I never thought I'd say this, but...

I no longer consider myself an Ozzy Osbourne fan. I never thought I'd say that, but today I learned something that I never in my wildest dreams thought would occur.

Ozzy Osbourne is suing Tony Iommi for a 50% stake in the name "Black Sabbath".

This would of made a great April Fools' story. It's not April 1 though. It's also not a joke, but rather the epitome of selfish, egotistical, foolish, pathetic greed. Ozzy is basically saying that the name should be shared equally among the original 4 members, and also says that his distinctive voice is the reason Sabbath was popular, and that their reunion saved Sabbath from the toilet (I'm paraphrasing but whatever). The copy of the documents are over at Blabbermouth, as well as the entire story.

Well, Ozzy/$haron...you've done it. You've completely alienated your entire fan base. The thing that really gets me is that usually I have to deal with people that think Ozzy=Sabbath, but 95% of the comments completely supported Iommi and his position. This makes me feel good. It tells me that a lot of people are quite keen to the shit the Osbourne's have pulled over the years.

Iommi has owned the sole rights to the Sabbath name since 1985. Ozzy gave away his stake in 1980. It was not big deal for him...he had his solo career and he was bigger than Sabbath. Sabbath was done for. Hell, he was even able to get the billing at Live Aid to be "Ozzie Osbourne featuring Black Sabbath". It never mattered to Ozzy when Ozzy was on top. But when Ozzy feels the pressure from his former band...he goes and does something crazy. First it was "Speak of the Devil" (responding to Live Evil), then it was the Farewell B.S. in 1992...and now this...because H&H has a top 10 album and has completed a couple of successful tours.

The biggest question that remains for me about all this...is that if Ozzy is so concerned about getting an equal stake from the Sabbath name (despite the fact he didn't do hardly any work) then why aren't Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake getting credit for their work on those solo albums? It blows my mind. I've always given Ozzy the benefit of the doubt, because everyone knows it's that greedy bitch (the digital bitch) $haron O$bourne who is pulling the strings...whether it be erasing the work of accomplished musicians or destroying Ozzfest by fucking up other bands performances (Maiden in '05), but this is the last straw. Ozzy refuses to put a stop to this nonsense, and because of it, I can no longer support his work, nor will I buy anymore of his music (not that it's that good anymore anyway). The only reason I'm keeping any of his solo work in my personal music collection is because of guys like Randy Rhoads, Geezer, Daisley, Jake E. Lee, and all the other musicians he's shafted. Their work is the only reason I can even bear to listen to those CDs. Otherwise I would put throw them in the trash...which is right where "Black Rain" and 'Down to Earth" are going when I get back to Ohio. I don't listen to either one anyway.

Speaking of which, I know I've been a bit lazy on YouTube and on my blog. I'm in Wisconsin right now, living with my dear Grandma and taking care of her 5 acre yard and running all her errands during the day. I check in a lot online, but I don't have a lot of spare time to post anything new, and the internet here is a bit slower than the internet I have in Ohio, so it tests my patience. Besides all that, my YouTube account is screwed up; my comments and messages always show up as new, and I lose track of what I read and respond to, and what I keep until later. I have to delete it to keep it from growing, and I probably lose track of stuff. I've emailed YouTube about it but they never fix it, so...whatever. Stuff will appear sporadically and on a whim, just so you're aware.

I also found out that my clip of 'Shockwave' from Abilene has been removed from YouTube...the other songs from the same recording haven't (yet), but I'm not sure why...it shouldn't violate copyright since it's a soundboard from the show...not from an officially released show, so I might have to fight for that one. This copyright stuff is out of control though...

Well I'm rambling...but I had to say something regarding this latest episode from the Osbourne camp. Nothing would make me happier than Iommi crushing them in court...although Ozzy has damaged his legacy beyond repair anyway...no matter who wins.

I'm back

Hi everyone.

Sorry about any delays. I think I answered most of my important PMs on YouTube. If not, then shoot me another one.

I don't want to get in too many details, but I had a family member pass away last week and I was either out of town, or just made myself unavailable. Not that I got any complaints from anyone about my absence, but I thought I would just make that clear in case there were some that weren't brought to my attention.

I posted one new video earlier on YouTube. Another soundcheck track by Sabbath. Should be a treat for you all.

I also got curious and downloaded the disc of demos/alternate tracks from the deluxe version of Paranoid that was just released. I noticed that on "War Pigs" the vocal can still be heard at certain parts. Get a good set of headphones and put it on if you have the track. Listen to the first two or three minutes, and you can hear a low vocal. Especially when Ozzy would yell "Oh Lord Yeah!". It's there. I didn't hear it on any of the other tracks (yet), but I'm starting to think that these Instrumental versions might not necessarily be legit. Maybe some of these were concocted prior to release by removing vocals and claiming them to be something else after the fact. I don't know. If anyone has the disc, I'd like your take on this.

Here's a link for you all, requested by Diopriest:

Black Sabbath - Paris 1970 (mp3 @ 192 kbps)

www.megaupload.com/?d=E4I3K2VD

If anyone has a lossless version of the above, drop me a message. I love this recording, and would love an upgrade to it.

Stay tuned this week, I should have some more posts.

