[2.10] Ozzmosis
[2.11] Why did Zakk leave Ozzy?
[2.12] Of Priests and Devils
[2.13] Will there ever be a reunion?

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2.10 Ozzmosis

In 1993, Ozzy was officially retired. His fans had the 'Live and Loud' video and CD to remind them of his final days. Ozzy went home and did what he longed to do, be a father. He spent time playing with his children and wife. He also bought various toys to pass time: motorcycles, guns, and night vision goggles (to see animals running at night). It would not be too long before he longed for his old lifestyle and after a few weeks of being retired, Ozzy wanted to get another band and start touring all over again. His fans soon began hearing rumors of an upcoming Ozzy album, what would it be called? The latest gossip was "X-Ray" as a working title. There were also disgruntled fans who were angry (and rightly so) that they had been taken in by another lie. [While I am a huge fan of Ozzy's, I am not going to only portray the good sides of him, this is after all a biography and it is part of the story]. Rumors also persisted that Steve Vai would be playing on the new album. It was not until almost two years later that the rumors became facts. Yes, Ozzy was coming back with a new album. Yes, there would be a tour to support it. The album would be called "Ozzmosis". On the final album a song titled "My Little Ozzmosis is defined as "the diffusion of Man" is written by fluids through a membrane" :) Geezer Steve Vai but it is Butler, his old Sabbath friend would also Zakk who played guitar be on the album and tour. The band on it, this bothered recorded the album in Paris, and was Ozzy. There are still produced by Michael Beinhorn. Since Zakk dozens of unreleased was busy with his own project, Pride and songs with Ozzy and Glory, it was arranged that Steve Vai Vai that have yet to would be contributing to the album. The see daylight. songs would be split so that both Zakk and Vai would appear on the album. Because of On October 24, 1995 the record company once again interfering Ozzmosis hit the with plans, only Zakk's material made it stores. The first to the final product. However Steve Vai track on the album, DID play the guitar on My Little Man. "Perry Mason", was released as a single earlier on and received radio play. All that remained after the album's debut was to begin touring...

2.11 Why did Zakk leave Ozzy?

Ozzy would name his Ozzmosis tour, "Retirement Sucks" in an obvious statement about his feelings towards his short lived retirement. It was now time to begin touring. Zakk was talking about playing with Guns and Roses so Ozzy decided to audition new guitarists, thinking Zakk would not be around for the tour. Zakk's manager, Doug Goldstein, called Sharon and told her that Zakk would be available. He later phoned to say that Zakk was still negotiating for the gig with Guns and Roses. Ozzy did not know what Zakk was planning to do because he was negotiating with both groups, and so asked Zakk to let him know what his plans were. When Zakk did not return the phone call as promised, Ozzy decided enough was enough and found a new player. Ozzy and Zakk are still on good terms however. Remember Joe Holmes, the kid who took guitar lessons from Randy? The 31 year old guitar player who hailed from New Jersey, would soon play a part in Ozzy's life. Joe had previously played with David Lee Roth for his 1988 tour and was currently working on his own band, "Tariff", when Dean Castronovo (Oz's drummer) phoned Joe to let him know they were seeking a guitar player. Joe went down to Audible in Los Angeles and played three Ozzy classics. He did not mention that he had once took lessons from Randy because he thought this might jeopardize his chances. He succeeded though and got the part. Unfortunately Joe is not heard on the Ozzmosis album but he will be on the next one. So Joe Holmes as Ozzy's new guitar player and Geezer Butler on bass began the Retirement Sucks tour. Halfway through the tour, Geezer left due to being homesick for his family and Mike Inez took his place. Later on, in yet another shrewd marketing attempt, Ozzy and Sharon came up with the 'Ozz-Fest'. The festival which would start September 14, 1996 would be of a different theme. At this event one could get a tattoo done, body piercing or have your fortune read by a psychic. Ozz-fest featured the following hard rock groups: Danzig, Sepultura, Prong, Slayer, Biohazard, Fear Factory, Neurosis, King Norris, Earth Crisis, Powerman 5000, Coal Chamber, and Cellophane. Towards November '96, Ozzy played his last show of the tour in Hawaii. His plans now are to go back to the studio to release a 'Greatest Hits' package (early 1997) which will have his older songs and three new ones. One of them will be a song called "Back on Earth" which was co-written with Steve Vai.

