Ozzy Osbourne Ascends

 

OG Sunners remember that Black Sabbath's blood runs through the veins of this blog, and my work in general. And OG Sunners know that while I'm not a puritan about it, it's the Ozzy Sabbath that I'm really talking about.

By that I mean that I like the Dio-era material and Born Again - and can tolerate a few scattered tracks from the Mock Sabbath era - but it's albums like Master of Reality and (especially) Sabotage that first fired my young imagination. And you simply can't remove Ozzy from that equation - his weirdly otherworldly voice and boundless, childlike energy and enthusiasm were the magic spark that made it all click.

By contrast, Dio and others like him lacked the impish sense of humor and the overwhelming need to please that made Ozzy so irresistible as a front man (or front man-child, in this case). You could always tell Ozzy was truly enjoying himself, enjoying the music and enjoying the audience in a way that it almost felt like he couldn't believe his luck. 

Indeed, Ozzy was the audience - he was a projection of their hopes and dreams. But at the same time, it almost felt like Ozzy was some kind of prankster god, slumming as a human and in a constant state of amused disbelief that he was getting away with it.

Since I'm busy today, I am celebrating the Great and Mighty Ozz by listening to some of my favorite Sabbath shows. This 1975 show from Asbury Park is on now, and it's absolute, sheer magic. 

Give it a spin. There is simply no live band better than prime time Sabbath, certainly no one in the metal sphere. Simply the most ferocious musical unit that ever took to the stage.

I'll have more to say about this on The Secret History of Rock blog later this week. 

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Far be it from me to interupt your righteous head-banging, 
but have you got your copy of the 
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