https://youtu.be/8oXwOS8buzg

Now the reasoning for the vinyl version is simple. Anyone that has ever heard a vinyl copy knows that the quality is 100 times better than MP3 or FLAC. There are some specific reasons why vinyl is better, but we’ll keep those ideas for another time.

So listening to the lyrics and the emotion of Dio on this live album is just absolutely amazing. Although Ozzy Osbourne wasn’t a part of Sabbath at the time, Dio certainly didn’t disappoint. From the first minutes to the 123rd minute, it’s die-hard, balls-to-the-wall Sabbath and legendary Dio vocals. The feeling you get from Dio’s lyrics and Iommi’s guitar is just fullfilling.

One of my favorite parts is the “Heaven and Hell” mash-up with the “Sign of the Southern Cross” and “Paranoid.” If you have the vinyl, the unfortunate part is that you have to flip the record to continue. But the fact you have it, out-weighs all of that. Remember, the quality. Anyways, Dio announces “Heaven and Hell” in the concert and even gets the crowd involved in singing the chorus. Of course, Dio sings the first few lines before the beautiful, mellow guitar work of Iommi. The sound of Iommi shredding on his axe for eight minutes is soothing. Eventually he finishes his part and immediately goes into “Sign of the Southern Cross.” The song is only a few minutes until they go right back into the second half of “Heaven and Hell.” Dio and Sabbath finish strongly and then go right into “Paranoid.”

Now, it did feel a little weird at first to hear Dio singing songs written by Ozzy, but who’s to judge? There were a few other Sabbath songs that were a part of the setlist, including: “War Pigs,” “N.I.B.,” “Iron Man,” and “Children of the Grave.” Honestly, I think every one of you need to listen to this album. To me it was Dio at his best. Although Dio never really disappointed anyways. Below I have included the setlist for this album and I hope you all enjoy. Stay metal my friends.

Black Sabbath: Live Evil (1982) Track Listing:

E5150
Neon Knights
N.I.B.
Children of the Sea
Voodoo
Black Sabbath
War Pigs
Iron Man
The Mob Rules
Heaven & Hell
The Sign of the Southern Cross
Heaven & Hell (Continued)
Paranoid
Children of the Grave
Fluff

The biggest surprise might have been the inclusion of country singer Zac Brown on guitar and vocals. But it’s less surprising when you know that Brown appears on the upcoming Foo Fighters’ album, Sonic Highways, to perform the Black Sabbath classic.

Sonic Highways will be released on November 10th, and features such esteemed guests as Eagles’ Joe Walsh, Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, and Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen.

Check out the Letterman performance in the player above and let us know what you think of the cover. Personally, my favorite cover of “War Pigs” is from Faith No More.

Rock Hard \m/

“We’re going to do one more album, and a final tour,” Ozzy Osbourne told Metal Hammer.

Neither the details nor the timelines are established yet, but Ozzy is hoping to start writing a new Black Sabbath album with Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler in early 2015. At the very least the writing process will begin “sooner rather than later,” according to Ozzy. “I don’t know if we’ll be writing in England or L.A., but I’ll fly to the fucking moon for it if I have to,” Ozzy added in the interview.

Ozzy is also well-aware that much of what they can do and when they can do it is dependent on Iommi’s health with regard to his cancer treatment. However, as Ozzy told his wife, Sharon, he’d like to get this project done before he turns 70 years old (that gives him 4 years and some change).

Black Sabbath’s most recent album, 13, debuted at Number 1 on the U.S. charts and in other countries.

We’ll keep you posted as Black Sabbath news develops. Until then, let us know in the comments section below if you’d like another Sabbath album.

Rock Hard \m/

It could be the last ever Sabbath show. I don’t want it to be, but there’s nothing really planned touring-wise after that show, so for all we know that could be it really. To be honest I don’t want to be touring to this extent too much longer, because it makes me feel so bad.

– Tony Iommi speaking about Black Sabbath’s last show on this tour at the Barclaycard British Summer Time Festival in London’s Hyde Park on July 4

If Ozzy is the Prince of Darkness, does that make his wife Sharon the Princess of Darkness? Food for thought.

Nonetheless, Sharon is coming out with her memoir this month. It’s called Unbreakable, and in it she details the circumstances surround Ozzy’s relapse into drug and alcohol addiction and their split earlier this year. As with most cases of “getting caught” these days, Sharon found out about Ozzy’s relapse snooping through his cell phone. There, she found text messages in which Ozzy was asking to be supplied with drugs. So, what does a rich rockstars wife of 30 years do? She sells her husbands luxury cars, of course.

