Another Fine Mess I've Got Me Into

Just when I think I'm out they pull me back in...

Davey Does Politics

Dave's got something to say...


Back in the eighties, old Silyvester The Cat Megadave was full of piss and vinegar.
And Heroin.
He spent his days railing against Metallica, society, Metallica, authority, Metallica, the Regan era, Metallica, God, Metallica... you get the picture, he was one angry douchebag, but this was kind of endearing at times really.
Sure he couldn't pen as good a tune as Metallica, and the whole camp of one or the other was a bit pantomime, but I for one loved the fire that burned inside the flame haired whine machine and you cannot doubt some of the epic songs he produced on Peace Sells..., So Far..., Rust..., Countdown..., even Youthanasia.

At some point between donning a plaid shirt and writing shit like 'Crush 'Em' Megadave had a spiritual awakening and found Jesus. Apparently Jesus doesn't like drunken, angry, smackheads who sing about black magic rituals so he cleaned up his act and got back to being political.
Okay so fair enough, I'm not suggesting that for me to like an artist they need to be angry and high as a kite (*cough Trent Reznor*), but I think Dave said he preferred Aerosmith when they were on drugs - well touché Silvester, tou-fucking-ché...

Recently Megadave and JuniorDave (reunited and newly God bothering bassist Dave Ellefson) have done nothing but hack on about how they want a Republican in the White House and how they are Christian.
Great.. That's wonderful!
I had a foot infection once and I don't keep going on about it because it has nothing to do with anything you are about.
'We talk about Jesus, because people keep asking us' - JuniorDave
Well tell them to fuck off with their irrelevant questions, talk about your fucking music would ya? That's what you are there to push!

And then the crowning turd in the water pipe was last week when MegaDave was interviewed by Josh Kerns for Sunday's episode of "Seattle Sounds", which airs on on Seattle's KIRO 97.3 FM radio station.
When asked if he supports gay marriage, Mustaine said, "Well, since I'm not gay, the answer to that would be no."
Dave was then questioned if he would support legislation to make marriage between a man and another man legal. He replied, "I'm Christian. The answer to that would be no."
Now I appreciate that it's a set up news story, but honestly who the fuck appointed this guy the moral guardian of American?
Republicans, opposing gay rights... get your pitchforks and torches here comes Daaavvvvvveeee!

Whatever happened to the guy who sang Peace Sells and Devil's Island or even I Ain't Superstitious?
I'll be sure to look out the lyrics on the album after your Iraq/Iran invading, Israeli supporting republican head of state is next elected.
It is this kind of half baked bullshit statements that led Hank Williams III to comment to TMZ.com that most musicians, including his own dad, are "not worthy" of a political discussion.

Save it for the cross burning, Adolf.

Larz sayz 'Youz Are All Stoopidz'

Larz reacts to continued hatred of Lulu

Sure, it's easy to tell when everyone's least favourite Metallicat has his mouth open as he is usually talking around his foot... I have tried to keep away from the contentious issue of how a once great band could continuously vomit out at least fifteen years of crap and still sell out stadiums at the drop of a hat, but sure enough the Tubby Tub Thumper was back in the meeja this week trying to act all cool on the subject of Lulu, like a teenage boy trying to impress a girl from the other side of a disco hall.

The summation?
Well get this,
'Listen, there are some very, very, very hardcore metal fans out there that like everything pre-packaged in a particular little box that looks like this, and the minute that you slightly veer outside of that, then they have a hernia.' And that's fine — I'm fine with that. People have to understand, and I think I've been saying this for the better part of 30 years now... And I understand that there are some people that resent that, because they want METALLICA to kind of just do what they want METALLICA to do'

So there we have it last - month it was 'the people he respects and listens to tell him it's great' and now it's not successful because you and I are all a bunch of narrow minded fuckfaces who wouldn't know art or good music or what have you if it bit you on the bum.
So there nerr, Lars is right and 'In about 900 years from now, people will be able to talk about 'Lulu' face to face with each other without hiding behind masks. So we look forward to that day.'

Let me pause a minute to wipe the tears of laughter from my keyboard there Mr Ulrich...

Right, I'll take your accusation, I CAN be extremely narrow minded when I want to be, I'm not, as a glance at my music collection would reveal, but that aside if I represent the very, very, very hardcore fan what about my friends? What about my acquaintances? What about Joe Public?
Let me make this clear I don't know ANYONE who likes Lulu and the piss in the ocean amount it has sold would suggest that I am really, really, really not alone in this - Christ you got a reaction out of Tom Araya over it and that guy is so laid back fronting Slayer he's like a lounge act compare these days.

