Tag: Zakk Wylde
0 ZAKK WYLDE’S STOLEN GUITAR FOUND IN CHICAGO PAWN SHOP
A more detailed report on the guitar’s discovery can be read in a yesterday’s story in the Chicago Tribune.
Black Label Society have been announced as the musical guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Tuesday, May 6. The band will perform “Angel of Mercy” from their recently released album Catacombs of the Black Vatican, which debuted at #1 on the Independent, Rock and Metal charts and #5 on the Billboard 200.
Zakk recently took part in the REVOLVER GOLDEN GODS AWARDS, paying tribute to long time friend Dimebag Darrel by performing “In This River.”
Catch Zakk Wylde on tour with Black Label Society, and special guests Down, at the following shows:
May
4 – Silver Spring, MD – Fillmore
5 – Clifton Park, NY (Albany) – Northern Lights
7 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
8 – Worcester, MA – The Palladium
9 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
10 – New York, NY – Best Buy Theater
12 – Norfolk, VA – Norva
13 – Stroudsburg, PA – Sherman Theater
15 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
17 – Ft. Wayne, IN – Piere’s
19 – Sioux Falls, SD – The District
20 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues
21 – St. Paul, MN (Minneapolis) – Myth
23 – Grand Prairie, TX (Dallas) – Verizon Theater
27 – New Orleans, LA – House of Blues
28 – Houston, TX – House of Blues
June
1 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theater
2 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex – Rockwell
4 – Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theater
5 – Las Vegas, NV – Brooklyn Bowl
6 – San Francisco, CA – Regency Ballroom
7 – Los Angeles, CA – Fonda Theater
For more information on Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society, please visit:
www.zakkwylde.com and www.blacklabelsociety.com
0 New Video – Black Label Society – My Dying Time
0 BLACK LABEL SOCIETY RELEASE ALBUM ART, TRACK LIST & NEW SINGLE “My Dying Time”
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY RELEASE ALBUM ART, TRACK LIST & NEW SINGLE “My Dying Time”
“Catacombs of the Black Vatican” Available 4/8/14
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY have released the album art, track listing and first single from their forthcoming LP due later this year. “Catacombs of the Black Vatican” is available immediately for iTunes preorder and the brand new single “My Dying Time” is also available for purchase.
Fans who pre-order the iTunes version will get the “My Dying Time” immediately as an instant gratification download.
Zakk Wylde recently appeared on VH1 Classic’s That Metal show. Wylde also stopped by the Artie Lange show while in NYC to talk all things “Catacombs of the Black Vatican.”
“Catacombs of the Black Vatican,” will be released Tuesday, April 8th, 2014.
PRE-ORDER ON ITUNES HERE
PURCHASE THE SINGLE ON ITUNES HERE
“Catacombs of the Black Vatican” is the first all new LP from BLS since “The Order of the Black” was released in 2009, which debuted at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 chart.
Most recently, the band released the 2-CD set “Unblackened,” which found Black Label Society in a mellower mood in a performance taped at Club Nokia in Los Angeles last year.
The band recently announced “An Evening With Zakk Wylde,” a 13-city Canadian tour across Canada featuring intimate versions of some of the band’s most popular songs, as well as songs from Wylde’s best-selling solo album “Book of Shadows.”
Since their late nineties inception, Black Label Society, formed by guitar legend Zakk Wylde, has been at the forefront of their genre. Their taste for hard riffs and blazing solos has resulted in a slew of hugely successful albums and a reputation as one of the most powerful live bands of their generation.
Zakk Wylde, who has been called one of the true guitar heroes in modern history, served as Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist for over 20 years in addition to his work with BLS. This collaboration led to a string of multi-platinum albums, including Osbourne’s biggest selling “No More Tears,” for which Wylde wrote all the music.
In addition to holding Guitar World Magazine’s MVP four years straight Wylde has been bestowed with such accolades as “Best Rock Guitarist” from Guitar Player, “Metal Guru” from the recently held Classic Rock awards in the UK, “Golden God” by Metal Hammer, the “Best Guitarist” Award from Revolver Magazine. Wylde has proven time and time again that his songwriting, guitar prowess, and on-stage persona, along with his larger-than-life personality, have made him a force to be reckoned with.
