Reunion?????????????????????????

Ozzy is once again speaking about a Black Sabbath reunion. I remember seeing Black Sabbath's "final" show. It was at Jones Beach theater back in August of 2000. Ten years ago. Sabbath Drummer Bill Ward was so emotional about the final show that he took the time to write with pen on a piece of loose leaf paper "End Of Black Sabbath" and scotch tape it to his drum kit. I'm a huge Sabbath fan. I believe they were the first, NOT ZEPPELIN, heavy metal band. The Blue Print for which other bands construct their sound with. I saw Sabbath three times on that tour. The show lasted maybe 80 minutes. The set list was the same. EVERY NIGHT. Same order. Same introductions. Same everything. You would think by the last night at Jones Beach they'd have thrown fans SOMETHING just to help fight their own boredom but they just lazily plodded through their final set. I'm telling you this because Ozzy's recent tour with his new solo band has been phenomenal. Did you see what he's been closing his shows out with? Fire In The Sky. FIRE IN THE SKY!!!!!!!! Off of Zack Wylde's album debut with the Prince of Darkness, 1987's No Rest For The Wicked. Hadn't been played in decades. He's pulling out Shot In The Dark. His shows are up to TWO HOURS FIFTEEN MINUTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The last Ozzfest clocked in at 75 minutes. WITH A SOLO FROM ZACK.

I just have a feeling he'll just fall in line with another Sabbath tour, play the same 12 songs we've been paying to see since they reunited back in 1997, and go through the motions for ten months. He's spoken out against the rest of Sabbath's greed and laziness as far back as 1984 when the group reunited for a disastrous one off gig at Live Aid in Philadelphia. Ozzy missed a ton of shows during the last Ozz Fest tour. If Sabbath is going to reunite AGAIN, let's hope it's for REAL. Fans will get their money's worth and the band will WORK to make that happen

It Doesn't Count Any More

A good friend of mine teaches high school. The stories she comes home with involving petty jealousy, selfishness and senses of entitlement actually worry me as the direction our society is taking seems to be plummeting further south by the day.
Then she tells me about the students. Last week was the glorious home coming dance in which my friend coordinates as a responsibility that attaches itself to running the student government. Teenage girls furiously rush through a ritual of beautification activities. Teenage boys practice speech, struts and body language in front of the largest mirror in their homes for hours. Parents of teenagers age a decade that night. Each year permission slips are sent out to parents weeks before the dance with a list of rules and regulations listed on them including pick up time for their kids at the end of the dance. For the most part parents comply with the basic requests and the dances go off without a hitch, but a strange phone call almost derailed my friends perfect score of getting the dance finished without incident. A parent called to find out what accommodations were being made for the Phillies game which they had tickets to. It seems the game would not be over by the time dance ended and this concerned parent wondered aloud to my friend how the school would make sure their kids would be safe until they could find the time to pick them up. When the parent was informed that not only would no adjustments be made to the plan but the game would not be shown during a school dance inside a school cafeteria for his precious child, this parent became irate, informing my friend of her selfish attitude.

Does anybody fear or even prepare for consequence anymore or does everyone think there is an infinite supply of rule changes that will accommodate whatever adjustment someone requests? Apparently there is.

The NFL drastically changed its penalty rules after a rash of injuries took place during week 6. Desean Jackson from the Philadelphia Eagles looked like he was dead. It took him a good ten minutes just to get back to his feet after getting creamed by by Atlanta Falcons Corner Back Dunta Robinson. I argue the hit was clean but this incident coupled with a few others have inspired the NFL to inflict startling new penalties for helmet to helmet illegal tackles. The problem with this is what happens if its an accident? Accidents. Remember them? They're not allowed anymore. Consequences are truly illegal today. Football is a violent sport. Its downright brutal. Where is the outcry for boxers to stop causing brain damage to their opponents which is actually the purpose of the sport. You want your opponent beaten to the point where getting back to his feet is an impossibility. Football players actually have it a lot easier wherever saftey precautions and protection are involved. Sure there are risks. There are many risks in life. These men are paid for their risks. Sometimes accidents happen. Now a player has to pull back just a little further, think about his opponents safety more when his job is to knock him so silly he drops the ball, in case a hit becomes illegal with one shift of his opponents shoulders, one drop of his opponents head renders a legal tackle illegal. Whatever happened to risks? No one WANTS to see someone else injured but you can only go so far to prevent it before we're all watching low impact semi contact chess for fun.
There needs to be consequences and as adults, we need to risk them in order to achieve what we desire. We're taking the passion out of EVERYTHING by turning this society into a bunch of whining, self centered, female reproductive organs

