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SABBATH

SLIPKNOT’s JOEY JORDISON Has No Interest In Seeing BLACK SABBATH Without BILL WARD

Manos Spanos
U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine recently got the chance to chat to SLIPKNOT and SCAR THE MARTYR drummer Joey Jordison and asked him for his thoughts on some of metal's big-hitters that have been grabbing headlines this year. Here’s what he had to say. On AVENGED SEVENFOLD: Jordison: "Honestly, I don't own any AVENGED SEVENFOLD records and I've not heard the new record. I've read about comparisons to METALLICA on the new record, and I guess there's a certain controversy around that, but I've not paid that much attention to it. Nothing against them, I'm not knocking them, but I was just never a fan: not that they're bad, they're just one of those bands that kinda bypassed me." On METALLICA: Jordison: "That's the fucking band. Without METALLICA, I wouldn't be doing what I am doing. I have every METALLICA record, of course, and I would spend hours on drums in my parents' basement, with the stereo behind me, cranking those records and learning Lars' [Ulrich] drum beats, beat by beat. And nowadays, for me, METALLICA can do whatever the fuck they want. I'm not sure that 'Lulu' is something I'd be getting into, but METALLICA have a free pass from me to do anything, I can't really knock anything they do. I mean [LED] ZEPPELIN and THE WHO passed the torch to METALLICA; they're that band for our generation. Everything they do now is going to be met with a little bit of a backlash just because they're so big, but without METALLICA, there would be no heavy bands, hardly. People have a hard time saying that, and obviously there's a ton of other great bands, but there's a reason that they're huge and have been able to expand their audience to millions and millions and millions of people. I have nothing but praise for them."
02 min read

BLACK SABBATH To Release ‘Gathered In Their Masses’ DVD

Manos Spanos
A teaser for the forthcoming BLACK SABBATH DVD, "Gathered In Their Masses", can be seen below. The set will contain footage from the band's tour in support of its long-awaited reunion album, "13". BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler told the Chicago Sun-Times that the band's current tour could very well be his last. Asked why he thought that, Butler explained, "I don't know. I just got a feeling. It's getting tough, it really is. I can't lie about that. I'm old now. It really is tough going on every night. You wake up the next day, all the pains you never had before. I don't want to go onstage for the sake of the money. You have to have a lot pride in yourself, and I honestly think I'm coming to the end of the top of my job." Butler also said that he's enjoying the current SABBATH tour, adding, "I've always said as long as I can play, as long as I can do it to a good level, then I'll keep doing it, because I still really enjoy playing. I'll know when the day comes I can't do this anymore, can't play to my usual standards. That's when I won't go out anymore. I won't do that to me self. But at the moment, I just love playing with the band. It probably will be the last time, will probably be the last tour. But I want to go out on a high. The band is playing really well at the moment." Butler, guitarist Tony Iommi and singer Ozzy Osbourne reunited in late 2011 to record their first new album together in 35 years. Original drummer Bill Ward was on board at first but dropped out over contract disputes. Progress on the record was slowed first by Ward's departure and then by Iommi's January 2012 cancer diagnosis.
02 min read

BLACK SABBATH’s IOMMI Still Doesn’t Know Exactly Why BILL WARD Pulled Out Of Reunion

Manos Spanos
Glenn BurnSilver of the Phoenix New Times recently conducted an interview with legendary BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. Phoenix New Times: How is playing together — recording together — after so many years of tension and not being in the studio? The last album with the original lineup was in 1978...[Singer] Ozzy [Osbourne] was booted out in 1979... Iommi: Tensions? The tensions over the years have mainly been about business. It's not been personal at all. We always got on well on a personal level. It's been going really good. It's just a different attitude now. When we got back together to record this album ["13"], everybody had a different attitude toward what we were doing this time. We wanted to make an album together. We all really appreciated each other and respected each other. That's really the only way to go into it — a full band commitment — and everybody was ready to put everything into it. We did try back 12 years ago, and nobody could settle on it then. It wasn't the right time, there were to many things going on. Ozzy was doing MTV, so it just didn't work then. We weren't going to do it until everybody was fully committed, and that was this time. [Producer Rick] Rubin was interested in doing the album [in 2001]. We played him some tracks but that's as far as we got with it. We pulled the plug on it. We never got into the studio. We'd just played him some tracks." Phoenix New Times: Where do you rank "13" among the many BLACK SABBATH albums? Iommi: Every album you do means something of that time period. Certainly the early stuff I like. I liked the stuff we did with [Ronnie James] Dio. If you try to rank it against with the Ozzy stuff, I think it ranks right up there. Phoenix New Times: Where's [original BLACK SABBATH drummer] Bill [Ward]? I know all of you have worked together on and off since that 1997 reunion, but is Bill even able to perform right now?
04 min read

