Just back from Ozzman's live show here in Moscow. Very impressed - rather unexpectedly.

When I first heard that Ozzy is coming here in September, I wasn't very enthusiastic about it because I've seen him once and it wasn't in fact very special; I haven't heard Scream yet and had no idea how good Gus G may be. After visiting the show tonight I was very deeply impressed by this guy and the whole thing. So some emotions below.

They didn't play Scream album. Unlike Metallica, Ozzy understands that people come for the old songs not for new experiments. There was only one song from the new CD, Let me hear you scream, and nothing from the releases of 2000s. Only the old and beautiful songs we all love. Finally, I've got a strange feeling or returning to the days of my teenage happiness and possibly even earlier, to the times I scarcely remember. Stephen King in his Dark Tower invented the idea of "lost highways" between parallel worlds; and I've found myself on a highway to good old 1980s... as if nothing has changed since 1980s in me and in the world, as if I really was there 28 years ago in a screaming crowd somewhere in USA watching Ozzy's band on stage... It is some sort of indescribable feeling of nostalgia and I couldn't imagine Ozzy can bring me to that state of mind.

Gus G is a nice guitar player and I like his sound and stage presence and he was decent in every move and note. He doesn't try to be someone great and just plays, not shows off. It is obvious Ozzy likes him and public liked him too. Personally, I didn't miss Zakk and his style and songs too much. It was so pleasant to hear three songs of Jake era. And Randy's classic was played by Gus very close to original.

The sound was awful during the first songs but the second part of the show was OK. Ozzy sounded rather well although he did everything to hurt his vocal chords shouting and screaming out loud. As always, he poured out water upon the public four times but in general he behaved very respectable and friendly and I'm sure people felt his sincerity. When he says "We love you all", I really believe it, don't know why. And when (if?) he'll come to Moscow again, I'll be there to meet him once more.

So the songs were as follows:
1. Bark At The Moon
2. Let Me Hear You Scream
3. Mr Crowley
4. I Don't Know
5. War Pigs
6. Suicide Solution
7. Road to Nowhere
8. Shot In The Dark
9. Guitar/drum solo
10. Iron Man
11. Killer of Giants
12. I Don't Wanna Change the World
13. Fairies Wear Boots
14. Crazy Train
15. Mama I'm Coming Home
16. Paranoid
17. Into the Void
18. Flying High Again

As you may see, there're 5 songs of Sabbath and 5 Randy's songs. Two decades with Zakk, a bunch of albums - and only 3 his songs in the set now... I'd like to ask you all - would you like more Zakk and less Sabbath/Randy/Jake in this set? As to me, I'd certainly wish more Jake (why don't they play "Waiting for Darkness" or "Thank God for the Bomb"?) and more Randy (I missed "Believer" sorely and "Revelation" and "Diary"); and I could be alright without "Fairies..." and "Into the Void".

P.S. My friend was recording the show with his iPhone and I hope to get the record and share with you (if anyone's interested).

UPDATE
The first vid is ready, check it in the set list above.
Shot in the Dark
Enjoy!

UPDATE 2
Bark at the Moon added.

Nice synopsis That sounds like a pretty awesome set list, although I am quite surprised at the inclusion of the Jake stuff. I've got to think that maybe Gus is a Jake fan more so than Zakk? I could do without Fairies, but Into The Void is a great choice IMO. I think he should always include Symptom of the Universe as well.

If you get that audio, I'd love to hear it

That's a nice set list. Too bad the year where I've made it a point to not spend anymore money on Ozzy shows, he brings out the sweet set lists. Figures.

Hm, interesting set list. Nice.
It was awesome show, I think.

Keep checking this post, I'll be uploading more links to the YouTube clips from this show. They are in progress. I guess we have them all except Fairies and Road to Nowhere.

To me, Jake stuff is the best Ozzy has done after Randy's passing.
I have to confess I like some 1983-86 songs even more than some from RR period.
I never could understand why Ozzy abandoned this melodic, beautiful tunes for Zakk's more brutal and plain stuff. Probably Zakk never liked the work of his predecessor, who knows? But I certainly like this live set more than in Ozzy's previous visit when Zakk was still in the band and we had to listen to BLS for more than an hour before seeing his majesty, Ozzy Osbourne.

Into the Void is without doubt not the best Sabbath song to me, but I'd like to hear Symptom (I was in hopes that he'll play it but he didn't) or Sabbath Bloody Sabbath or Sweet Leaf. But Ozz knows better

The first song is uploaded, check the Shot in the Dark.
One of my favourite songs of all times.

Not trying to sound mean, but you couldn't be more wrong there. Zakk loves all of Ozzy's music. He practically worships Randy's music, and I'm positive he loves Jake's playing as well.

Why did Ozzy ditch the beautiful and melodic stuff for this generic crap? I can't answer that for sure, but I think part of it has to do with his aging. Maybe he used all the good melodies he had in his head during the 80's, I don't know. IMO, Ozzy was good until after NMT came out. After that, it just seems to be generic riffs with the few catchy melodies.