So Lou Reed had his feelings hurt?
So Fucking What? (eh? eh!?!) Judging by the last couple of album reviews he got he should be used to people calling him out on making crap AND it's the same with you lot.

I'm not slating Lulu because it's different or not Metallica - I have put up with 'Tallica for 19 years now in place one of my favourite bands when you decided you were bigger than metal - I'm slating it because it's fucking awful.
The fact that Lou reed can't be arsed with more than three takes, the fact that you guys clearly didn't finish the music (but what's new there eh?) is the issue here and you clearly have your head up your ass to be so blind.
I'm not wearing a mask, I'll talk to anyone - I'll talk to you! - face to face without hiding behind a mask and to paraphrase departed hero Bill Hicks:
Quick capsule review: Piece of shit. Thank you. If you see a piece of shit don't be afraid to call it a piece of shit. Don't get caught up in the phoney debate of is it art or not. Call it what it is - a piece of shit.

I have to stop checking Blabbermouth for my own sanity...

Your Life Style Determines Your Death Style

My Great Grandfather was an Artillery Gunner in the First World War and a heavy smoker, because let's face it back in those days it was marketed as good for you.
Despite these odds he lived to a fairly decent age but eventually the cordite from the guns and the years of smoking caught up with him and his lungs disintegrated.
Why do I bring this up in a blog about Metal Music?
Well, the point is that my last memories of him were of a frail old man getting weaker and less present with each visit that got further and further apart, until sadly he passed away and as my first childhood experience of death it left a profound sadness that was in truth long overdue by the time his passing was announced.

This week Life of Agony drummer Sal Abruscato announced to the world that the band were officially calling it quits. In a interview in Poland whilst touring for his new venture, the surprisingly good A Pale Horse Named Death he stated,
'"We're not gonna play [anymore]. We moved out of our studio. We all kind of feel like we're at the end. We're never gonna make another record, because of those kinds of problems I was talking about [earlier in the interview] — we can't agree on writing a song. And Keith [Caputo, vocals] wants to pursue his life and his lifestyle. And that's pretty much the reason why also I've moved on and I'm doing my own thing… to just keep going; I didn't want my career to stop with LIFE OF AGONY. LIFE OF AGONY doesn't tour, LIFE OF AGONY doesn't do much. And so we were at a point where it was like… We did the last three shows in July [2011] and then we moved out of our studio, and that's it. I don't foresee anything in the future; I highly doubt it. I don't know how that would happen."

This statement echoes earlier hints by the band's frontman Keith Caputo that,
"We realize that LIFE OF AGONY has become an extremely nostalgic act and the music that used to not be dated, in our eyes, is dated, and the whole situation is dated. It's a nostalgia, and we don't want to take advantage of that nostalgia anymore, nor do we wanna take advantage of the fans. We've got three shows [in July 2011] and it's probably gonna be the last shows that we do for a very long time. In fact, we just may call it quits. Because we feel like we set out to do what we needed to collectively. We're very honest people, we love each other dearly, but we just can't get it on; we can't turn each other on in the studio. We hit a brick wall together, and it ain't cool. So there's probably not gonna be a new [LIFE OF AGONY] album, nor a new single… So people better start getting used to [the 2005 album] 'Broken Valley', because that's probably the last piece of music that they'll hear from the band."

In all fairness this announcement, whilst tinged with sadness, is the best thing that could happen, that once and for all LOA can be laid to rest.

I appreciate that it seems like I am eulogising a family member or a beloved pet, but personally I don't think you can underestimate the effect that music can have on you, particularly in your emotionally vulnerable formative years and those of you looking for the usual bile, I promise I'll post up something about Larz and Megadave very soon just to balance it out... but for now I am going to lament the passing of what to me, was a very important band.


I believe there are tiers of liking music - people ask you to do a top 5 or a top 10 and you can snap five automatic responses off in no time, but there are another tier of band that don't immediately crash into that list that can be held as special.
For example if you have never met me, read this blog before, then you might not be aware that Iron Maiden are my favourite band, however lyrically and on some level emotionally they are very hard to connect with - I have never been a British Solider, an Egyptian Mummy, An Ancient Mariner even, but there are bands like Nine Inch Nails (earlier works it should be pointed out) who I have felt so profoundly that at times I have had to put the album away because emotionally the weight is crushing.
For me, Life Of Agony was such a band.

