Former Black Sabbath vocalist and metal legend Ozzy Osbourne is apparently not a fan of modern heavy metal.
As part of a special feature for Metal Hammer, Tenacious D members Jack Black and Kyle Gass interviewed Osbourne and asked him a variety of questions. Among the questions brought up, Osbourne was asked what his favorite scary movie is, and what musicians (living or dead) he would love to work with. It’s also within this conversation that Osbourne shares one hell of a strong sentiment about the current music scene.
At the beginning of this conversation, Black asks Osbourne what the first song was that he enjoyed as a child; Osbourne replies and says it was “She Loves You” by The Beatles.
Osbourne goes on to talk about his fandom of The Beatles, and Black eventually chimes in and says: “But in the same way that people think of The Beatles as inventing rock’n’roll, I think of Black Sabbath as inventing heavy metal.”
And it is here where the heavy metal legend provides a strong take on the modern metal scene. Per the singer, this is what he says in response to Black’s point:
“It’s a nice thought, but we were very influenced by The Who, Led Zeppelin, Kinks… Fuckin’ hell, when I heard The Kinks’ [proto-heavy metal 1964 single] You Really Got Me, I bought the single and I played it to fucking death. I couldn’t stop listening to it.
“I don’t get that anymore with music that I hear. I don’t listen to much modern music. There’s no new music at all – it’s all fucking rehashed.”
This is a hell of a statement coming from one of heavy metal’s gods. There’s frankly a lot of amazing and interesting music being made today, especially in the metal scene. When we think about the bands representing heavy metal’s new headliners, there is so much variety among those acts.
What do you think of this point? Do you agree with Ozzy Osbourne?
