Paul Fitzgerald in RollingStone.com: What a 1980 Heavy Metal Album Can Teach Your Brand About Reinvention
In music, and in business, it pays to be the trailblazers, the ones who define the zeitgeist, whose very wake is what shifts the waters.
THE MUSICAL ZEITGEIST is constantly in flux and ever-evolving. Many a band sink beneath the whims of its ebbs and flows. One-hit wonders and even iconic bands that are intrinsically linked to the sonic sensibilities of their time can fade if they don’t adapt.
It is the bands that are defined by distinct eras that ride the wave of the zeitgeist that flourish for decades.
But even those reactionaries to the shifting sensibilities are poised to arrive late at the party or have their shifts come across as insincere or forced to wear the scarlet letter of sellout.
Instead in music, and in business, it pays to be the trailblazers, the ones who define the zeitgeist, whose very wake is what shifts the waters.
In the 1980s, heavy metal reached a critical turning point. After a breakthrough decade in the 1970s where heavy metal captured a different subset of disillusioned listeners than the hippie movement before them, eschewing peace and love for something heavier and darker, many of the heavy metal bands who would endure as greats took stock of their sound.
Perhaps no band was more ill-positioned to drown than Black Sabbath. With the departure of frontman, Ozzy Osbourne, early into the recording of their ninth studio album, the band could have been rudderless. But rather than tread water, they redefined their sound. Their subsequent album, Heaven and Hell, released in 1980, would redefine not only their sound but would ripple throughout heavy metal bands for the decade that followed.
Business owners, entrepreneurs and all aspiring trailblazers can draw inspiration from this decade-defining album on how to pivot, innovate and reinvent their brand, their operations, their campaigns and, above all, define their vision.
“Nothing’s in the Past, It Always Seems to Come Again”
For many fans, Ozzy Osbourne was Black Sabbath and vice versa. A departure of this magnitude may as well have involved the group disbanding. But depart he did, fired from the band in 1979. For business owners, this would go beyond a high-profile departure in your leadership group — it is an existential threat to everything your brand represents.
Faced with a choice, Black Sabbath could have tried to make the same kind of record they had been making and risk, coming across as an Ozzy-less tribute band, or they could reinvent, risking alienating the fans who made them. They elected for the latter and made heavy metal history by recording Heaven and Hell, their third highest-selling album that would alter the course of heavy metal history. This is a reminder that while there is risk tied to bold reinvention for a brand or organization in crisis or the launch of a new campaign, these risks may carry the opportunity to reach new heights.
Of course, bold reinvention on its own guarantees nothing. It’s not about the new decisions or components, but rather how they fit together. This holds true whether you’re selling a can of soda or writing a myth-infused heavy metal track. And while Black Sabbath reinvented in a time of potential crisis, it was far from haphazard.
“They Say That Life’s a Carousel, Spinning Fast, You Gotta Ride It Well”
Ronnie James Dio replaced Ozzy Ozbourne in Black Sabbath amidst preliminary work on Heaven and Hell. Despite his last-minute arrival, he was not unknown to members of the band, with reported plans to collaborate with Ronnie, having been impressed with his vocal work with Rainbow, while Ozzy took some time off before hiring him onto Black Sabbath. The subsequent trust the band placed in Ronnie facilitated the creative boon that would follow, defined by sonic experimentation punctuated by Ronnie’s melodic and dynamic vocals, alongside lyrical content by turns populated by Arthurian legend and Witches’ Valley that broke new ground for the band. This was a conscious decision to pivot, whereas what may have been easier was to bring on board an Ozzy-soundalike and attempt to replicate the sounds of a bygone era.
While reinventing is always a gamble, you can be sure of the cards in your hand and the people on your side that give you the best chance to succeed. What’s more is to trust the reinvention and your people. Ronnie would prove to be more than a replacement vocalist, altering the sound and lyrical content to steer Black Sabbath into exciting new territory. When pivoting your brand or launching a campaign, commit to the process and commit to your people. See ideas through — they require 100% commitment, especially if they are risky and you believe in them; a hesitant grip on the rudder as you change course all but guarantees failure.
“Hang Your Head and Take My Hand, It’s the Only Road I Know”
In Ronnie’s autobiography, he expressed uncertainty about how he would replace Ozzy. By his estimation, replacing the frontman of a superstar group was unheard of at the time, acknowledging it would become a much more common practice in the years to come. In this regard, they were on the cutting edge, not responding to trends and acceptable practices but pushing the boundaries of what was possible. Ronnie reportedly got spat on and booed at early shows, and while many would come around, to others, there would forever remain no Black Sabbath without Ozzy.
And that is the cost of reinvention. Not everyone will be satisfied, but you take the good with the bad. And while the specifics of cost-benefit analysis discourse surely shift between a boardroom and the local strip club to which Black Sabbath reportedly brought fresh prints of their tracks to play while recording Heaven and Hell, a cost-benefit analysis of a certain kind was conducted.
Some balance weighed beneath the dim lights between legacy and the future, diametrically opposed to some as heaven and hell: is there a Sabbath without Ozzy? Is there the 1980s heavy metal without Heaven and Hell? What will the cultural zeitgeist look like tomorrow? What will the world look like tomorrow?
Paul Fitzgerald’s column appeared in the March 5th, 2024, issue of Rolling Stone Culture Council.