Black Label Society continues to enthrall fans around the globe, and “Catacombs of the Black Vatican” is another incredible piece in the band’s catalog.
Catacombs of the Black Vatican Track Listing:
01. Fields Of Unforgiveness
02. My Dying Time
03. Believe
04. Angel Of Mercy
05. Heart Of Darkness
06. Beyond The Down
07. Scars
08. Damn The Flood
09. I’ve Gone Away
10. Empty Promises
11. Shades Of Gray
12. Dark Side Of The Sun (bonus track)
13. The Nomad (bonus track)
0 BLACK LABEL SOCIETY ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM “Catacombs of the Black Vatican” Available 4/8/14
Guitar icon and Black Label Society frontman Zakk Wylde has announced a brand new LP freshly titled “Catacombs of the Black Vatican,” due out Tuesday, April 8th, 2014.
“Catacombs of the Black Vatican” is the first all new LP from BLS since “The Order of the Black” was released in 2009, which debuted at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 chart.
Most recently, the band released the 2-CD set “Unblackened,” which found Black Label Society in a mellower mood in a performance taped at Club Nokia in Los Angeles last year.
The band recently announced “An Evening With Zakk Wylde,” a 13-city Canadian tour across Canada featuring intimate versions of some of the band’s most popular songs, as well as songs from Wylde’s best-selling solo album “Book of Shadows.”
Since their late nineties inception, Black Label Society, formed by guitar legend Zakk Wylde, has been at the forefront of their genre. Their taste for hard riffs and blazing solos has resulted in a slew of hugely successful albums and a reputation as one of the most powerful live bands of their generation.
Zakk Wylde, who has been called one of the true guitar heroes in modern history, served as Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist for over 20 years in addition to his work with BLS. This collaboration led to a string of multi-platinum albums, including Osbourne’s biggest selling “No More Tears,” for which Wylde wrote all the music.
In addition to holding Guitar World Magazine’s MVP four years straight Wylde has been bestowed with such accolades as “Best Rock Guitarist” from Guitar Player, “Metal Guru” from the recently held Classic Rock awards in the UK, “Golden God” by Metal Hammer, the “Best Guitarist” Award from Revolver Magazine. Wylde has proven time and time again that his songwriting, guitar prowess, and on-stage persona, along with his larger-than-life personality, have made him a force to be reckoned with.
Black Label Society continues to enthrall fans around the globe, and “Catacombs of the Black Vatican” is another incredible piece in the band’s catalog.
0 New Video – Black Label Society – Ain’t No Sunshine
Black Label Society released a music video for their cover of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” , for your viewing pleasure. The cover is off the bands’ live album, Unblackened, available September 24th.
1 MEMBERS OF SEVENDUST, CANDLEBOX AND BLACK LABEL SOCIETY JOIN THE INFINITE STAIRCASE TO RECORD SONG FOR VICTIMS OF HURRICANE SANDY
2 Thin Lizzy, Black Label Society & Judas Priest Photo Gallery – U.S. Bank Arena -Cincinnati, Ohio – November 8th, 2011
Thin Lizzy, Black Label Society & Judas Priest invaded Cincinnati’s U.S. Bank Arena on November 8th. Check out our Photo Gallery, & mini review below.
Thin Lizzy which is now fronted by The Almighty’s Ricky Warwick, sounded amazing. Warwick’s vocals are very similar to the late Phillip Lynott, and he does an excellent job. Damon Johnson (Brother Cane, Alice Cooper Band) is the bands newest guitarist replacing Vivian Campbell, and Richard Fortus. He seems to fit in quite well. I have never seen Thin Lizzy before, and was amazed at how good they sounded. I was thrilled to see this classic band in action. They lineup has changed several times over the years, but Thin Lizzy still rocks.
