During my adolescent years growing up in the suburbs of New York, I was exposed to rock music. There were all kinds to choose from alternative, grunge, heavy metal, death metal etc. A good friend of mine introduced me to Metallica. I was hooked in an instant. In fact I liked the band so much I made them a standard to judge all other rock bands by. The criteria included killer guitar and drum solos; meaningful lyrics and the lead singer should have a pleasing voice. During the 90’s lots of bands met all the requirements Foo Fighters, Green Day, Third Eye Blind, Creed, Rage Against the Machine, Tool etc.
Recently I decided to spruce up my CD collection (yes they are all legit I buy only from Radio City) and decided to go with Black Sabbath. These guys are before my time but I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I popped in the CD and the stereo began blasting away, they instantly passed the “Killer guitar and drum solos” test. But when Ozzy Osbourne began singing I was like what the hell is this? His voice could be best described as nasally and high pitched.
I know some of you are already getting the lynching party ready but before you string me up let me clarify. I had to listen to the CD again and look past his voice and evaluate the band according to the “meaningful lyrics” criteria. They passed this test hands down, because their anti-war messages ring true even in this day and age. I suppose his voice fits in with the image the band tried creating for itself because I noticed that the guitar playing also tended to go high pitch at times. Then again I don’t know…what do you know?
2 comments:
Ozzy is an acquired taste, for sure. Thankfully, I acquired it back in my reckless youth. Rob Halford from Judas Priest also fits that high pitched/nasal description. It grows on you, not unlike a fungus. ;-)
thanks for the sanity check, becky
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