Black Sabbath released their new single, “God Is Dead?” on YouTube last Thursday. I didn’t realize — Ozzy is alive?
The nine-minute-long track features a lumbering guitar riff that causes a similar reaction to the news of the band’s reunion: when will it end?
Ozzy and his crew aren’t the first over-the-hill rockers to jump on the bandwagon. The Rolling Stones have been touring almost non-stop since the ’60s. Their newly-announced summer tour has been named the “50 & Counting” tour. Though, at least for Jagger and Richards, “69 and counting” might be a more appropriate title.
And what about Madonna? The 54-year-old ‘80s queen is still clinging desperately to the mainstream, as evidenced by her multiple references to the EDM-popularized drug, MDMA, in 2012. First, she released an album coyly titled “MDNA,” then, a few weeks later, made a controversial remark to Ultra Music Festival-goers: “How many people in this crowd have seen Molly?”
Why do all these aging rock stars feel the need to keep performing years after the height of their success? It’s hard to hear Ozzy, 64, singing, “there is no tomorrow” without wondering just how many tomorrows he actually has left. “Like A Virgin” loses its effect when Madonna’s kids — the oldest already in her teens — sit in the audience of her performance.
The fact is, all over-the-hill performers have an expiration date. What matters most is the music’s content. The dark, scary metal of Black Sabbath’s beginnings sounds weird coming from Ozzy now. The blue-collar persona that the Rolling Stones put out in the 1960s and ‘70s feels cheapened once you read about Mick Jagger’s $13 million mansion.
By sticking to age-appropriate content, a few stars have managed to inch past the span of their heyday and keep performing. For instance, Bob Dylan, 72, has managed to keep his career both long and respectable. By nature of being a folk singer, Dylan has created a persona for himself that can only get better with age. The solemn morals of his earliest work, like “Blowin’ in the Wind,” sound more honest coming from an older, distinguished man than a young, hot-shot kid. Try applying that same better-with-age principle to Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”: suddenly, “death and hatred to mankind” sounds an awful lot like, “get off my lawn!”
If aging rock stars refuse to move from the limelight, what does that mean for artists of today? Do we, the Millennial Generation, really want to be doing the “Harlem Shake” in our mid-fifties? Will Skrillex’s infamous undercut look more distinguished with some salt-and-pepper flecks in it?
Here’s the deal, geriatric rockers: it’s time to turn the amps down, and the hearing aids up. Whether these reunion tours, desperate attempts to remain relevant, stem from financial need, narcissism or a failed grasping for the sexuality of your youth, it’s time to step aside and allow pop culture to move on.
And Ozzy, as for “God Is Dead?” now is probably not the best time to write yourself off from an afterlife.
Contact CU Independent Senior Staff Writer Sarah Elsea at Sarah.elsea@colorado.edu.
Meh. I’m enjoying the new songs and I think the new album will be well-received by fans and critics alike. The new BS material is far superior to Ozzy’s recent solo work. Why not do a final tour when everyone is still able?
Past their prime? Sure. But they aren’t done yet.
Nothing wrong with the Black Sabbath record, in fact it’s fantastic. This is a legendary British rock band who we ought to be proud of. Well done guys
And Black Sabbath came back to re unite because of their millions of fans , worldwide. Ok they’re knocking on a bit and Ozzys voice ain’t what it was , but they are an icon to British music that only British journalists fail to recognise. It shows how ignorant some folks are. Why not show some positivity and encouragement to a great band that has inspired many bands from Britain and globally? They still to this day are truly a great rock band
I completely disagree..
Listen to the song.
The music is all there.
That’s a load of bollocks.
…while the millenium generation of ADD video game and twitter addicts is content to idolize their Autotune lip-sync’d pop, it’s nice to know that real musicians playing real instruments can maintain a dedicated fanbase for 40 years… gives all real musicians hope.
Has the author ever once listened to any Black Sabbath album in its entirety? Was the author in diapers in 1970? Today’s “Pop Culture” is rubbish,period perhaps- its the Symptoms Of The Universe? Yawn
This article is just terrible. Not relevant by any means. The God is Dead track is bloody genius.
“As the university community’s independent student voice, the content is not reviewed or censored by non-student faculty or staff prior to publication.”
Yeah, obviously!
The author is too young and without enough life experience to comment on the relevance of Black Sabbath, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, etc.
Too old for college kids to relate and enjoy them? Possibly…maybe..really hard to say. It really depends on whether that college kid is a true music devotee or a gobbler of pop culture consumer products aimed at freeing young people of their disposable income.
Good music is good music. People who love music love it throughout their life. If you’re a 60 year old music fan, you won’t really care much about Ozzy’s age, unless of course it is something that more connects you to the artist. I mean…can anyone over thirty trust anyone under thirty???
Anyhow, someday the writer understand how popular music was packaged up like toothpaste and pushed out upon the demographic the board room executives felt had the most free money to throw away on their throw away product…when she is no longer part of that demographic. She’ll still love music and she’ll start looking for quality records from quality musicians. She might even go back and listen to this Black Sabbath album.