BLACK SABBATH was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 56th annual Grammy Awards on January 26 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. BLACK SABBATH was nominated for the track "God Is Dead?", from the band's 2013 comeback album "13". BLACK SABBATH's "God Is Dead?" also picked up a nomination in the "Best Rock Song" category. In addition, "13" earned a nod for "Best Rock Album", alongside LED ZEPPELIN's "Celebration Day" and QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE's "…Like Clockwork", among others.
In a posting on his official web site, BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi writes: "Well, the dust has settled on the Grammys now. [It was] great to win another one, but what a palaver. As the East Coast is three hours ahead, the televised part begins at 5 p.m. so you're leaving the hotel at lunchtime, all dolled up and ready for the red carpet! It was good, though. [There was] plenty of interest in the album still and endless questions about what we're doing next. Well, it's shows in the U.S., Canada and Europe, so far too busy with that to be thinking about more recording."
Speaking to the press backstage at the Grammy Awards, BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne stated about the possibility of the band recording another studio album, "We're going back on the road. We haven't really spoken about it beyond that. I'm down for it."
"Absolutely," added Iommi.
Iommi said in a recent interview that he was not sure if making a follow-up to "13" would be a good idea for the group. Iommi said in Revolver magazine, "I don't know if that would be an anticlimax if we wrote another album. I'd like to, but we haven't actually spoken about it, you know? I don't know if that would be a good idea after this one, because this one's done so well. I'm sure we'd all like to do one. But I don't know. Maybe I should talk to the others about it."
Bassist Geezer Butler added, "I really haven't thought about it. I'm just glad that we made this one. It can't be something where you go in and go, 'Well, that one was No. 1, so let's do another No. 1 album.' I think we'll know if we can do it or if we can't. If we have to force it, then we won't be doing it."
"13", the first SABBATH album in 35 years to feature Iommi, Butler and singer Ozzy Osbourne recording together, went No. 1 around the world, earning the band their first chart-topper ever in the U.S.
According to The Pulse Of Radio, Ozzy said about the prospects of making another record, "I don't want to say there's going to be another album, because I don't want you to ask me in another year, 'What happened when you said you were going to do another record?' I'll leave it open. I'm open for anything. I have three albums to deliver of my own solo thing to my record label."
Ozzy added, "We'll all still be doing music. It's been a lot of fun doing it with BLACK SABBATH, and I'm not sorry at all for getting back together."
The making of "13" was marked by several dramatic events, including drummer Bill Ward's withdrawal from the project over a contractual dispute and Iommi's cancer diagnosis.
Butler told Revolver that he started writing a song for "13", called "Hanging By A Thread", that was inspired by Iommi's illness. He explained, "It was very much about dying, about giving your last breath and passing your spirit on." But the track didn't make it onto the album because, Butler said, "We never came up with the finished thing."
BLACK SABBATH will return to North America this spring for 10 shows that will be among the last in support of "13".
BLACK SABBATH was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 56th annual Grammy Awards, which is being held tonight (Sunday, January 26) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. BLACK SABBATH was nominated for the track "God Is Dead?", from the band's 2013 comeback album "13".
The SABBATH members did not personally accept the award at the pre-telecast ceremony because they were busy preparing to be one of the presenters during the main show. Pop singer Cyndi Lauper, who co-hosted the pre-telecast, said that she spoke with them prior to the event and that they were grateful for the honor. "I know that Ozzy is not here and I saw them last night," she said. "They asked me to accept this award for them. It's awesome. And I'm sure he thanks the Academy. They had to be next door to do something. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everybody."
Osbourne came up with the title for "God Is Dead?", but bassist Geezer Butler wanted to call it something else. Ozzy told Shortlist, "I was in a doctor's office and there was a magazine in there with that line on the cover. I thought, 'Yeah — people flew planes into the World Trade Center because of God, there's all this fucking shit going on in the world in the name of God.'" Geezer added, "Ozzy gave me that line, and I wrote the lyrics. I wanted to call the song 'American Jihad'."
Ozzy continued, "Fuck that. I'm the guy at the front singing it; I would have had a fucking army after me . . . In the early days [of BLACK SABBATH], there was a lot of backlash from religious groups . . . I was sent letters written in blood. In my house I must have 25 fucking Bibles, each with a marked-up passage that [the sender] wanted me to read."
Butler told The Pulse Of Radio what the song was about. "It's about this guy that sets out to prove that God is still alive, and he has this voice in his head saying that God's dead, and he can't get rid of the voice telling him, so he goes out and kills everybody," he said.
"13" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart in June 2013, the first SABBATH album to ever top the U.S. chart.
The disc features Ozzy, Butler and guitarist Tony Iommi playing together for the first time in 35 years. Their last effort together was 1978's "Never Say Die!"
The nominees in this year's "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category were as follows:
ANTHRAX - "T.N.T."
Track from: "Anthems"
Label: Megaforce
BLACK SABBATH - "God Is Dead?"
