ZAKK WYLDE!

[CGaijin]

I've said this a hundred times to friends, but I've always wanted to see a G3-style tour called Wizzards of Ozz. It'd feature Zakk, Jake E., Gillis, and Gus G. doing the best of their Ozzy material-- each having done at least one full record with him. At the end, they all come out and do a medley tribute to Randy Rhoads.

Given Jake's injuries and arthritis now, probably not feasible for him anymore. But man, wouldn't that be a cool tour?

[HottKarl777]

I've said this a hundred times to friends, but I've always wanted to see a G3-style tour called Wizzards of Ozz. It'd feature Zakk, Jake E., Gillis, and Gus G. doing the best of their Ozzy material-- each having done at least one full record with him. At the end, they all come out and do a medley tribute to Randy Rhoads.

Given Jake's injuries and arthritis now, probably not feasible for him anymore. But man, wouldn't that be a cool tour?

That would be cool as fuck actually. 10 years ago Jake might have been able to pull it off. Who would sing though? Jack Black is probably too campy but he's got the chops.

[sirthx2]

I hung out with Zakk at Zloz's 70th birthday party back last fall... he could not have been nicer. The event was a who's-who in the industry and I was honored that Neil invited me.

Zakk is the real deal, through and through... a fun guy, honest guy, and very likeable too. Anyone hating on him, or trying to compare Zakk to Jake or Randy, etc... all nonsense.

The last time I saw him, he was mixing our sound at The Palomino in North Hollywood... we were doing one of those weeknight Jani Lane Fireman's Ball things...

We didn't ask him to mix us, he was there, simply thought the sound-man sucked, and walked up and said; "I got this" and started to dial us in! Lol

Zakk is one of the good ones...

$tEvil

Love this!

[HueyRamone]

Gillis... each having done at least one full record with him.

So, Gillis would handle the Sab stuff?

[Alessa]

He looks like he smells like pee and cigarettes.
Also looks like he goes to the Blue Oyster Bar after his shows.

So (politically correct swear word) what

[SterileEyes1]

Wizzards of Ozz is an absolutely fantastic idea!

I met Zakk briefly about a year and a half ago. My account matches everyone else’s - just a genuinely good dude, and all you have to do is look up his tour schedule to see how hard he (still) works.

The way he looked after Ozzy during the Back To The Beginning set sort of said it all.

Also I’ve said it here before and it bears repeating that he has the best social media in all of music. Just funny stuff for its own sake. If you need a mood booster just pull up one of his stagewalks or dad jokes.

[CGaijin]

Gillis... each having done at least one full record with him.

So, Gillis would handle the Sab stuff?

Sure, that makes sense.

[CGaijin]

Who would sing though?

I'm sure Andrew Freeman could make time in his busy schedule.

[Ryan81]

Zakk is great! Him and Nuno are two of the last of that breed of kickass guitar players. Whatever you think about him when he plays he puts a lot into it. You cannot do his style convincingly unless you are looking to kick some ass. His stage presence is always entertaining. He has a great attitude and even though in some of his recent interviews his humor is a bit repetitive you gotta figure for somebody who drank like he did to just quit isn't easy. I'm sure he felt kinda lost for a bit. It's almost like you have to develop a whole new personality because you are no longer the same person. The way he handled it has been great. He isn't preachy and he doesn't speak with regret about how fucked up he used to be. He doesn't take himself too seriously. He is also as loyal as they come. I just don't get what there is not to like about him.

Does anybody know how well he does with his Wylde Audio company? Hopefully he is making a profit with it.

[Charles Bukaki]

I'm not a BLS fan, or a fan of what he did with Ozzy, or Zakk Sabbath for that matter, but I love Pride and Glory and the two Book Of Shadows albums. I listen to all three at least 3-4 times a month.

[SterileEyes1]

Bumping this just to say I’m thinking of Zakk today. He’s got a show with Pantera tonight, played on and off for Ozzy since he was 19, this must be a day for him.

[ParaDime77]

Bumping this just to say I’m thinking of Zakk today. He’s got a show with Pantera tonight, played on and off for Ozzy since he was 19, this must be a day for him.

No doubt man. Had to be a second father to him.

[LitaStrauss]

I hung out with Zakk at Zloz's 70th birthday party back last fall... he could not have been nicer. The event was a who's-who in the industry and I was honored that Neil invited me.

Zakk is the real deal, through and through... a fun guy, honest guy, and very likeable too. Anyone hating on him, or trying to compare Zakk to Jake or Randy, etc... all nonsense.

The last time I saw him, he was mixing our sound at The Palomino in North Hollywood... we were doing one of those weeknight Jani Lane Fireman's Ball things...

We didn't ask him to mix us, he was there, simply thought the sound-man sucked, and walked up and said; "I got this" and started to dial us in! Lol

Zakk is one of the good ones...