Black Label Society put on one of the loudest shows in recent memory. I am pretty sure the folks eating wings at Hooters in Newport, KY (that is down the river from U.S. Bank Arena) could hear Zakk Wylde & company. Black Label Society’s sound guy must have had all of their amps set at maximum volume. The only problem with this was, Zakk’s vocals were inaudible. I know all of Black Label Society’s music, and I could watch Zakk Wylde & company play all night. Wylde is a killer guitarist, and as much as I love his playing, I like his vocals even more. I was disappointed that I couldn’t hear them. Aside from that, Black Label Society sounded great.
Judas Priest took the stage and proceeded to play for over two hours. They covered songs from just about every facet of their career. The Metal God, Rob Halford is still getting it done in 2011. The 60 year old front man, may not be able to hit all of the notes he used to, but he still sounds great. Ritchie Faulkner who has replaced the retired KK Downing on lead guitar, not only looks the part,but does an amazing job. KK Downing will always be missed, but Faulkner has injected new life into Judas Priest. The Judas Priest set included the following songs: “Rapid Fire”, “Metal Gods”, “Heading Out to the Highway”, “Judas Rising”,”Starbreaker”, “Victim of Changes”, “Never Satisfied”, “Diamonds & Rust”, “Dawn Of Creation”, “Prophecy”, “Night Crawler”, “Turbo Lover”, “Beyond the Realms of Death”, “The Sentinel”, “Blood Red Skies”, “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Pronged Crown)”, “Breaking the Law”, “Painkiller”, “The Hellion”, “Electric Eye”, “Hell Bent for Leather”, “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin'” and “Living After Midnight”.
This is Judas Priest’s Epitaph tour, meaning the band will not longer do world tours from here on out. There was only four – five thousand in attendance at the Cincinnati show, which I though was extremely disappointing. This may be the last time we get to see Judas Priest perform in our area. Judas Priest put on an excellent that was a feast for the ears & the eyes. The show filled with pyro, lasers, and more importantly some legendary metal tunes played to perfection.
There are only a few tour dates left on the Epitaph tour. If you live in one of the areas below, you should definitely get a ticket for this show.
30 November 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre, Tampa
1 December Klipsch Amphitheatre at Bayfront Park, Miami, FL
3 December Hard Rock Biloxi Hotel & Casino, Biloxi
Check out our Photo Gallery below. You can right click on an image to view it larger.
4 Classic Videos – Ozzy Osbourne – Crazy Babies & Miracle Man
This week during my Thanksgiving break, I have been listening to a lot of Ozzy Osbourne. The CD that keeps getting a lot of repeat plays from me this week, is Ozzy’s 1988 class, No Rest for the Wicked. This is the first album to feature Zakk Wylde on guitar, and arguably the best.
Check out the clips, “Crazy Babies” and “Miracle Man” below!
Vodpod videos no longer available.0 Leslie West teams up with Slash and Bonamassa on “Unusual Suspects”
Leslie West, Legendary guitarist and the founder of one of rocks most influential bands, Mountain, will release a brand new solo album, ‘Unusual Suspects’, on Monday September 19th.
The album features West alongside a hand-picked line-up of the world’s finest guitar players; including Slash, blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa, Black Label Society front man and ex-Ozzy guitarist Zakk Wylde, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and Toto’s Steve Lukather.
Released by Provogue Records, the album follows the shocking news that, in late June, West underwent life-saving surgery, when his leg was amputated above the knee. While such an ordeal would surely deter lesser artists, West insisted on honouring the ‘Unusual Suspects’ album’s September release date and is gearing up for a US tour in October.
Read the full press release online here.
“These guys don’t just show up to play on everybody’s albums,” says West on his special guests and the album’s title. “They’re all stars in their own right, and fantastic players – everyone with their own sound and style, about as far from the usual suspects as it gets.”