The Passion Of Our Vice

Did you ever have an argument with a drunk person? Why? Why the fuck would you engage in a fight you can't win no matter how many facts you lay out, and how many points you make? It's the passion in us I guess. Pride and passion. You know you cant win, but you'll go down swinging because you won't be silenced for what you believe in. It's part of being We The People. Last week My buddy Sean named Tea Party candidate Christine O'Donnell as his dumbass of the day on his morning show. She not only couldn't name a Supreme Court case she didn't agree with but said she would post her answers to her web site later that night. When Sean posted the results of his Dumbass Of the Day poll to his Face Book page, a cyber war broke out that I helped fuel. I knew I couldn't win a political argument. No one can. If you think you EVER won a political argument with someone, I'll get drunk tonight and explain to you why you didn't you win shit. Someone on Sean's friends list took offense to Gods choice Christine ODonnells status and blamed the media for portraying her in a less than flattering light. When I shot back some simple facts like Christine O'Donnell listed three colleges on her educational resume that had no record of her ever being there, owes over ten thousand dollars in back taxes, and made 5000 dollars in 2009 which to me is a glaring indication that her plan to create jobs might not be the greatest. The O'Donnell supporter didn't back down. He didn't have an answer for any of my FACTS but he responded with: "Everybody lies". Then he proceeded to tell me that Obama was a liar and a Marxist and blah blah blah. The guy didn't care about the facts. He believed in something and NOTHING was gonna get in his way. That's passion.

Ever argue with someone about music? Bruce Springsteen is an average guitarist at best and if you look closely during certain songs, he doesn't seem to be playing at all. He crams five lines of lyrics into one line of music like a dying man desperate to get it all off of his chest before its too late and his voice sounds like feline rape victims final cry into the night sky. On paper Bruce Springsteen is a shitty musician. I've seen the guy with the technically poor songs and the phantom guitar work bring his gravely voice to 11 arenas over 23 occasions which is laughable to the "average" Springsteen fan. I can't explain why I do it but I'll fight you to the death if you tell me the Boss sucks. An adult who spends his last dime on touring the country to see their favorite band? It's insane. It's absurd. It's awesome. Christine O'Donnell is a rock star right now. Watch Oreilly. Watch Beck. When they scream at a guest, do you listen to what's being said or did the guy who's side you're on "win" the debate already? It doesn't matter. They're OUR people and sometimes passion blinds us from the evidence in front of us. Christine ODonnell can't do any wrong to her backers. Relax right wingers, Obama supporters have their goggles on too. It may not be the safest thing to use passion goggles with politics, but it's out of love for what you believe in that makes us drunk with the passion to believe what we believe in might be more important that a few facts here and there.
And if you rag on me for loving the Boss I have the passion to get drunk and kick your ass

The Greatest ROCK songs of all time

Rolling Stone did this list about fifteen years ago and chose to go with 100 songs. So you had 90 songs picked out of a hat and slapped down on a piece of paper and then 10 that arguably made sense as to why one rock songs was better than the other. All this stuff has been, is now, and always will be subjective. It doesn't mean we can't argue about it. What I don't understand is what people even consider rock any more. During the late 90's I found Jewel in the rock section of a corporate music store. So what I did, was take five songs, FIVE, that weren't just rock but to me represented the definition of what a Rock song IS.