2.12 Of Priests and Devils

Years ago a particular news snippet caught my attention. It was a news clip about a religious group who were burning records. It showed children and adults throwing record albums into a bonfire. A priest told the interviewer, "One of the albums we're going to be burning tonight is Ozzy Osbourne's Speak of the Devil". The album cover shows Ozzy sitting in a chair, or throne, with his mouth open and drooling what is supposed to be blood (but looks more like strawberry jam). At Ozzy Osbourne concerts, religious believers have been known to hand out pamphlets to concert-goers. Religious leaders have condemned Ozzy for being a Satanist and devil worshipper. Ozzy's shows are boycotted and he is banned from playing certain cities. Is any of the hype true, and as a parent should you be concerned if your child is listening to Ozzy Osbourne? To start, Ozzy has had a record of macabre album titles: Diary of a Madman, Speak of the Devil, No Rest for the Wicked and The Ultimate Sin. However the old saying, "you can't judge a book by its cover" certainly comes into play here. As a priest, an album called 'Speak of the Devil' and showing a man spewing blood would certainly be cause for alarm. But if you take a closer look at the album and listen to the songs, it becomes another story. Speak of the Devil is simply a live album boasting some of the earlier Black Sabbath material. There is absolutely no reference AT ALL to Satan. The closest Ozzy comes on that album or most any other of his albums to evil, are songs such as 'Snowblind' and 'Sweet Leaf' which talk about drug usage. You can pull out all of Ozzy's albums, glance at the cover pictures and album titles and dismiss him as a devil worshipper in a heavy metal band. However we live in a world where people are free to make their own minds up about what they believe. I fail to see anywhere in Ozzy's career any truth to the Satanic rumors. I am a fan of Ozzy's and it is true I might be somewhat biased towards him, but I can reassure you I have never seen anything, WHATSOEVER, that leads me to believe Ozzy has any relationship with the devil. Fans of his may laugh at this but there are obviously people out there who seriously believe otherwise. So why then has this man been accused so often of being associated with evil? To explain this would be beyond my abilities. I can however tell you that his album covers may play a part. The fact that people have claimed to have heard backwards messages in his music may also play a part. The suicide deaths of teenagers listening to Ozzy's music also go hand in hand with the allegations of backwards messages. The fact he was once lead singer for a band called Black Sabbath also may play a part. I really can't tell you why people claim this. True, he is a singer in a band which is considered heavy metal. This does not make him an evil person. In all fairness, he has lived a life of drug and alcohol abuse and done some very stupid things which people will always remember him for. Overlooking the stupid stunts he has done, I don't find any evidence of his being an evil person. If you are a parent, should you be concerned if Jimmy brings home an Ozzy Osbourne album? Well, to answer that you need to look at a few outside factors. Is the kid level headed and are the lines of communication open with your child? If the child has serious problems, perhaps listening to his "Suicide Solution" would be a mistake. It is very easy to misconstrue the lyrics and it just might play a part in your son's decision. If your child is planning suicide, there are obviously more serious problems than that of an Ozzy album. I don't wish to spread panic, there is no need to really go and censor all of his albums. The fact is that if given the right circumstances, any medium could lead someone to believe suicide is ok. If you trust your child's judgement and believe him to be level headed, I don't see any real problems. Mind you I am NOT an expert, nor do I pretend to be. I am simply someone who grew up listening to Ozzy's music. Maybe you should sit down with the lyrics to the song and explain that it was the death of the singer for AC/DC which prompted the song, and the lyrics pertain to alcohol solution not answer-to-your-problem-solution. I figure it like this: If Jimmy is thinking of committing suicide, I think listening to an Ozzy album would be the same as watching a TV program or reading a paper on the same subject. If the child sees other teens talking about wanting to commit, how they tried to, or how life is not worth living, perhaps that media attention on the topic would affect his decision just as much. Up till now I have been talking mainly of suicide, this is because music could play a crucial weight in a child's decision. However a song about suicide is irrelevant to the topic of this chapter. I merely wanted to address the question or whether it is okay to listen to Ozzy. SURE! I never sacrificed any cats, nor did I try to kill myself. I did not go out on a full moon and try to eat a dog either, maybe if I was sleepwalking but not that I can remember. :) So why then does the religious faith attack this man? I sincerely do not know. I really don't. Perhaps it has to do with the last chapter. Maybe when our children turn to drugs and alcohol and kills animals, it must be heavy metal's fault. There has been a long waged war against metal. I think statistically you will find that a lot of troubled teenagers and drug abusers listen to heavy metal but I would not blame that music category for it. As Ozzy once said, "I'm sure people smoke pot at a Stevie Wonder concert". Let us now talk about some of the religious people who have attacked Osbourne for being in league with the devil. Cardinal O'Connor ------------------------- This man accused Ozzy of being the devil and told people that exorcisms were real and that Oz's music was spreading the devil's word. 'A Current Affair' also did a telephone survey in which the majority of callers said that they felt heavy metal music was killing their kids. Jimmy Swaggart -------------- Another television evangelist. The man makes his bread and butter by selling God. The morals of this are not mine to determine. Jimmy also put down Ozzy. Jim was later found coming out of a hotel room with a prostitute. He was later shown on television crying to God and asking for forgiveness. I don't wish to put him down for his repenting, but the fact he put down someone else and committed his own sins is hypocrisy. The fact is he is a human being with human urges and he can't deny that. Ozzy made a song and video called "Miracle Man" in which he talks about Jimmy and his critical views. Oral Roberts ------------ Another evangelist who has put down Ozzy. This is the same man who claimed if he did not get 7 million dollars by a certain time, God would be calling him back home. To me, this seems a very obvious and pathetic attempt at milking the public. Ozzy makes his money through hard work, not pretending he will soon die. None of these people offered to help Ozzy in his time of depression and substance abuse. Though Ozzy did send Oral Roberts a single dollar for "his psychiatric bill".

2.13 Will there ever be a reunion?

It depends on what kind of reunion you want to know about. The possibility of Ozzy and the three Sabs reuniting as a permanent group is nill. It just won't happen. What you may not know is that during the time Ozzy was playing his last show in Costa Mesa with his old Sabbath buddies, the foursome had already been talking for nearly a year about a reunion. It was originally going to be a two month tour and an album (a Sabbath-head's dream come true). As time progressed though, Ozzy grew uncomfortable about doing the reunion. Problems began arising... the four original members now had their own managers, lawyers, and record companies. Each person's manager wanted to be the one in charge of the project which would result in a fortune. The Sabs just wanted to do the show. Ozzy has since gone on to say that he might have done a reunion if they had scrapped the name Black Sabbath at the time when the original members left. As it stands, Black Sabbath has had members leave, come back and then leave again. There have been numerous changes in the members of the band involving outside players. Ozzy felt that the name Black Sabbath no longer represented what it once did. This chapter deals with the idea of Black Sabbath reunited for good. In fact, Black Sabbath and Ozzy HAVE reunited for concerts, but both remain two separate bands. Since the Costa Mesa show, Ozzy has agreed to reunite with Sabbath for a small tour. This coincided with a live album which was released October 31, 1998. This will not be a permanent reunion, however the band is touring North America in 1999.

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