Blacksabfan

New YouTube posts and delays

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the extended absence. To make a long story short, I have been preoccupied with some family issues for the last week and half and will be remain occupied with them for at least another week, if not longer. I mentioned in my previous post that I had planned for some new Sabbath material (including a 35 minute interview, as well as some more soundcheck material) to be posted soon. I will get to these as soon as I can.

I also promised some people that have messaged me that I would send them some stuff. Bear with me and I'll get to it as soon as possible.

Thanks.

Blacksabfan

The Eternal Idol with Ray Gillen

I decided to play Santa today. Diopriest (who has a great channel, check him out on YT) requested that I post these to my blog. I haven't posted any links lately, so I was happy to oblige.

Here is the first link. This link is for "Version 1" of the Ray Gillen Eternal Idol Demos. These are the same as what I have posted in my YouTube channel.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1RMLH8HZ

Now here is the other treat...

A couple weeks ago, a guy named "Gutlit" on DIME (www.dimeadozen.org) posted some choice selections from his collection. He posted another version of the Ray Gillen Eternal Idol Demos. This version is the best that I've ever heard. It's different than the first version in that the songs have ALL the guitar solos, whereas the other version doesn't, but these sound so crisp. They are supposedly from the master tape and it certainly sounds that way. They almost sound like a finished product, and they are arguably better than the actual album. It's a bold claim, but damn these sound amazing. Here's the link for those:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XX4FPH81

These are posted as .flac files. If you convert them to .mp3, make sure you do so ONLY for your own personal use. Don't repost any .mp3 copies of these to any websites. Anyone is more than welcome to post the .flac files though, or repost these links. If you're looking for a good way to convert .flac to .wav to burn to CD...try dBpoweramp. It's fantastic. It's also free.

I wanted to do something funny for April Fools Day, but I'm worried if I post a video claiming to have a rare song, and I instead show Rick Astley singing "Never gonna give you up", I'd probably upset a lot of people. Instead, I'm going to post another rare Lynott track, and NOT play a joke on everyone. I also want to make another Sabbath post or two sometime this weekend. No promises, but I'll do my best.

All the best everyone.

Ryan

Yay for funny hate mail!

Hey everyone!

Lately this blog has taken on a negative tone. When I started this blog, it was NOT my goal to bore you all with my trivial issues and confrontations with morons. I'm going to change it up a bit starting now.

I received this PM over at YouTube today. It greatly amused me.

rocklegendthinlizzy - Mad Mike and your blog

Ryan

I've read your blog entry regarding Rock Legend where you quote from the Trust forum. The guy in question is MichaelM aka Madmike aka MentalM. The guy is nuts an absolute headcase, well known in Lizzy circles and banned from every Thin Lizzy site there's ever been. Holding that idiot up as some kind of example was the best thing I've read in a long time. I guess you were trying yet again to provoke a reaction but I guess we were to busy laughing. With that rant you shot yourself right in the foot and lumped yourself in with probably thee most ridiculous character ever, nice work ;-)

Anyway if you want to touch base with him then do a Google on MichaelM his blog page comes up tops. I'm sure you'll get along fine I can take the shit you write because that's exactly what it is, shit. False accusations are whole different bag though and that pisses me off so I guess you got your reaction and a couple of minutes of my time which is what you appear to crave. You've been left well alone for the simple reason that you're not worth the trouble and it's my intention to keep it that way. I'm a patient man and will explore all avenues to try to understand what peoples issues are, I thought after the last time we'd reached an understanding obviously I was wrong. Thankfully this time your lack of judgement has come home to roost and the jokes on you.

adios nick

Well wasn't that poignant? RL must be bored so they've decided to throw a couple jabs again to see if I'm willing to engage them once again. Hell, why not. Nothing like a good feud to get people to pick sides. Thanks Nick [Sharp]. I didn't ask for a response from you, just from Michael M, which by the way, I've already talked to. I'm not sure what makes him so mental, as he came across well to me, both via email and in his message at the Trust. I would say he came across "logically", logic being something you're not really into.

BTW, I didn't know you were the official spokesperson/propaganda minister for RockLegend, Nick. Read up on Joseph Goebbels, he would make a good role-model for you. Hell, Phil Osborne can be Hitler and Frank Healy can be Heinrich Himmler. How's that sound? Did I miss anyone? Let me know, and I can assign roles to anyone else that wants one. I'm sure I can think of about 10-15 high ranking Nazis off the top of my head, being a history buff and all, that would fit perfectly for any one interested over at RL. I shouldn't need to know anymore than that, because really there's only about that many in your cult anyway.

Well, I guess the game IS afoot...

"Johnny comes marching home again...hurrah...hurrah..."

Just a line from a new favorite song of mine...


Oh, and for Diopriest...I'll get links to BOTH sets of Ray Gillen demos up here by Wednesday of next week at the latest. Possibly sooner.

Interesting discussion for Lizzy/Lynott fans

EDIT: I deleted the entire discussion. I've just decided I'm not going to put up with anything like this anymore. I'm starting to think I was a little hasty with my judgment anyway; that the people I initially thought were responsible for this actually aren't and that IT IS in fact RL back up to their old tactics. You'd think they learn...

Well, I guess if they want to continue their hate-campaign against me and other people who don't subscribe to their brand of Lizzy-fascism, then I guess the game is afoot.

Happy St. Pat's!

Don't drink too much...

Be sure to check out the new Lizzy-related video on my YouTube channel.