Kai's Stupid A.I. experiments: #2 A much, MUCH better lineup for Ozzfest 2001 (with setlists!)

    I am obsessed with setlists.  Looking them up, studying them, what bands do and don't play, positions where certain songs end up.  What usually opens a show, what closes a show.  In my spare time I love typing setlists.  A sad eccentric hobby, but its my own.

    Sometimes what I'll do is I'll make bills with the opening bands as well.  Well one thing I started doing is rewriting Ozzfest history.  We all know nu-metal is trash, and unfortunately, by the 00s Ozzfest became Ozzy or Black Sabbath headlining, followed with a bunch of awful crap that self-respecting oldheads (or kids that hate the music of their generation) would rather shoot on stage than listen to their music. 2001 was particularly awful.

    Well, I decided to use AI to make what I wanted Ozzfest 2001 to be.  And here's what it generated:

    No, it didn't read my mind (thank god), I specifically picked those bands myself.  I should also mention that I don't really like Opeth that much, but better them than anyone else on the "real" bill.  Plus hey, there's gotta be one band most fans with good taste will get a drink/stand in the merch line for.

    These things usually start by me writing their setlist out in an alloted time slot.  So let us begin:

High On Fire:

High On Fire where fresh out of the gate with their amazing sludge/trad doom debut The Art of Self Defense.  They'd be the perfect first bullet in the chamber for curing the nu-metal disease:

Set: (28 minutes)

BLOOD FROM ZION

10,000 YEARS

BAGHDAD

MASTER OF FISTS

==================

Windir:

Beloved synth heavy black-metal act that did play live, though they weren't as notable for it as Dimmu Borgir or Immortal.  Ozzfest took way too long to acknowledge black metal's presence (Dimmu Borgir was actually the first in 2004), but I figured let's pick an off the beaten path one, plus Windir release their highly acclaimed 1184 album in 2001.

Set: (32 Minutes)

1184

DANCE OF MORTAL LUST

KONG HYADENS HONG

TODESWALZER

JOURNEY TO THE END

====================

Children of Bodom:

Having this Finnish drunken Void-Droid of a band in 2001 would have been insanely forward thinking on Sharon's part.  Having released three legendary extreme metal LPs expertly held together by Alexi's Laiho's elite lead guitar playing, Children of Bodom's presence would have been a slap in the face to all the metal bands who somehow thought you weren't supposed to play guitar solos anymore.

Set: (34 Minutes)

FOLLOW THE REAPER

BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT

DOWNFALL

HATE ME!

EVERY TIME I DIE

KISSING THE SHADOWS

LAKE BODOM

TOWARDS DEAD END

=====================

Black Label Society:

One of the cardinal rules of any Ozzfest is when ever Zakk Wylde's band Black Label Society puts out a new album, he has to be on an Ozzfest tour.  In the spirit of realism (and because I fucking love Black Label Society), we're going to honor that rule.

Set: (39 minutes)

ALL FOR YOU

PHONEY SMILES & FAKE HELLOS

13 YEARS OF GRIEF

COUNTERFEIT GOD

BORED TO TEARS

PEDDLERS OF DEATH

STRONGER THAN DEATH

LOVE REIGN DOWN

====================

Gamma Ray:

I've been championing Gamma Ray as a band that should have blown to doors off the door that Kurt Cobain/David Geffen erected to keep trad metal/power metal out of the US mainstream, and the way I see it, there's no better vehicle to do that with than Ozzfest.  Their 2001 album No World Order doesn't quite drop in time for the summer tour, but they could still play one or two teasers from it alongside their classics to build up hype.

Set (45 Minutes):

WELCOME/LUST FOR LIFE

HEAVEN CAN WAIT

MAN ON A MISSION

THE HEART OF THE UNICORN

I WANT OUT (Helloween cover)

IT'S A SIN (Pet Shop Boys cover)

VALLEY OF THE KINGS

REBELLION IN DREAMLAND

=========================

(If you haven't heard the Pet Shop Boys cover, do so right now.  It is CHOICE.)

Opeth:

I don't like Opeth, you may or may not like Opeth.  But like I said at the beginning, there ought to be a band for the fans with good taste to pee and stand in merchlines for fans of different persuasions.  2001 was when Opeth dropped their most popular album, Blackwater Park, so let's get them in on the action.

Set (50 minutes):

IN THE MIST SHE WAS STANDING

THE FUNERAL PORTRAIT

BLEAK

BLACKWATER PARK

DEMON OF THE FALL

===================

Slayer:

Do I really need to explain this one?  Didn't think so.

Set (60 Minutes):

DARKNESS OF CHRIST/DISCIPLE

WAR ENSEMBLE

NECROPHILIAC

TORMENTOR

BLOODLINE

SEASONS IN THE ABYSS

LIVE UNDEAD

HELL AWAITS

POSTMORTEM

RAINING BLOOD

CHEMICAL WARFARE

SOUTH OF HEAVEN

ANGEL OF DEATH

=================

Tool:

Tool were on a previous Ozzfest, and they're riding high (or about to ride high) on their legendary Lateralus album, why not have them co-headline with Black Sabbath?

Set (65 minutes):

THE GRUDGE

SOBER

SCHISM

TICKS & LEECHES

REFLECTION

STINKFIST

ÆNEMA

LATERALUS

=============

HOOKER WITH A PENIS

Black Sabbath:

Marked as the original farewell tour for Sabbath, but we know how those go now don't we?  Especially with money grubbing wives involved.  Fun Factoid: An attempt was made to made said new album that featured new song "Scary Dreams" (which, let's be honest, wasn't great, the two new songs from Reunion were better), but Ozzy's record company demanded a new solo album from him in 2001, which was Down To Earth. I like Down To Earth but of course I wonder what could have been.  Perhaps I should have had Ozzy here to hype up Down To Earth, but proper original Sabbath lineup touring is an event and you don't fuck with it.

Set (85-ish minutes):

PARANOID

N.I.B.

AFTER FOREVER

SABBATH, BLOODY SABBATH

SCARY DREAMS

WAR PIGS

BLACK SABBATH

INTO THE VOID

UNDER THE SUN/EVERYDAY COMES & GOES

SELLING MY SOUL

BEHIND THE WALL OF SLEEP/BASSICALLY

HAND OF DOOM

CHILDREN OF THE GRAVE

===================

IRON MAN

So there ya go, that's my much less poisoning-the-well with core and nu crap Ozzfest 2001.  I know I would have had a blast!  And let's be honest, after 2001 it was pretty much over anyway.  Toxicity and Iowa, while being hailed as nu-metal masterpieces (lol) are also bandied about by journalists as the albums that ended nu-metal.  Well if they didn't, Jane Doe and a series of core albums in 2002 that were released probably did.  Remission was also released in 2002.  Draw your own conclusions.

Looking at the lineup outside of my dumb phone text-file, I've noticed I have no "tr00" death metal here, but most of the great death metal albums from the stalwarts came out the previous year.  Perhaps I should have had Immolation on here promoting Close to a World Below, but that's the way the tism cookie crumbles I guess.

Give the AI generator credit for at least attempting the Slayer logo