$tEvil

Awesome! Good to hear this. I met Zakk once and he could not have been nicer.

The Pantera show tonight in Cincinnati is gonna be a rough one for Zakk. I would hope he knew about this before the rest of us did.

[alleyrulez]

@ the "No More Tears sucks" takes. the album was HUGE.

Zakk comes across as a great guy and seems to have genuinely loved Ozzy. and I challenge anyone to mention any band member more loyal to him than Zakk.

[HueyRamone]

Zakk comes across as a great guy and seems to have genuinely loved Ozzy. and I challenge anyone to mention any band member more loyal to him than Zakk.

Not to dispute this, I agree. But wasnt there a thing where Oz felt Zakk was using him as a bargaining chip to get into GnR, and booted him before the Ozzmosis tour?

[alleyrulez]

Zakk comes across as a great guy and seems to have genuinely loved Ozzy. and I challenge anyone to mention any band member more loyal to him than Zakk.

Not to dispute this, I agree. But wasnt there a thing where Oz felt Zakk was using him as a bargaining chip to get into GnR, and booted him before the Ozzmosis tour?

I'd never heard that before...

[Psychobolia.com]

So they booted him before the Ozzmosis tour only to bring him back for Down to Earth?

I think the official reason for the other replacements (Gus, the producer guy) is that they didn't want Ozzy's records to sound like a BLS album, which I can understand. That covers album though (with Jerry Cantrell as guitarist), most of it is ok, but the guitar solo on Sympathy for the Devil is one of the worst guitar solos I've ever heard!

[HueyRamone]

I did a little digging to jog my memory.

Only think that doesnt square up, is I saw Ozzy on Ozzmosis, and it was Joe Holmes, not Zakk.





And yet the idea for Black Label Society was born out of a sense of desperation. It came up about when Wylde ended up caught between Axl Rose and the Ozzman.

“What happened was this,” Zakk explains. “There wasn’t much going on with Ozzy – he took a break after the Ozzmosis album in 1995. That’s cool. The Boss [Ozzy] always told the rest of us in his band that he wouldn’t wanna tour forever, and that if we ever got the chance to do other things then we should take that opportunity. Everyone gets to a point in their life when they wanna come off the road and just record. So, I get a call from Axl Rose in ’95, inviting me to jam with Guns N’ Roses.”

At the time, Wylde didn’t know the GN’R frontman. He’d hung out with bassist Duff McKagan and guitarist Slash. But the unpredictable singer was a different matter entirely, and a new experience for the guitarist.

“I started to jam out ideas with Axl, and things seemed to be going well. Then, suddenly, I get this message from Ozzy, after he’d done the Black Sabbath reunion [in the summer of 1997]: ‘Hey, I’m going on tour. You in or out?’ Now, things began to get heavy, with lawyers and fucking managers involved. To me it was simple. Mum [Sharon Osbourne] tells me how much I’m getting paid, and that’s it, because I know she’s fair. But, no, there were fucking businessheads putting their 10 cents in…”

Result? Although he did get back with Ozzy for a tour of Japan, Australia and New Zealand early in 1998, Wylde was then left high and dry. Ozzy decided not to use Wylde for the US Ozzfest tour that same year, and his jam with Guns N’ Roses hadn’t turned into anything concrete. Zakk was suddenly left on the sidelines. He’d already recorded and released a solo album, 1996’s Book Of Shadows, which was very much a precursor to BLS. But now was the time to press onwards.

“It was crazy, man. I got a letter from Ozzy telling me that my services weren’t needed, and Axl had also gotten rid of me,” he said. “So, I had all these riffs and song ideas, and I had nowhere to go with them.”

It was at this pivotal moment that Black Label Society was born. In 1998, Zakk began working on the album that would become Sonic Brew. Initially, he treated it as a solo project in the most literal sense.

[FreddyFender]

Nah he wasn't "booted." Zakk wouldn't commit to the tour with Ozzy because he was waiting to see if he'd get the GNR gig.

Ozzy had already retired once - Zakk had no clue if he'd have a job once the tour was over, so he hadn't committed. Also he was trying to get a share as an equal partner in GNR, which would have been a way better deal.

Zakk still hadn't made up his mind in time for the Ozzmosis tour, so Ozzy had to hire someone else.

[Ryan81]

Zakk makes it sound like Ozzy did Ozmosis and then took a couple years off until '97. That isn't what happened. Osmosis came out in late '95 and he toured within a month or two after it's release. I had tickets for the Seattle show and it got postponed for a few months and ended up happening in February of '96 I believe...maybe March or April? Then I saw Ozzfest in Tacoma that October of '96.

So Ozzy was actually very busy between Ozmosis' release and 1997. I don't know what in the hell Zakk is talking about. I sure wish he would've done those tours though because Joe Holmes was lame.