music
50 Years Ago, Black Sabbath Deliver the Magnificent Paranoid
The “sophomore slump” has spelt the beginning of the end for quite a few rock acts over the years. But looking back, one of the cases in which the exact opposite occurred was when Black Sabbath delivered one of the greatest metal albums of all time, Paranoid. The Birmingham, UK-based band – singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward – had already caught the attention of rock fans with their detuned and doomy self-titled debut (released in February 1970 in the UK, and June in the United States). And they wasted no time capitalizing on the buzz – issuing Paranoid in the UK on September of that year. (It would arrive in the States in January 1971.) While Sabbath amazingly knocked out the recording of their debut album in a single day, they would t...
Artist of the Month Anjimile’s Giver Taker Is a Startlingly Beautiful Prayer to the Present: Review
The Lowdown: Anjimile Chithambo might be new to the spotlight, but he’s been paying attention for a long time. His debut album, Giver Taker, carries a wide variety of influences — among them church choirs, ’80s pop, African music, and indie-folk — and melds them together as if they were born for this, born to flow into one another. The Boston-based trans musician wrote much of Giver Taker while in treatment for drug and alcohol abuse, and many of the songs are also concerned with his experiences coming out as trans and non-binary. As such, the entire album is papered with transformation, but through lenses of tenderness: the love implicit in confessions and the awe of one’s own resilience in the face of socialization and struggle. The Good: Would that I could just plop every single lyric f...
R.I.P. Lee Kerslake, Drummer for Ozzy Osbourne and Uriah Heep Dies at 73
Lee Kerslake, drummer on Ozzy Osbourne’s classic solo albums and longtime member of Uriah Heep, passed away Saturday (September 19th) at the age of 73. The veteran musician died after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer. The drummer’s death was reported by Ken Hensley, a fellow former member of Uriah Heep. “It’s with the heaviest of hearts that I share with you that Lee Kerslake, my friend of 55 years and the best drummer I ever played with, lost his battle with cancer at 03:30 this morning,” wrote Hensley. “He died peacefully, praise The Lord, but he will be terribly missed.” He continued, “I know many of you were praying for him not to suffer and I thank you for that and, now that Lee is at peace, our thoughts and prayers should turn to his wife Sue who will need all the support she ca...
Jamila Woods Shares New Version of “SULA (Hardcover)”: Stream
Last month saw Jamila Woods return with “SULA (Paperback)”, her first new music since releasing one of 2019’s best albums, LEGACY! LEGACY!. Now, she’s shared a different version of the track, appropriately called “SULA (Hardcover)”. Inspired by Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison’s 1973 novel of the same name, “SULA” finds Woods rejecting conventional ideas of identity in order to “embrace my tenderness, my sensitivities, my ways of being in my body.” Whereas the “Paperback” version did this as a peaceful mantra, the “Hardcover” take features a more sensual grove. With a silky beat from Slot-A, “SULA (Hardcover)” fully embodies the sexuality at the song’s core. As does the accompanying music video. The clip would be labeled slightly NSFW in normal days, but let’s be real, this is a pa...
Lady Gaga Premieres New “911” Video: Watch
Lady Gaga has premiered her epic new music video for the Chromatica single “911”. Watch the clip down below, directed by filmmaker Tarsem. Considered by the pop megastar as a “short film”, the clip follows Gaga as she traverses a desert and follows a mysterious horseback rider to a remote village. It’s there where the previously masked Gaga marches out one incredibly detailed outfit after another in true Gaga fashion. Some have her draped in blue, see-through lace, while others feature ornate headpieces. She and those around her perform ritualistic movements, and there’s more than a handful of seemingly religious imagery (one Mary-like character wears an elaborate white dress with a red cross emblazoned on her chest). There’s also a scene in which Gaga ascends into the air, but a rope...
Ozzy Osbourne Celebrates 40th Anniversary of Blizzard of Ozz with Animated “Crazy Train” Video and More
Ozzy Osbourne is commemorating the 40th anniversary of his legendary solo debut, Blizzard of Ozz, with a wealth of experiences and goodies. In addition to the previously announced expanded digital edition of Blizzard of Ozz, Osbourne is re-releasing the 2010 documentary 30 Years After the Blizzard in HD while also sharing a newly created animated music video for “Crazy Train” — arguably Ozzy’s most well-known solo recording and perennial sports arena anthem. The festivities don’t stop there: SiriusXM Radio will air a one-hour special on Osbourne’s station, “Ozzy’s Boneyard”, on Friday (September 18th) at 5 p.m. ET. And if that’s not enough, Osbourne himself is hosting a Twitter listening party on Sunday (September 20th) at 7 p.m. ET, discussing songs from the album. Tons of new Blizzard-th...
