A few years back a good friend of mine told me a tale involving one Zakk Wylde and some sorry individual. Apparently, after an Ozzy show in Orlando, Florida, said individual approached Zakk backstage. He let Mr. Wylde know of his marvelous skill as a fellow guitarist and supposedly went on and on about it, ranting about his demo and such. So, Zakk, having lost his patience with the pushy picker, grabs his tape and smashes it on the ground. Next he pulls down his pants and wipes his ass with the poor geetar boy’s bio. I don’t know if this story is legit, but it’s much more entertaining than a drunk Zakk destroying various things at a nightclub.

However we feel about this man’s behavior is kind of beside the point. Dick or not, he's super prolific. Since 1998 he has managed to record and release 7 albums. This may sound merely consistent rather than super impressive, until you realize that half his output contains 2CD sets. Here we have a sampler from all these records. As with many compilation discs, best of and career retrospectives there are varying degrees of quality. Production, songwriting ability and musical ability all fall into play. The latter of which, THE BLACK LABEL SOCIETY have plenty of to spare. Wylde’s guitar playing is nothing short of amazing. Not only can the guy shred but also he is a master of many styles. The solo acoustic pieces like “TAZ” and “Speedball” are so completely spot-on that it’s hard to believe an actual human being played them. The harmonic wah thing on the brand new “SDMF” really rocks me boat as well. As a vocalist and songwriter Wylde is not far behind in the game either. This all depends on the song, as some on here fare better than others. I, personally dig the southern rock-influenced stuff the best. Tracks like “Losing Your Mind”, “Horse Called War”, “The Blessed Hellride” and “House of Doom” showcase this band at their best. James LoMenzo’s talent as a bassist and Craig Nunenmacher’s powerful drumming really come alive here. I can almost see these guys on tour with HONKY. I’d like to see LoMenzo and Jeff Pinkus have a bass-off like the now legendary guitar-offs Ted Nugent used to host in Detroit around 1973 or so. Now that would be cool. Rock on, brother.

- Herring

OFFICIAL SITE: www.blacklabelsociety.net

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