LOA was formed back in 1989 in Brooklyn, New York by Keith Caputo, cousin Joey Z (guitars) and Alan Robert (guitars/vocals). Growing up in the tough neighbourhood they would all experience harsh childhoods including a back drop of abuse, absentee parents - through abandonment/suicide - and drug use to the point where Keith was sent to live with Joey.
All of which would provide the band with the ammunition to pen some of the most hard hitting lyrics committed to disc.
After playing with several drummers they enlisted the then Type O Negative (RIP Pete) drummer Abruscato and roped in his former band mate Josh Silver to produce their debut album which would become one of Roadrunner Records greatest releases, River Runs Red.


RRR was released in 1993. By and large it is considered a concept album it deals with the family struggle of a teenage boy whose life is falling apart, at home, at school, at work and in love.
The music is primarily metal, but tinged with the influence of the NY Hardcore scene that saw them drawing crowds at the legendary CGBGs night club.
This album contains some of their greatest songs - Underground, Method Of Groove, Through And Through, This Time and of course the epic title track all inter-cut with snippets of the boys week.
As great an album as it is, River Runs Red is an extremely dark journey and without trying to give too much as a spoiler to those interested, when they called themselves Life Of Agony they meant it and this is a concept album without a happy ending.
Although for the band (and principle song writer Robert) this remains the pinnacle of their work.


Two years later LOA returned to the studio to record their follow up album. Coming as a surprise to their hardcore fan base, Ugly, saw a softening of the bands style from the aggressive gang chorus to a heavy rock sound that was more in common with bands like Stone Temple Pilots than Sick Of It All.
No less emotionally weighty the album saw major contributions from Abruscato and Captuo, the latter particularly on the subject matter dealing with his parents drug abuse, his missing mother and from Roberts' part the death of his mother and the frustrations of growing into adulthood.
It is a beautiful, but downright depressing affair at times that not even the pointless throwaway cover of Simple Mind's 'Don't You Forget About Me' could lift.
Despite the radical departure and large disdain it was greeted with from the wider public LOA retained their fan base and successfully toured with Ozzy Osbourne, Korn, Anthrax and fellow Brooklynites Type O Negative.
However during one of the shows on this tour a fan fell from the stage trying to stagedive and died. As a result the band were implicated and cleared in a lawsuit but saw Captuo deeply effected to the point years later on the River Runs Again DVD he warns the crowd to watch out as they 'have already lost a life'.
Following and despite all the tours momentum Abruscato exited the band after the tour, and was replaced by ex-Pro Pain/Crumbsuckers drummer Dan Richardson.


In 1997 the band returned to the studio to record Sun Searching Sun, this record continued the bands evolution away from metal and was met with further confusion, this time from the bands fanbase as well.
Featuring some of the bands most upbeat songs the material often jars against themes of underlying depressing such as the lead single Desire - lyrical hook 'I'm comfortable feeling miserable and I never want to change'.

Despite having signed up for a world tour, waif like renaissance man Keith announced that he was no longer feeling the music and departed the band.
Undoubtedly crushed by their band mate/family members departure the band ploughed ahead, taking the bizarre step of recruiting former Ugly Kid Joe vocalist Whitfield Crane to man the mike in Caputo's departure.


Now taking a step back here I saw LOA on this tour with Crane, despite his involvement in the aural equivalent of Aids, he was actually a pretty fine vocalist (check out the under rated Medication album featuring whit, Logan Mader formerly of Machine Head and Roy from Soulfly) although trying to instil a bouncing, party crowd during heavy weight anthems like Other Side Of The River and the fact that LOA had a family orientated and loyal fanbase meant that he would never be accepted.


Couple this with the fact that the new material didn't endear itself to the hardcore following and Whit was on to a losing streak from the off. During this show I saw a tiny girl in New Roc boots axe kick a stereotypical looking hardcore dude (you know... wife beater, too many tattoos, bulging neck muscles) out cold. Her reason you ask?
She was pissed off cos they were playing SSS single 'Weeds' and it is (in her words) 'A fucking pop song'.
At this juncture I exited the pit...