MIKE PORTNOY: BLACK SABBATH Without BILL WARD Is ‘Not A Reunion’

Manos Spanos
Drummer Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ADRENALINE MOB) was interviewed on the latest edition of former RIP magazine editor and veteran music journalist Lonn Friend's "Energize With Lonn Friend" podcast. Commenting on BLACK SABBATH's decision to record and tour without original drummer Bill Ward, Portnoy said: "Here's my issue with it. I have no issue if Bill Ward is not fit to play in SABBATH, as they're saying. Or I have no issue with it if they're having money litigations and problems and they couldn't agree on something that was fair. My issue is that they're calling it a BLACK SABBATH reunion. It's not a BLACK SABBATH reunion without the four of them. It is now just the latest BLACK SABBATH lineup. " He continued: "Why is this BLACK SABBATH, but HEAVEN & HELL wasn't BLACK SABBATH? I mean, we all know the real reason for it. But it's not a true BLACK SABBATH reunion without Bill Ward. And if they need to do it without Bill, then they do it without Bill. But don't call it a reunion. It's just BLACK SABBATH 2013. " Portnoy, who co-founded DREAM THEATER more than 27 years ago, abruptly quit the band in September 2010 while on tour with AVENGED SEVENFOLD. He has since been replaced by Mike Mangini (ANNIHILATOR, EXTREME, JAMES LABRIE, STEVE VAI).
01 min read

BLACK SABBATH Bassist On ’13 3D’ Maze: ‘It Will Probably Frighten Us All To Death’

Manos Spanos
Michelle Mills of the San Gabriel Valley Tribune recently spoke to BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler about the making of the band's new album, "13" — the first in 35 years to feature Geezer, singer Ozzy Osbourne and guitarist Tony Iommi — and their current North American tour. "For the first time in years, we're finally doing some new material on stage with the new album we've got out," Butler said. "It's a definite change for us because it's the first time in 30 years that we've actually come up with something new and the crowd is really loving it. It's good playing it and it fits in really well with the old stuff." Butler also talked about the physical demands of touring and how being on the road has changed over the years. "We take it a lot easier now — we do one show on and then we have a day off," Butler said. "So we only play every other day and that keeps the whole thing much fresher instead of wearing ourselves out." Regarding the songwriting process for "13", which earned the band its first No. 1 album in the U.S., Butler said: "In the past, we'd just go to a rehearsal situation and jam until we came out with something that we liked and then we'd work on that. But this time was different because when we got together, Tony had about 40 or 50 different riffs that he had written, so we were able to pick some of those riffs and immediately have a starting point on them."
02 min read

BUTLER: If WARD Played Like He Used To, We’d Have Welcomed Him With Open Arms

Manos Spanos
Brian McCollum of the Detroit Free Press recently conducted an interview with legendary BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler. A few excerpts from the chat follow below. On the band's new album,"13", topping sales charts across the globe: Butler: "It's just amazed us. We thought there'd be some interest in it. But never in our wildest dreams would we have expected it to go to No. 1. Around the world, all over the place, it's doing well." On the original BLACK SABBATHlineup being considered the band's most definitive incarnation: Butler: "When you mention it to the average person, they'll knowBLACK SABBATH withOzzy[Osbourne, vocals] in the band. That was our breakthrough (period) in the '70s. People so often associate Ozzy with SABBATH, and SABBATH with Ozzy. It's the same thing with a band like VAN HALEN— people like David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar, but the classic lineup would beDave." On producerRick Rubin's contribution to the new album's success: Butler: "When we tried to do albums in the past, we all had different ideas of what it should be like, and it never ended up being successful. This is what we needed — we needed a producer.Rick Rubinhad always made it known he wanted to be the first-choice producer if we all got back together. "He wanted to go back to the old, basic sort of SABBATH sound — not a lot of overdubs, just a couple of guitar solos. You capture the feeling. With a lot of bands these days — and we have in the past — you'll go put the drums down, the next day you put on the bass, then guitar. It doesn't have the same feeling as being in the room together withOzzysinging. That's how we did the first three albums." On BLACK SABBATH 's current touring drummer Tommy Clufetos, who has previously played withOsbourne,Ted Nugent,Alice CooperandRob Zombie: Butler: "Tommy's a real nice bloke to get on with as well. He's a phenomenal drummer — he picks things up so quickly. It's incredible the way he works. He's really dedicated to the stuff he does." On originalSABBATHdrummerBill Ward's absence from the"13"recording sessions and current tour:
03 min read

