Happy birthday!
And
goddamn - that is my kinda cake
Nice one Junk! I saw them in 1980 when Ronnie James Dio had replaced Ozzy. Would love to see em with Ozzy though. Whos on drums these days?
Oh man - i saw them last time they came through town, with Ozzy - and they are just a superb fucking rock'n'roll band.
I'm not really into metal so much - but i have a really eclectic taste in music - played in bands for years and years etc etc etc - and all the hype about Sabbath/Ozzy etc - they are just an incredibly good rock'n'roll band.
Ozzy's stage presence, voice - and his
memory for lyrics are alll bang-on.
Amazing.
There is this image of Ozzy Osbourne as being some kind of drug casualty.
Someone damaged and mentally diminished from drug use or whatever.
But seriously - he was sharp, articulate, strong voice - commanding performance and stage with no gimmicks, no bullshit theatrics.
Some of the visuals on the screen behind them onstage were cheesy as fuck - but that was all part of the fun.
Sabbbath's "dark" occult imagery and stuff is pretty hilarious, really. I think it was quite shocking ~50 years ago...but they didnt lay all that shit on too thick.
Just great songs. A killer sound. Some of the tracks were note-perfect renditions. Tommy's a hell of a guitar player.
The guy on drums was Tommy Clufetos. He was really great. I don't especially like flashy virtuoso playing, or drum solos - but he did this ~10 minute drum solo that was really tasteful and entertaining. Strayed into a bit of jazzy Krupa-esque stuff, and morphed at one point into this sort of latin tangent with rimshots and cowbell.
Loved it.
Such a powerful and well-oiled musical machine. Seems like a miracle Ozzy is even
alive but he is an incredibly good performer.