Black Sabbath "lost its way" after releasing its first four albums.
In the rock industry, Black Sabbath established a strong empire that Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi planned to expand their territory. Ozzy Osbourne, on the other hand, suggested a different thing, leading the members to have creative differences.
But decades after the band made a mistake, Butler said he and Iommi were wrong and Osbourne was right all along.
Black Sabbath Could Have Been Saved If It Followed Ozzy Osbourne's Plan
Butler recently sat down for an interview with Metal Edge during which the bassist opened up about how Black Sabbath's success led the members to have issues with alcohol and drugs.
Unfortunately, it also played a huge role in the struggles they had during the 1970s.
According to Butler, the members wondered where all the money was after they stopped touring. Although they asked their managers about it, they never received a concrete answer.
"There was a lot of money that we just weren't seeing, and then paying taxes became a whole other issue stemming from those money issues. So, that was truly when things started to go wrong for Sabbath," he went on.
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The bassist said the band's creative differences with Osbourne were a problem, as well. While the other bandmates wanted to progress musically, Osbourne reportedly wanted to retain the old version of the band.
After Black Sabbath lost, Butler realized that the expansion they dreamt up caused them to lose the band, leading them to wonder what would have been and could have been in the past years.
Black Sabbath Members Reunited
Despite having a dark past, Black Sabbath reunited several times in the past decades.
Most recently, the band came together to commemorate its first official live EP, "Live Evil," through the remastered anniversary deluxe reissue, "Live Evil (40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition)."
The album will arrive on June 2, but fans can secure a copy through pre-order. The new sets will have two versions of the album: one is remastered by Andy Pearce, the other is remixed by longtime band associate, Wyn Davis.
See the complete tracklisting below:
CD 1
1. "E5150"
2. "Neon Knights"
3. "N.I.B."
4. "Children of the Sea"
5. "Voodoo"
6. "Black Sabbath"
7. "War Pigs"
8. "Iron Man"
CD 2
1. "The Mob Rules"
2. "Heaven and Hell"
3. "The Sign of the Southern Cross"
4. "Heaven and Hell" (Reprise)
5. "Paranoid"
6. "Children of the Grave"
7. "Fluff"
40th Anniversary Remaster (CDs 1-2)
40th Anniversary New Mix (CDs 3-4)
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