I wanted to bring 7 Days of Sabbath and two weeks of celebrating the life and music of Ozzy Osbourne to a close with one of my favorite Sabbath songs (there are so many favorites!). Jack the Stripper/Fairies Wear Boots is such a great track. I'll never forget listening to the lyrics as a young stoner and thinking, "How can I see Fairies with boots on dancing with a dwarf?"
Luckily, I never quite got there.
Tomorrow? Tomorrow our mourning ends. Let the celebration continue!
One of my all-time favorite Sabbath deep-cuts and among their best lyrics. Finding this blew me away in a week where I've been pretty blown away at what can be found on YouTube from the "Before Times."
Watch:
The thumbnail image for Shudder's newest Shudder Original, Monster Island, instantly caught my eye with what appeared to be a Creature of the Black Lagoon-like monster. Here's the trailer:
What a fantastic concept - a U.S. soldier and a Japanese soldier stranded on an island during WWII have to overcome their differences to survive being stalked by a monster. I tried to find the time to watch this over the weekend, but most of my free 'watch' time has been spent enamored with The Sandman Season Two, so I'll get to this one later this week.
Playlist:
Ozzy Osbourne - The Ultimate Sin
Witchthroat Serpent - Trove of Oddities at the Devil's Driveway
Escape Driver - No Fate
Ennio Morricone - The Thing OST
John Carpenter - Prince of Darkness OST
John Carpenter - Big Trouble in Little China OST
Deadguy - Near-Death Travel Services
Rein - Reincarnated
The Revolting Cocks - Attack Ships on Fire (single)
The Revolting Cocks - Beers, Steers + Queers
Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments
Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley
Black Sabbath - Sabotage
Black Sabbath - Vol. 4
Ren - Vincent's Tale (single)
Aerosmith - Rocks
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
Deftones - Koi No Yokan
Young Widows - Power Sucker
Young Widows - Settle Down City
King Woman - Doubt EP
Turnstile - GLOW ON
Blackbraid - Blackbraid I
Blackbraid - Blackbraid II
NIN - As Alive As You Need Me To Be (single)
NIN - Year Zero
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• XIX: The Sun
• Queen of Pentacles
• Six of Swords
Enlightenment and Emotional grounding make this a good time to make decisions.
What decision to make, though? This caught me a bit unaware, so I'll have the cards on my desk throughout the day, reminding me to keep the reading's lesson in mind.
HUGE props to blacksabfan for posting this. Head over to their YouTube page and check 'em out! Lots of great live and rare Sabbath videos (lots of Thin Lizzy, too!).
There are a number of Sabbath songs that started out with different lyrics than what Ozzy ended up recording. This is one I don't think I was aware of.
There was a record store in Orland Park, IL when I was in High School. Red Tower. Located in the outer circumference of the Orland Mall's parkway, this standalone building carried with it for its south suburban location, the kind of cultural cache places like The Alley and Reckless Records did in the city (I'm aware The Alley wasn't a record store, but it was the most record store-like clothing/accessory store I've ever seen). Anyway, I already knew We Sold Our Souls For Rock 'n' Roll, the post-Sabotage Greatest Hits collection you could literally buy at gas stations in the late 80s/early 90s. While that introduced me to the first phase of Sabbath's music, it didn't prepare me for the second phase, those quasi-cinematic, philosophical Science Fiction-tinged tracks like Into the Void, the closer from 1971's Master of Reality. This song introduced a thread that, while "Supernaut" tugged on it again for Vol. 4, wasn't fully realized (IMO) until 1975's Sabotage, my favorite of the group's records and criminally underrated (and underrepresented on WSOSFR'n'R - I mean, how did they only add "Am I Going Insane?"). It was in Red Tower that I first heard Into the Void, and it literally made me stop, go up and ask the guy behind the counter what was playing. The song sounds like the soundtrack to a comic book or Science Fiction film, from the lyrics to the larger-than-life riffs. Instant favorite and the first inclination that I needed to move beyond the gas station greatest hits with this band.
For the record, the alternate lyrics are not good. I mean, the actual lyrics to this track are amazing, and I'd be curious to read how the boys from Birmingham got to the finished product. It's still cool to hear this little slice of Sabbath history, though, and for some fantastic alternate lyrics to this song, there's always Soundgarden's cover from SOMMS.
As we're getting close to the end of our celebration of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath (my daily, personal one has been with me since I was a teenager and will carry on until I too, reside After Forever), I wanted to throw in a little something extra for today's post. Melvins and Sleep's Al Cisneros covering Sabbath Bloody Sabbath!
Man, they made it slower! I guess if there was going to be one way to make this song heavier than when it was born, this would be the only way to approximate that.
Holy smokes! I NEVER expected to find my second favorite song from Black Sabbath's 1976 seventh studio album Technical Ecstasy live on YouTube, but I guess the algorithm is getting to know me these last two weeks and, what's more, actually do something useful, because this was literally waiting for me when I logged in just now to find a track to post.
Technical Ecstasy is unfairly maligned pretty much across the board, but I dig the entire record - yes! including "It's Alright," the Fleetwood Mac-esque track sung by Bill Ward.