Love Removal Machine- The Cult: I don't care what your opinion is, THAT'S a fucking rock song. Its got a great riff, heavy intro and a little cowbell. You don't need anything else to make a great rock song



You Shook Me All Night Long- ACDC: The Power chord sounding is all time best this side of Tony Iommi. There is an old saying, which isn't actually a saying but more of a mantra dedicated to a lifestyle choice. SEX, DRUGS, and ROCK AND ROLL. This song is all of that. In everybody's individual thought, the girl Brian Johnson sings about looks different. She could be a brunette, she could be tall, chubby, British, whatever, but she's something to strive for and the goal of getting out on the streets in search of some love inside those AMERICAN THIGHS. If this isn't rock then please tell me what is?



Sweet Child Of Mine- Guns and Roses: So many of rock's best work is about a girl. Rarely though does an artist leave himself so vulnerable after tearing his heart out for a girl. Axl Rose is one of rocks bad boys, and Guns and Roses is one of the most baddass, kick ass bands in the stratosphere, so the heart wrenching lyric of "Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place where as a child I'd hide, and wait for the thunder and the rain to quietly pass me by" might get drowned out by Matt Sorums thunderous beat, Duff's powerful bass line, and one of the greatest guitar intros to ever grace our presence.



Free Bird- Lynard Skynard: Go to any concert. See that blind opera singer and chances are some drunken wise ass who got dragged to the show by a potential conquest might yell out for FREE BIRD during the encore. It's been a part of American rock history since the day it was introduced to us. Losing close friends and family is a part of life, one that won't go away no matter how painful it might be. This song took an inevitable pain and turned it into something as beautiful to embrace as death is difficult to understand. By the time the six minute plus solo kicks in, you've been floored by those simple and honest lyrics, and you're just waiting to be lifted away



Born to Run- Bruce Springsteen: We all have been desperate to move forward. Weather it was getting out of parents house, high school, college, a new job, the state, the country, we all wanted to take that next step which was as scary as it was exciting, and we wanted someone to take it with. All of that desperation, and angst was suppressed in Bruce Springsteens heart for 25 years and let out the moment he sang the opening line. He never took a breath through the entire song, and by the songs end he ran out of words but NOT THE NEED TO BE HEARD. Tramps like us. Prisoners of rock. Music that helped us escape through the years, and the same music we'll never escape



These songs. To me. This is the definition of rock

"Well Maybe It's You Who Aint Got It Anymore"

You know there are music snobs out there like me and then there are pretentious assholes who could justify murdering or the burning down of their own home if that's what the artist "really wanted to do."

