The 10th record (not including two EPs, a live album and a “greatest hits” collection) from stalwart Toronto band Sloan, The Double Cross (just released on Yep Roc) also serves to commemorate the quartet’s 20th anniversary as a versatile guitar-pop collective. Guitarists Patrick Pentland and Jay Ferguson, bassist Chris Murphy and drummer Andrew Scott—all four write and sing their own tunes and often switch instruments onstage—have successfully forged a productive two-decade career full of preternaturally catchy songs and beyond-entertaining live shows. Thankfully, they don’t appear to be slowing down; The Double Cross continues the group’s winning streak, particularly the seamless opening 1-2-3 of Murphy’s “Follow The Leader,” Ferguson’s “The Answer Was You” and Pentland’s “Unkind.” (Check out the band’s YouTube channel for a track-by-track discussion of the LP.) In their typically all-for-one, one-for-all fashion, the members of Sloan are guest-editing magnetmagazine.com this week. Read our brand new Q&A with Pentland.
Pentland: It’s one of the longest-debated questions in rock, and at the risk of becoming incredibly unpopular, I’m giving you all the definitive answer. No need to ask this anymore: Who was Ozzy Osbourne’s best guitarist? Zakk muthafukkin’ Wylde. Now, before you boo, hiss and slam your laptops shut in outrage, hear me (or read me) out! I have proof. I don’t just go around blurting these things out. I do my research. I back my opinions up with hard, cold facts. The traditional answer you usually get, of course, is Randy Rhodes. He was the one who helped pick Oz up after getting the boot from Black Sabbath. He had the chops, and his playing on the first two albums is pretty flawless. Plus, he’s dead. The hipsters at the bar will always go with Jake E. Lee because they like to come at you from left field; they saw “Bark At The Moon” repeatedly on MTV when they were kids, and anything from their youth trumps everything else from the past. But the true fan—the one who didn’t walk away after Bark At The Moon—will always have to give it up for the head Berzerker himself, the Zakkster.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Randy and Jake, but neither of them was the foil Ozzy needed onstage. If Mick needed Keith, Axl needed Slash, Bon (and definitely Brian) needed Angus and even Bowie needed Ronson, Ozzy was certainly in need of someone to complement, or even draw attention from, his increasingly doddering ways onstage. Warbling out of tune, randomly bellowing, “We love you!” and tossing buckets of water over security and the front row does not a satisfying rock show make. But hair-whipping, guitar-shredding, beer-guzzling, Viking-biking, dreadlocked, bearded rock ‘n’ roll never fails to get the crowd on its feet. It’s called show business, folks.
Zakk filled stage left. He brought personality, confidence and showmanship, things I think Randy and Jake lacked. And he survived Ozzy for 25 years! Randy had told Ozzy that he was quitting right before he died, and Jake also quit after two records. People can go on about Bark At The Moon all they want, but few of them ever mention The Ultimate Sin. In terms of musical contribution, Ozzy has had more success with Zakk’s songs than he did with the other two. Sure, “Crazy Train” is basically the go-to tune whenever Ozzy’s name is mentioned, but I can’t stand it. Oz didn’t write one note of any song that people associate him with, solo or in Sabbath. In fact, his only top-40 solo single, “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” was written by Zakk and Lemmy from Motörhead. It’s horrible, but there you go. I’m a fan of the first three solo records, but the Zakk stuff was trying to compete with the past while keeping Ozzy in the public’s consciousness and on the airwaves throughout the grunge era and beyond. I say mission accomplished—hit the showers, slugger.
There has been an argument made that with Zakk going from a shirtless, hair-teased pretty boy to a bearded, muscle-bound, biker tough, an aesthetic gap widened. But if you consider the get-ups Sharon had Randy and Jake wearing onstage, from medieval disco king to swashbuckling crossdresser, a little testosterone wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. I wouldn’t dress like any of them, but then again, as I move into my 40s, one of Ozzy’s old sequined muumuus might be lurking around the corner. In the end, whether you know or like anything about Zakk, Randy or Jake, you can’t ignore the fact that without all of them, Ozzy wouldn’t be where he is today: on tour right now with Gus G., technically a better guitar player than any of them. But rock ‘n’ roll isn’t a sport, it’s a spirit. And Zakk Wylde was all heart.
One reply on “Sloan’s Patrick Pentland Believes In: Zakk Wylde”
As far as Zakk’s “spirit” goes, try reading band accounts of Wylde sitting in with the Allman Brothers Band when they need a guitarist. He was a histrionic mess that never gave a crap about the songs, embarrassing both himself and the band in the process.
Great guitar player? You betcha!! But I think he has a strong enough presence that the sideman role was never meant for him. For proof, just listen to 1994’s Pride & Glory album, which is a textbook example of the great melding of southern rock and metal.