Once home from the Soul Searching... tour the remaining band members decided they no longer wanted to continue as LOA without Caputo and Crane left as quickly as he came and eventually they crumbled and disbanded in 1999 with Caputo re-emerging on Roadrunner as a solo artist with the fantastic Died Laughing album.

In truth I mourned them back then and it was over until a family tragedy brought them back together. Keith's father passed away in late 2002 and the grief reunited all the band members to play two reunion shows which would be released as River Runs Again - reuniting the classic line up.


Following the success of the shows the band retuned to the studio in 2005 to record their first new material in eight years in the form of 2005's Broken Valley.
It's fair to say the album is their weakest and was not well received by their fanbase at large (although in my house I still spin it) as the music was closer to Velvet Revolver style stadium rock and the mellower moments of Ugly. After a short tour the band all but vanished again as Caputo once again reiterated that this was not the style of music he wanted to play.

And there they should have left it, but they have been playing festivals in Belgium and club shows in the states occasionally and in 2009 they performed all of River Runs Red which left me with a sour taste in my mouth. When I saw them in 2005, finally with Keith, it was clear that as much as Roberts, Joey and Sal were enjoying themselves Caputo was a man (yes he was still a man back then...) going through the motions and to see one of the most emotionally moving bands I knew almost faking it was a sad sight to see.
And so they limped on, almost reuniting every now and then for the cash top up, until 2010 when they released the 20 Years Strong: River Runs Red, Live in Brussels CD/DVD set which I have to say I couldn't bring myself to buy.

Now it seems like they have finally decided to call time on the whole affair - a prolonged and undignified death for a great band who profoundly effected my life growing up.

What happened next:

As detailed before Keith Caputo has forged a decent music career post LOA with his last full solo album A Fondness For Hometown Scars being released in 2007 and a side project called The Neptune Darlings was released last year. I have already mentioned in this blog about his transition from male to female and his annoying Facebook outpourings so I'll leave that one here.


Alan Robert has released music under the banner of Spoiler NYC which I must confess haven't heard and has more recently entered the comic book industry, writing and releasing horror/conspiracy tale The Wire Hangers in 2010 (which he has announced will be made into a live action movie) and his latest project Crawl To Me was released in 2011.


Sal Abruscato formed A Pale Horse Named Death which sees him move from the drum stool to the guitar and microphone. Their 'And Hell will Follow Me' album was released last year and is a great album that combines a hard grunge style of rock with the more gothic Type O and states "This is my pinnacle creation, the best album I have ever done, and after listening, most people are tending to agree."
Much as I love it, I'll be falling outside that category.


Joey Z formed Stereomud after the first LOA split and released two albums. I have the first one somewhere, didn't like it. Sorry Joey.
They broke up when LOA reformed and since the second split he has owned and run Method Of Groove studios in his home town of Brooklyn.

RIP Life Of Agony.

How Bleak Is Our Sabbath?

I haven't written for a while it seems due to having a 6 foot pain in the ass removed, which has mean life has been utterly mental. Trying to keep in the spirit of positivity for the New Year I have hesitated on pulling the trigger on several issues that may or may not be connected with certain Lou Reed collaborators, but that horse is well and truly flogged.

I had discovered that last year my favourite band to never really trouble the annals of fame, Earthtone9 had recorded a new EP on the back of touring and reforming. So I thought I would treat every to some metal history as occasionally happens in between fits of ranting about how truly fucked everything is.

However I haven't written that yet and I have been side tracked by a couple of things, one in particular should be considered important by all fans of Heavy Metal...

But firstly the good news that Jessie Leech is now back in Killswitch armed with a seriously heroic beard. Having gotten over the issues that lead to his departure back in the early naughties, the original (and best) voice of KsE has come home and hopefully will help them jettison the boring dross that has become their staple output in favour of, well something intense and interesting again.

But the reason for abusing a keyboard this time out has to undoubtedly be the Black Sabbath reunion...

Now I must confess to being slightly underwhelmed by their inclusion as headliner for Download having seen the original reunion back in 1998 at the NEC in Birmingham. Since then I have seen Ozzy and Sabbath in a few guises - Ozzy twice as his own solo show. The first time was excellent and the second time was fucking awful as he was clearly having one of his legendary 'off nights' and wailed like an ally cat having it's nuts removed without anaesthesia. By a blunt, rusty spoon.