Over the weekend I saw the band Brad, which is Stone Gossard from Pearl Jam's side band. What makes this band so special to see is that they represent an entire movement that started in Seattle's late 80's music scene. Drummer Regan Hagar and Stone used to be in Mother Love Bone, Singer Shawn Smith and Regan were in Satchel and Brad has a small but passionate and dedicated fan base. What I was expecting last night was the band to return the feeling. Although Mother Love Bone died with Andrew Wood, their spirit is remembered by many with a love for this music, so when Brad came out and played a few Satchel songs, I figured a tribute to the band many believe started it all wouldn't be far behind, now maybe. (I'm such a geek) The shock of this concert wasn't that they only did one Mother Love Bone song. The shock was that singer Shawn Smith who was NOT in Mother Love Bone sat at his keyboard and sang MLB's Crown Of thorns by himself while Stone Gossard and Regan Hagar who WERE in Mother Love Bone AND helped write the damn song sat back stage and drank tea or whatever these guys do. The second shock was that Shawn Smith took this song with a beautiful melody and piano riff and played it to the tune of Prince's Purple Rain. I'm not kidding. He did Purple Rain, and then he sang Crown Of Thorns over it. It was insulting. You see there ARE fans who care about this stuff, who followed the history of WHY they bought a concert ticket, and WHY they are spending their valuable time watching a band. Having Shawn Smith sing some lines of a Mother Love Bone song over another seemed like a throw in done in haste to satisfy that annoying part of the audience who DARES get their money's worth. Just don't do the song. Brad is a mellow band with almost Jack Johnson style songs, just a whole lot more meaningful, but they do have some harder songs. The way they simply threw a whole bunch of songs down without reason or care for the flow of the set makes me wonder about who's actually at fault for the music industry's demise. I wrote a few weeks ago about how people just don't care anymore about things like music and movies and complex TV shows. Maybe its due to the artists not caring anymore. Watching Shawn Smith run from the main microphone placed in the center of the stage over to his keyboard set over to the left a half a dozen times took as much out of my interest as his tribute to man formerly relevant to fucking Alternative Rock band concert. I was told by the guy next to me that I was being selfish. Me, the guy who spent 30 bucks on a ticket and three times that on four beers and a diet coke (I'm watching my girlish figure)This "gentleman" informed me that the artists are NOT there to play for me. They are displaying their passion in public and me and my hard earned money should be honored to be a part of it. So consumer satisfaction is off the table when it comes to "art."
There are many who think this way. The sad thing about this mentality is the absence of one very simple fact: Its called the fucking music BUSINESS for a reason. An artist needs to recognize the reasons why their audience is standing there and do what they can satisfy that while expressing their art. Artists that REFUSE to play certain songs because they are sick of them, and refuse to acknowledge their significant air play by only playing track's 3 and 9 of every album fail to appreciate the only fucking reason their mortgages are paid off. The AUDIENCE is the CUSTOMER. If you don't want to feel like a prostitute , don't sell your albums. When someone buys a ticket to a concert, its a pact. Not a contract. A pact. A pact that you'll be sharing a common emotion, common love for something. To see Bruce Springsteen denying the audience the time honored sing-a-longs on the Magic Tour was watching a man literally tear apart his own legacy. After years of bonding with the crowd over passionate call and response segments of every show, 2007 was the year Bruce decided to say too bad, thanks for coming. Ironically enough, it was Bruce who was quoted in Crawdaddy magazine 30 years ago talking about how a kid in Cleveland only has a ticket to Cleveland and not Detroit or Houston, so as an artist you only have one shot to play for that kid in Cleveland. Springsteen got the message as the empty seats spread through the stadium and by his next tour he was taking request signs from people and giving thousands a memory exclusive to their own 89.95 ticket or whatever it was. Other bands need to find their way back. We appreciate your work, and we respect your desire to share your art with us. To make music work again, an artist needs to reciprocate that respect by honoring the reasons why the audience in the first place. People do still care out there, and if rock music is gonna survive, these artists need to care about THEM again.

A Hand In This Insanity

Fucking people. You have that lunatic tea bag party chick Christine O'Donnell wasting my airwaves with bullshit. Ironically enough she's been been jerking voters around for a few few months now after it was discovered she never went to or even graduated from the colleges she said she did, owes over ten grand in back taxes and has been living off her campaign money. Why is this all so Ironic? The chain yanking queen has been exposed as a major opponent of masturbation.



Seriously. This is not a joke. There are people out there who are against loving thyself before thy neighbor and other people actually vote them into office. Why are we so fucking uptight over sex? I'm just asking, if priests could marry, do you think so many Alter Boys would still be backing out of church in fear of stepping into some holy shit? Isnt that why staright guys have gay sex in prison, because there are no woman around? Forcing anyone away from sex is usually a bad idea. If we stopped worrying so much about what makes us feel good and stopped forcing such an unnatural thought, maybe we'd all be a little less likely to cap a bullet in the head of the gansta who disrespects us? Didn't Christine O Donnell
look like someone who really needs to get laid? Do these teenagers really think they're fooling God when they marry at 17 and turn fornication into just a whole bunch of failed procreation? What about teh girls who take in in the ass because technically its not a sin against god that way and WHERE THE HELL WERE THOSE GIRLS WHEN I NEEDED THEM? Why not just stop the bullshit and admit sex is good, it harms NO ONE if its consensual, and it makes everyone better for having it? Sex never hurt a single person. Maybe a few heart attacks but what a way to go. All of that sex addiction garbage? If more men were smooth we'd all be in sex anonymous.