UNUSUAL SUSPECTS TRACK LISTING
1. One More Drink for the Road
Written by: Joseph Pizza & Leslie Weinstein
Featuring: Steve Lukather
2. Mud Flap Momma
Written by: Leslie Weinstein & Jennifer West-Weinstein
Featuring: Slash
3. To the Moon
Written by: Leslie Weinstein & Del Bronham
4. Standing on Higher Ground
Written by: Billy F Gibbons, Fabrizio Grossi & Leslie Weinstein
5. Third Degree
Written by: Eddie Boyd & Willie Dixon
Featuring: Joe Bonamassa
6. Legend
Written by: Joseph M. Pizza & Leslie Weinstein
7. Nothin’s Changed
Written by: Joseph M. Pizza & Leslie Weinstein
Featuring: Zakk Wylde
8. I Feel Fine
Written by: Lennon/McCartney
9. Love You Forever
Written by: Leslie Weinstein & Joseph M Pizza
10. My Gravity
Written by: Leslie Weinstein & Jon Tiven
11. The Party’s Over
Written by: Willie Nelson
Featuring: Slash and Zakk Wylde
12. I Don’t Know “The Beetlejuice Song”
Written by: Richard Christy, Lester “Beettle” Green & Leslie Weinstein
Featuring: Richard Christy
0 JASTA DEBUTS A BRAND NEW SONG FEATURING ZAKK WYLDE
JASTA has debuted another brand new song called “The Fearless Must Endure” featuring the one and only ZAKK WYLDE. A video was recently shot for the track as well. Photos from that shoot can be seen HERE.
LISTEN TO “THE FEARLESS MUST ENDURE” FEATURING ZAKK WYLDE HERE!
JASTA will be releasing a solo record simply titled “JASTA” this summer on July 26th, 2011 via eOne Music. A record many years in the making, this is a very different project which is explained in the video below.
VIEW THE ALBUM INTRO HERE:
A diverse variety of guest appearances can be found on this record. Tim Lambesis (AS I LAY DYING), pro skater Mike Vallely, Philip Labonte (ALL THAT REMAINS), Randy Blythe and Mark Morton (LAMB OF GOD) and guitar god ZAKK WYLDE just to name a few.
NOISECREEP recently followed around JASTA while doing press in Los Angeles and is featuring him in their “Day in the Life” feature, view that here.
Jamey will be touring with KINGDOM OF SORROW this summer on the 2011 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival.
Visit http://rockstarmayhemfest.com for more information and breaking news.
3 Zakk Wylde On American Idol
Did you miss Zakk Wylde’s surprise appearance on American Idol? Zakk came and out and played guitar with James Durbin on the Sammy Hagar classic “Heavy Metal”! Check it out below!
0 New Video – My Darkest Days – Pornstar Dancing
Check out this new video clip, “Pornstar Dancing” from My Darkest Days. This video clip features Zakk Wylde from Black Label Society, and Chad Kroeger from Nickelback. My Darkest Days new self titled album will be released September 21st, 2010!
1 Black Label Society – Order of the Black (2010)
With eight albums in eleven years, Black Label Society’ has been one of the hardest working bands in heavy metal. Order of the Black may not offer you too many surprises, but it does have a bunch of kick ass metal that BLS has been known for.
The opening track “Crazy Horse” is about the legendary Native American Crazy Horse, who fought against General Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn. This is a ripping track with some cool subject matter. I love the rhythm on this song. The thundering drums and thumping bass is killer. Zakk’s riffs are awesome as well.
According to Zakk Wylde, he broke two blood vessels in his brain singing “Overlord”. Zakk might not be the best vocalist I have ever heard, but you have to have give him credit. I haven’t heard of another singer singing so hard that he caused himself an injury. That is as METAL as it gets. I love the Wah pedal intro on “Overlord”. I wish it would have been used in the song a little more, but this is still very cool.
“Parade of the Dead” is the first single from Order of the Black. For a three and a half minute tune, “Parade of the Dead” is packed with guitar riffs. Zakk plays his ass off, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Darkest Days” is the first of three piano based numbers, and is easily my favorite out of the three. (“Time Waits for No One” and “Shall Grave are the other two.) I love it when Zakk Wylde slows it down, and shows the other side of his talent. His voice might actually be stronger on the slower numbers than on the heavy ones. If he ever decided to pursue something besides metal music, he certainly has the talent to do so. I am a fan of his pre-Black Label CD, Pride & Glory, and this style always brings that southern rock style to mind.
If “Darkest Days” was too slow for you, “Black Sunday” is the face melting tune you were waiting for. Heavy riffs are in abundance in this rocker.
