Legendary guitarist Zakk Wylde recently opened up about how the founding members of Black Sabbath view their own monumental discography. During an April 29 interview with “Sweetwater“, the guitar icon shared unique insights into what Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler consider to be the peak of their genre-defining career.
Throughout its decades-long run, Black Sabbath evolved through various distinct musical phases. The classic era fronted by Ozzy Osbourne contrasted heavily with the subsequent Ronnie James Dio years, while the 1986 release Seventh Star was originally intended as a solo project for guitarist Tony Iommi before being branded under the band’s name with vocalist Glenn Hughes.
For Zakk Wylde, certain albums hold a strong nostalgic value, a sentiment he once shared with his former boss regarding the polarizing 1978 release Never Say Die!. Recalling the conversation and Osbourne‘s dismissive reaction, the guitarist said (as transcribed by Ultimate Guitar):
“I’d come home from school, I’d put it on, and I just loved that record, right? And Ozz goes, ‘Zakk, you like that album?’ I go, ‘I think it’s great.’ It’s obviously one of the Sabbath dark horse records; Technical Ecstasy [1976] and Never Say Die! He just goes, ‘Zakk, that album didn’t go gold or platinum. Actually, it didn’t even go tin.'”
Wylde explained that Osbourne‘s opinions on the band’s catalog were heavily influenced by his personal experiences and the overall atmosphere during those specific recording sessions.
“For him, it was what memories he had associated with those albums, whether they had a great time making a record… I always thought it was interesting, because Ozzy, for him, it ended at Sabbath Bloody Sabbath [1973].”
While Osbourne felt the band peaked with their acclaimed 1973 classic, bassist Geezer Butler held a different view entirely. Wylde recalled picking the brains of his musical heroes during the 1995 recording sessions for Osbourne‘s solo album Ozzmosis.
“When I was around Geezer, Ozzy, Lord [Tony] Iommi or Bill [Ward], I could pick their brains like a Sabbath super fan; like I am a contest winner [who’s] hanging out talking with my heroes. With Geezer, I remember when we were working on Ozzmosis [1995], and we were in the cab going back to the hotel after tracking all day, I said, ‘Geezer, if you had to choose only one Sabbath record and say, ‘This is what Sabbath is…’ And he goes, ‘I’d go with Master of Reality.'”
Wylde noted the bassist’s firm stance on the 1971 heavy metal blueprint, adding: “And it was interesting, but Geezer thought that album was a perfect representation of Sabbath.”
