Ozzy & Black Sabbath: The Reunion That Will Tarnish A Legacy

Starting yesterday morning, the rumor mill was in full motion pointing towards a Black Sabbath reunion with all 4 original members.  Well, this morning it was confirmed that Black Sabbath and Ozzy are reuniting for a new album and tour.  I have just one question: WHY?

Why beat this dead horse any more than it’s already been beaten?  I mean, when Black Sabbath reunited back in 1999 it was such a shock to everyone and in all honesty, my expectations were far from exceeded.  They were met but not exceeded.  I just can’t even begin to understand why this is happening.  Geezer “We will never reunite” Butler on many occasions squashed the idea of a reunion and even Sharon Osbourne and her wife Ozzy went as far as to sue Tony Iommi for the use of the Black Sabbath “brand”.  Why the fuck would anyone want to even be associated with that craptastic duo after all that.  The answer is very simple: GREEN!  MOOLAH!  BENJAMINS!  Cold hard cash.  That’s why.

This really saddens me because any reputable legacy that Black Sabbath ever had will be watered down and tarnished just as bad as that of Ozzy himself.  There is no reason for this reunion to happen.  They have been “reuniting for a tour and new album” since the last 1999 tour and the band got so fed up with all of Ozzy and Sharron’s bullshit that they scrapped that idea and reached out to Ronnie James Dio about reuniting.  Now that’s how a reunion was done right.

When the Dio era Black Sabbath reunited, they did it right.  They reunited, wrote new songs, released a new album and even did so under a new band name choosing only to perform songs that were written by that particular lineup.  This reunion went over extremely well and was done so for the fans and for artistic integrity.  They chose to not just resurrect but preserve the legacy of this era of music and when Dio died, they closed the chapter forever sealing it as an unforgettable and amazing legacy of music and performance.  As for this reunion of Black Sabbath, that every well could’ve been done that way back in 1999.  Years of fighting put aside to perform some decent shows and put out a great live album (even if it is doctored up to all hell and back).  If they would’ve just left it at that maybe they could’ve saved face and much like the Dio era line up put to rest the legacy with a happy ending.

Instead of a happy ending to the legacy of Black Sabbath, what the general public and fans got were nearly 10 more years of bickering back and forth, law suits and litigation over what was now being considered a “brand.”  In my opinion, once something has been marked and deemed a “brand”, it is no longer about the music.  You can argue all you want that bands like AC/DC, KISS and Iron Maiden have “branded” themselves but the difference here is that they continue to make music together and give the fans all the “extras” that being a brand can give them.  In Sabbath’s case. they couldn’t even be in a room together without bitching about how much money Ozzy and Sharron wanted and how Sharron wanted full control over the Black Sabbath name.  How can anyone be excited about supporting the music and performances of a band who could really care less about the music in the first place?

Honestly, I cannot be excited about this reunion.  I know that there is a whole generation of Black Sabbath fans who may not have even been old enough to see them in ’99 who will freak out and flock to see this.  They will bask in the glow of nostalgia and cherish the opportunity to hear those classic songs performed live.  I cannot blame anyone for doing this and I totally hope that the fans will be happy.  I’m sure that many may feel that I look way too deep into things like this but that is what makes me a fan.  It makes you no less a fan if you’re excited and makes me no less a fan to not be.  Where some fans will see Black Sabbath up there performing these classic songs and rocking them out, I will see four guys up there bound together by nothing more than ink on a contract.  I will see four guys playing the same old tired Black Sabbath set list of hits tuned so far down so that Ozzy’s blown out voice can barely stay in key without the use of live applied auto tune.  Unfortunately, that’s just the reality of it in my opinion and that’s where I stand.  Any honorable legacy that Black Sabbath could ever have has now been tossed aside and will be drawn out way past it’s welcome much like Ozzy Osbourne’s own career.

 

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