Reunited Original Lineup Of BLACK SABBATH Working On New Album

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BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi has confirmed to [url “http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2011/08/16/black-sabbath-to-reform-with-original-line-up-and-new-studio-album-97319-29245431/”]Birmingham Mail that the band’s original lineup has reunited and is rehearsing for a tour and new studio album.

Iommi and singer Ozzy Osbourne wrote new material in June for a record that will be released next year.

“We’re really looking forward to it and I think the stuff we’ve been writing is really good,” said Iommi. “It’s more back to the old original stuff.”

He added that the reunion has been kept under wraps for some time.

“It’s all been very hush-hush. Ozzy’s been the worst at trying to hold it back. He’s doing a lot of TV and he’s being asked stuff about a reunion and he’s going, ‘Well, I never say never.’ He told me, 'I don’t know what to say.”

Iommi told the Birmingham Mail that his only apprehension about a reunion of BLACK SABBATH’s original lineup was the health of drummer Bill Ward who in 1998 suffered a heart attack.

“He hasn’t been 100 percent. He had an operation a few months ago, so we’ll see how he is.”

Ozzy was asked by QMI Agency in a recent interview why the four members of SABBATH couldn’t seem to agree on playing together again. Ozzy replied, “I haven’t got a clue. If they want to call me, they can call me. I never say never. If it works, fine. If it don’t, I’ll move on. It ain’t the end of the world. I ain’t gonna get a box of Kleenex and cry my eyes out for the rest of my life.”

Ozzy added, “I would love to do a great album with BLACK SABBATH. I would love to get the credit we so roundly deserve. At the same time, the pressure would be really intense. I could go tomorrow and make an album with them, but it wouldn’t necessarily be something I would be proud of.”

The original SABBATH lineup has not toured together since summer 2005, and last convened for their induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in early 2006.

SABBATH did try to record a new album 12 years ago, their first since 1978, but abandoned the attempt after just a couple of songs.

Osbourne and Iommi last year amicably resolved their problems over the ownership of the BLACK SABBATH name and court proceedings in New York were discontinued.

Ozzy filed a lawsuit against Iommi in May 2009, claiming that Iommi illegally took sole ownership of the band’s name in a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Osbourne sued Iommi for a 50 percent interest in the “Black Sabbath” trademark, along with a portion of Iommi’s profits from use of the name.

The Manhattan federal court suit also charged that Osbourne’s “signature lead vocals” are largely responsible for the band’s “extraordinary success,” noting that its popularity plummeted during his absence from 1980 through 1996.

Lawyer Andrew DeVore argued that Osbourne signed away all his rights to the BLACK SABBATH trademark after he quit the band in 1979.

Osbourne’s lawyer, Howard Shire, called that agreement a “red herring” that was “repudiated” when the singer rejoined in 1997 and took over “quality control” of the band’s merchandise, tours and recordings.

Hell Yes!!!

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Black Sabbath’s popularity “plummeted” in the 80s because the 80s were more friendly to Osbourne’s schtick than a 70s metal band trying to exist in the 80s. Osbourne couldn’t have done shit without a guitarist behind him.

But now they’ll be BORRRRRRN AGAIN!

If Ward was bolloxed in the late 90s what chance does he have now?

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I saw the original linep back in '05 or whatever. It was neat, but I was actually a tiny bit disappointed to see Ward because before he got better, Puffy from Faith No More was drumming for 'em. Nostalgia’s one thing, excellence is another.

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The first two albums with Dio were more successful than the last few with Ozzy. Sabbath’s popularity didn’t actually drop significantly until Dio left, and it became (Born Again aside) just Iommi and whoever happened to be singing with him at the time.

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70’s Black Sabbath with Ozzy is untouchable. It’s pure excellence and cannot be debated or argued with.
Dio was awesome too.

They were both fantastic when doing their own stuff, but neither could do justice to the others’ material. Ozzy songs sung by Dio just sound retarded.

Although no one would ultimately say he’s more important or better than either of the above, the most versatile singer, in my opinion, was TONY MARTIN (casual Sabbath fans won’t even know what I’m talking about here). He could deliver both eras superbly as well as his own. He was a great singer, a great performer, and a class act.