First favorite track is "You Won't Change Me," and it proves that keyboards were definitely not the downfall of the band. There are some thick-ass spooky vibes on this track, and I love it. But album closer Dirty Women - the LP's centerpiece, according to those wonderful liner NOTES I memorized long ago - is a close second. Sure, the lyrics on this record don't come anywhere near, say, Sabotage, but the music and arranging is fantastic and one of Ozzy's gifts was delivering vague or even goofy lyrics in a manner that made them feel, if not exactly profound, then inevitable. I've never listened to a Sabbath song and thought, 'awful lyrics' even if maybe sometimes they might be.
I really can't tell you how excited finding this has me.
Black Sabbath performing the criminally underrated "Cornucopia," one of my favorite tracks from 1972's Vol 4.
This recording, which was apparently included in the Vol. 4 box set Rhino released a couple of years back, is fantastic! When I went looking for clean copies of this song live, I never dreamed this was out there. I guess I should have sprung for that box set!
Posted to YouTube by the aptly named R. Supernaut - go give this channel a browse and a follow. Lots of great tracks from Sabbath, Bowie, Danzig to name but a few.
Watch:
I had the honor to once again sit in on the Dread Broadcast, this time for their July recap panel discussion.
This aired live last night from 7:00 PM CST until 9:30 PM, but it's up in perpetuity and totally worth your time. So many great films and books covered, and we kicked it off with special guest Writer/Director/Actor Chris Riggi, whose new film Abduct blew both K and I away when we watched it this past Wednesday night.
This one has such a unique tone! Abduct is not a comedy, but it's funny in the way that a film about a group of friends undergoing an extremely messed-up situation can be funny. It's also not afraid to get a little mean and a lot Weird. This is currently a $2.99 rental on Prime and available for free on something called Fawesome. Either way, HIGHLY recommended.
Read:
A little bit of personal historical data.
The first time I saw Ozzy Osbourne live was August 23, 1992. I would have been 16 years old. This was the "No More Tours" tour. Goddamn, do I wish I still had the concert t-shirt I picked up!
Personally, I definitely could have done with more of the heavier No More Tears tracks, but the two they chose are favorites, so it's an even trade, as this would have also been the first time I ever heard any Sabbath songs performed live. I remember this show in a very vague way: I remember the World Music Theatre (now called something else) and the way the seats were, the lawn, the metal chicks who were, to my sixteen-year-old eyes, ravishing. I remember Ozzy and excitment of seeing him on stage, but I don't really remember the performance overall. Seeing this set list (thank the stars for Setlist.com. I mean, really), it all seems like a remember it, but I can't be sure I'm not just remembering the decades of knowing what Ozzy does live and grafting it atop the memory. Either way, Glad I went to this, which would have, I think, been my third concert ever.
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Queen of Cups
• Two of Wands
• XVI: The Tower
Deep emotional connection and a union of Wills lead to a paradigm shift. Hmm...
When I turned 49 in March, I made the statement that for my upcoming 50th year, I want to finally make the short film I've been talking about for the last few years. K is on board - she's Magick with a camera - and I have some rough ideas, but I've had a hard time knowing where to start. I think the cards here are telling me that I should perhaps consult more with her, and figure out a game plan together, as opposed to keeping it in my mind to just bring her in as camera. Props to Chris Riggi for, I think, indiretly planting this idea in my head.
I originally set out looking for a video of "Lord of This World" from the 70s, but only found video of Sabbath performing it during their reunion tour in 1997/98. This, however... wow. The band was still four working-class guys from Birmingham, touring to support their first two albums.
Note the alternate vocals on "Hand of Doom" and "War Pigs," or the (insanely out of tune) instrumental intro to Black Sabbath during which we get a close-up on Tony Iommi's finger extensions he had designed so he could play after having the tips of two fingers cut off in the machine press where he worked prior to the band's success.
Years ago, I had a VHS titled something like "The Black Sabbath Story" that combined interviews with live footage spanning the group's Ozzy era. This particular concert supplied the War Pigs that video presented, and the band's no-frills vintage from this performance always stayed with me because most of what you see live from Sabbath footage is post-Master of Reality, when the band had become huge and Ozzy's fringe was growing longer and longer. Mr. Brown, Sonny and I always theorized that the more cocaine Ozzy used for the performance, the longer the fringe.
There's something insanely intimate and special about this footage. I'm assuming it was released at some point, but I've never seen it (need to look).
Probably my second favorite Ozzy track, "Shot in the Dark" is the final track on 1986's The Ultimate Sin. I knew this song from its inception as a single, and it wasn't until the early 90s that I heard the entire album from which it hails. At that time, I wasn't a fan of the album, just the song, which seemed like a moody anomaly on an otherwise, at-first-glance collection of so-so 80s hard rock (It didn't help that my high school girlfriend and her two older sisters played Ozzy non-stop for the three years we dated. Forced familiarity can indeed breed contempt, a lesson we could have applied to our relationship, as well).