TONY IOMMI: Performing Live With BLACK SABBATH ‘Is Better Than It Was 40 Years Ago’

Manos Spanos
BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi recently spoke to the Hartford Advocate about the band's comeback album, "13", and their current North American tour, which will hit Mohegan Sun Arena on August 8. Asked what it feels like playing with singer Ozzy Osbourne and bassistGeezer Butler again, Iommi said: "It's a great feeling. You can't beat that feeling of walking onstage, especially with your old mates, you know. I think it's better than it was 40 years ago." He continued: "You know, we've been through a lot of experiences, family things and so on. I think when it comes back to the original guys again, it feels really comfortable. You do get — it comes along with age, I suppose — anxieties and different other things. But when you get onstage and start playing, it all settles down. Iommi also spoke about how the new songs fit with the more classicSABBATH material during the band's live show. "I think the songs fit in great with the old stuff, and it's also great to have new songs to fit in, because we haven't had any for so many years," he said. "As far as [playing] the whole album [live at some point]: we haven't tried that yet. We are playing four songs off the album, but
02 min read

BLACK SABBATH Kicks Off North American Tour In Houston; Video Available

Manos Spanos
BLACK SABBATH kicked off its 20-date North American tour last night (Thursday, July 25) at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands (a suburb of Houston), Texas. The band's setlist was as follows: 01. War Pigs 02. Into The Void 03. Under The Sun 04. Snowblind 05. Age Of Reason 06. Black Sabbath 07. Behind The Wall Of Sleep 08. N.I.B. 09. End Of The Beginning 10. Fairies Wear Boots 11. Methademic 12. Rat Salad/Drum Solo 13. Iron Man 14. God Is Dead? 15. Dirty Women 16. Children Of The Grave 17. Paranoid Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below. After 35 years, three original members of BLACK SABBATH released a new disc on June 11 called "13". The first SABBATH record since 1978's"Never Say Die!" to feature singer Ozzy Osbourne, along with guitaristTony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler, it's their second attempt at new music together after a previous effort failed in 2001. The new disc does not feature founding drummer Bill Ward, who has sat out the reunion over contractual issues.
02 min read

OZZY OSBOURNE Wants BILL WARD Back For Next BLACK SABBATH Album

Manos Spanos
According to The Pulse Of Radio, BLACK SABBATH's new album, "13", is such a success for the reunited band that singer Ozzy Osbourne wants to make another one — and hopes that original drummer Bill Ward can join the group in the studio this time. When asked by NME about the chances of Ward returning, Ozzy answered, "It's a strong possibility. We would have loved to have Bill on this album. Maybe we can work things out by the next one. But it won't take another 35 years. I'm 65 now. There's no fucking recording studios in the afterlife. We're all even closer for all this shit so there's one positive, one fucking silver lining." RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE drummer Brad Wilk played drums on "13"after Ward sat out the sessions. While money was believed to be an issue, Ward was reportedly also upset that the group wanted another drummer around anyway to back him up if he was physically unable to get the job done.
02 min read

BLACK SABBATH’s ’13’ Sells More Than 150K Copies In U.S., Tops BILLBOARD Chart

Manos Spanos
"13", the first BLACK SABBATH record in 35 years to feature singerOzzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler all playing together, sold 155,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 1 on The Billboard 200 chart. The record arrived in stores on June 11 via Vertigo/Universal Republic. This marksBLACK SABBATH's return to Vertigo, their original label, and the group's first studio album together since 1978's "Never Say Die!" "The news is absolutely amazing — we couldn't have imagined this would happen," says Tony Iommi. "We have the greatest fans." "There have been so many amazing highlights in our long career," saysOzzy Osbourne. "To finally have our first #1 album in the U.S. is another incredible milestone for BLACK SABBATH. Thank you to all of our fans for their support and loyalty." Geezer Butler says, "I'm absolutely stunned. Thank you all worldwide for being the best, and most patient, fans ever."
03 min read