Last Sunday at the Grammy Awards a supergroup, featuring Slash and Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Andrew Watt (producer) and superstar Post Malone on vocals, honored OZZY OSBOURNE by playing Black Sabbath‘s classic juggernaut War Pigs. Remarkable tribute it was. Ozzy, who passed away last summer, aged 76, would have loved it, absolutely.
His family was very touched by this Ozzy celebration.
SAVAGES (2011-2017) was an all-female London rock outfit, led by French
songstress Jehnny Beth who released her industrial-charged 2nd solo
full-length You Heartbreaker, You last year, in August.
Savages have made 2 LP’s. Their second one, titled Adore Life – a blast of a record – came out 10 years
ago, on 22 January 2016.
Time for a re-issue edition. One of the bonus tracks is a quite unique
cover of Black Sabbath‘s 1970 monster classic Paranoid (more than
1,550 billion streams on Spotify).
They slowed it down, let the guitars gently weep
and let Beth add musing vocals. Truly special.
Metal pioneers BLACK SABBATH released their 2nd LP, titled PARANOID in the US, this day 55 years ago, on 7 January 1971.
The longplayer was originally titled War Pigs, but the record company allegedly
changed it out of fear of a backlash from supporters of the ongoing Vietnam War.
The front cover, with the original title in mind, was designed and shot by Keith McMillan
in Black Park, Buckinghamshire. His assistant, Roger Brown, was the weirdo with the sword. It was a choice by Vertigo Records with the potential visual and commercial impact in mind, and was designed by Tony Iommi.
Ozzy: “What the fuck does a bloke dressed as a pig with a sword in his hand
got to do with being paranoid, I don’t know, but they decided to change the
album title without changing the artwork.”
It featured 3 of their epic hammers, Paranoid,
War Pigs (highly relevant again) and Iron Man.
The LP peaked at #4 in the UK and hit the top spot in the US.
Rolling Stone Magazine said in a retrospective review: “Sabbath ruled for bummed-out
kids in the Seventies, and nearly every heavy-metal and extreme rock band of the last three decades, including Metallica, Nirvana and Slipknot, owes a debt of worship to Iommi’s crushing” guitar riffs, Ward and Butler’s visigoth rhythm section and Osbourne’s agonized bray.”
TITLE TRACK
More than 1,542 billion
streams on Spotify.
Geezer Butler: “‘Paranoid’ was about depression, because I didn’t really know the difference between depression and paranoia. It’s a drug thing; when you’re smoking a joint you get totally paranoid about people, you can’t relate to people. There’s that crossover between the paranoia you get when you’re smoking dope and the depression afterwards.”
On a seventh day – 5 years ago – musical celebs TOYAH WILLCOX and her
husband ROBERT FRIPP their Sunday Lunch Sessions as a fun pastime during Covid‘s lockdown, covering classics of big name artists. First they did some in
their garden, in their cellar and then they moved to their by now legendary
kitchen.
After Fripp suffered a heart attack last May they paused their weekly performance
for a couple of months. It was really weird no to see them going bonkers on Sundays
for a while. Of course, the King Crimson illustrious guitar expert’s health was top priority. He returned in August ready to rock again.
Yesterday they revisited their performance of Black Sabbath‘s
monstrous classic Paranoid (more than 1,4 billion stream on Spotify.
For this occasion they went underground again, with Toyah going nuts behind bars and tattooed Fripp turning Paranoid into a freakish cellar rock jaw-dropper. Halloween is just around the corner, folks.
For the past few weeks metal pioneers BLACK SABBATHÂ dominated the (rock) news.
On July 5th, Ozzy and the band played their final concert. A massive event baptized ‘Back To The Beginning’ featuring an incredible cast of famous hard-rocking guests.
Then last week the surprising and shocking news of Ozzy‘s passing
came in. Whether you’re a metal/Black Sabbath fan or not, you should
have at least heard of a madman, named Ozzy. He was 76.
And today it’s the 50th anniversary day of their 6th LP SABOTAGE.
The longplayer was released on 28 July 1975, today 50 years ago.
Geezer Butler (bassist) about the album’s title: “Around the time of Sabbath Bloody
Sabbath, we found out that we were being ripped off by our management and our record company. So, much of the time, when we weren’t onstage or in the studio, we were in
lawyer’s offices trying to get out of all our contracts.
We were literally in the studio, trying to record, and we’d be signing all these affidavits
and everything. That’s why it’s called Sabotage – because we felt that the whole process
was just being totally sabotaged by all these people ripping us off.”
Sabotage‘s front cover got mixed reactions over the years. By some it’s regarded
as one of the worst album covers in rock history. The inverted mirror concept was
conceived by Graham Wright, Bill Ward‘s drum tech, who was also a graphic artist.
The band attended what they believed was a test photo shoot
for the album cover, thus explaining their choice of clothing.
Rolling Stone Magazine: “Sabotage is not only Black Sabbath’s
best record since Paranoid, it might be their best ever.”
The album peaked at #7 in the UK and #28 in the US.
[Verse 1] Gazing through the window at the world outside
Wondering will mother earth survive
Hoping that mankind will stop abusing her sometime
[Verse 2] After all, there’s only just the two of us
And here we are still fighting for our lives
Watching all of history repeat itself time after time
[Chorus] I’m just a dreamer
I dream my life away
I’m just a dreamer
Who dreams of better days
[Verse 3] I watch the sun go down like everyone of us
I’m hoping that the dawn will bring a sign
A better place for those who will come after us this time
[Chorus] I’m just a dreamer
I dream my life away, oh yeah
I’m just a dreamer
Who dreams of better days
[Bridge] Your higher power may be God or Jesus Christ
It doesn’t really matter much to me
Without each other’s help there ain’t no hope for us
I’m living in a dream of fantasy, oh yeah, yeah, yeah
[Verse 4] If only we could all just find serenity
It would be nice if we could live as one
When will all this anger, hate and bigotry be gone?
[Chorus] I’m just a dreamer
I dream my life away, today
I’m just a dreamer
Who dreams of better days, okay
I’m just a dreamer
Who’s searching for the way, today
I’m just a dreamer
Dreaming my life away, oh yeah, yeah, yeah