I'm pretty sure Zakk had something to do with it, whether he was trying to make Ozzy sound "modern" or whatever, I'm pretty sure his producers had something to do with it, also trying to make him more "modern" and I'm sure Sharon had something to do with it, to sell records.

IMO Ozzy changed the most during the 90's probably because of the music scene on average. It was more grungy, dark heavy metal type than melodies. Ozzy can't scream, so he did his best to fit in and sell, sell, sell. Sad to say, but I would definitely blame the loss of Bob Daisley's lyrics on Ozzy's loss of musicality. Whether Ozzy admits it or not, I think Bob and Ozzy were kind of "muses" for each other.

During the 80's, music seemed to be more about melodies and such (On a popular basis, from what I've heard) because most songs from the 80's with the exception of thrash and punk, seem to try to have actual melodies to catch your attention, while songs from the 90's and on (From the rock/metal scene) seem to be more about "tuning down, making chugging riffs, and screaming" and like I said before, Ozzy can't scream, so he threw out the melodies for simple little melodies (I would hardly call some of them melodies) to follow the guitar.

Anyways, that's just my thoughts. I could be completely off about the facts, I don't know.

But long story short, I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the changing times.

Well Cryptic, you have your point here. But I have some objections.



First of all, we must figure out what "Ozzy's music" certainly is.
Ozzy's music is no less than 50% (I guess, more than 50%) the music written by his guitar players. I don't talk about lyrics, though. I mean just riffs and tunes. Ozzy had three different periods in his solo career and all times his sound was determined by his current guitar man. Ozzy in 1980, 1986 and 2009 is the different Ozzy, although his own talent and his own style as a singer and songwriter probably never changed so much. The songs from different periods sound different because of different guitarists writing and performing them.

I don't know for sure Zakk's mind about RR and Jake's stuff but I believe that any professional likes his own stuff more than anything made by others. Maybe I'm wrong here, but I'm pretty sure Zakk wouldn't be excited to play more Jake and Randy live instead of playing his own songs.



Yes, but who is responsible for writing these riffs? I guess, Mr Wylde wrote them all


Of course they tried to keep Ozzy in charts making him sound more 'modern'... but the quantity of the sold copies must have showed them that the old albums are best sellers despite being 'old-fashioned'



Yes, it's so true. Ozzy's vocals changed a lot and he must now to take care of his voice and not go so high as in some BATM songs. But these simple little vocal melodies are FOLLOWING the guitar, and the guitar just does nothing special!
To me his last good album was Ozzmosis. Probably the best Ozzy and Zakk has done together. Then it became just boring and disappointing. And both men are to blame.

Of course, I wouldn't argue otherwise. It's not JUST the guitarists, it's the whole band that affects the whole setting of the music.



I'm rarely ever certain of things, but I know for a fact that Zakk practically worships Randy Rhoads. I've read that he had a shrine built to Randy in his room when he was a kid (Or something to that effect) and he named one of his kids after Randy (Well, a bunch of guitarists, but Randy's name is in there somewhere) and if you've ever seen pictures of him live with BLS, then you'd know he's got plenty of copies of Randy's guitars. So I'm positive that he likes Randy and his music. As far as Jake goes, I'm sure Zakk likes Jake as well.

Now, I would agree with you on the part about playing the music. I'm a guitarist myself (As most people here are) and I hate playing other people's music live simply because I feel as if they judge you because you mess up on a part, or it just doesn't sound like the original, as most people judge Zakk based on him adding his own style to Randy's songs. So, yes, I would agree that he may not like playing them live as much as his own songs




Yes, but Ozzy accepted them. Ozzy has the final say (Well, Sharon has the final say I suppose, but Ozzy has a say in it ) in the music before it's recorded. Zakk comes up with the riffs, if Ozzy likes them, he comes up with the melodies, and then Zakk (Or "Ozzy") writes the lyrics. That's the way it's been since BOO. (Except in those days, it was Mr. Daisley who wrote the lyrics)



Yes, but that happens to most bands. They get famous for something, and try to follow it up with something new. Metallica did it, and in the beginning it worked out for them. Then Metallica tried to go back to their roots. Ozzy has yet to try that. =/




Zakk's run out of ideas in my opinion. You can tell if you've heard his BLS stuff. It sounds very similar.... Ozzy tries to find something that fits Zakk's ideas, but it comes out just being simple and boring. He also wants it to sound modern and "hip" but it's sad. Ozzy had such a gift for coming up with great melodies, and he also had a great ear for the musicians who surrounded him.

Wow, I had no idea about that!
Well, Mr. Wylde is certainly a true worshipper of the RR church



The problem is, that his own songs are not of the same kind as Randy's.
So, whatever Zakk or any other performer thinks, the fans of Randy will always be eager for Randy's songs, not their own stuff. It is obvious when you see how people react on Crazy Train or Mr Crowley compared to Road to Nowhere (although the song is not bad).


Yeah, but even if Ozzy isn't so happy with those riffs what can he do?
When he finally understood that all Zakk's new riffs are the same and sound like BLS, he parted with Zakk.



