You may not recognise the name, but I guarantee that you have seen (or own) his work. For over 30 years, Steve ‘Krusher’ Joule has designed album covers for the likes of Hawkwind (Live “˜79), Ozzy Osbourne (Diary Of A Madman, Bark At The Moon), Black Sabbath (Born Again), and more.

For 10 years he was the art director for Kerrang! Magazine that Metallica’s Lars Ulrich once called “the most important magazine for us.”

I called up the “van Gogh of metal” for an extensive chat about his work, comics, and his dear friend, guitar hero Würzel. He’s funny, he’s sweary, and he tells it like it is.

Geeks of Doom: First of all, do I call you “˜Krusher’ or Steve?

Steve “˜Krusher’ Joule: Most people call me Krusher.

Geeks of Doom: Where did that come from?

Steve “˜Krusher’ Joule: It was when I was working on Kerrang [magazine]. I just wanted a nickname for a week and thought it would be clever to have Krusher spelled K-E-R-R – as in Kerrang – and U-S-H-E-R. Somebody changed it at the printers to Krusher thinking it was a spelling error…and it just stuck! [laughs]

Geeks of Doom: You’re most well known, to me at least, for designing Ozzy Osbourne album covers particularly Diary Of A Madman and Bark At The Moon. How did that come about?

It was over 40 years when “the voice of rock” Glenn Hughes was at the epicenter of the rock explosion from middle England. He found success with the blues rock band Trapeze and went on to join Deep Purple and Black Sabbath (on the Seventh Star album, technically a Tony Iommi solo project) and sell countless albums under his own name.

He has now found yet another winning combination in his latest band Black Country Communion. He talked with me, while still in his rock star PJs, just before BCC heads out on tour. He immediately radiates cool and positive vibes. “Just letting the dog’s out. What’s going on, mate?”

Geeks of Doom: How did Black Country Communion come together?

Glenn Hughes: Joe [Bonamassa] and I were playing at the House of Blues about 18 months ago. Kevin Shirley [BCC producer] was there and he thought it was insanely good and he thought Joe and I, instead of doing a duet album, we should form a rock and roll band. The likes [of which] haven’t been seen for 20, 30 years. And that’s what we did.

Geeks of Doom: Are you comfortable with the “˜Supergroup’ tag?

Coming this May to the UK will be a new 2-CD Deluxe Edition of Black Sabbath‘s 1983 album Born Again, the only album they recorded with Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan. The upcoming release, which will be a remastered expanded edition, will contain the original album, along with a second disc containing 2 bonus tracks, including “The Fallen,” a previously unreleased studio outtake recorded during the original album session. The album will also have 9 tracks from the BBC Friday Rock Show broadcast of Sabbath’s August 1983 appearance at the Reading Rock Festival where they performed Deep Purple’s “Smoke On The Water.” See full track listing here below.

Unfortunately, the 2-DC Deluxe Edition will only be released in the UK, not in the United States (the original album has never been released on CD in the U.S., though it is available on mp3). The release is set for May 30, 2011 and is available now for pre-order for £13.42 through Amazon UK. For those of us in the States, we can get an import copy through Amazon.com for the hefty price of $39.89.

There’s just a few days left of Amazon’s celebration of heavy metal with their
50 $5 Metal Albums sale. For only $5 each in MP3 format, there are some insanely good must-have metal albums up for sale through the end of March, like Metallica‘s …And Justice For All, Judas Priest‘s Screaming For Vengeance, Black Sabbath‘s Heaven And Hell, Quiet Riot‘s Metal Health, and many more, including some really great “Best Of” compilations.

I picked out a few here below, but be sure to check out the main sale page to see all the albums available now for only $5 each.

Metallica …And Justice For All
Danzig Danzig
Judas Priest Screaming For Vengeance
A Perfect Circle Thirteenth Step
Pantera The Best Of Pantera
Van Halen Van Halen – Best Of Volume 1
Megadeth Megadeth – Greatest Hits: Back To The Start
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath – Heaven And Hell
Cinderella Night Songs
Rainbow Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow
Testament The New Order
Anthrax Spreading The Disease
Kiss Kiss
Queensryche The Best Of Queensryche

The classic Ozzy Osbourne albums, Blizzard of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman, are scheduled to be reissued in May 2011. The two albums are cited by metalheads around the world as classics, and were indeed an important chapter in the evolution of metal during the 1980’s. They are the first two recordings by Ozzy following his years in Black Sabbath, and were key releases in him reasserting his position as the “Prince of Fucking Darkness!”

Lots of good new stuff has been included with these reissues, scheduled for release on May 31, 2011, and fans will have some different versions to choose from.

First up is the 30th Anniversary Edition of Blizzard of Ozz, including the entire original album recording that has been remastered by George Marino for the release. This CD will also have bonus tracks added, including a rare guitar solo from Randy Rhoads.

Second is the Diary of a Madman: Legacy Edition. This release will be a special 2-disc/double-album. The first disc will be entire original recording of the album, also remastered by Marino. The second disc is a live album, simply titled Ozzy Live, and is a recording from the Blizzard of Ozz tour. Third on the list is a single-disc version of Diary of a Madman.