ZAKK WYLDE DISHES ABOUT NEW OZZY ALBUM

Ozzy Osbourne’s longtime guitarist Zakk Wylde took a break from working on the new album by the Prince Of Darkness by taking his band, Black Label Society, on a tour in support of his new effort Shot To Hell. Wylde remains on the road but he talked about working with his boss.

With Wylde it’s hard to tell if he’s tongue in cheek, but we’re guessing that he is when he shared with us the “abuse” he’s been getting by the Black Sabbath singer in the studio.

“Yeah, I mean he’s just like anybody. He’s the godfather to my son and everything like that. But when I got back… The only problem is is that if I play anything that Oz doesn’t like, when the ball’s…He gets all pissed off and he just bludgeons me and pummels me, and it takes about — and is slows down the recording process because it takes about a week and a half for him to get a boot out of my ass. It’s like, we’re connected together. We have the connection, you know, because we love each other and we love the good lord. The bottom line is we’re connected that way, but we’re always connected another way because when he’s pissed off, when the boot goes up my ass — and I’m telling you right now it ain’t pretty. When the boss gets pissed, it’s not pretty. It’s painful. Let’s just leave it at that.”

Wylde also said that when it comes to making an Ozzy album, fans should already know what to expect.

“You know it sounds like an Ozzy record. I always laugh when people go, ‘What does it sound like? It sounds like an Ozzy record. It’s Ozzy music in the same cloth that Randy Rhoads and him cut. That was the foundation and that’s where it started and that’s where we’ll always begin and always end. So, it’s gotta sound like that. When I pick up the guitar and I play those songs it’s like being a New York Yankee. When you put those pinstripes on, you are part of something that’s special. Greatness is expected out of you. That’s what Randy Rhoads started with Oz. You love the tradition and you love everything that goes on with it. It’s special man. Otherwise what’s the point in doing it?”

Wylde is currently touring with Black Label Society through December 8 in Los Angeles. He will probably resume work on the forthcoming Ozzy album in early 2007. Meanwhile, Ozzy’s Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward have joined with former Black Sabbath singer Ronnie James Dio, for a new band titled Heaven And Hell.