I've seen Metallica live - great show and great performance, but too many new worthless songs, they risk but they play them despite fans' dislike...and I can't say is it bravery or stubbornness.


Exactly. I have forgotten ALL the BLS songs 5 mins after listening. If you have heard one of them, you know them all.



I hope Ozzy will do something special with Gus G, although Gus doesn't seem to me to be a great composer of music, he is a fine performer but I know nothing about music he wrote before joining Ozzy. Let's wait and see. Zakk's era is finally over, and although I feel sympathy for Zakk who gave his whole life to be with Ozzy, their creative team-work just dried up and became extinct.

Yes, he's as much a fan of Randy as all of us.




Yes, that's another reason, different styles. Randy was clearly more classical styled, where Zakk is more blues styled. Most people react to Crazy Train and Mr. Crowley more because they are more famous. They are bigger hits than most of what Zakk has written.



If Ozzy doesn't like it he tells Zakk, if Zakk likes the riff enough, he'll just bring it over to BLS and do it. I can't recall where I read that, but it goes something like that. Trust me, Everyone else < Zakk < Ozzy < Sharon

Ozzy trumps Zakk, but Sharon trumps Ozzy.



Not all fans believe that, and they are trying to promote their new music to increase sales. All bands try to do that. They usually try to keep some of their classics in their set to bring in fans of the older stuff, so they can introduce them to the new stuff.



It's just like Dragonforce!




Before you go judging Gus, just know that besides the solos, he wrote nothing on Scream. It was all written by the producer Kevin Churko or something. The rhythm parts were all written, Gus just came in, recorded over them, and then wrote the solos.

Myself, I've never really listened to Gus in his previous bands, but I know he's a big fan of Jake E. Lee, and talented. IMO, he also has better tone that Zakk Wylde. I don't like dropping the mids to zero and putting heavy chorus on. But that's just me.

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Don't forget that Zakk owns one of Randy's actual vests! (Forgot about that until you showed those pictures)

I'm sure Kevin had his share of writing on Black Rain, but remember that Ozzy kicked Zakk out (Well, kicked is a little harsh, but you get what I'm saying) not Kevin. So, it can be a little hard to figure out who's to blame on the bad albums, though I would lean a little towards Zakk. He has other songs that sounds a lot like Black Rain (In my opinion) because he seems to like tuning to Drop C and doing these 0-3-5-6 kinds of riffs. I believe he said that Ozzy actually likes that sound, because the tritones were Black Sabbath's thing, and the (Minor tritone???) was going to be Ozzy's thing, or something like that.

And we really don't know how much of Zakk's stuff was used on Scream.

I've heard Zakk play classical music, and he's great at it, I just wish he'd apply some of it to his music. (And turn up the damn mids, but that's my preference)

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Kevin may have actually written the parts, but that doesn't mean that Zakk's stuff didn't influence it at all, I mean, Ozzy originally said that he fired Zakk because he was sounding too BLS. Which I would agree with Ozzy on that, whether he actually meant it or was just using an excuse at the time.

And yes, that's true. I forgot about the drinking part.

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True, true. But though he may not have written anything on those albums, then answer why BLS sounds like those albums? (On an average, of course) Now I don't claim to know every BLS song, I've only heard a couple songs, but with the exception of Zakk's voice, it sounds exactly like I'd expect a recent Ozzy song to sound like, which is why I'm suspicious about just how much Zakk's playing influences Ozzy's records.

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Well, aren't you the smart cookie.

I've never listened to Rob Zombie, and as I said, the only songs I've heard from BLS were Stillborn, In This River (?), and Suicide Messiah, so yes, my opinion is a little prejudice.

I don't know — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_CkQ5-Qrsw
Mr. Crowley — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDpzAfo2AW8
Let me hear you scream — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy1t9I3Q9g4

Well, however radio is full of Zakk's stuff.
Whenever I hear Ozzy on the radio it is always Mama I'm Coming Home or See you on the Other Side but not Revelation or Diary. Sometimes they broadcast Crazy Train or Flying High but not as frequent as Zakk's songs.



Sharon < God Almighty?


Yes of course, but Ozzy performed only ONE new song in Moscow. He certainly isn't trying to promote Scream and increase sales. I'm not even sure they were selling the album at the stadium before the show. I don't know if it's standard practice in USA but here people always can buy a new album or T-shirt of the performing band right in the club/stadium/concert hall.


And AC/DC...



Thanks for the info, I didn't know it.
Is it normal that neither Ozzy nor his guitarist do their duty to create a new album?
I have never heard about Kevin Churko before you told me. I haven't read the credits on Black Rain.


Fine, I'm also a big fan of Jake E. Lee, so I rely upon Gus more than before
I do agree, his tone is better than Zakk's to me.


OMG it's good he just owns it, not tries to wear it!!
BTW one of my friends owns one of Randy's actual bow-ties.


Sorry I don't get the idea. What do you mean by 'Ozzy's first story'?
That he fired Zakk because of him sounding too BLS?

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Ozzy just became tired of Zakk - as a person who drinks constantly and as a guitar player sounding too BLS. Both reasons are true.

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Sure sounds like it though..

(Studio wise)