Black Sabbath
Formed: 1968
From:
Birmingham,
United Kingdom
Last Known Status: Active
Latest Black Sabbath News
Black Sabbath Guitarist To Release Autobiography
Foundry Literary + Media cofounder Peter McGuigan has reportedly completed a six-figure North American rights deal, at auction, with Ben Schafer of Da Capo for Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell guitarist Tony Iommi's book "Iron Man", a memoir due out later this year. McGuigan, who described Iommi as one of the forebears of heavy metal, called the book a genre-bending rockology/life story that is "Angela's Ashes meets The Ground Beneath Her Feet meets Spinal Tap."
So Much To Fear Posts "Paranoid" Cover Video
So Much To Fear has posted a video clip of their performance of the song "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath at The Majestic Ventura Theater in Ventura, California. The video clip can be viewed below.
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Sunday Old School: Ronnie James Dio
Since my first “real” news posting had to do with the unfortunate news of Ronnie James Dio's stomach cancer, I thought it might make some karmic sense if my first Sunday Old School posting had something to do with the the remarkable frontman.
I suspect a lot of people my age (36 years young) are like me in that the first time they ever heard of Dio was in seeing the phrase “OZZY RULES! DIO DROOLS!” scrawled on a wooden desk in junior high or high school. That's naturally a reference to the fact that Dio had replaced Ozzy Osbourne as the singer for Black Sabbath, following Ozzy's firing in 1979.
Dio would serve as Sabbath's lead vocalist on the seminal albums “Heaven & Hell,” “Mob Rules” and “Live Evil” before parting ways with Sabbath until 1991 when he rejoined the band for “Dehumanizer.” Another parting of the ways lasted until 2006, when his version of Sabbath reformed under the moniker Heaven & Hell and recorded new tracks for a greatest hits CD, as well as “Live from Radio City Music Hall” in 2007, and a new studio album, “The Devil You Know” in 2009.
Beginning with 1983's “Holy Diver,” he racked up plenty of album sales and accolades with his own band, Dio.
But there's an important chapter of Dio's professional career that seems to get at best a cursory glance among a lot of metalheads I know, which is unfortunate, because it seems to me to be very much a transformative time for one of metal's most powerful vocalists.
I am, of course, talking about his time in Rainbow, the post-Deep Purple band formed by guitar-god Ritchie Blackmore in the mid-1970s.
Blackmore had departed Deep Purple after arguments about the more “funky” direction that singer David Coverdale and bassist Glenn Hughes were taking the band in. In search of a new singer and band, he didn't have to look far.
Elf, which featured Dio on vocals, had been touring as a supporting act for Deep Purple. Blackmore essentially grafted himself into the band, renaming it and collaborating with Dio to write the tracks for the appropriately named “Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow.”
The song most everyone remembers from that 1975 album is “Man on the Silver Mountain,” with its son-of-“Smoke on the Water” riff and powerful delivery by Dio declaring himself a medieval metal prophet. It's become such a staple in the Dio arsenal that it's easy to forget how much of a milestone it is for the singer. Compare the supernatural lyrics with the somewhat more pedestrian (if equally well-performed) lyrics of tracks like Elf's “Carolina County Ball,” and you'll see what I mean.
That's hardly the only great one, though. The album also features “16th Century Greensleeves,” which would seem to be a precursor to Blackmore's later career, as well as the superb Quartermass cover “Black Sheep of the Family.”
By Rainbow's next album, 1976's “Rising,” Blackmore had fired everyone but Dio from the band and, if you ask me, the replacement keyboardist, Tony Carey and bassist Jimmy Bain (who'd later play with Dio in the 1980s) aren't completely up to snuff. It's this incarnation of Rainbow's weakest album, though tracks like the opener, “Tarot Woman” and the huge 8-minute closer “Stargazer” still hold up well.
The band had a return to glory with 1978's “Long Live Rock 'n' Roll,” which featured bass contributions from future Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath bassist Bob Daisley. The disc, which does feature some of the medieval and experimental sounds featured on the previous two studio albums (a live album, “On Stage,” was released in 1977), there's a surprising amount of pure blues-rock stomp this go-round, especially on the title track. “L.A. Connection” reminds me a bit of the bluesier side of the Doors, while “Sensitive to Light” is just a good-time rocker of the finest sort. Meanwhile, the darker lyrical themes Dio would go on to explore in Sabbath are on full display in the creepy Middle Eastern-sounding “Gates of Babylon.” The album's finest hour, though, comes with the speedy “Kill the King.”