Zakk sounds like he stole a killer riff from Tony Iommi on “Southern Dissolution”. About mid way through this song, their is a guitar lick that is awesome. I believe Zakk should have built this song around that riff. This would have been a much better song. It isn’t bad, but not as catchy as it should be.
If you aren’t headbanging to “Godspeed Hell Bound”, your stereo must be broken. The double bass drums, and galloping bass rock hard on this song. This is easily one of my favorites on Order of the Black.
“War of Heaven” has a doom laden song that reminds me a lot of Black Sabbath. After listening to this song a couple of times, I wonder if Zakk Wylde took his inspiration for this song from the “Book of Revelation”. You have to hear the song to understand what I mean.
“Chupacabra” is Zakk Wylde’s answer to Van Halen’s “Spanish Fly”. It is a brief instrumental track that doesn’t really add much to the album.
Is Order of the Black, Black Label Society’s best release to date? While I have enjoyed this CD, I don’t think it is. I believe Black Label Society have had more memorable songs on their previous albums. Order of the Black is good, and it does rock, it just isn’t the best I have heard from BLS.
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Crazy Horse
2. Overlord
3. Parade Of The Dead
4. Darkest Days
5. Black Sunday
6. Southern Dissolution
7. Time Waits For No One
8. Godspeed Hell Bound
9. War Of Heaven
10. Shallow Grave
11. Chupacabra
12. Riders Of The Damned
13. January
Black Label Society is:
Zakk Wylde- vocals, guitars, piano
John DeServio – backing vocals, bass
Will Hunt – drums
1 Black Label Society’s Order of the Black Cover Art Revealed
BLS’ new CD, Order of the Black, which will be released worldwide August 10, 2010 will feature 4 different CD covers. North America/Europe/Australia & South America/ Asia will all feature different covers.
The U.S. Cover is posted below!
0 BLS Tour Canceled-Zakk’s Health Takes Center Stage
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY FRONTMAN ZAKK WYLDE’S HEALTH TAKES CENTER STAGE
MEDICAL CONDITION HAS FORCED THE BAND TO DEPART THE PEDAL TO THE METAL TOUR IMMEDIATELY
Black Label Society has performed their last show on “The Pedal To The Metal Tour” due to the health of frontman Zakk Wylde. Wylde has been diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs, and has been admitted into the hospital in Eugene, OR this afternoon. Today’s BLS appearance in Eugene has been canceled, along with the remaining BLS appearances on the tour.
“The Pedal To The Metal Tour” will continue without Black Label Society, and the rest of the bands will all be participating throughout the remaining dates on the tour. Please visit http://www.pedaltothemetaltour.com for tour dates.
BLS apologizes to ticket holders on the remaining “Pedal To The Metal” dates for the inconvenience, as well as to all BLSNATION Meet & Greet purchasers who gathered for the event this afternoon and in the remaining cities. BLSNATION refunds will be processed promptly.
Further updates on Zakk’s medical condition will become available as they are known.
0 Black Label Society – Skullage (Release Year – 2009)
Black Label Society has released their new greatest hits package, Skullage. This CD/DVD set is a killer combination of Black Label Society’s best songs, as well as an awesome DVD that collects footage from their Boozed, Broozed and Broken-Boned DVD from 2003, as well as some of Black Label Society’s music videos and acoustic live footage.
Is this collection worth picking up? If you want the acoustic versions of songs like “The Blessed Hellride” and “Stillborn” you need to grab this. The music videos on the DVD are worth the price of admission all by themselves in my opinion. I would have liked to have all of their videos (yes, there are some that are missing) but I am happy to finally have a copy of these on DVD. I must point out though, that there is a video in this collection “New Religion” that I have not see before, and that was a nice bonus.
The Welcome To the Compound is a new segment filmed inside Zakk Wylde’s home. This part of the DVD shows off Wylde’s off the wall sense of humor. Zakk gives you an explanation on what the lyrics are about on several of the songs on Skullage. There is a brief part where Wylde talks about the song “In This River” written about Dimebag Darrell Abbott. In this clip there is some old footage with Dimebag. It was unexpected and yet very cool.
