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Black Label Society is a Heavy Metal band formed by Zakk Wylde , with 9 albums released to date. BAND'S FORMATION In 1992 , Ozzy Osbourne retired after the No More Tears tour, which left Zakk (his longtime guitarist) to form his own solo band Pride & Glory , a mixture of potent bluesy southern rock with heavy metal. After one album, Pride & Glory called it quits in December 1994. In 1994 , Osbourne decided to come out of retirement, and recruited Wylde for the recording sessions of his comeback album '' Ozzmosis '' (which was released in 1995 ). Around this time, Zakk was also offered the open guitar slot in Guns N' Roses and had a hard time deciding whether to tour with Ozzy or to join Guns N' Roses. Neither project ultimately panned out for him, as Ozzy opted to replace him with guitarist Joe Holmes for the subsequent tour, and Guns n' Roses hit an impasse and informed Wylde that his services would not be needed. This gave Wylde the opportunity to record his own acoustic solo album, '' Book Of Shadows '', which was released in 1996 . In May 1998 , after limited commercial success with ''Book of Shadows'', Zakk and drummer Phil Ondich recorded what became Black Label Society's debut album '' Sonic Brew ''. It was decided, rather than the album being another solo album for Wylde, that they would form a long-lasting band. It was known from the get-go that Nick Catanese would be retained as the second guitarist in the band (Catanese previously toured as rythym guitarist for the Book Of Shadows tour). John DeServio , who previously worked with Wylde as a temporarily replacement in Pride & Glory, joined as the band's bassist for the album's tour. Sonic Brew was released in Japan on October 28th, 1998. Due to delays in signing with a record label ( Spitfire Records ), the album was not released in the rest of the world until May 4th, 1999, almost a year after the album was recorded. LINE-UP CHANGES The band's sophmore album Stronger Than Death followed in 2000, with DeServio being replaced by Steve Gibb . Craig Nunenmacher replaced Ondich in July 2000, with his debut recording with the band being the live album Alcohol Fueled Brewtality Live +5 , which was followed by '' 1919 Eternal '' in 2002 . Steve Gibb was temporarily replaced by Mike Inez during the Ozzfest 2001 tour, and then Robert Trujillo took over bass duties for the band the next year. In 2003 , Trujillo joined Metallica , leaving the bass position in BLS open, which left room for Inez to rejoin the band for a short 2 week tour, supporting the band's album The Blessed Hellride . James Lomenzo joined the band in 2004 after the release of Hangover Music Vol. VI , which was the band's last release for Spitfire Records. In 2005 , after the band signed with Artemis Records , the album Mafia was released. In October, Lomenzo left the band and was replaced by the band's original bassist, John DeServio. In 2006 the band left Artemis Records and signed to Roadrunner Records, releasing the album Shot To Hell . In June 2007 , Black Label Society parted ways with Roadrunner Records. CHANGES WITHIN THE BAND On the first four studio albums, Zakk played every instrument except for the drums, including vocals, guitars, piano, and bass guitar. However, starting with 2004 's Hangover Music Vol. VI , Zakk decided to let the band's bassist perform on the album (though uniquely, three bassists - Mike Inez, John DeServio, and James Lomenzo perform on this album, as the band had no permanent bassist at the time, though Lomenzo became a member of the band soon after), preferring a bassist's interaction and feel to the sound of himself, a guitarist playing bass. Nick Catanese has not, to date, played on any of the studio albums, as it is much more efficient for Zakk to perform all of the parts on the album, without having to take time out for Catanese to learn the songs, however, Catanese is an equally important member of the band as anyone else, and as of 2006 , Wylde allows him to perform some of the songs' guitar solos live while he is playing piano. CURRENT MEMBERS
PREVIOUS MEMBERS
GUEST MEMBERS
DISCOGRAPHY
SINGLES Source: All Music Guide DVD
TRIVIA The song "Fire It Up", from the 2005 album '' Mafia '', featured as a bonus song in the PlayStation 2 game '' Guitar Hero ''. Actor Mark Wahlberg appears in the band's video for "Counterfeit God," as their bass player, because they did not have a bassist at the time. Coincidentally, Steve Gibb, who was hired as their bass player after the video was filmed, also appears in the video with skull face makeup and holding chains. They asked Mark to appear in the video because Zakk and Nick were his fellow cast members for the movie Rock Star which was filming at the same time. On June 29, 2006, "Concrete Jungle", the first single from ''Shot to Hell'' was released online via Blabbermouth.net, which is owned by the band's then record label Roadrunner Records. The single's video, directed by Aggressive , was released in early September 2006. REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS / SOURCES
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