Iron Maiden vocalist still pissed at Sharon Osbourne over Ozzfest 2005 |
Sharon Osbourne sure seems like one shrewd businesswoman. I’m not sure why Ozzy is putting together not one but two new albums. It’s been awhile since he’s been able to sing and without some sort of vocal help, I’m not sure he has two albums left in him. He’s also been trying to be more old school by headlining the second stage where he’s closer to the fans.
Last year, Iron Maiden ran into the wraith of Ozzy’s wife on tour with a particularly controversial show where their PA had been yanked in the middle of a performance. Sharon Osbourne said she ordered that (and more antics) done because Maiden constantly kept disrespecting the time slot requirements which were stringent in order for all the bands to get their time while Maiden’s take was screw that, we can play as long as we want. Guess it’s up for the fans to decide who is the bad guy in this mess.
Apparently, Bruce Dickinson, lead singer for the Heavy Metal band Iron Maiden isn’t about to run for the hills when it comes to his feelings on Ozzfest:
The whole way it’s being portrayed as being some kind of altruistic holiday for all the bands is absolute nonsense, it’s complete bullshit. Most of the bands are there because they paid to be there. That’s the way it’s run. We went out and we were like, ‘Okay, why aren’t there any people down the front?’ Well, because it’s restricted seating and because they don’t have tickets. ‘What?!’ That’s fucked, so we said so. I said so every night. Some fat cunt with greasy hair sat eating his hamburger with 50 seats empty all around him. Where are all the kids? They’re held behind the barrier and they can’t get any closer, because that’s the way the venue is run. That sucks.
I have an Ozzfest and Blogcritics story. It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything at Blogcritics, a year in fact, and I need to get back over there and write something new. One of the perks of being a blogcritic is getting free review material. When I saw that an Ozzfest ticket was one of the promotional review items I jumped at the chance to get involved. Long story short, Sharon Osbourne allegedly got pissy and decided to pull the tickets that had been offered. Maybe she looked over Blogcritics and had seen that some negative Osbournes-related press? Don’t know, but they were pulled. I paid for my own ticket and went to the event.
I had planned to pay for a ticket anyway because I was taking my son and also because I like to pay for the things I review anyway. You can read the review of Ozzfest 2004 at Blogcritics and a slightly different version here at Hmm (same review score).
Heavy metal needs a few more battles like the one at Ozzfest. Rival metal bands going at each others throats. It might be that Sharon Osbourne was helping Iron Maiden out more than Dickinson thinks, at least from a publicity standpoint. I like older Ozzy and Black Sabbath and older Iron Maiden (Powerslave and before). The newer stuff is ok. Dickinson’s voice is in much better shape than Ozzy, that’s for sure.
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, Ozzy is actually working on two studio albums, one of which is a musical (?) based around the life of Russian politician, Grigory Rasputin, the other will feature long time guitarist and friend Zakk Wylde who has a new Black Label Society album coming out soon called Shot to Hell (affiliate, $12.99).
I can’t help wondering what Ozzy’s next album due out in February 2007 will be like. Will he be able to bring back the magic?
Did this post make you go hmm?
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Nah, Ozzie could never bring back the magic of Black Sabbath’s first two albums, Black Sabbath and Paranoid. The darkness and occult overtones might have been tongue-in-cheek, but I promise you this listener, who was 15 or 16 when the Black Sabbath album came out in 1970, took it all quite seriously. Even though I can’t listen to it now, it could be a bit scary then when I dropped a 250 microgram dose of white lightening and slapped on the headphones.
My parents thought I was doing homework, but I was traversing the nether regions of the universe and writing ‘really heavy poetry, man’. (The word ‘heavy’ was high praise indeed, in those days). I still kept my grades up, though. I even submitted an essay I wrote on acid tripping in English Lit and got an A on it. That was the most meaningful A I ever got.
Comment by Vince Williams — August 27, 2006 @ 2:18 pm PST
You ever hear Ozzy sing the Sabbath song Gypsy live, Vince? I got chills listening to that song. He could really, really wail at one time.
Comment by TDavid — August 27, 2006 @ 4:18 pm PST
Dickingson is a nice guy, I met him a while ago backstage at a show in montreal, and I’ll be seeing them in 2 months when they come back for their new show.. “A matter of life and death”. Ozzy, is well, ozzy. there’s not much to say about him and his wife, except that they are reputated to be total jerks.
Comment by Kiltak — August 28, 2006 @ 10:11 am PST
You’re right TD, Ozzy could really wail at one time, but I have to admit that I was so blitzed (does anybody else still say that?) at every Sabbath concert I made (and every other one in the ’70’s for that matter) that I can’t remember. I do remember that some of the high notes he hit hurt my ears, but oh, what an ecstasy of pain.
Rolling Stone called Led Zeppelin the heaviest band of all time, and maybe they were, but nothing was ever heavier for me than Iron Man. “Has he lost his mind? Is he blind or can he see?”…I thought he was singing just for me.
Comment by Vince Williams — August 29, 2006 @ 2:16 pm PST
I for one would side with Maiden on this one - on all counts. (1) If Sharon’s complaint was true - that doesnt excuse her childish actions - she is far from childhood and shouldnt act like one. (2) How many bands run over their timeslots and dont get treated that way? There are more professional ways of dealing with it - and I guarantee you some of those are even in the contracts (3) I for one am glad that they (Iron Maiden) enjoy us the fans being there, up front, and being able to afford it. Their shows are affordable, and whenever possible, have General Admission (ie: pit areas, etc) as well as relatively cheap ticket prices with the difference between nose bleed and up front being $10-15. (4) I am glad that they are not just very VOCAL about it, but follow their words with ACTIONS (it’s not just being verbal for the sake of publicity… they add an extra DVD for Death on Tour - 3 total, demand it gets released for the same as their last 2 disk DVD set - a whopping $18… they sell their newest and probably best CD for $10 - add $2 for a bonus DVD - add $5 for a limited edition t-shirt. They sell their tickets for $35-50, scream and demand for GA seating - and get it for us - and then still put on a show that’ll leave new bands full of 20 year olds struggling to keep up with Maiden’s energy).
They treat us right, they bitch about us not being treated right and try to change it, and they say what they think - and even if we dont agree with all of what they say - we always know it’s from their hearts… and it’s always what they mean and never an act. They keep it real.
Comment by Robert M — September 13, 2006 @ 4:39 pm PST
[…] Sabbath mocht niet van Sharon Osbourne, hetgeen Maiden-zanger Bruce Dickinson - ook al eens het slachtoffer van Sharon Osbourne’s onsympathieke omgangsvormen - later op hetzelfde podium de opmerking […]
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