If you have all of Black Label Society’s CD’s (as I do), and you don’t need a greatest hits CD, Black Label Society has given you have the option to purchase the DVD separately. Skullage is available as a CD, DVD or a CD/DVD set.
If you have never picked up any of Black Label Society’s music before, Skullage is an awesome way to acquainted with one of the better metal bands of the last decade. Overall, this is a pretty good collection of music and video, and is definitely worth purchasing!
Check out Black Label Society on the web, at this link.
Track Listing:
CD:
1. Machine Gun Man
2. Dead As Yesterday
3. All For You
4. 13 Years Of Grief
5. Bleed For Me
6. Doomsday Jesus
7. Stillborn
8. Won’t Find It Here
9. Suicide Messiah
10. In This River
11. Fire It Up
12. New Religion
“Slightly Amped” (Live in Lehigh Valley)
13. Instrumental Intro (acoustic)
14. The Blessed Hellride (acoustic)
15. Spoke In The Wheel (acoustic)
16. Stillborn (acoustic)
DVD:
1. All For You (From Boozed, Broozed & Broken-Boned DVD)
2. 13 Years Of Grief (From Boozed, Broozed & Broken-Boned DVD)
3. Bleed For Me (From Boozed, Broozed & Broken-Boned DVD)
4. Stillborn video
5. Suicide Messiah video
6. In This River video
7. Fire It Up video
8. New Religion video
9. Welcome To The Compound New Footage
“Slightly Amped’
10. Instrumental Intro – Live in Lehigh Valley
11.The Blessed Hellride – Live in Lehigh Valley
12. Spoke In The Wheel – Live in Lehigh Valley
13. We Live No More – Live in Lehigh Valley
14. Stillborn – Live in Lehigh Valley
1 Video – Ozzy Osbourne – Mr. Tinkertrain
0 Zakk Wylde in the Making of Guitar Hero World Tour
0 Zakk Wylde and Bumblefoot on Talking Metal
Zakk Wylde and Bumblefoot (of Guns N’ Roses) have been announced as the guests for tonight’s new Talking Metal episode on Fuse. The episode will air next Friday,March 21st at midnight ET.
Here are all the episode details:
“What starts as a simple interview turns into a recording session when Zakk Wylde holds the Talking Metal crew hostage to record a brand new song with Bumblefoot of Guns N’ Roses. John, Mark and Zakk perform Black Label Society’s
“Blood is Thicker than Water” and the TM exclusive jam of “Till The End.”
More information about Talking Metal, including exclusive artist interviews and episode previews, can be found right here:
http://fuse.tv/tv/talkingmetal/index.php
9 Ozzy Osbourne – Black Rain (Release Year – 2007)
Ozzy Osbourne returns with his 9th studio CD, and his first full studio effort with new material since 2001’s Down to Earth.
His band mates this time around are Zakk Wylde on guitar, Rob “Blasko” Nicholson (Rob Zombie) on bass, and Mike Bordin (Faith No More) on drums.
I must admit that my first impression with Black Rain, is that this is the heaviest Ozzy disc in years. Zakk Wylde has been wanting to something heavy with Ozzy for a long time, and was pretty disgusted with the writing on Down to Earth. On that record, Zakk Wylde played on all of the songs, but did not have any writing credits. Zakk Wylde co-wrote eight of the 10 tunes on Black Rain. The end result is a far heavier disc, and probably the closest thing to Ozzy’s 1995 disc, Ozzmosis.
The first track, Not Going Away starts off with a monstrous, Black Sabbath type of riff. This track gets better with each listen.
The track, I Don’t Wanna Stop is getting airplay just about every where now, and Ozzy is playing this live in various TV programs, in an effort to promote Black Rain. I agree with what seems to be the majority opinion on this song. I love this track!
The title track, Black Rain is a mid tempo track with a heavy bass sound; and a cool song that is nearly a throw back to early 80’s Ozzy. I can see this track being a hit on the radio, easily.