Track from: "13"
Label: Vertigo/Republic
DREAM THEATER - "The Enemy Inside"
Track from: "Dream Theater"
Label: Roadrunner Records
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE - "In Due Time"
Track from: "Disarm The Descent"
Label: Roadrunner Records
VOLBEAT feat. King Diamond - "Room 24"
Track from: "Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies"
Label: Republic Records
BLACK SABBATH's "God Is Dead?" also picked up a nomination in the "Best Rock Song" category. In addition, the band's comeback CD, "13", earned a nod for "Best Rock Album", alongside LED ZEPPELIN's "Celebration Day" and QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE's "…Like Clockwork", among others.
METALLICA's "Through The Never" received a nomination for "Best Recording Package" and ALICE IN CHAINS' "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" was up for the "Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical" award.
Nominations for the 56th annual Grammy Awards were announced on December 6, 2013 by The Recording Academy and reflected an eclectic mix of the best and brightest in music over the past year, as determined by the voting members of The Academy. For the sixth year, nominations for the annual Grammy Awards were announced on primetime television as part of "The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night", a one-hour CBS entertainment special broadcast live from Nokia Theatre L.A. Live.
"This year's nominations reflect the talented community of music makers who represent some of the highest levels of excellence and artistry of the year in their respective fields," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy, in a statement.
This year's Grammy Awards process registered more than 22,000 submissions over a 12-month eligibility period (October 1, 2012 - September 30, 2013). Grammy ballots for the final round of voting were mailed on December 11 to the voting members of The Recording Academy. They were due back to the accounting firm of Deloitte by January 8, when they were tabulated and the results kept secret until the 56th Grammy telecast.
The 56th annual Grammy Awards are produced by AEG Ehrlich Ventures for The Recording Academy. Ken Ehrlich is executive producer, and Louis J. Horvitz is director.
The Grammy Awards will air live on CBS tonight (Sunday, January 26) at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
According to Billboard.com, several of BLACK SABBATH's catalog of albums made their digital debut a week ago, thus sparking a return to the chart for two of their classic titles. Both "Black Sabbath" and "Paranoid", released in 1970, return to the chart this week. "Paranoid" re-enters at No. 121 with 2,935 (up 183%) and "Black Sabbath" returns at No. 184 (2,130; up 229%).
BLACK SABBATH's sales breakdown:
* "Paranoid"
This week: 2,935
Last week: 1,038
* "Black Sabbath"
This week: 2,130
Last week: 647
* "Greatest Hits 1970-1978"
This week: 1,973
Last week: 372
* "Vol. 4"
This week: 1,498
Last week: 751
* "Master Of Reality"
This week: 1,463
Last week: 249
* "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath"
This week: 887
Last week: 205
* "Sabotage"
This week: 774
Last week: 186
When Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Terry "Geezer" Butler and Bill Ward formed BLACK SABBATH in 1969, they created a signature sound that set the blueprint for heavy music and influenced generations of disciples for years to come. For the first time, the full catalog from the original BLACK SABBATH lineup is now available digitally in the U.S. and has been mastered specifically for iTunes, ensuring the delivery of the music to listeners with increased audio fidelity, more closely replicating what the artists, recording engineers, and producers intended. Available exclusively on the iTunes Store worldwide, fans now have the ability to download all albums in one newly created bundle ("The Complete Studio Albums 1970-1978"), eight legendary studio albums, two classic compilations, or simply purchase each song individually.
"It's about fucking time the first eight BLACK SABBATH albums were made available on iTunes in the U.S.," said Ozzy Osbourne.
"Great news. [It's] been a long time trying to explain to fans why the music wasn't available," Tony Iommi commented.
"It's going to be great to finally have the catalogue accessible on iTunes," Geezer Butler noted.
"Black Sabbath: The Complete Studio Albums 1970-1978" features the band's collected studio works for Warner Bros. Records from the 1970s, including their iconic eponymous debut (1970), the multi-platinum landmark "Paranoid" (1970), the platinum albums "Master Of Reality" (1971), "Vol. 4" (1972), and "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" (1973), and the gold-certified "Sabotage" (1975), "Technical Ecstasy" (1976), and "Never Say Die!" (1978). Also available is their classic 1976 compilation "We Sold Our Soul For Rock 'N' Roll" as well as 2006's "Greatest Hits 1970-1978", which was released in connection with their induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
Following wildly successful shows in North and South America, Australia, Asia and Europe, BLACK SABBATH will kick off another North American tour with dates starting March 31 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The trek will hit ten cities in Canada, including stops in Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton, before wrapping April 26 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California. These dates will be part of the band's final shows of their 2013-2014 world tour in support of their first studio album in 35 years, "13", which entered the charts at #1 in 13 countries (including their first #1 in the U.S.). Another run of European festivals and headlining shows will follow this summer.
Greg Prato of Songfacts recently conducted an interview with Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, OZZY OSBOURNE). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Songfacts: I think a band that never gets the credit is the original KISS lineup, which wrote some really great songs as well.
