Halloween is creeping upon us! What will you do? Where can you hide? How much candy will you be filling your cupboards with and how much will you give away to the little creeps who will be creeping your way at the end of the month? Why don't we take our minds off of the dark days to come in order to indulge in some results--you know what I'm talking about...
Battle of the Bands Results
The Wizard Won!
Common BOTB wisdom suggests that we should not pit the unknowns against the more widely known and more popular artists. And yet I did it again! But that's how I roll when it comes to Battle of the Bands. I enjoy introducing readers to artists they may not have previously heard or even heard of. So that gave us a Battle between the high profile heavy metal group Black Sabbath going up against the virtually unknown eclectic group The Troll straight from the cut-out bins to assail the ears of my BOTB voters.
In the early seventies I was a big fan of Black Sabbath. Since I owned vinyl copies of the second and third Sabbath albums (Paranoid and Masters of Reality) I listened to those albums many times. Likewise, my friend Vernon owned their first album on 8-track and we listened to that one countless times as we cruised about in his red 1969 Pontiac Firebird. I eventually became Black Sabbath saturated and grew a bit weary of their music and never bought another one of their albums, although I do own a few of the later releases on CDs bequeathed to me by my late youngest brother. I never listen to them, but I've got them if I ever feel inclined to do so.
During that same period of the seventies, I acquired The Troll album from a cut-out bin selection and was quite pleased by what I heard. Weird, yes, but crazy fun. Their album is somewhat like the Beatles' albums from Sergeant Pepper on. Rock songs interfused with amusing sounding vaudevillesque ditties and odd psychedelia. Just my thing. I never played the album much when friends were around, but I spun the disc frequently during my own private listening sessions because I liked it. And I still like it.
Ozzie Osbourne has a real talent for what he does and Black Sabbath is still a group that I can appreciate. However, the eclecticism of The Troll keeps me more interested in what they do. Sabbath plays some brutally heavy rock and roll, but The Troll throws more into the mix and that holds my attention longer.
I like Sabbath, but in this Battle my vote goes to "Werewolf and Witchbreath" by The Troll. Not the trend with the voters though. Whatever the reason, Black Sabbath handily won this Battle.
Final Vote Tally
The Troll 4 votes
Black Sabbath 11 votes
To give The Troll another chance, here is another "scary" Halloween song from their first and only album. Happy Psychedelic Halloween!
The Troll "Mourning of the Day" (1968)
Next Battle on Tuesday November 1
Well, we liked it but not enough.
ReplyDeleteI did like Black Sabbath once Dio joined as lead singer. Now that man is a legend.
Alex, I wasn't keeping up with the group after that 3rd album so I don't know much about the years after that. I didn't know (or don't remember) Dio singing with Sabbath. Dio is a legend of his genre, but I did like Ozzie and he has some legendary status. My brother left me some Dio discs. I'll have to check them out sometime because I don't know much of his work.
DeleteLee
Best fun I ever had at a concert was with Ozzie and Black Sabbath - twice! Dio was a great singer, but Ozzie is a great showman. ☺ And, I love their music, so had to pick them. The Trolls were interesting, though.
ReplyDeleteDebbie D, I'd like to have seen Black Sabbath. Actually I think I did go to one of their concerts in Knoxville in the seventies. I just can't remember for sure.
DeleteLee
I'd not heard of The Troll before so thank you for introducing me to this band. I like weird and wonderful music like this.
ReplyDeleteAnstice, not many people have heard of The Troll and they came and went over 50 years ago so they are a real relic of rock music history. I think they were a pretty good group--or at least their album had good production.
DeleteLee
>>... "not many people have heard of The Troll"
DeleteAnd there's a real good reason for that.
~ D-FensDogG
WOW, Black Sabbath clobbered The Trolls! The best part is I was on the winning side. :)
ReplyDeleteCathy, I feel bad for the underdog, The Troll. But I'm often on the losing side.
DeleteLee