A nice change of pace is the number Lay Your World on Me on which Ozzy’s voice is the most powerful instrument. On this low tempo track, Blasko’s bass is mixed louder than Zakk’s guitar 95% of the time, but it comes across sounding very cool.
The Almighty Dollar is kind of weird to me. This sounds like Ozzy trying to do a Nine Inch Nails song. Its not all bad, but it has some strange music elements to it. I like the heavy parts, but when this song gets a little bouncy, it doesn’t work. At least not for me.
11 Silver is an extremely upbeat sounding song, but is different from anything I recall Ozzy doing in the past. The bass groove is extremely springy, and Zakk Wylde’s guitar solo in the center is great! I didn’t like this song at first, but its growing on me with every listen. In 2007, its hard to make Ozzy sound fresh, but this is pretty damn good attempt to do so.
Civilize the Universe reminds me a lot of the sound Rob Zombie’s band has. Blasko really shows his influence in this song. This is another good, foot-stomping, rock and roll hit.
Here for You is a piano based ballad that is actually very good. I have heard Ozzy do these type of songs before, but I think this one is one of the better ones in a long time.
Something about Coundown’s Begun reminds me quite a bit of Lynch era Dokken. The whole guitar and heavy bass riff is very Dokken like. Zakk Wylde and Blasko reproduce a sound that is very complimentary of one of the best metal tandem’s of 80’s style hard rock (Lynch and Pilson). Very cool!
Trapdoor is probably my 2nd most favorite song on Black Rain. Zakk Wylde’s riff on this track has a real mean sound to it. This is the kind of song that could make me go to Ozzfest, so I can see it live. The whole bass and drum sound in the center of the track are cool as hell. What an amazing way to close out this record!
On my first listen to this disc, I wasn’t extremely impressed with this disc. Successive listens have changed my mind. I keep hearing and noticing different things each time I listen to it. Ozzy Osbourne sings his ass off on this disc, and sounds great all throughout Black Rain. The Zakk Wylde neigh sayers will be happy to know that, Zakk does not over use the pinch harmonics on this record. Zakk’s playing is stellar, end of story. Blasko and Mike Bordin are not fill in musicians. They are excellent additions to Ozzy’s band, and truly add to the music on this record. I hope this group stays together for another record. Until then, I will enjoy this record repeatedly. Hopefully Ozzy wont make us wait six more years for another one.
Don’t even hesitate to pick this disc up! If you are an Ozzy fan, it is required listening!
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Not Going Away
2. I Don’t Wanna Stop
3. Black Rain
4. Lay Your World on Me
5. Almighty Dollar
6. 11 Silver
7. Civilize the Universe
8. Here for You
9. Countdown’s Begun
10. Trap Door
Ozzy Osbourne band is:
Ozzy Osbourne – Vocals
Zakk Wylde – Guitars
Blasko – Bass
Mike Bordin – Drums
2 Black Label Society – Shot to Hell (Release Year – 2006)
How does Zakk Wylde do it? Each year he chugs out another quality CD.
Shot to Hell is no exception in the quality dept.
This CD sounds like it could be Mafia part 2 in many cases, with the exception that it has more slower tracks than its predecessor. Aside from that, Zakk’s vocals and guitar style is virtually unchanged, and that is a good thing. I guess if it isn’t broke don’t fix it. The BLS formula seems to work.
Several quality tracks and a only a 2 or 3 that I would consider fillers. If you liked Mafia, chances are you will enjoy Shot to Hell as well. Fans needing a heavy yet melodic hard rock CD should give this one a look. For Black Label Society fans, its a no brainer, pick this up!
Track Listing:
- Concrete Jungle*
- Black Mass Reverends*
- Blacked Out World
- The Last Goodbye*
- Give Yourself to Me
- Nothing is the Same
- Hell is High
- New Religion*
- Sick of it All
- Faith is Blind
- Blood is Thicker that Water*
- Devil’s Dime
- Lead Me to Your Door
Black Label Society is:
Zakk Wylde – Vocals, Lead Guitars, Rhythm Guitars, Piano, Keyboards
John DeServio – Bass Guitars
Craig Nunenmacher – Drums
Nick Catanese – Rhythm Guitars