Not only that, but she eventually demanded a divorce with a monthly 100,000 British Pound price tag. According to an excerpt from the book, Ozzy said, “Over my dead body,” and Sharon threw a cup of coffee at him and “then I grabbed him and pulled at his precious hair with one hand, while trying to yank off his jewelry with the other. He went for me, trying to grab me in a headlock.” Something must have happened in Ozzy’s head, because he then went off to rehab.

After two months of sobriety, Sharon writes about their reunion: “It seemed like forever since I’d looked into my husband’s eyes, but now I was looking into sober eyes. The man I loved was present. I could tell he was relieved to be sitting next to me. I put my hand on his, took him in my arms and we cried.” The royal couple of darkness have been back together since June.

Whatever else is in Sharon’s Unbreakable, there’s no doubt that there will be a unique perspective on the Prince of Darkness.

On October 10, 2013, order Unbreakable at Amazon.

What do you think: Did Ozzy deserve a second chance with Sharon? Do you think Ozzy would have died a long time ago if it weren’t for Sharon?

Rock Hard \m/

Black Sabbath 1970 set list:

1. “Paranoid”
2. “Hand of Doom”
3. “Rat Salad”
4. “Iron Man”
5. Guitar solo
6. “Black Sabbath”
7. “N.I.B.”
8. “Behind the Wall of Sleep”
9. “War Pigs”
10. Fairies Wear Boots”

Yell! Magazine’s Concert Series brings you kick-ass live shows to get your party started right and to help you vent your Friday frustrations.

Rock Hard \m/

After 35 years, Black Sabbath finally put out an album with Ozzy Osbourne back on vocals. Sure, there were a few issues along the way, like cancer and drummer Bill Ward leaving the fold, but it was still Black Sabbath with Ozzy! So, with a new album (13), naturally a subsequent tour would take place. Earlier this week, the North American tour concluded, and the band had these parting words to say:

Whew! That went by fast. It seems like we just started the tour and now it’s over. Thank you to everyone who came out to see us on our North American tour. The audience response every night was unbelievable for which we thank you. We’ll be touring through South America all of October and then we’ll finish 2013 in Europe in November and December. We love you all and Keep Listening to Black Sabbath!

Our very own Hell’s Temple was among those responsive audiences and what follows is his concert review (it’s also his first piece with Yell! Magazine — be gentle).

Hello everyone! I’m here to bring you my first ever review for Yell! Magazine! I don’t know about you, but I had the pleasure of seeing Black Sabbath live a couple weeks ago…. epic! I don’t care what people say, Ozzy is a fucking legend! Pushing 65 years old, huge drug addict…. can barely walk/speak, but can still sing like there’s no tomorrow. Riddle me this, Batman. I went to see Black Sabbath live in Tinley Park, Illinois. It’s a well-known place for concerts and what not.

I had a birthday in July, and good ol’ mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday (even at my age, moms don’t stop being moms). So, I asked mom to buy me a ticket for the Black Sabbath concert, which was funny because she’s very big into church. Not judging, but I did laugh when I received the ticket in an email. “Church mom buys Black Sabbath ticket” is what went through my head for a while. Love my mom though, she made a Metal dream come true. I went to the show with a friend, who also had a birthday and I bought him his ticket as a gift. So, technically this was a birthday concert for the two of us. Stoked!

Alright, let’s get to this review. “Stop blabbing about the damn tickets and get on with the show.” What happens when two friends attend a concert… besides ungodly beer consumption? A lot of story telling about personal experiences with a band playing, some trivia, and speculation. I asked my friend which song he thought Sabbath would play to open the show. He said “Warpigs.” Well shit… that’s exactly what they opened with. Sirens going off, people cheering… this, my friends, was Heavy Metal at its finest. To be able to see Black Sabbath was a complete moment of awesome. Sabbath went through “Warpigs,” with the entire crowd singing along.

Sabbath went on to play some more of their classics such as, “Black Sabbath,” “Fairies Wear Boots,” “Dirty Women,” “Iron Man,” “Paranoid,” and “Children of the Grave,” just to name a few. One slight complaint (I don’t know why I would complain but it is what it is); Ozzy is old. He can’t hit the high notes like he used to. When he was singing “Dirty Women” he had trouble hitting the high end near the end and you could tell his voice was cracking. Oh well! You’re not young forever, right?

One of the cool parts of the show was Tommy Clufetos’ 15-minute drum solo. This guy can wail and looks like a damn viking beating the shit out of his kit. Here’s someone’s shitty cell phone video (complete with drunken guy screaming “yeeeeeaaaaah”) to give you an idea:

Well anyways, he played this wicked-awesome drum solo, then of course comes the slow-but-timely bass drum beat… Yeah, that’s right! I turned to my friend and said, “Iron Man!” You know you’re a true metalhead when you can name a song based of the first few seconds of a riff or drum line.

