Call it Sabbath Mark II. Or the return of the Godfather(s).
Although heavy-metal fan boards have been buzzing for months about the Heaven and Hell tour featuring current and former Black Sabbath members, don?t think it?s all about the metal. Far from it. Musicians across genres are waxing poetic about the tour featuring some of the musicians who invented arena rock and gave birth to a new sound in the 1970s. Consider tonight?s show to be Music 101 in guitar mastery and vocal stylings.
“I was mostly surprised by the rap artists, actually, that were influenced by Sabbath,” guitar hero Tony Iommi has said. “That was a surprise. But it?s very nice, and I?m very honored.”
Brief history lesson: Sabbath was formed in 1969 by four teenage friends: Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, singer Ozzy Osbourne and bassist Geezer Butler. Some believed the band would die in 1979 when Osbourne was fired. But the 2006 release of three new songs by Iommi, Butler, and past members Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice brought requests for a tour by these members, who call their band Heaven and Hell after the 1980 Sabbath album.
Why all the excitement? Many, including the band members, say the metal played here won?t be replicated elsewhere.
“The ?80s were the worst period. You had these horrible pop bands growing their hair and calling themselves metal,” Butler has said, noting today?s metal isn?t much fresher. “It?s totally produced now. It?s almost like a conveyor belt of what metal?s supposed to be like these days. It?s not music to me.”
If reviews are any indication, many share that belief. Critics in cities where the tour has stopped are filled with praise.
Even the members of the opening bands, Megadeth and Machine Head, seem awed by the lead act.
“It?s crazy, we?ve been having a blast on this tour,” Robert Flynn, front man of Machine Head, told Metal Underground.com “Tony Iommi walks by [and says], ?You enjoying the tour?? It?s like being in an alternate universe.”
James Lomenzo, bassist of Megadeth, waxed equally poetic in a post to The Gauntlet.
“I guess what I?m saying is, even after all these years of playin? rock star myself, I?m still a fan,” he said.
IF YOU GO
Heaven and Hell with Megadeth and Machine Head
» When: 5:30 p.m. today
» Where: Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia
» Details: $29.50-$49.50; www.ticketmaster.com; 410-547-SEATS
