The last few weeks would have been some of the best for my 13-year-old self.
They’ve seen the return of “Beavis and Butt-Head” (uh-huh-huh), and — as announced last Friday — the reunion of Black Sabbath.
The heavy metal band, best known for “Iron Man” and “Paranoid,” is planning both a reunion tour and a new studio album. The group’s front man, Ozzy Osbourne, said at a news conference last Friday that the metal pioneers have already written “seven or eight songs.”
So it doesn’t seem like they’re blowing smoke. Its not a we’re-getting-the-band-back-together-oh-wait-we’re-sixty kind of thing. It’s for real. And about those songs, Osbourne said simply, “they are really good” — which might be a little biased.
But I don’t care. I’ll buy a slanted pitch from Ozzy. Though other aging rock groups have coached me not to believe him (see: Rolling Stones, Guns N’ Roses), the fan in me simply can’t question the prince of darkness.
They’re Sabbath. They’re always good. They were good before I was born, and they were still good when I was thirteen. Why wouldn’t they be good now, when I’m twenty?
However, it is possible that problems like dementia, deafness, osteoporosis, arthritis, and major organ failure have gotten to them. I guess that’s a legitimate concern, since all of the band’s members are older than both McDonald’s and Superglue.
But I’m certain that even in ailing health, Tony Iommi can write a better song than most of his competition. Age shouldn’t impact Mr. Osbourne too much – he’s been near death his entire musical career. And no one ever asked much of Bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward in the first place. They’d probably be fine even if they were sedated.
I’m betting Sabbath is going to come back Sabbath – a band heavy enough to vent anger on your behalf, but bluesy enough appeal to your melodic side.
If they do, the band that made me love heavy metal will have a great shot at renewing my infatuation with all things loud and distorted. If they can come back as strong “Beavis and Butt-Head” did a few weeks ago, things will be – to paraphrase Mr. Butt-Head – “uh, cool” again.
Who would have thought we’d be counting on Black Sabbath and “Beavis and Butt-Head” to restore the culture of the old days? Sabbath is bringing back the ’70s. “B&B” are bringing back the ’90s. Bringing anything back seems like everything these artistic endeavors stand against. But that’s how the cycle goes.
In art, the rebels of yesterday are the preservationists of today. The artists who once broke rules are now restoring them. It just seems weird when these artists are Sabbath and MTV’s dynamically dumb duo.
But it does seem a lot more awesome.
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