Ozzy Osbourne: "Speak of the Devil"; DVD Out In July; Liner Notes By Rudy Sarzo

On July 17, Eagle Rock Entertainment will release "Speak of the Devil" on DVD by Ozzy Osbourne in North America. 

This show was filmed at Irvine Meadows Amphitheater in California on June 12, 1982 as part of the delayed continuation of the "Diary Of A Madman"tour following the tragic death of Randy Rhoads a few months earlier. The audio has been digitally restored and remastered and is now available in DTS and Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound for the first time. "Speak Of The Devil" includes the classics "Mr. Crowley", "Over The Mountain", "Crazy Train","Flying High Again", "Iron Man", "Paranoid", "Goodbye To Romance" and many more.

The concert is a perfect snapshot of Ozzy Osbourne's live performances in the eighties with dramatic staging and masses of energy with a setlist based around his first two solo albums and a few Black Sabbath classics. The lineup for this show features Ozzy Osbourne (vocals); Don Airey (keyboards); Tommy Aldridge (drums); Brad Gillis (guitar) and Rudy Sarzo (bass).


Sarzo, who also penned the liner notes for the DVD, tells AOL's Noisecreep about the set, "I've been looking forward to watching this since seeing the initial broadcast on Halloween in 1982. It was filmed in Southern California so it was a kind of hometown gig for all of us in the band because we all lived in the L.A. area. And of course, what makes it really special is that the person we are playing for, although he is not there in body, is truly present with us. You feel it. . . This particular show was really about capturing something unique. Rarely do you see a band doing a video where the main character or performer is not there. Randy Rhoads is missing - but we were all playing in the spirit of Randy. Every performance that happened after the crash was basically leading us all through the steps of grieving - every single one. And so by the time we were doing that last show, it was a celebration - purely a celebration of Randy Rhoads. By that night we had reached a truly special level and so to have it captured so professionally is very exciting for all of us. And remember, this was really the last tour that featured so much from 'Blizzard Of Ozz' and 'Diary Of A Madman', which Ozzy wrote with Randy. So all of the music that's featured is very special, too."


When asked if he had any special memories from that day, before the actual concert, Sarzo said, "Well, there used to be a Lion Country Safari right next to the venue. So before the show Ozzy did a photo shoot and I think he had an altercation with a monkey or something. I was not there - but I think any creature would be afraid of the guy who bit the head off of a bat. [laughs]"


"Speak Of The Devil" track listing:


01. Over The Mountain 
02. Mr Crowley
03. Crazy Train 
04. Revelation (Mother Earth) 
05. Steal Away (The Night)
06. Suicide Solution 
07. Guitar / Drum Solo 
08. Goodbye To Romance 
09. I Don't Know 
10. Believer 
11. Flying High Again 
12. Iron Man 
13. Children Of The Grave 
14. Paranoid

Rush: Alex Lifeson Talks "Clockwork Angels" In New Interview

Mick Burgess of Metal Express Radio recently sat down with Alex Lifeson of Rush to talk about their new studio album. Read excerpts below:

In a few weeks’ time your latest album "Clockwork Angels" will be released. Are you looking forward to finally getting it out?

Yeah, it`s been a long project.  We released a couple of songs before the last tour and that`s the first time that we`ve done something like that where we`ve recorded a couple of songs from a record that hasn`t been released yet.  It was kind of fun to get those songs out, to work them and play them and have a peak into what the project was going to be.  It was great for getting us back into writing which we did last fall where we got into the bulk of the writing and where the whole story started to come together.  That`s where we got a sense of where the album was going.

You once said that the recording of "Moving Pictures" was a difficult process as was "Hemispheres".  How do you feel about "Clockwork Angels"?  Has this been a fairly smooth record to make?

It was.  The only funny thing about it was that it was so spread out.  We did little spurts here and there but once we got into the meat of it, it was really a joy to make. We had a great time and had a lot of fun making it and it was very vibrant in the studio.  It was great working with Nick Raskulinecz.  He is such a music lover, so enthusiastic.  He`s such a great presence to be around in the studio.

"Clockwork Angels" sees you really spreading your wings.  There`s elements of vintage Rush in there with complex arrangements and mood changes while keeping that contemporary feel of your later albums.  Was this the plan when you first started discussing ideas with Geddy?

I don`t know really.  I`m never sure what the plan is.  We sort of start on the day and it takes its shape and we kind of go with it.  I think probably with this record, we really wanted to play and wanted to stretch out a little bit.  We wanted to have fun playing and also to strip things down a little.  I think "Snakes and Arrows" in retrospect was a little bit dense because it was written on acoustic guitar which played a major role in the production. We layered a lot of acoustics and electrics and I think we got just a little cloudy at times.  I really like the record but with hindsight of living with it for a while we realised that we kind of overcooked it a bit.

"Clockwork Angels" is really a step or two on from "Snakes and Arrows" then?

Yeah, we really wanted to strip it down and have more of a three-piece feel to it.  There`s no rhythm guitar during the guitar solos and such like which are things you end up doing as you like the sound of it because you like all the colour but it`s not always necessary and I think the album comes across as a lot more powerful as a result.

Read the entire interview here.

Bon Jovi: Bamboozle Festival Footage Posted Online

Here`s Bon Jovi rocking out on stage in New Jersey at the Bamboozle Festival on May 20, 2012. Video of "Livin` On A Prayer" and "I`ll Be There For You" (bad sound) available below.

The Set List:

1. Raise Your Hands
2. You Give Love A Bad Name
3. Born To Be My Baby
4. We Weren't Born To Follow
5. Lost Highway
6. It's My Life
7. Blood on Blood
8. Runaway
9. Captain Crash And The Beauty Queen From Mars
10. Wanted Dead Or Alive
11. Bad Medicine
12. We Got It Going On
13. Have a Nice Day
14. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
15. Who Says You Can't Go Home
16. Keep the Faith
Encore:
17. I'll Be There For You
18. In These Arms
19. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
20. Livin' on a Prayer

Black Sabbath: Footage Of Entire O2 Academy, Birmingham Show (May 19, 2012) Available

You can watch the entire Black Sabbath show at the O2 Academy in Birmingham on May 19 below. Various quality of course, but mostly rather good. Enjoy!

"The Band Members Stopped Talking And Corresponding With Me Some Time Ago"; Bill Ward In New Statement

Bill Ward has released the following statement:

"Dear Sabbath fans and musicians,

"I have read Geezer's statement of May 19, 2012 titled 'Heavy Heart.' Out of respect for the Birmingham gig, I wanted to wait 24 hours before releasing this statement. There are some points he brought up which I want to respond to.

"1) I had indeed notified Ozzy, Tony and Geezer well before my first public statement that I was having contractual difficulties.

"2) I came out into a public forum to be accountable to the fans primarily, and to say at a public level there's a problem. The band members stopped talking and corresponding with me some time ago, with the exception of a nice letter from Tony on my birthday. Prior to that, Geezer and I were corresponding, but that stopped abruptly in late February after I emailed a specific question to him.

"3) In my statement of May 15, I clearly stated I would play Birmingham for free. That was not a problem - charity or otherwise.

"4) My Download fee was not an extravagant amount. Originally, when Download was part of a full tour, I had asked for a decent fee. More recently, as we were negotiating just Download/Birmingham and Lollapalooza, I told my attorney that I would accept the proposed smallDownload fee, but there were other parts of the offer that were unsatisfactory.

"I will continue to be honest and respectful towards the band and our fans. I will also confront any untruths about me, and any fault-finding missions aimed at me that come to my attention.

"I hope the band and the fans had a good gig in Brum."

"Stay safe/stay strong."