Tomorrow......Then I Can Shut The Fuck Up

The Gracious Few is coming to the TLA. FINALLY!!!!! Since my JSE days, you have heard me carry on about this band. I never made a secret about my love for Candlebox and JSE played the snot out of Live. Therefor, you've probably listened to me rave like a lunatic for MONTHS when news of Candlebox lead singer Kevin Martin joining the members of Live broke. For me this is having sex while watching the Giants win a Superbowl. Two of my favorite, most UNDERRATED bands are coming to a small club, playing some amazing music that they've written for the occasion, and charging me TEN BUCKS to get in. Three years ago ten bucks was just about two gallons of gas. If you like one song by each of these guys and haven't picked up the Gracious Few album, you'll get more than your ten bucks worth seeing one of rocks greatest voices EVER and one of the most musically unique bands of ANY generation play together. The video I posted is called Crying Time. Seriously, I am a very hetero sexual male, but this guys voice really makes me question that from time to time. Anyway JSE fans, I miss the fuck out of you. It's been a while. Stop down at the TLA and lets have a few while rocking out. What a band to see while catching up huh?

Rushing To Dodge A Bullet?

A few days ago the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2011 inductees and Rush was not included in the group. Okay Rush fans, you have a point. Let me put in in perspective for you though. The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame lost all credibility in 2000 when they inducted the Loving Spoonful, a 60's band who had a handful of pop hits like many 60's pop bands did. They didn't however revolutionize a genre of music the way Black Sabbath did who at the time in 2000 were eligible for five years and still had not been inducted into the Hall Of Fame. Yeah I know that doesn't make you feel better. How about this fact then? Off the top of my head I can name four musicians in recent years who have died within four months of their hall of fame induction. Joey Ramone died a little before Eddie Vedder inducted them in, and Dee Dee Ramone died a few months later. Joe Strummer was a punk innovator but fell short by about three months of seeing his band the Clash get inducted into the Hall Of Fame. Bobby Hatfield wasnt related to Bill Medley but he left the Ritchous Brothers a man short soon after getting inducted into the Hall Of Fame. Not exactly the 27 club Jimi, Janice, Jim, Brian Jones, and Kurt Cobain made famous, but it might ease your pain about your favorite Canadian trio getting left out in the cold again. Do I like Rush? No. I can't stand them. I would rather be stripped naked, cut open, bathed in salt, and listen to Ann Coulter speak than sit through a Rush album. That's just my opinion. Who the Fuck am I? Do I think they deserve to get in over this years inductees of the Beastie Boys, Bon Jovi, and LL Cool J? Of Course I do. Then again, who the fuck am I.

Taboo Songs

I got caught at a red light singing to Bon Jovi's Bad Medicine the other day. NOT MY PROUDEST moment but it got me thinking. There are times in a guys life when he needs to know certain songs so that the softer sex can think he's sensitive. So what are the ten songs that girls love to dance to, make out to, and explore each crevice of the back seat of that Mitsubishi Spider to, yet wont make you feel like YOU should be the one bending over?

10- GIRL ALL THE BAD GUYS WANT- Bowling For Soup

Sure it's a little poppy, and immature. Like downing 4 beers before happy hour prices ends isn't? It's a great sing along song. The best part is the bridge. After whining for two verses about how the world stops when this girl walks into the room, and how she's the perfect woman for him, he sums up the true motive of every human that pees standing up : "ALL I WANTED WAS TO SEE HER NAKED!!!!!!!!!!!" Somehow girls love this song

9- SANTERIA - Sublime- It's no secret I prefer the heavy stuff, but this is THE grind against your girl/guy song on the dance floor of any bar. With your half priced beer in one hand, your special no no place grinding against someones thigh, and screaming about capping Sancho's punk ass, this song makes it a good night

8- SWEET CAROLINE - Neil Diamond- Yeah we wouldn't be caught dead playing Neil Diamond on JSE, but I guarantee you EVERYBODY at Jse knows this song word for word. It's built for drunken sing alongs. It's got places designed to fit your off key vocals all over it's 2 minutes and 21 seconds of awesomeness

7- MY OWN WORST ENEMY - LIT- Lit actually had a few decent songs in the late 90's. Miserable, Addicted and Over My Head were solid middle of the mix CD songs for a long road trip. Their first big single however is still being butchered by low talent cover bands across the nation. It doesn't brag about being a total F*%K UP, but it helps you celebrate the fact that your still alive "Please Tell me why my car is in the front yard, I'm sleeping with my clothes on......"

