On March 6th, 2013, Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society will playing a one-off set at L.A.’s Club Nokia, delivering stripped-down versions of a selection of songs. Accompanied by a four-piece string section, a pedal steel player and the promise of “special guests,” the entire performance will be filmed for an upcoming CD/DVD release called Unblackened.
In between rehearsals, Metal Hammer caught up with Wylde for an exclusive chat about Unblackened.
Metalhammer: So, how did the idea for Unblackened originate?
Wylde: “Well, the guys were asking about doing another DVD and we’d already done The Song Remains Not the Same, Boozed, Broozed and Broken Boned, and Doom Troopin’ Live, so I just said, ‘Instead of doing another heavy one, why don’t we just do the mellow thing? Like do one where there’s a string section so it’s different from the heavy ones.”
Metalhammer: How difficult was it to cobble a setlist together?
Wylde: “Put it this way, we don’t have the same problem that the Stones have yet,” Zakk explains. “You know what I mean? (laughs) Like six trillion songs to choose from… Between (all of the) albums, I think I put strings on thirty tunes and we’re probably going to end up doing maybe twenty songs.”
Metalhammer: Will the music still be heavy enough to make us want to break kitchen tables?
Wylde: “Well you know, when I mean ‘heavy,’ I mean that it’s got weight and integrity to it. I’m saying that if you listen to Desperado by the Eagles, it’s got some depth to it, you know? It’s got weight. It doesn’t seem like a cheesy, corny power ballad. Or Heart of Gold or Old Man, by Neil Young. These are not power ballads. They’re just good songs, but they’re slow. It’s just more of a mellow tune, as opposed to something heavy. When Sabbath did Changes, I didn’t consider that a power ballad. It’s a great, dark song. It’s got weight to it. Bridge Over Troubled Water— that’s got weight and depth. I mean, I’ll listen to Sarah McLachlan; there’s a lot of weight and a lot of depth there. It’s not cheesy, fluff, corny pop stuff, you know what I mean? Obviously there’s a certain time and place for everything…”
Watch an acoustic performance of Stillborn below.
source: metalhammer.co.uk
5 Responses
I hope Ozzy calls Zakk back at some point to work togeather again. Gus’s tone seems lost in chorus and echo effects, and Zakk wasn’t like that. Plus, I think Zakk and Ozzy had songwriting chemistry as well. Maybe this time apart will make them appreciate each other even more than they already do. Obviously Zakk can keep quite busy when not with Ozzy.
I got to say that over the years that Zakk was in Ozzy there was a true sense that he was the creative force behind the Madman. If your a fan of Zakk’s like I am, you can definately tell that there is something missing with the new Ozzy cd. Ozzy is a huge name in the rocknroll business but you have to consider that there are a alot of musicians that had got him there, Zakk stands out because he has been there the longest. I have seen Guss’es performance with Ozzy an have to say am not impressed , no disrespect to Gus but man if aint broke dont fix it.
You nailed it John, that’s exactly what I’m saying. You can plug a great guitarist in there (like Gus) but that doesn’t guarantee the songs will be there.
When someone writes an article he/she keeps the image of a user in his/her mind that how a user can bbe aware of it.
Therefore that’s why this piece of writing is great. Thanks!
When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time
a comment is added I get three e-mails with the same comment.
Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thank you!