They played a few more songs, then, you know how shows go, the band says, “thank you, goodnight” and goes away for a few minutes to ultimately come back and play an encore. Well, big surprise, that’s what happened. When Black Sabbath came back onto the stage Tony Iommi started playing the main riff of “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.” I was like, “damn I really wanted to see them play ‘Paranoid.'” Spoke too soon. About a minute into their “jam” session they started the intro of “Paranoid” and the crowd goes wild! What a way to end this iconic concert.

During the show, Ozzy mentioned that their most recent album, 13, was the first No.1 American hit in the 45 years that Black Sabbath has been around. How about that? Truly awesome show, and I’m glad i got to be a part of this moment. Heavy Metal runs through Ozzy’s blood and it’ll never die. \m/\m/

Here’s the bottom line: Being a drummer is the most physical part of any band, and when Bill turned up he looked like an old guy. I don’t think he had the stamina to play for an hour or so onstage. If I’d had a heart attack like Bill had, I’d go, ‘Fuck, I’m going to lose some weight.’ I train, I work my arse off. So you can’t expect someone who’s been sitting on their fucking arse, eating shit, to come along and go, ‘Equal split.’ It’s insane.”

– Ozzy Osbourne

Guests of the Black Sabbath: 13-3D maze at Halloween Horror Nights 2013 attraction will have the distinct pleasure of coming face to face with Lucifer and his bride, bloody corpses, and bubbling cesspools of radioactive water. Fans of Sabbath will only notice the horror if they can stop headbanging to the classics that will fill the air, which will include “Luke’s Wall,” “Iron Man,” “Paranoid,” “War Pigs,” “Electric Funeral,” and “Black Sabbath.”

The Prince of Darkness himself had a few words to say about the upcoming attraction:

“We were all really excited when Universal Studios Hollywood approached us about doing a 3-D Halloween Horror Nights [2013] maze based on our music. I’ve seen the drawings of what it will look like when it’s finished and it looks amazing. I can’t wait to walk through it on opening night in September.”

Halloween Horror Nights 2013 rises from the dead on September 20th and also features all new mazes based on The Walking Dead and Evil Dead.

For ticket information visit: www.halloweenhorrornights.com

Rock Hard \m/

So, to clear things up, “God is Dead” is a phrase that the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche repeated throughout his works. Nietzsche’s ideas serve as the basis for this song and video. Basically, without God, or religion, to serve as humanity’s moral compass, we’re destined to plunge into chaos and nihilism. For centuries people have looked to God for meaning and guidance, but what happens when that figure is removed and God becomes irrelevant? And what’s replaced God?

Historically, the same answer applied to both questions – science. Consider the centuries that the Church had tried to keep science down. And today, as Black Sabbath have pointed out, science and technology have replaced God. Think for a second how much we covet our possessions, which are usually pieces of technology (the next iPhone, the next gaming console, the next tablet, the next software, the next film, etc.). And that technology usually serves to help us self-aggrandize. With our constant posts, status updates, selfies, and more, we’ve become the most narcissistic society ever to exist.

black sabbath “God is Dead?” – credit: universal

What’s interesting about the “God Is Dead?” video is that Black Sabbath have extended Nietzsche’s Western Judeo-Christian nihilistic viewpoint to include many other religions and believers. In the video, we see these believers lose their faith, seduced by science and a number of the deadly sins, and when they do, we’re treated to chaotic images of war, death, and destruction. Then, when we’re all in pain and have had enough, where do we look for answers, comfort, solace when we have nothing left? It’s a vicious circle.

Black Sabbath tapped Peter Joseph to direct the video using existing footage. The controversial filmmaker and social activist was hesitant at first, but ultimately chose to collaborate:

“After an initial hesitancy in the direction proposed using just existing footage from my films, I quickly realized it was to be an extremely interesting and original expression. The gesture of the song ‘God is Dead?’, with its subtle reflection on the often dark world we inhabit and questioning of how such a world can be if there was a god, resonated with me. …It was expressed at the start that my work had been an influence on the song to begin with, so that was very inspiring to hear.

I grew up listening to early Black Sabbath and am a big fan of the core message. Songs such as ‘War Pigs’ and the anti-war, pro-unity gesture found in those early albums are very much in line with my values. I was honored to help.”

In addition to being the man behind the controversial film series Zeitgeist , Joseph is also responsible for founding the global sustainability advocacy group The Zeitgeist Movement, founding/curating the annual Zeitgeist Media Arts Festival, and hosting an online satire web series called “Culture in Decline.”

I’m not a religious man, but all this has given me pause… fuck it, the song and video just rock!

Rock Hard \m/