Dio left the band in 1979 following a dispute with Blackmore over the guitarist's desire to take the band in a more “commercial” direction, which he ultimately did with vocalists like Joe Lynn Turner and Graham Bonnet.
If you ask me, though, the Dio era is a golden era for Rainbow, as well as the moment that one of metal's finest discovered his true voice and calling. As I and other metal fans await news of the ailing singer's condition, I take some measure of comfort in his “Man on the Silver Mountain” declaration that “You'll never stop me burning.”
May it be so.
Carolina County Ball (with Elf)
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Breaking News
Ronnie James Dio Diagnosed with Stomach Cancer
According to an article posted Nov. 25 on Blabbermouth.net, Ronnie James Dio's wife and manager, Wendy Dio issued a statement that said that the legendary Rainbow and Black Sabbath frontman had been diagnosed with the early stages of stomach cancer. Here's her full statement:
"Ronnie has been diagnosed with the early stages of stomach cancer. We are starting treatment immediately at the Mayo Clinic. After he kills this dragon, Ronnie will be back on stage, where he belongs, doing what he loves best, performing for his fans.
"Thanks to all the friends and fans around the world that have sent well wishes. This has really helped to keep his spirit up.
"Long Live Rock and Roll, Long Live Ronnie James Dio"
Dio was forced to cancel his European tour last week when he became ill and was hospitalized.
Dio, who rose to fame as the lead singer of Rainbow in the 1970s, is best known for replacing Ozzy Osbourne as the singer for Black Sabbath, and for his work in the 1980s in his own band, Dio.
His albums include "Heaven & Hell" and "Mob Rules" by Black Sabbath, as well as "Holy Diver" with Dio, and many others. His most recent album is "The Devil You Know" with Heaven & Hell — made up of the members of his incarnation of Black Sabbath.
Ronnie James Dio Taken Ill, Cancels European Tour
Dio's European tour has been cancelled after Ronnie was taken ill. "Ronnie has been hospitalized and we are waiting for further news," explains Ronnie's wife/manager, Wendy Dio. No further information is available at this time.
Winners Of The Classic Rock Awards Revealed
The annual Classic Rock Roll Of Honour Awards took place last night (November 2nd) in London at the Park Lane Hotel and featured numerous awards being given many metal and hard rock acts including Iron Maiden, AC/DC and Anvil. You can view the complete list of winners below. More...
Metal Legends Discuss "Brutal Legend" Video Game
In a new video posted at GameTrailers.com, Motorhead frontman Lemmy, Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford and heavy metal mainstay Ozzy Osbourne discuss the forthcoming new video game, "Brutal Legend" which all three have lent their voices to. You can check out the video below. The game is in stores now and also features the voice acting talents of Jack Black, Tim Curry and Lita Ford. More...
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Sunday Old School: Black Sabbath, circa 1970
This week we're going really old school, from the early days of one of the forefathers of heavy metal, Black Sabbath. Until Black Sabbath reunited to headline Ozzfest for several years, many younger/newer metal heads had yet to see the band's original lineup perform. Even in light of the recent reunions, it's interesting to see the band in their old form, and in today's column, we present a number of live video clips of Black Sabbath circa 1970. You can watch "War Pigs" live in Paris from 1970 below, with bonus videos after the jump.
Black Sabbath - "War Pigs" (Live in Paris 1970)
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Heaven & Hell Considering Playing Ozzy Material
In a recent interview with the Boston Herald, Heaven & Hell/Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi spoke on a number of subjects from riffs and volumes, to the success of Heaven & Hell. He revealed in the interview that the band may well change the set list up a little next year by adding some material from the Ozzy Osbourne era of Black Sabbath.
“We love ‘War Pigs’ and ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Paranoid’ but we’ve played those for 40 years so it’s been a nice change," he stated, "Maybe next year we’ll do some of the old stuff."
Black Sabbath To Re-Issue More Albums
Heavy metal godfathers Black Sabbath have announced that they will be re-issuing their albums, "Volume. 4," "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath," "Sabotage", "Technical Ecstacy" and "Never Say Die!" on September 21st. Unlike the recent re-issues of the albums, "Black Sabbath," "Paranoid" and "Masters Of Reality," there will be no bonus tracks on these releases.
