An open letter to Black Sabbath

Dear Black Sabbath,

 

Hi, I’m a big fan. I have been, for like…. my whole life.

I have all of your records (with Ozzy that is. I like Dio, a lot, but my Sabbath is more doom than rockish-metal, but I digress.) I can play your songs on guitar, know all of the words, and have had some of the best nights of my life to your music. It’s a personalized stamp on my reality, and everything I know; I LOVE Black Sabbath. I could go on for paragraphs about the sheer brilliance of Masters of Reality or Sabotage’s guitar tone. I’ve seen you when you came back in 1997, and when you toured with Pantera, and then again without Bill Ward a few years later. But, it’s that last one that’s the weird sticking point for me: without Bill Ward. The idea just seems…off.

Black Sabbath is one of the few bands that are at that massive rock god-like status where all of its original members are still alive, this is getting harder to achieve as the years go by. The fact that money, something that all of four of you have by the barrel full is being the sticking point, is very base and childish. For those of you who don't know, Black Sabbath is back together and Bill Ward is not involved over a money issue. But, this is their open letter, they know what's going on.

One minute Geezer is saying one thing in this Pollyannish media spokesman “we’re not bad dudes” kind of way, and then we get Bill Ward crying foul days later via his blog, or Facebook. The whole process is mind blowing.

The best Sabbath songs were written with Bill Ward just absolutely going off behind the kit. They were the deepest, and just plain out depressing, but doomy as fuck goodness we can to expect in a world of happy go lucky bullshit that was everywhere in that day. While dorks were finger banging in Camero’s to Journey, Sabbath was scaring the hell out of parents everywhere. Guys like Bill Ward and Geezer Butler, the bands two unsung heroes helped make that nightmare a reality. Let’s be completely honest here, Tony Iommi is sick, and as well as he may be doing, the man is fighting cancer. Acting childish about dollars and cents when the opportunity to play together at least one last time is possible is sickening.

You all live in mansions and your grandchildren will never go hungry. While I understand that as a professional things get complicated, this is one of those instances where the lawyers should hash it out, and the four guys who created heavy metal should give it one more blistering go at it.

That leads us to the record. So what does that mean? Like, we have to have some guy get credit as ripping off Bill Ward’s style just to get that signature Sabbath sound?

Think about it. It’s a no brainer in terms of forgetful ideas. Get back together. You guys need each other more than you’ll realize once one of you is either too weak to play, or something awful gets in the way. These chances to rule the world one last time, should be celebrated, not squabbled over who’s getting paid what. I’ve heard plenty of horror stories involving the Osbourne’s business practices, but this is something bigger. It's about your legacy as the greatest heavy metal band of all time. The four of you together shouldn't ever considering not being together. Especially considering your situation with Tony. Bill, send them a text. Sharon, hit the Twitter and reunite these men.

 

Get Bill Ward back in Blach Sabbath before everyone looks back upon this time like true fools who’ve lost their way in the snow.