Black Sabbath may have been at the forefront of heavy metal, but at least one member of the band is not really fond of the classification. Frontman Ozzy Osbourne told CNN (excerpted by Blabbermouth) that he didn't necessarily identify with the label as he feels it's perhaps too broad.

He explained, "I have never ever ever been able to attach myself to the word 'heavy metal' -- it has no musical connotations. If it was heavy rock, I could get that, but the '70s was kind of like a bluesy thing, the '80s was kind of bubblegum-frosted hair, multicolored clothes and the '90s was kind of grungy. People come up to me and say, 'Your Sabbath work was a big influence on me.' I could go, 'Oh, yeah, I can see that,' but other bands ... what part of that is inspired by us? Some of it is just angry people screaming down a microphone!"

Heavy rock? Heavy metal? Whatever you want to call it, Black Sabbath are back doing it. The band's '13' album just arrived at No. 1 on the Billboard Album Chart. Osbourne recently stated that while he knew the band made a great record, he was surprised at the overwhelming sales success it had.

Looking back on the band's history, the singer concluded, "Black Sabbath wasn't some band created by a London mogul. We were four guys who had a dream that became bigger than expectations. It's been the best thing that ever happened to me."

 

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