Did Vasco Rossi inspired Ozzy Osbourne for “Are I still in a coma”?

A aggressive and fast riffbuilt with Power Chords agreements and performed with an execution technique that included Bending and vibrated to create an energetic and powerful sound: thus opened in 1982 “I go to the maximum”, the fifth album by Vasco Rossi, the first since Zocca’s rocker thanks to the participation in the Sanremo Festival of that year with the homonymous song had begun to take on the proportions of a national phenomenon. The song that catapult the listeners in the sound world explored by the voice of “Albachiara” in that heel was “I am still in a coma”: to play that guitar riff was Maurizio Solierithe main guitarist of Vasco Rossi in those years. To rock enthusiasts with the most trained hearing that assolus could remember what – coincidentally – opened an album of a British star who at that moment depopulated between Rockettari and Metallari: “Blizzard of Ozz”, The solo debut album of Ozzy Osbournereturned to the scenes from King of Heavy Metal after being hunted by Black Sabbath. “I Don’t Know”, the first track of “Blizzard of Ozz”, opened precisely with such a riff, played by Randy Rhods (Here we told you about its tragic historical), that that of “I am still in a coma” remembered from very close. Listen to believe:

Was Vasco Rossi inspired by Ozzy Osbourne for his “are still in a coma”? Perhaps. The quote has never been declared, but more than one clue suggests that it is something more than a simple suggestion.

Meanwhile, the two songs, “I Don’t Know” and “are still in a coma” have one thing in common, in addition to the riff: They both act as a “opening song”, from opening pieces of their respective records. “Blizzard of Ozz” in the case of Ozzy and “I go to the maximum” in the case of Vasco Rossi. Aggressive, rhythmic and pressing, the riffs immediately capture the listener, combining brutality and elegance.

“Blizzard of Ozz” came out on September 20, 1980. Vasco Rossi published “I go to the maximum” on April 13, 1982after a year and a half, after having recorded “I am still in a coma” and the other eight songs contained on the disc between October and December 1981.

Vasco knew Black Sabbath very well, thanks to his producers. Fixed with the Birmingham band it was Alan Taylorbassist of English origins – but Italian by adoption – with which Zocca’s rocker had worked since his very first album. Taylor had produced “But what do you want it to be a song”, “We are not the Americans” and “Alfredo’s fault”, before giving way in “We are only us” a Guido Elmianother declared fan of the Ozzy Osbourne band. It was Guido Elmi who produced “I am still in a coma” and the other songs of “I go to the fullest”.

Vasco at that time used to pay homage to the British or US bands that he listened to his collaborators: he revealed that in the period in which he wrote the songs of “Film of Alfredo”, for example, he listened to the Rolling Stones (in 1980 they were already a very solid reality of world rock) and studying the punk movement, from the clash down, and those inspirations ended up in the disc ( Tour of 1983 at the end of “liver, crackling liver” quoted “God save the queen” of sex pistols, as in the live album “okay okay like this”).

Zocca’s rocker never directly mentions Ozzy Osbourne in the interviews, when he talks about his myths of the 80s. But when the king of Heavy Metal died on 22 July, Vasco also wanted to pay homage to him: “W Ozzy Osbourne,” he wrote on social media.