Because this album is the PERFECT soundtrack to any sun-drenched, boozed up holiday, festival of barbie in the back garden.
I always found it weird that I didn't enjoy this album in the winter, but I eventually came to realise that it is a summer album - you need beer, you need sun, and ... Read review
The Blessed Hellridesees the multi-talented Zakk Wylde--Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist and ... more
frontman of the Black Label Society--play all instruments bar the drums yet, somehow, he manages to retain an intensity that Osbourne has sadly lacked for some years....
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The Blessed Hellride sees the multi-talented Zakk Wylde--Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist and ... more
frontman of the Black Label Society--play all instruments bar the drums yet, somehow, he manages to retain an intensity that Osbourne has sadly lacked for some years...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
The Blessed Hellridesees the multi-talented Zakk Wylde--Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist and ... more
frontman of the Black Label Society--play all instruments bar the drums yet, somehow, he manages to retain an intensity that Osbourne has sadly lacked for some years....
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: Pure boozed up metal, great musicianship, never gets tired Disadvantages: Not for everybody, moves away from traditional BLS sound
Because this album is the PERFECT soundtrack to any sun-drenched, boozed up holiday, festival of barbie in the back garden.
I always found it weird that I didn't enjoy this album in the winter, but I eventually came to realise that it is a summer album - you need beer, you need sun, and you need to be enjoying yourself to fully appreciate this album.
After the darker "1919 Eternal", I remember thinking about ... ...forward musically. Zakk had already released solo effort "Book of Shadows", proving his versatility as a musician, and although "Sonic Brew" was better, "1919..." was still a solid metal album, and had appeared to have covered all bases. Not so. Because this album is VERY different from its predecessor.
Zakk keeps his trademark chugging riffs, and his even more famous pinch harmonics, but brought a different ... more
Because this album is the PERFECT soundtrack to any sun-drenched, boozed up holiday, festival of barbie in the back garden.
I always found it weird that I didn't enjoy this album in the winter, but I eventually came to realise that it is a summer album - you need beer, you need sun, and you need to be enjoying yourself to fully appreciate this album.
After the darker "1919 Eternal", I remember thinking about how Zakk Wylde and co. were going to possibly move forward musically. Zakk had already released solo effort "Book of Shadows", proving his versatility as a musician, and although "Sonic Brew" was better, "1919..." was still a solid metal album, and had appeared to have covered all bases. Not so. Because this album is VERY different from its predecessor.
Zakk keeps his trademark chugging riffs, and his even more famous pinch harmonics, but brought a different approach to his vocals. This album, in my view, is Zakk's finest moment as a vocalist - no other album touches it. His Southern drawl is still ever-present, but the vocals are much stronger and polished, if you will. He can hold notes for longer, has a greater range, and still manages to keep his "heavy metal" grunts at the same time. Classic.
Tracks such as "Funeral Bell" and "Stoned and Drunk" provide riffs and rythms you can't hell but tap a foot and nod your head too - a hallmark of a great rock track. Added to this, the dynamics in each track are probably superior to any other BLS album. This is a great addition to the arsenal of Zakk Wylde, an already brilliantly talented musician.
In fact, for this album, Zakk layed down the bass, rythm guitar, lead guitar and piano ON HIS OWN, saying "I don't trust other people to do it the way I want it done". And this album is so Zakk Wylde, you can almost taste it.
Evident in this album are influences from some of Wylde's heroes - Black Sabbath, the Allman Brothers, and even the odd lick that is reminiscent of Tony Iommi's solo work. In fact, "We Live No More" is so Iommi that you have to remind yourself that it ISN'T. I wonder if Zakk shouldn't produce more Iommi-esque licks - they seem to suit him down to the ground, and are essentially timeless riffs.
The MAJOR downfall of this album in my eyes, is the fact that he has Ozzy cameo on "Stillborn". An already poor track that reminds me more a Chris Benoit's (WWE wrestler) entrance music than a BLS powerhouse track, is made even more corny by Ozzy providing backing vocals.
Now Ozzy suits Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbth, but he most definitely does not suit BLS.
This is my ony major complaint.
Apart from that, Wylde produces some brilliant chops, notably the solo from "Funeral Bell", as well as managing some impressive slower tracks in "Dead Meadow" and "Blackened Waters".
The title track is quite possibly the best track on the album. Contrary to popular belief, the guitar is NOT acoustic, but instead a Les Paul studio on clean channel. The rythm is simple but effective, very catchy, and the lyrics, although not the best in the world, suit the track down to the ground. The solo is one of the best Wylde has wrote, beaten only, in my view, by the solos to "Perry Mason" and "No More Tears" in Zakk's axe work for Ozzy. The solo shows Zakk's heavy influence from blues: using the pentatonic scales to huge effect, reminiscent of an Allman Brothers piece sped up 100 times over.
This may not be the best BLS album in some people's eyes, but for me, it comes damn close. Zakk's guitar playing is at it's best - his pick attack coming close to being as clean as Paul Gilbert's, his solos becoming more thoughtfull, and his tracks becoming more entertaining.
This is worth a buy. Probably one of the best metal albums of 2003.
Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society: Zakk Wylde (vocals, guitar, piano, bass); Craig Nunenmacher (drums). Additional personnel: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals). Recorded at Paramount Studios, Hollywood, California; Cartee Day Studios, Nashville, Tennessee, Amerayacan Studios, North Hollywood, California. Nu-metal be damned; Zakk Wylde might say there's only one kind of metal, and that's "heavy." On THE BLESSED HELLRIDE, the ex-Ozzy Osbourne guitarist's Black Label Society attempts to create nothing less than the ultimate mullet-sporting high school headbanger's dream album. Fans of old school, "strap on Les Paul/insert into Marshall stack/rock like hell" thrash mayhem will find a lot to love here, from the raw, aggressive monster guitar and drum sounds to the Black Sabbath-via-Judas Priest gargantuan riffs. The lyrics pretty much stick to the metal essentials: drugs, evil, supernatural forces, death, and oh yeah, more drugs. For those who find nu-metal suspiciously lacking in heft, THE BLESSED HELLRIDE provides a welcome fix of the hard stuff.
Titles on disc 1
1.
Stoned And Drunk
2.
Doomsday Jesus
3.
Stillborn
4.
Suffering Overdue
5.
Blessed Hellride, Blessed Hellride, The
6.
Funeral Bell
7.
Final Solution
8.
Destruction Overdrive
9.
Blackened Waters
10.
We Live No More
11.
Dead Meadow
Ciao
Listed on Ciao since
13/09/2005
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