''Book of Shadows'' is the first solo studio album by heavy metal guitarist

Zakk Wylde Zachary Phillip Wylde (born Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt; January 14, 1967) is an American musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and as the founder, lead guitarist, lead singer, songwriter and producer of the heavy meta ...

. The album was first released in 1996 by

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

and was reissued by

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

in 1999 with the bonus disc containing "Evil Ways" (the Japanese bonus track from the album's original release), "The Color Green", and "Peddlers of Death" (an acoustic version of a track that features on Black Label Society's

Sonic Brew ''Sonic Brew'' is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Black Label Society, released on October 28, 1998 in Japan and May 4, 1999 in the US by Spitfire Records. Unlike the albums that followed, this album still possessed a distin ...

). Unlike his work with

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

and

Black Label Society Black Label Society is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1998 by guitarist/singer Zakk Wylde. To date, the band has released eleven studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, one EP, and three vid ...

, here Zakk Wylde shows a different side to his music; an introspective and mostly acoustic style recalling many of the lighter moments from his previous project, Pride & Glory, as well as classic

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

artists such as

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...

. Promotional singles were released for "Between Heaven and Hell" and "Way Beyond Empty", the latter of which also had an accompanying music video. "Throwin' It All Away" was written about the death of

Shannon Hoon Richard Shannon Hoon (September 26, 1967 – October 21, 1995) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer of the band Blind Melon from 1990 until his death in 1995. Early life Richard Shannon Hoon was born on Sept ...

from the band

Blind Melon Blind Melon is an American rock band formed in 1990 in Los Angeles by five musicians: three from Mississippi, one from Pennsylvania and one from Indiana. The band currently consists of guitarists Rogers Stevens and Christopher Thorn, drummer ...

. Hoon and Wylde had lived together and became close friends a few months before he died of a drug overdose.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Zakk Wylde. ;Disc one #"Between Heaven and Hell" – 3:26 #"Sold My Soul" – 4:52 #"Road Back Home" – 5:48 #"Way Beyond Empty" – 5:25 #"Throwin' It All Away" – 5:47 #"What You're Look'n For" – 5:31 #"Dead as Yesterday" – 2:51 #"Too Numb to Cry" – 2:23 #"The Things You Do" – 4:11 #"1,000,000 Miles Away" – 6:29 #"I Thank You Child" – 4:41 ;Disc two #"Evil Ways" – 4:13 (original Japanese bonus track) #"The Color Green" – 3:05 #"Peddlers of Death" – 5:51 (later re-arranged and re-recorded with

for the ''

'' album)

Personnel

– vocals, guitars, piano, keyboards, harmonica, bass on "1,000,000 Miles Away" * Joe Vitale – drums, keyboards, piano on "I Thank You Child" *

James LoMenzo James LoMenzo (born January 13, 1959) is an American heavy metal bass guitarist. He was a member of the band White Lion, performing with them from 1984 to 1991. He was later the bassist for Black Label Society, Slash's Snakepit, and Megadeth. ...

– bass *John Sambataro – additional backing vocals on "Way Beyond Empty" ;Production * Produced and recorded by Ron Albert and Howard Albert * Mixed by

Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born January 15, 1953) is an American recording engineer, mixer and record producer. He has worked with many major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Toto (band), Toto, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams, with whom he ...

, assisted by Ryan Freeland *Strings arranged and conducted by Mike Lewis *Recording engineers: Greg Goldman, Ron Albert, Howard Albert, Eric Gobel, Frank Cesarano *

Mastered Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...

by David J. Donnelly ;Management * Personal manager: Gerry Tolman

References

{{Authority control Zakk Wylde albums 1996 debut albums Geffen Records albums Spitfire Records albums