Originally Posted by Jeb Wright/CRR

[....] Classic Rock Revisited recently
conducted an interview with BLACK SABBATH/HEAVEN AND
HELL bassist Geezer Butler. A few excerpts from the
chat follow:

Classic Rock Revisited: When did you first hear about
[the possibility of a HEAVEN AND HELL tour]?

Geezer: I knew that Tony [Iommi] met Ronnie [James
Dio] and that they had written two or three songs. We
are going to be putting out the anthology CD of the
Dio years of SABBATH. Rhino asked us if we could come
up with some new stuff to put on it. Ronnie and Tony
wrote three new songs. Word got out about it and we
started getting tour offers. We started putting a tour
together to go with the album release. I went over to
England and put the bass down on it and that was that.
The album will come out in [April].

Classic Rock Revisited: Are there future plans yet or
are you going to see how the tour goes?

Geezer: It is just a year-long thing. Because of
things that happened in the past we don't want to
press our luck. Everyone is happy with a year-long
tour.

Classic Rock Revisited: Bill Ward was going to be
involved.

Geezer: Bill was involved originally. Bill was in the
studio when I went over there but he didn't want to
tour so he didn't go any further with it.

Classic Rock Revisited: You played together back in
the '80s and the '90s and the band was called BLACK
SABBATH. Now you are HEAVEN AND HELL. Why is the name
different this time around?

Geezer: Back then SABBATH was dead and buried, as far
as Ozzy is concerned. The record company insisted on
calling us BLACK SABBATH and we were contracted that
way. I think Tony wanted to carry on with the name
BLACK SABBATH anyway. Due to the restoration of the
original SABBATH now, we couldn't go out that way. We
didn't want to confuse everyone by going out this time
as BLACK SABBATH with Ronnie and then next year going
out as SABBATH with Ozzy. Both things are hopefully
going to be ongoing.

Classic Rock Revisited: SABBATH is still alive?

Geezer: Yeah. With the original BLACK SABBATH lineup
that did the reunion, we have really only played North
America and a few European places. We have always
wanted to do a world tour.

Classic Rock Revisited: You have not visited the
Dio-era SABBATH material for some time. Has it been
easy for you to revisit those songs?

Geezer: No, it has been really hard. For this tour we
are doing strictly Dio-era songs. Apart from "Neon
Knights", "Heaven and Hell" and "Mob Rules" ? which we
have done live before ? we have not done a lot of the
others live. There are several songs we have never
played live. We are playing a lot of stuff for the
first time since we recorded it. It is hard to
remember what you played on a lot of these songs.

Classic Rock Revisited: Are you just putting the CD on
and playing along with it trying to figure out your
parts?

Geezer: Absolutely. The stuff that we have played a
lot before is not a problem but there is a lot of
stuff on "Dehumanizer" that we never played. I don't
even remember recording half of it. Those songs have a
lot of tempo and time changes which make it quite hard
to do them. For the last two weeks I have been going
through all these songs at home. We are going to be
getting together for two weeks of rehearsal soon.
Everyone is doing their homework right now and then we
will get together and bang it out.

Classic Rock Revisited: You will play no Ozzy-era
material at all?

Geezer: No, we are not doing any of that. The Ozzy
thing is still ongoing so I think it is best to keep
them totally separate.

Classic Rock Revisited: Were there any hard feelings
from Ozzy when you guys wanted to do this?

Geezer: I think he got a bit upset at first when he
thought we were going to go out as BLACK SABBATH. When
I told him that we were not going to do that then he
was fine with it.

Originally Posted by B5Erik

So....

Machine Head? The less said the better.

The Dave Mustaine Band, errr, Megadeth? Very good - if a bit generic other than Mustaine. The guys in the band were all competent, but had almost no personality - unlike most guys who have been in Megadeth. Mustaine needs Ellefson back badly. Still, good set list and solid performances - and Dave was at his best.

Black Sabbath, errr, Heaven and Hell? In a word, WOW! Dio is the man. He's still got it - in his early (mid?) 60's he can outsing and outperform most guys half his age. He had the audience in the palm of his hand - and in typical Dio fashion won them over by showing appreciation and respect for the audience. Tony Iommi smiled and had fun on stage like I've never seen. Geezer was Geezer, and Vinnie Appice was outstanding and had neat drum racks on either side of his kit that he could pull forward at an angle and beat the snot out of the drums and then let it go and it would rock back and forth like it was going to fall over - but they were obviously set NOT to fall over. A cool visual "performance enhancer," that gave him more of a chance to be a showman.

As a band Black Sabbath, errr, Heaven and Hell (I keep doing that...) were tight and powerful, and played a great set list. It was nice to see them freed from the Ozzy era material. They could really focus on what this line-up does best. I should also mention that the stage set/show was fantastic - it was like the best shows from the 80's. A BIG presentation, but at the same time also very modern.

Like I noted above, I saw Black Sabbath in 1994 with Tony Martin and Bobby Rondinelli. It was a great show. The show last night blew that one away.

Tony and Geezer should forget working with Ozzy (at least for a year or two) and do a full new album with Dio. The chemistry is there and stronger than ever.

I expected a really good show, but what I got was one of the best I've ever seen.

Originally Posted by cdollaz

I'm going next week and looking forward to it. Did they play Lonely Is The Word or Ear In The Wall?

Originally Posted by B5Erik

Tony and Geezer should forget working with Ozzy