Ozzy vs. Iommi...who you got?

The big news over the weekend is apparently Ozzy is suing Tony Iommi for a share in the Black Sabbath name and any royalties. Check the full story here.

Now I'm not a lawyer nor will I pretend to be. Mainly because what is written down in law books isn't necessarily right for the situation at hand. So I'm not going to pontificate on whether or not Ozzy should sue and will or won't win. But from a fan perspective this is complete bullcrap. Reading some of these claims that Ozzy makes is almost laugh out loud funny.

Ozzy claims that 100 million records were sold worldwide with his involvement. Really? So Black Sabbath ranks up there with Michael Jackson, The Beatles, and Madonna for album sales? From everything I read they had to fight persecution throughout the 70's for their brand of rock and it wasn't until a few years after the first album received did they get any real recognition. In fact the last two albums featuring Ozzy in the 70's were experimental and panned by fans and critics alike. So where is this 100 million in record sales coming from?

In comes Dio( at the suggestion by Sharon Alder, before she snagged Ozzy as her minion) and both studio albums did better then the previous two with Ozzy. And Sabbath would have been a powerhouse throughout the 80's if egos had been kept in check.In my opinion Ozzy did well in the 80's because he was surrounded by talent that could write killer songs with great riffs around his limited range. Plus his over the top persona due to drugs and alcohol also generated sales. The very stuff that got him fired from Sabbath led to success solo. And he had absolutely no involvement in Sabbath (but his father in law did as a manager) throughout the 80's. Iommi wanted to write solo records but was told they wouldn't sell without the Sabbath name. So he did. And they failed. Because he listened to Sharon's old man. So why should Tony be punished for decisions he didn't make?

To me over at least the past two decades the name that has been synonomous with Sabbath has been Tony Iommi. That reunion a decade ago? Was a poor decision on Tony's part and a money grab by the Osbournes. There was no intention of reuniting forever. Iommi even reunited again with Dio and changed the name to Heaven and Hell because he was told Ozzy's involvement with Sabbath was coming and didn't want to confuse the two. Well that hasn't happened because Ozzy is too busy being a reality star and writing the same old tired records with the same old tired themes. Meanwhile Heaven & Hell debuted with a new album at # 8 which is outstanding.

Anyways I hope Iommi wins out on this. He has been with that band since day one when everyone else around him was fired or gave up on Sabbath. Give the man his band. I'm sure he will hook up Geezer and Bill Ward regardless of what Ozzy claims.