Sabbath, bloody Sabbath!

August 23, 2005 2:33 PM

A clash of British Steel. Ozzy and Harriet Sharon get down on the Dickinson for outing Ozzy as a teleprompted addler. An anonymous backstage view here. More discussion care of our friends at I love Music.
posted by klangklangston (40 comments total)

There's a letter from the manager at Ironmaiden.com, but they don't allow hotlinking.
And there's a story in the OC Register, but they want you to register.
posted by klangklangston at 2:38 PM on August 23, 2005

I'd LOVE to hear a recording of this Maiden gig. I wonder if it'll show up on the Dime eventually.
posted by ktoad at 2:43 PM on August 23, 2005

It's up there now. It's in the ilm thread.
posted by klangklangston at 2:44 PM on August 23, 2005

Ooh, never mind. It's there already! ;)
posted by ktoad at 2:45 PM on August 23, 2005

Oops, you beat me to it man. Good thread btw. I hadn't heard about this yet.
posted by ktoad at 2:45 PM on August 23, 2005

That's because of the anti-metal bias in the Jazzist mainstream media.
posted by klangklangston at 2:51 PM on August 23, 2005

[quote] It's up there now. It's in the ilm thread.[/quote]
Aren't we forgetting something? Like the whole point of WWW?
posted by McBain at 2:52 PM on August 23, 2005

[quote] It's up there now. It's in the ilm thread.[/quote]
Aren't we forgetting something? Like the whole point of WWW?

You mean linking to it? Talking about it is one thing, but I doubt most folks on MeFi would condone a bootleg link, no matter the story behind it. Or maybe I'm wrong?
posted by ktoad at 2:56 PM on August 23, 2005

Happy now?
posted by klangklangston at 2:59 PM on August 23, 2005

Looks like Lemmy's gonna have to knock some sense back into everybody again.
posted by hackly_fracture at 3:26 PM on August 23, 2005

Interesting - there's a different perspective on the Blabbermouth reporting on VH1's site.

The VH1 article was the only thing I'd read until this post, and I have to admit I was somewhat surprised at Bruce's apparent lack of professionalism. However, these two articles show a different bent on the story and it looks like Maiden were screwed over by a bunch of complete asshats who had no respect or consideration for the thousands of audience members.

Maiden will still be going long after Sharon has finished wringing out that last semblance of credibility from her sad, decrepit, laughable husband of hers and his sad hangers on.
posted by TheDonF at 3:43 PM on August 23, 2005

Bruce Dickinson is the man.
posted by fire&wings at 3:45 PM on August 23, 2005

hackly_fracture invokes the HM messiah. Wow.

Man, screw Iron Maiden.

Besides, Ozzy's a rock star. He doesn't act. He doesn't do 'reality'. You see the real Ozzy when he's on stage. He's used to a whole other energy level.


Wow. I feel like I'm in Jr. High.
posted by Smedleyman at 3:59 PM on August 23, 2005

Yeah, except nothing good has came out of Sabbath or Maiden for a decade.
Now JP is still doing some good screaming, during and after the Ripper era.
posted by buzzman at 4:04 PM on August 23, 2005

Apologies for panning Maiden and Ozzy.
posted by buzzman at 4:18 PM on August 23, 2005

One witness called the event "the most unprofessional thing I have ever seen in my 20 years of going to rock shows."

Yep. That's Sharon Osbourne. Does she still have that lame-ass talk show?
posted by mrgrimm at 4:41 PM on August 23, 2005

If this had happened in Norway, Sharon would've stabbed Bruce in the back and made jewelry out of his skull.
posted by Anders Levant at 4:54 PM on August 23, 2005

Ozzy Osbourne's still alive? Or has Sharon just strung him up with wires and is pimping his rotting corpse now? That lady (term used out of habit) makes my skin crawl.
posted by fenriq at 5:03 PM on August 23, 2005

Wait a minute, who DIDN'T know that Ozzy was slave to his Teleprompter? How is this even an issue??
posted by Floydd at 5:12 PM on August 23, 2005

See I'd've thought Mossad would have just neutralized Dickinson maximally for Sharon.
posted by Smedleyman at 5:44 PM on August 23, 2005

Ozzy was a no-show for the third of a dozen(?) OzzFests in Columbus, OH. The last time, when Sharon had cancer, riots broke out. This time everyone was informed before they entered and were given the option of a refund, taken up by ~300. Maiden, I was told, more than filled in for the vacuum.