Sabbath has been a mixed bag also; the Reunion shows were great - check out the CD released (imaginatively titled 'Reunion') and listen out for me. You can't actually hear my voice, but a 19 year old me was drunk as shit dressed up like Ozzy and and screaming myself hoarse...

Next time they didn't have Bill Ward, they were average, the time after that they still didn't have Bill Ward and were solid even if Mike Bordin didn't pull off the drumming with the same aplomb.

Now if I had my reservations about the live shows, the concept of the album was an even more frightening prospect thanks to the last time they got together to write and produced the execrable 'Psycho Man' or whatever the hell it was called. So having endured Rick Rubin phone in the last Slayer album and Death Cliptastic the only plus in the column is that at the end of the day the man barely inputs into the process and who in their right mind needs to tell Iommi how to make a Black Sabbath album anyway?

Then the wheels started to come off.

Iommi as I mentioned last time round was diagnosed with cancer.

However it seems that this is not going to derail their plans, so fingers crossed they got it early enough.

However on February 2nd Bill ward released a statement saying that he was going to be sitting out the reunion unless he was given a contract that wasn't 'unsignable'.

A contract that looked to give him the respect and the credit for being an original member of Black Sabbath.

This was a strange statement in itself really.

There is little secret that Ward's health has been questionable since the eighties and long ago sold his publishing rights to the early material, so is this a financially motivated holding the reunion to ransom?

It seems not and bang, almost straight out of the gates Black Sabbath released a statement expressing their regret that Bill had declined the reunions saying - "we have no choice but to continue recording without him although our door is always open."

Rumours that the vacant drum stool was to be filled by anonymous member of Osbourne's touring band Tommy Clufetos brought further outrage from the internet.

What Sabbath's statement failed to address was that in Ward's first salvo was that he clearly stated he had been given the cold shoulder and was sat with bags packed waiting for a contract that was fitting for his status.

When you peel back the layers a little bit you find that this disregard of Ward has happened for years from the Sabbath camp.


The man who fired Ozzy from the band back in 1979 left the second incarnation of Sabbath partly because of health and partly because he, as a childhood friend of Osbourne, never gelled with his replacement, the much missed Ronnie James Dio.

When they reconvened for the Dehumanizer album in the early nineties Ward was first choice name behind the stool and the same again on the fantastic Heaven & Hell project.

However the drum parts that appear on those albums were prewritten and the skin beater was expected to just play the rhythmically unadventurous lines that appear on those albums as opposed to spending time organically writing the songs with Bill's jazz/blues background, because if Chinese whispers are to be believed, Iommi is not a fan of the whole drumming set up and time it would consume working with a drummer with input. As such the songs are effectively written and the introduction of Ward as a creative writer would slow the process.

And then there is the thorny issue of those pesky publishing rights...

Back when everything was 25% it was fine for a band starting out. Now these days in the age of declining record sales publishing rights do make a phenomenal difference to how much you'll take home from album sales.

So this has all been quite factual and laying out of issues so far... I commend my measured self.

Well, Aron Ward came to his father's defense over the issue in a lengthy and passionate statement on Facebook in which he outlined that this was not greed, he was definitely committed and sat with his bags packed waiting for this contract that would give him the respect he deserves.

All of which comes down to the rub of the matter when fans started expressing anger towards Sharon 'Puppet Master' Osbourne who felt the need to respond on Facebook stating (somewhat out of the blue and irrelevantly) that she manages her husband and not Black Sabbath...


Now no disrespect Shauron, but when the original Sabbath reformed at the end of the 1992 Ozzy Osbourne retirement leg of the No More Tears tour Osbournes management (that's Shauron for those of you not paying attention) assumed mantle of 'brand control' which effectively meant that Osbourne had final say on the use of the name Black Sabbath. That's right Tony Iommi, the only consistent entity in Sabbath since it's inception effectively handed control of the name to the Osbournes - which is why The Devil You Know was released by Heaven & Hell and not the name the line up had first time round.

In 2008 Iommi sued Ozzy over this, in 2009 Ozzy sued Iommi for 50% of the Black Sabbath name and profits associated with it and the Manhatten judge sided with him citing his signature vocals as contributing to the trademark sound which is why sales declined after his departure.

Fucking shit.

Now I like the Ozzy era Sabbath above all, but without the ringing doom of the music - propelled by a drummer with a feel for groove as opposed to a fucking metronome - Ozzy could have catawalled the alphabet on Sesame Street for all I care. No doubt he contributed, as did they all, it could be argued as Butler wrote the majority of the lyrics Ozzy should have taken home less than his allotted 25% back in the day...