6- SUMMER OF 69 - Bryan Adams - Real simple. Certain songs get a free pass. I know your mom loves this song. I know it's written by the same guy who sings that horrible Robin Hood, Everything I Do For You song. I know I shouldn't like it. I love it. Any song that celebrates the nights your working so hard to have right now is good. Letting it all go on a Friday night with your best friends. Songs about doing things you can only do with the best of friends. Any song about playing in bands, drinking, eating wings, listening to great songs, and a finding the perfect place to party, is a great song.

5- GLORY DAYS - Bruce Springsteen - I grew up on the Boss. Sorry had to throw it in there

4- ENTER SANDMAN - Metallica - It was the beginning of the end of Metallica's integrity. The Black Album wasn't as bad as S and M or Reload, but songs that tore your face off like Harvester of Sorrow and Seek and Destroy were a thing of the past. When people party to your songs at weddings? Your not a bad ass band anymore. People love to scream the chorus, they stir when they hear Nuestead's bass intro, and they ......dance? Hey man, that's why this list is about songs that make you feel like you're selling your soul. Metallica sure as F*&K did

3- RUNAROUND SUE - Dion - See songs 8,6, and 5

2- LIVING ON A PRAYER - Bon Jovi - This is New Jersey right? It transcends genres, time and age. It's just a good song. To a guy with a tattoo of Ozzy Osbourne on his left arm, this is the true definition of a guilty pleasure

1- YOUR LOVE - The Outfield - I'm gonna let this one speak for itself. If you don't believe me, pop it on any jukebox, in any bar, in New Jersey tonight and watch what happens

Can't Buy Love and Affection?

You know, there are comebacks I've been waiting on my whole life. Since 2000 I waited for Pantera to kick my ass again until 2004 when some piece of garbage took that dream away. I'm still waiting on Guns and Roses. Hell, I'm now waiting on Velvet Revolver. There's a ton of bands out there that we're all desperatly waiting to see again, so you might understand my disapointement by the latest reunion?

This is from Blabbermouth.net:

"Lightning Strikes Twice", the new album from NELSON, is scheduled for release on November 5 in Europe via Frontiers Records.

On September 29, 1991 NELSON reached the height of the U.S. single chart with their evergreen hit "(Can't Live Without Your) Love And Affection". Their music has stood the test of time and now 20 years later Matthew and Gunnar Nelson explore fresh creative territory in the present with their new album, "Lightning Strikes Twice".

The new album goes straight back to the absolute brilliance of NELSON's first album, hence the title, featuring an amazing set of songs that are going to restore the faith in NELSON"

Look, on the air I never tried to let my true feelings about bands or songs out in fear of insulting a listener with a different view point. This time I'm going on my better judgement here by thinking no one reading this will get offended when I ask: WHO THE FUCK CARES ABOUT NELSON??????????? That line about this album restoring our faith in Nelson. Did they ever SEE the video for Love and Affection

Sex or Violence: What Hurts More?

Seriously? Seriously this actually caused parents to react? No movement to improve their children's education, No anger over the violence on T. V. or the public school system being under attack for years but Katy Perry wears a partially revealing dress and hell hath no fury like a mother sheltering her kid. Boobs are awesome. They're better than awesome. They're a necessary part of most Americans lives. So why are most Americans afraid of them? How could seeing a pair of boobs possibly hurt a child? Seriously, what idea could possibly get implanted in a kids head after seeing a woman's rack other than, "Hey, that's my old meals on heals fast food restaurant"
Could Katy Perry's Dress really do more damage to a kids fragile mind than THIS cartoon below?



Why are we so afraid of sex. STILL???? We got here because of sex and we can't talk about it? The Katy Perry controversy isn't even over sex, it's over a human body. A female body. You think we would have so many problems with girls jamming their fingers down their throats if we weren't so goddamn uptight about our BODIES? Violence we can see on T. V. A nude body needs to be swept under the rug and seen behind closed doors only. The second we drop all of this hysteria about nudity, a nude body won't be a big deal to ANYONE any more. What is this, the war on nature?