Ozzy, if you can't sing an hour without pissing yourself, its time to take a cue from Jack Black's song Dio and Ah-Dios. Dumping buckets of water on yourself fools no one.

Good grief. Sinatra didn't use teleprompters till he was in his 70s. and who can forget his snappy rendition of War Pigs at The Sands?
posted by hal9k at 6:28 PM on August 23, 2005

Interesting - there's a different perspective on the Blabbermouth reporting on VH1's site.

Is it just me, or is the Java applet on that page making it about the slowest loading piece of crap to hit the web?
posted by thanotopsis at 6:33 PM on August 23, 2005

Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, eh. Who cares. Their day was done 25 years ago. On Saturday night I got to see Dark New Day, Crossfade and Seether at the KY State Fair. Counting the $5 advance-purchase fair ticket, two beers, a corn dog and bus fair both ways, I got to see three bands for $18 -- six bucks a band. Whether or not there's been anything new in hard rock in 20 years, at least those groups were not comprised of senior citizens. There ought to be a law that at age 40 every rock musician must switch to something else: jazz, classical, show tunes, plumbing, whatever.

Rock needs no zombies. Those are for Vegas, or downtown Frisco.
posted by davy at 6:49 PM on August 23, 2005

I've been to a lot of metal/hard rock shows over the years, and still go to see the newer bands today. With that being said, there hasn't been any band that I've ever seen that consistently puts on a good show as Iron Maiden, even today.

I wish I could say the same for Ozzy, it's painful to watch him these days.

Although it's awful it happened, I can't say I'm too surprised. Bruce was taking some shots at Ozzy at the beginning of the tour when I saw them (pointing out that Maiden is going to release a new album next year, and they're not one of those old crappy bands that just tour every summer and haven't released anything new in decades. can't say I disagree!)

I'm pumped to hear that recording though!
posted by ilovebicuspids at 7:02 PM on August 23, 2005

I'd just like to take a moment to tell everyone...

I AM IRON MAN. IEIEIEIEIE AM IRON MAN. I AM IRON MAN. IEIEIEIE AM IRON MAN.
posted by angry modem at 7:34 PM on August 23, 2005

Can we talk about how fat Kelly is?
posted by bardic at 12:40 AM on August 24, 2005

If you read the full thing it looks like OzzFest insiders (maybe even Kelly and her buddies) were the ones egging Bruce Dickinson. Either way, it's sad that Ozzy Osbourne can only do every other night. It's sad that Iron Maiden got replaced by Velvet Revolver (20,000 Hessians contemplate suicide).

That said, check out some other bands? Righteous Jams, In My Eyes, Count Me Out, Champion, Down To Nothing, Outbreak and others know how to kick out the jams.
posted by xpermanentx at 2:55 AM on August 24, 2005

i don't know crap about what happened at ozzfest re: iron maiden, exactly, but i'll tell you this much -- sharon is a maniacal, manipulative crazy-ass bitch. i say this as someone who just hosted an ozzfest sideshow at a venue (meaning, when ozzy needs a day or two off to have a complete blood transfusion or drink a bucket or two of spit, they send the secondary, chumpy ozzfest bands to theatre-size venues like mine).

the expiration date on ozzfest is 2004, so revel in the sour milk smell that tends to go with metal while there's still time. next year, you're stuck with fricking gigantour or whatever.

p.s. -- fuck ozzfest bands in the ass anyway. seriously, there's something really wrong with the wholesale capitalization of anger.

anger as expression is OK in my book, but anger as commodity? fucking wrong and exploitative.
posted by Hat Maui at 4:50 AM on August 24, 2005

I've read several accounts of this on the web now and I am laying the blame for all of this at Sharon's feet. Ozzy should have been put out to pasture long ago, left to wander the house in his slippers, obsessing about burritos, and spending hours changing the bag in the trash can. He is not aging gracefully (ala Plant, Jagger, Halford, etc.) and to prop him up onstage to make more $$$ to keep Sharon in shoes is just ridiculous.

