all of the horrors and atrocities they had faced during their time there. The music does quite well to fit the subject matter, to be honest.
Often copied but never duplicated, Paranoid to this day is one of the greatest heavy metal albums ever put to tape. Many well known bands and artists cite this album as the reason for getting into music and heavy metal in the first place. Can you imagine what it would be like if there was a world with no Iron Man in it? I shudder at the thought of that too. Let us never entertain such a horrid notion ever again. However, I digress. There isn't a single bad or filler track (not even the title track) on Paranoid. Every track in some way or another serves a purpose; even the chill jazzy tune Planet Caravan that seems to throw many people off when they listen to the album. If you haven't already, go out and buy the record. What are you waiting for?!
Paranoid, by Black Sabbath receives 5 out of 5 stars.
Track List:
1. War Pigs
2. Paranoid
3. Planet Caravan
4. Iron Man
5. Electric Funeral
6. Hand of Doom
7. Rat Salad
8. Fairies Wear Boots
As if there weren't a vast number of people who disagree with Kiss front man Gene Simmons's statement about rock being dead, another major player has tacked their name to the list: AC/DC.
Singer Brian Johnson and lead guitarist Angus Young were recently interviewed by Ultimate Classic Rock, during which they were asked about the state of rock n' roll. During this part of the interview they were asked about their views on Simmons's comment.
Johnsonsays:
“With all respect to the lad, I think he’s terribly wrong for a start. I really do. I don’t think anybody should have the nerve to stand there and just say that a certain genre of music has just ff—- disappeared overnight…Well, I’m here to tell you, Gene, you’re wrong. And I’m saying it’s alive and kicking. My name’s Brian. How do you do?”
Young added:
“It’s been a long, long, long funeral” — he says just as he was about to go into a bit of wisdom for up and coming bands “If they think they’ve really got something,” he said. “They ought to stick with it…When people find their direction and…they finally kind of define what they are as a band, then they should hang on to that.”
I have to agree with Johnson's comments. Rock hasn't just vanished over night. It would be quite strange if it had, to be honest. Granted, it isn't what it was 30 years ago any more but that just means that the bands that are making their way today are doing it for the actual love of the music and not just trying to be pretty boys getting rich and famous just to have it all.
AC/DC's upcoming album Rock Or Bust will be hitting shelves and the internet on December 2nd.