Maybe ten years ago or so, I gave The Ultimate Spin another chance, and found that, not only did I remember a lot of the tracks, but I remembered them kindly. Excitedly, even. Since then, this has become a go-to Ozzy record for me. As much as I love and respect the man, I don't gel with a lot of his solo work. Riding high off No More Tears, I was ready to embrace Ozzmosis when it landed in 1995, but the lead single, "Perry Mason," just seemed like such a ridiculous song. Like Ozzy had somehow gone all the way around the bend into self-parody. The album didn't sit much better with me, and that was the last of his solo work I paid attention to until Mr. Brown got me into 2020's Ordinary Man circa 2021. Producer Andrew Watt ended up being the best thing to happen to the Ozzman in decades, as I'd rank Ordinary Man and Patient No. 9 as instant classics. Both records are of a caliber that, while the early stuff is still untouchable, hold their own.
I've made it my mission to comb through his catalogue and see if I missed anything.
NCBD:
Great pull list this week. Let's go!
Void Rivals has been picking up steam as we move toward the Quintesson War's start in upcoming issue 25. We have an army of Skuxxoids, Hot Rod and Springer, the Quintessons, Zerta, and Cobra La. That's A LOT of tension points for a story, and somehow, Kirkman balances them all perfectly, letting out little bits of steam here and there so we know that in a couple of issues, things are going to go OFF!
Zander Cannon's Sleep is the, ah, sleeper hit of 2025. Seriously, this book is fantastic! When I first picked up issue one, I thought the art would be a tonal aberration I wouldn't be able to get over. Turns out, it's the exact opposite. Cannon's style belies a dark underbelly that froths with blood and bad things.
Minor Arcana quickly proved itself as another burgeoning Jeff Lemire masterpiece, a la Fishflies. This time, however, there's a long run and a more involved plot. The sleepy seaside small town setting and exploration of a failed fortune teller are masks for something bigger and much more malevolent, and the reveals come slow and steady, once again showcasing the deep-seated influence of David Lynch in this man's storytelling.
Almost as if the Universe sent this cover to pay homage to Ozzy's passing. I have no idea what this book is about, but when I saw the title/cover combo, I knew I'd have to track it down.
James Tynion & Michael Walsh's Exquisite Corpses continues barreling along its destructive path and you're damn straight I'll once again have a front row seat! I have a feeling this book is going to really surprise us along the way. Not everything is as straightforward as it seems.
Watch:
For reasons I simply cannot fathom, about two years ago I walked away from HBOs Doom Patrol series and never came back. This wasn't intentional; I'm not really sure how I got like this, but I tend to leave shows - even shows I adore - hanging. Something kicked in again last week, and I rewatched the entire second season and am now perched atop the first episode of Season Three, which is unfamiliar ground for me.
I can't stress how much I love this show. It's absurd, moving, and outright bat shit. The look of it is among my favorite looks to any show or film - the lighting is soft, dark, but still colorful. The set design is symmetrical, cohesive and downright creepy A.F., when it needs to be. And the original, Dada-esque undertones Grant Morrison so lovingly wove through his run on the book in the 80s are always ever-present. These elements would be disparate and jarring in the hands of most, but this show blends them all perfectly.
Playlist:
Deee-Lite - Dewdrops in the Garden
Deee-Lite - World Clique
Primus - Antipop
Hot Stove Jimmy - It's a System...
Lard - The Last Temptation of Reid
Meat Puppets - Dusty Notes
Deadfly Buchowski - Russian Doll E.P.
Zombi - 2020
Zombi - Direct Inject
Pixies - The Night the Zombies Came
Ozzy Osbourne - No More Tears
Ozzy Osbourne - Perry Mason (single)
Ozzy Osbourne - Down to Earth
Ozzy Osbourne - No Rest for the Wicked
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Page of Wands
• Two of Cups
• Four of Wands
Creative emotional support is needed to reclaim a regular sense of balance, i.e. in this case, duty. I remain in a non-writing paradigm. I did begin re-reading Shadow Play Book One: Kim & Jessie, a much-needed and until now shirked necessity for, you know, working on the sequel. That's a major step for me, but I need to get back to a regular routine and it just seems to be drifting further and further away. A day stolen here or there just doesn't amount to much, and I think the cards are telling me that I need to ask K for help.
Man, 2025 can suck a big bag O' clown peen. I mean, what the fuck? As per my tradition, thus begins Ozzy Week, where I'll post and celebrate the Demon Prince of Rock!!!
"No More Tears" is easily my favorite track and album from Ozzy's solo career, which is a pretty uneven solo career. Of course, the same can be said of all post-original line-up members of Black Sabbath once they tried to make it on their own.
The 80s were a tumultuous time for Rock Gods - too much blow and a frenzy of one-upmanship, and I'm sure they hardly knew which way was up. But this track - man, I remember the night I first heard this on 103.5 The BLAZE, Chicago's pre-Grunge rock radio station. I remember the DJ saying, "Here's the new track from Ozzy Osbourne," and I remember the bass grabbed me instantly.
Of course, bassist Mike Inez would go on to Alice in Chains greatness, and guitarist Zakk Wylde would go on to... wear a kilt. But on September 17, 1991, Ozzy released what I consider his crowning achievement, and the entire album ROCKS.