I do listen to a lot of the new bands but I take joy in the revival of bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. These guys aren't just playing the oldies circuit - they're recording new material, playing with fire onstage, and their lead singers have not lost their pipes.
posted by Ber at 6:14 AM on August 24, 2005

Maiden were my first big rock concert, and they were incredible. Bruce just dominated the whole night, and the guys could still pllay every song note-perfect. I don't care how old they are now, they've got more energy, conistently, than any other rock band around.
posted by Space Coyote at 6:43 AM on August 24, 2005

By the way, since we're on the topic of 'british steel' and all, there's something that's always bothered me. (Although maybe this belongs in AskMe.) In the song 'Iron Man,' Mr. Osborne very clearly states, "He was turned to steel/ In the great magnetic fields." Now, aside from the difficulties involved in trying to understand how magnets could turn someone's flesh into a metallic substance, the song (as the laugh of the titular character at the beginning announces) is about "Iron Man." If he's made of steel, does it make any sense that he be called "Iron Man?"

Maybe that's just one of those little misunderstandings that's made him so very angry.
posted by koeselitz at 12:01 PM on August 24, 2005

By the way, since we're on the topic of 'british steel' and all, there's something that's always bothered me. (Although maybe this belongs in AskMe.) In the song 'Iron Man,' Mr. Osborne very clearly states, "He was turned to steel/ In the great magnetic fields." Now, aside from the difficulties involved in trying to understand how magnets could turn someone's flesh into a metallic substance, the song (as the laugh of the titular character at the beginning announces) is about "Iron Man." If he's made of steel, does it make any sense that he be called "Iron Man?"

[pause] "These go to eleven."
posted by hal9k at 12:22 PM on August 24, 2005

Please remember how much of Sab's music was written under the influence of "Sweet Leaf".
posted by Ber at 12:58 PM on August 24, 2005

Uh, guy, steel is made from iron. It's heat-processed iron, basically. If it's made mostly from aluminium or sodium hydroxide (yum, table salt!) it can't be steel. If you melt iron, mix it with carbon and/or nickel or whatever, and pound or press it, you get steel. Steel IS iron, really.
posted by davy at 2:47 PM on August 24, 2005

There again, neither steel nor iron are heavy metals.

And that's the ultimate sin.

Yeah.

It's the ultimate sin.
posted by cleardawn at 4:25 PM on August 24, 2005

yeah, steel is made from iron. And furthermore, the magnetic fields are a metaphor for the intense range of emotions brought on by fighting an unjust war in the jungles of Viet Nam.
posted by cell divide at 4:37 PM on August 24, 2005

Bruce pilots heavy jets, whilst Ozzy can't even turn on his TV. If you read reviews of the 'fest from various cities, you will see that Maiden were blowing Sabbath off the stage every night. Sharon is wringing every last drop of lucre out of Ozzy's bloated and poisoned corpus. Ozzy's kids spend more days in rehab than I've had hot dinners. Sharon's cashing her last few checks...
posted by stonesy at 9:58 PM on August 24, 2005

I thought that the Magnetic Fields were a metaphor for Steven Merrit's affection.
posted by klangklangston at 6:41 AM on August 25, 2005

Oh, Sharon Ozborne, not Ariel Sharon.

That explains a lot.
posted by Smedleyman at 1:29 PM on August 25, 2005

"Oh, Sharon Ozborne, not Ariel Sharon."

Yeah, the second one's cuter, smarter, and more moral.
posted by davy at 10:01 PM on August 25, 2005