Every so often I'll have a week or fortnight long period when I immerse myself in the music of one particular band or artist.
I'll frequently go through periods where I listen to nothing but Bob Dylan's albums from the late 1960s and 1970s. Quite often, I'll find that classic Rolling Stones albums take up a semi-permanent residency in my CD player. And, on a less regular basis, I again become enamoured by David Bowie's recorded output, listening to random albums from the 1960s through to the noughties.
Recently, this strange affliction has moved onto Led Zeppelin, and, more often, Black Sabbath.
I love the sound of Sabbath's "Ozzy years". Subsequent incarnations without the band's original frontman just weren't the same.
Watching the BBC's brilliant Seven Ages of Rock series on Saturday, it was great to see the band in their pomp, barrelling through huge slabs of proto-metal. Though they founded heavy metal, lumbering the band with that tag is unfair. They stand apart from other metal bands through their sound, a heavy blues-driven rumble. Bill Ward's drumming, apparently drawing inspiration from industrial machinery in their native Birmingham, and Tony Iommi's howling guitar stand head and shoulders above all of the metal acts that followed.
The biggest revelation from the programme was that Ozzy Osbourne was known to wander the streets of Birmingham in the 1960s, dragging a shoe around on a rope, which he would tell passers by was his "pet shoe". I guess I always just thought it was drugs that turned him mad, rather than just exacerbated his obvious problems.
I doubt many of you will share my love of Sabbath. But I defy anyone to listen to The Wizard and not move in some way. Whether it's nodding your head, tapping your feet, playing air guitar, dancing or lurching to "stop that infernal racket", I'm sure you won't be able to sit still for long.
Recently, this strange affliction has moved onto Led Zeppelin, and, more often, Black Sabbath.
I love the sound of Sabbath's "Ozzy years". Subsequent incarnations without the band's original frontman just weren't the same.
Watching the BBC's brilliant Seven Ages of Rock series on Saturday, it was great to see the band in their pomp, barrelling through huge slabs of proto-metal. Though they founded heavy metal, lumbering the band with that tag is unfair. They stand apart from other metal bands through their sound, a heavy blues-driven rumble. Bill Ward's drumming, apparently drawing inspiration from industrial machinery in their native Birmingham, and Tony Iommi's howling guitar stand head and shoulders above all of the metal acts that followed.
The biggest revelation from the programme was that Ozzy Osbourne was known to wander the streets of Birmingham in the 1960s, dragging a shoe around on a rope, which he would tell passers by was his "pet shoe". I guess I always just thought it was drugs that turned him mad, rather than just exacerbated his obvious problems.
I doubt many of you will share my love of Sabbath. But I defy anyone to listen to The Wizard and not move in some way. Whether it's nodding your head, tapping your feet, playing air guitar, dancing or lurching to "stop that infernal racket", I'm sure you won't be able to sit still for long.
4 comments:
I never really got in Sabbath all that much, I guess I was more into the post-Sabbath Ozzy. My husband, however, is a big fan. We like a lot of similar old stuff but there's a couple of bands he was into that I wasn't (Sabbath and Iron Maiden are the two that most quickly jump to mind). That's probably because he's an older fart than I am. :)
Oops that should say "into" Sabbath. That's what I get for reading blogs when I should be studying!
Jock, that was intresting about the pet shoe... they say there is a fine line between madness and genius. Smoke on the Water is my fav. Sabbath song. I was a big LZ fan as well, much to the dismay of my dad... I also like Geordie! Must be an ancestral thing. :-)
Chickie: I'm not a massive fan of Ozzy's solo stuff, as I guess he's relying a lot on session musicians who do what they're told.
Rob: I've never really listened to Geordie, although I do like Brian Johnson's work with AC/DC. Smoke On The Water's a great tune, although it's by Deep Purple, not Sabbath. I've never been as big a fan of Deep Purple - although they were technically great musicians, their songs just never really seemed to grab me.
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