Zakk: I was never a KISS guy growing up as a kid, but my friends were just complete KISS freakos. They had the dolls, the whole nine yards. Nick [Catanese] is a complete KISS freak and so is J.D. The thing that got him into playing bass guitar was Gene Simmons. He got into Jaco Pastorius and all the cats, every insane bass player; Victor Wooten and all the guys, but that was later on. But his introduction, the reason why he wanted to play bass was because of Gene Simmons, because he loved KISS. But I was always more of a SABBATH guy and ZEPPELIN and stuff like that, and I dug Elton John. If you listen to those KISS records the production on those records is phenomenal. And they're great songs. They really are. It's great classic '70s riffs and just well structured songs. Very hooky songs.
Songfacts: How would you say that you write your best songs?
Zakk: I don't think it's so much writing. I remember reading this thing on Robert Plant, and he goes, "I don't think it's so much you write them — you receive them." It's like God is the radio station that it's all coming from, and it's just a matter of tuning in until you hit His frequency. A lot of times I'll just sit in the morning, having a cup of java just chillin' out. If I sit at the piano or I sit at the acoustic guitar and I start writing something mellow, it's going to be what it's going to be. But if I sit behind an amp, between a Marshall, that always dictates what frame of mind I'm going to be in. If I sit down with an electric guitar what's going to come out are SABBATH/ZEPPELIN type riffs, but if I'm sitting behind a piano late at night, I might write something like "Desperado". You're not going to write "Desperado" between a wall of Marshalls and thumping, crushing volume.
Songfacts: With those first two Ozzy solo albums ["Blizzard Of Ozz" and "Diary Of A Madman"], how much do you think that Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake played a part in the songwriting? They seemed to be a pretty big part of the songwriting with those albums.
Zakk: Yeah. Bob's always been great with Oz. Just a great pairing like the Elton/Bernie Taupin thing. Bob's a great lyricist. He worked with us on "No Rest For The Wicked", he worked on "No More Tears". So yeah, I think Bob's great.
Songfacts: I've always wondered what that original "Blizzard Of Ozz" lineup would have gone on to do if they had stayed together.
Zakk: I think that original lineup was phenomenal. You can't even argue that. Just listen to the records. They're timeless, classic albums. Hands down, that line-up was fuckin' sick. When they were making the record, they didn't know. Randy [Rhoads] didn't know any of the guys. Randy never met Bob Daisley or Lee Kerslake before. I'd mean, if me and you took four complete strangers, stuck 'em in a room, and then they ended up coming out with two amazing records — what are the chances of that happening?
Songfacts: And I've always wondered what the second lineup with Ozzy, Randy and also Rudy Sarzo and Tommy Aldridge would have come up with in the recording studio.
Zakk: I think it would have been a completely different thing. How could it not have been? Look at it like the Patriots — Ozzy and Randy, would be [Bill] Belichick and [Tom] Brady, but now we're going to have different wide receivers, different running backs, different defenses. Obviously, we don't have to worry about Captain America and Father Belichick, since we know what they're going to deliver. But the rest of the team around it, without [Wes] Welker there, let's see what happens now. Without a doubt, even when I play with BLACK LABEL, when we have different guys I play with, everyone always brings their own magic, their own flavor to the soup, hands down. You listen to BLACK SABBATH with Ronnie James Dio in it, and it's not BLACK SABBATH. They should have just called it HEAVEN & HELL right from the beginning. Because you listen to that "Heaven and Hell" album, that doesn't sound anything close to BLACK SABBATH. I mean, that sounds about as much like BLACK SABBATH as "Blizzard Of Ozz" sounds like BLACK SABBATH. If you were to play BLACK SABBATH for me — and I'm a huge SABBATH freako — and then with Father Dio over there, I'd be going, "Oh, cool, what band is this? This is good stuff." I mean, the songs don't even sound BLACK SABBATH-y. I mean, "Neon Knights", could you picture Ozzy singing over that song?
Songfacts: No, I can't.
Zakk: I can't either. It's weird. It's a whole different band. But like you said, there are different dynamics by bringing different people in, especially if it's a songwriting team. With NINE INCH NAILS, it's all Trent Reznor. So when we get a new record from NINE INCH NAILS, it depends on what side of the bed Trent's waking up on and what he's been eating lately and what he's been into. Because he's preparing the whole meal. It's not like a songwriting team where everybody's throwing stuff at it: you came up with the pre-chorus, I had the main riff, Mike came up with that middle bit right before the guitar solo, and then the ending bit Joey came up with. That's like a band dynamic right there. But if it's a NINE INCH NAILS thing, that's all Trent's everything. He's the Salvador Dali of the whole thing. And then talking about songwriters, when you take Paul McCartney and you have him in WINGS, that's a completely different thing. His songwriting throughout was insanely good, as well. "Maybe I'm Amazed" and everything like that can hang with all the BEATLES stuff he wrote.
Read the entire interview from Songfacts.