As for Ozzy . . . . it depends on how lacquered her is with booze and pills. I saw Sabbath in '05 and while Iommi and Geezer were great, I felt horrible for them. Ozzy didn’t even know then words to his own songs. It was a true embarrassment. That combined with the fact that Sharon had already pissed everyone off by crapping on Iron Maiden made a LOT of people (I’d say at least 1/4 of the venue had left) walking out during Sabbath’s set.

I hope Ozzy stays healthy and Sharon stays 100 miles away from the studio and lets the guys make a proper record.

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Two of the most underrated Sabbath records, imo, were Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die. The latter is one of my top 3 of theirs, Vol. 4 being the best of course.

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That combined with the fact that Sharon had already pissed everyone off by crapping on Iron Maiden made a LOT of people (I’d say at least 1/4 of the venue had left) walking out during Sabbath’s set.

Ozzfest '05 was crap but Iron Maiden’s disaster of a set was the highlight. I can’t believe a fan had the balls to throw eggs at Bruce Dickinson! I wonder what happened when the fan got taken backstage. Bruce did follow them.

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Ozzfest '05 was crap but Iron Maiden’s disaster of a set was the highlight. I can’t believe a fan had the balls to throw eggs at Bruce Dickinson! I wonder what happened when the fan got taken backstage. Bruce did follow them.

It wasn’t just one perpetrator. Sharon and some goons actually had to bribe some dumbass kids to do it. She gave them T-Shirts and Jackets and whatnot . . . and pit passes, obviously.

I was up front (not the Pit, but up close) and saw a bunch of this crap unfold. BLS’s roadie asshole (his name is Dave) was rounding up the kids and getting them into the pit before the Maiden set (I didn’t think much of it when I saw it as I had no idea what the larger context was yet). That same asshole can be seen crashing Maiden’s set and waving a US flag and wearing some crappily made t-shirt (I think it said, “Ozzy Rules”, I can’t remember).

Anyway, some jackasses pulled power to Maiden’s amps a few times, and, of course, there was the throwing of eggs as well. Bruce and the boys soldiered on like total badasses and Bruce’s rantings were legendary.

Then Sharon came out to everyone’s confusion as no one knew what the heck was going on. She called Bruce a “prick” and whined about him “disrespecting Ozzy and Ozzfest” and everyone, spewed back hatred and obscenities to her. I think she’s really so stupid as to think we were all going to rally behind her or something.

What a bitch. HAHAHA!!! I’m proud to have witnessed such metal history, though. I even saw it referenced a few years later on one of those VH1 specials (“50 Most Outrageous Stage Moments” or something . . .).

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Well Bruce shouldn’t have been calling Ozzy a hasbeen ever night of the tour. That’s the whole reason why that went down. I don’t remember how many times the power got cut off but I remember it most when Bruce had the whole crowd singing the end of Hallowed Be Thy Name. I think it also got cut off when Number Of The Beast started to get going. Yeah that was the first time. I’ll never forget the crowd reaction. It was the most wtf show I’ve ever been to.

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Well Bruce shouldn’t have been calling Ozzy a hasbeen ever night of the tour.

Is this based on anything besides Sharon’s report? Just curious. And if so, was he talking smack on stage and in interviews and such, or just being an ass backstage and so forth.

Honestly, though, if Ozzy’s performance at Glen Helen was typical of the rest of the tour, I’d have been mocking him too. He was really awful. I think that was about my 5th time seeing him in concert. Every other time he was good (I think it would be '90, '99, and '00).

I’ll never forget the crowd reaction. It was the most wtf show I’ve ever been to.

That’s a pretty good summary of the night, hahaha!!! Were you in reserved or up on the lawn?

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Black Sabbath Reunion Speculation 16th August 2011
Black Sabbath Reunion
I’m saddened that a Birmingham journalist whom I trusted has chosen this point in time to take a conversation we had back in June and make it sound like we spoke yesterday about a Black Sabbath reunion.
At the time I was supporting the Home of Metal exhibition and was merely speculating, shooting the breeze, on something all of us get asked constantly, “Are you getting back together?”
Thanks to the internet it’s gone round the world as some sort of “official” statement on my part, absolute nonsense. I hope he’s enjoyed his moment of glory, he won’t have another at my expense.
to my old pals, Ozzy, Geezer and Bill, sorry about this, I should have known better.
All the best, Tony

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Yeesh. Bummer. Was stoked for a second.

