Via Ultimate Classic rock: Zakk Wylde's Black Sabbath tribute band, Zakk Sabbath, announced plans to recreate his heroes’ self-titled debut album 50 years to the day after the original was laid down. However, pre-ordering for the $100 limited-edition record sold out within two hours, and it will never be made available in any other format, Wylde reported.
Black Sabbath was recorded in a single session on Oct. 16, 1969, and released on the Vertigo label the following year. A heavily influential work featuring the songs “Black Sabbath,” “The Wizard,” “N.I.B.” and “Evil Woman,” it’s often regarded as the first-ever heavy metal record. Noting that his recreation will be titledVertigo, Wylde explained that his "aim is to faithfully re-record the album in the spirit of the original recordings: live in a fully analog studio, direct to two-inch tape, in a single 24-hour period.”
The session will be documented by a film crew, with the resulting album and DVD release limited to 500 copies, and delivered on Feb. 12, 2020 – 50 years to the day after the original’s U.K. release.
Black Sabbathreached No. 8 on the U.K. charts and No. 23 in the U.S. after it was recorded by Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward. While hailed a genre-defining release, it only served to set the stage for the band’s second LP Paranoid, which also arrived in 1970.
Wylde’s history as guitarist in Osbourne’s solo band stretches back to 1989. He formed Zakk Sabbath with Osbourne bassist Rob "Blasko" Nicholson in 2014. Their drummer is former Queens of the Stone Age member Joey Castillo.