Just doing the maths here 50% for Ozzy, plus (I assume) 25% for Iommi and 25% for Geezer doesn't really leave a lot for a drummer and hey there are loads of people who can hit things right?

I joke, but the Osbournes have a history of this - Blizzard Of Oz and Diary Of A Madman had their drum parts re-recorded due to a contract dispute with original rhythm section Bob Daisley and Lee Kerkslade. The duo had to take Ozzy to court to gain their partial song writing credits and unpaid royalties from those albums which lead to Sharon having Rob Trujillo and Mike Bordin (both contracted under the Osbourne band pay role) to play the parts for a fixed fee on the 2002 reissues...


Ward sat out the last round of reunion gigs for very similar reasoning and Mike Bordin accepted a flat fee as did Vinnie Appice before him...

Despite lengthy periods of disharmony between Shauron and her late father Don Arden it seems the apple didn't fall far from the tree, what with them both being underhand ruthless cunts.

Now nothing surprises me with Shauron anymore; having ruined her husbands legacy on MTV with a reality show that portrayed him as a slow witted bumbling fool, incapable of doing anything for himself, it seems highly unlikely that Ozzy is the driving force behind this latest slap in the face for Ward, as despite Zakk Wylde's protestations that he is as sharp as he has ever been you need to consider the man once bit the head of a live dove in CBS Record's boardroom.

And Zakk Wylde is a moron.

So it is no wonder that the eyes of the metal world have turned to the egg throwing former wank karaoke competition judge and discoverer of fucking Chico Time for some answers.

Answers which she seems incapable of providing...

The now deafening silence coming from camp Sabbath speaks volumes.

With a tour and album deal projected to make roughly $100m over the next year we are talking big business here.

It seems the brand manager, Ozzy's manager, Iommi's manager and Geezer's manager can't quite agree on how to divide the pile equally (spot the deliberate ignoring of facts).

But frankly fuck the facts; I am sure that Ward would happily receive a large fee to be on stage with his former band mates again for the honour of actually giving the band they formed back in the late sixties the send off it deserves, but Christ on a bike the guy wants to be in Black Sabbath, like he was when they wrote Paranoid, NIB, Snowblind, War Pigs, Paranoid... the list goes on - back when he was a quarter member that had an equal say in the way the songs were written. You know, to actually decide whether to hit the Ride, Crash or High Hat symbol for himself like a grown man who has written some of the most defining metal songs of all time.

This is more than likely (or maybe even hopefully) their swan song and this is a chance to leave all the drama of the past behind and get the original and best heavy metal band of all time back together, to have come full circle and leave a resounding triumph as their legacy for future generations.

But no, the fucking business side of everything has gotten so distorted and so poisonous that four guys who clawed there way out of the slums in Birmingham to conqueror the world and pretty much invent this form of music cannot get in a room together and write a bunch of songs.

At their age.

After all the money they have made.

After everything they have been through.

I can't even begin to imagine how fucked up a situation like this must be.

I am begging you Tony, Ozzy, Geezer and especially YOU Shauron as 'brand protector' or chief gold digger, whatever the fuck you are to pull your heads out of your ass and figure out a way to get these guys back in a room and this whole thing back on track with some dignity.

I'm sure there is a way you can give Ward what he wants and still cream a great big fat packet off the top.

For fucks sake, Iommi has CANCER, Ward and Butler aren't getting any younger, Ozzy shouldn't even be alive right now. We have already lost Ronnie - was that not a wake up call to you all that time is ticking?

If Ward isn't in Sabbath in June I'm going to watch spangly yank punk poppers Rise Against instead, out of disgust for the fact that the remaining members of Black Sabbath aren't reminding their managers, wives, business representatives, whoever cannot say, for the sake of the millions of fans out there who want this, that this was about the music and the legacy of this great band.

The answer is not Tony fucking Clufetos... he might be the greatest drummer ever for all I care, but he has no right to sit there under the banner of a Black Sabbath reunion whilst Bill Ward sits at home because you can't give him the respect he deserves.


I'm not a big fan of Facebook campaigns, but seek out 1000000 Black Sabbath Fans Say Yes To Bill Ward and sign up to make it abundantly clear to whoever has the ear of the remaining members:

Just pay the fucking Bill.

Or words to that effect.