The Replacements Unveil New Music Video for “Can’t Hardly Wait”: Watch
Next month, The Replacements will put out a deluxe box set of their seminal album Pleased to Meet Me. To drum up support, the combustible rockers have released a new music video for “Can’t Hardly Wait” that uses original 1987 footage. This black-and-white imagery was originally intended for a video for “The Ledge”, but the band switched courses when MTV banned the song for objectionable content. Afterwards, they recycled the footage for “Alex Chilton”. Now, 33 years later, the same source material has found a new home in the visuals for “Can’t Hardly Wait”. Of course, the viewing experience is a familiar one. All three videos open with the same image of Paul Westerberg eating a sandwich in a rocking chair, and while the timing varies slightly from song to song, they all follow the sam...
The 10 Best Covers of Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush
It’s nearly impossible to overstate the artistic influence and value of Neil Young. Born in Toronto, Ontario, in November 1945, he spent his first 20 years or so digesting as much rock ‘n’ roll, country, and doo-wop as possible in the midst of living a somewhat tumultuous life (including suffering from polio, moving around a lot, and becoming a child of divorce). As with many iconic musicians, he dedicated much of his teenage years to playing in multiple fledgling bands. That is, until fate introduced him to another singer-songwriter, Stephen Stills, with whom he’d form the beloved folk-country rock troupe Buffalo Springfield in 1966. (Of course, the two would also help start the arguably even more significant Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young a few years later.) As wonderful and enduring a...
Lady Gaga’s “911” Video: Every Outfit, Ranked
911! Emergency! Lady Gaga’s new music video for “911”, the latest single off Chromatica, just dropped, and it’s packed full of instant classic outfits and weird visuals. From bizarre, spiky horn crowns and masks to Grecian gowns and anklets (which are back, baby, and there’s nothing you can do about it!), Gaga superfans Carrie Wittmer and Emmy Potter are breaking down all the looks. Here’s every outfit from the “911” video from worst to best. [embedded content] 08. Lace Negligee Gown <img data-attachment-id="1071166" data-permalink="https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/09/lady-gaga-911-outfits-ranked/lacenightie8/" data-orig-file="https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/LaceNightie8.jpeg?quality=80" data-orig-size="1280,704" data-...
Transgender Metalhead Satanist Wins Republican Nomination for County Sheriff
Wait until Fox News gets a load of this: A transgender metalhead satanist has won the Republican nomination for Cheshire County Sheriff in Keene, New Hampshire. Aria DiMezzo earned 4,211 votes from registered Republicans in a primary held Tuesday. Granted, DiMezzo ran unopposed and still has to compete in the general election against popular incumbent Eli Rivera, a Democrat seeking his fifth term. But DiMezzo was still amazed that so many registered Republicans voted for her. “I went into it expecting that I would lose the primary to a write-in candidate, because I didn’t think that so many voters were just… completely and totally oblivious about who they are voting for,” she wrote in a blog post. She continued, “Because the fact is that you didn’t bother. You trusted the system. You trust...
Chris Cornell’s Estate Shares Previously Unreleased Version of “Only These Words”: Stream
Chris Cornell’s daughter, Toni, is celebrating her 16th birthday today. To mark the occasion, the rock legend’s estate has revealed a very special gift: a previously unreleased version of “Only These Words”. “Only These Words” officially appeared as part of Cornell’s 2015 solo album Higher Truth. A sweet, lullaby-like ode to his daughters, it saw the Soundgarden frontman repeatedly croon the words, “I love you.” According to an Instagram post from his family, today’s unearthed version is the true “original” one, even more tender and sparse than what was later included on Higher Truth. “Your dad would be so proud of the smart, strong, beautiful, and confident woman you are growing up to be,” reads the Instagram caption dedicated to Toni. Editors’ Picks “You are so very loved, and you ...
Baby Keem Drops New Songs “hooligan” and “sons & critics freestyle”: Stream
19-year-old rapper/producer Baby Keem has dropped a pair of songs, “hooligan” and “sons & critics freestyle”. Both are expected to appear on an upcoming album, which will be released by pgLang, the new media company created this year by Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free. Born Hykeem Carter, this California wunderkind had an almost inexplicably quick rise. The official story, as he explained to Complex in 2018, is that he “sent a pack of beats to the TDE email,” and one of them unexpectedly ended up on Black Panther: The Album. He followed that up with a Beyoncé credit, writing and producing “Nile” with Kendrick Lamar on The Lion King: The Gift. For many people, his mysterious ascension was explained when Lamar’s sister tweeted — and almost immediately deleted — a message to Keem c...