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You know what I’d honestly rather see?
Heaven & Hell (Tony, Geezer, Vinnie Appice) with Rob Halford on vox.

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^
I’m in.

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Fucking journos, they’re not real people.

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QUICK SOMEBODY TAP THEIR PHONES

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[reply]Is this based on anything besides Sharon’s report? Just curious. And if so, was he talking smack on stage and in interviews and such, or just being an ass backstage and so forth.

A friend told me that first and Bruce would do it on stage. Idk where he heard it. I know someone said it on the vh1 thing.

Honestly, though, if Ozzy’s performance at Glen Helen was typical of the rest of the tour, I’d have been mocking him too. He was really awful. I think that was about my 5th time seeing him in concert. Every other time he was good (I think it would be '90, '99, and '00).

I’ve seen both classic lineups of Sabbath and I was disappointed by both. Ozzy was a bigger letdown out of the 2. The setlist was almost completely predictable. I guess I had to expect that bc Ozzy doesn’t have the range he had in the 70’s. The only surprises were Dirty Women and the encore. I wasn’t expecting Children Of The Grave to be a closer and I especially wasn’t expecting them to bust out Sleeping Village. I know that’s just an intro track but something off of the first album that’s not the title track or NIB is a real treat. But Ozzy was bad that night. But he’s improved since he sobered up. He sings in a key that’s appropriate for his voice. At Ozzfest last year he actually busted out Killer Of Giants. Last Ozzfest and this last feburary were a big improvement. Although the last show you can hear the cracks in his voice and he can’t hit the high note in Let Me Hear You Scream.

That’s a pretty good summary of the night, hahaha!!! Were you in reserved or up on the lawn?

Lawn. I think that’s where most of the boos came from when Sharon called Bruce a prick. 2nd stage that year was a joke. I was stoked for Arch Enemy and Rob Zombie but seeing all the hardcore dancers really pissed me off. Not to mention I got separated from my friends and got dehydrated during Zombie. I eventually had to go to medical cause I had no money for water. It’s partly my fault I had a bad time. Funny highlight of my day was meeting Criss Angel. TV really hides his lisp.

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HAHAHA!!!

Zombie was the only 2nd Stage act I saw and I don’t know if I even watched all of that. I don’t remember giving a crap about ANY of the bands prior to SABBATH and MAIDEN. I was kind of stoked that Slipknot was added since everyone was gay for them and I’d never seen them before but I thought they were crap.

The 2nd stage was a filthy dustbowl. Just . . . . gross. Zombie should have had mainstage instead of Shadows Fall or BLS or some crap.

Glen Helen pulls in some real cretins. Nothing was ever as bad as the mutants that came out to support Pantera there, though. Wow. I’ve never seen so many fat disgusting inbred redneck pieces of crap in my life. As if being white wasn’t shameful enough, now we got these sweaty hillbillies stomping around and shouting “White Power”. Ugggh. Barf.

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I was fucked up from breathing in all the dust that I had to go lay in the shade half way thru Zombie’s set. I started walking around looking for my friends seeing if anyone would give me free water which sucked bc I actually kinda wanted to watch In Flames to see if they’d bust out any old shit (which they did but I was too fucked up to enjoy it). I finally went to medical during BLS. I heard BLS was just a jam session. The search for my friends continued towards the end of Shadows Fall who I didn’t give a fuck about at that point. Disappointment of the day was definitely Mudvayne. They had just put out Lost & Found that year which had some good trax on it but they were hella sloppy that show. I did hear that they had been touring nonstop for months and it definitely showed here. I saw them the following january coheadlining with Korn at arco arena and they were much better. In case you didn’t know, that was an exclusive performance for Slipknot. I’d almost give them the award for disappointment of the day but I didn’t really have high expectations for them. The skins were out for that one punching each other in the face, throwing up nazi salutes and doing the goose step. I got burnt with a cigarette during that set on accident bc some dude got pushed into me by the skins. I’m not a Maiden fan but they really saved that day from sucking total ass. I’m so glad I didn’t pay for the ticket. That might very well be the worst bday I’ve ever received.

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Who the fuck goes to Ozzfest???

And who the fuck would care about anything Black Sabbath related post 1981??

Also, Iron Maiden are gay.