What Ozzy Wants Of Us
There are many constants in the world. We will all grow old. We will all die. And Ozzy Osbourne will pretty much put on the exact same concert that he’s been performing for the last 25+ years.
A shining example of this predictability can be gathered in a way not involving having to go to some non-ventilated venue, pushed and bumped from all directions by sweaty, meth-addled music subculture losers, and, in the end, voluntarily relinquishing the years of proper hearing you have left. Yes, I am referring to the almighty live album. And what better evidence of recorded Ozzy concerts than the 1982 platinum-selling release of Speak of the Devil (or, Talk of the Devil, for you Brits).
By this point, Randy Rhoads is already dead. Rudy Sarzo is playing bass on this one, a month prior to quitting and joining Quiet Riot. Of course, there’s the pre-Night Ranger guitarist, Brad Gillis as well. And you probably don’t care about the drummer and keyboardist, so what’s the point?
Speak of the Devil is a collection of live-performed Black Sabbath classic and not-so-classic tunes (covered?) and, oddly, one you cannot get anymore in North America as it was deleted from the catalogue in 2002. Ozzy might hate this album (which he claims he did due to label pressures as a response to the Dio-fronted Live Evil Sab album of live tracks) and there are rumors that it isn’t as “live” as it purports to be, but who cares? What we do get from this album — in addition to Ozzy’s intermittently out-of-tune vocals, of course — is The Three Wants of Ozzy. Purely for clarification…
- He Wants Us To Know That He Loves Us All
- He Wants To See Your Hands (Come On!)
- He Wants Us To “Keep On Smokin’ It”
Of course, I’m getting older and have long since lost patience for music subculture nonsense and the Peter Pan Syndrome it so glaringly invites. In response to the above…
- Rock musicians do not love us. They need us for money, and little else. The “love” bit is an effective means by which to get you to part with your cash. Ever told a girl you loved her just to get her in bed? Same premise.
- Put your hands down and stop acting like a monkey. And ditto with the lighters. Trust me, you’ll be cringing 10-20 years from now.
- Drugs are a marvelous filter to divide masters from slaves — drug addicts, being in the latter category. If you have no brains, then, yes, keep smoking “it.”
Still, I love the classics — with all of the schmaltz, tackiness and cheese that come along with ‘em. As a spectator, of course.
But, enjoy your music today. Because you just might outgrow a whole bunch of what’s attached to it a lot sooner than you think. A decade or two from now, you can sit back and watch your embarrassingly documented youth on YouTube (or whatever takes its place) in all of its stubborn and short-sighted glory. And won’t that be fun?
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