VINNY APPICE Says SHARON OSBOURNE Would Beat WENDY DIO In Hypothetical 'Throw-Down'

Drum legend Vinny Appice (HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, DIO, LAST IN LINE) was recently interviewed by WSOU. The full conversation can be streamed below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On why it took so long for him to record an album with his brother, fellow drummer Carmine Appice:

Vinny: "We did a lot of drum clinics together over the years, and they were very successful. We never really got a chance to really put an album together. We were always on different schedules and busy, so it never worked out schedule-wise. We were trying to book more gigs and do more touring with the 'Drum Wars' project, and [it was] suggested, 'If you guys did an album, that would make it more of a band thing' — more of, "Okay, these guys are serious."' In January of last year, we started to have time open, so we started putting our heads together and recruiting our friends and getting songs together and riff ideas and everything like that. Really, the schedule opened up and we were able to put both our heads together and get this going."

On the differences in how he and his brother play drums:

Vinny: "I've played with louder bands and heavier bands — SABBATH and DIO, and I like heavier music, so I can be very powerful on the drums, but with dynamics. You've got to play with dynamics no matter how you play. Carmine's played with different [types of artists] — with Rod [Stewart], he played with Ozzy [Osbourne] for a bit, but he's not played the real heavy stuff all his life, so he didn't concentrate on the power so much. He plays with more finesse and more showmanship — twirling the sticks and all that stuff. I don't do that. We play that way with our respective bands, but when we play together, there's still that same kind of feel that we both have, and we're able to really gel together. The live show we'll play together, it just sounds like one big monster drummer."

On who would win in a "throw-down" — Wendy Dio or Sharon Osbourne:

Vinny: "I think Sharon. Sharon's bad-ass. I wouldn't mess with Sharon. Wendy's pretty tough, but Sharon, she's had a lot on her plate over the years, and she dealt with it, and she didn't take any shit. Sharon doesn't like Carmine. Sharon despises Carmine. Ozzy likes Carmine — Ozzy likes both of us — but Sharon doesn't like Carmine because he played with Ozzy and she didn't like the way things were turning out, so she kind of fired him, and then Carmine was able to sue, so she definitely didn't like that. When I played with him years later, she kept going, 'Oh, you're so much nicer than your brother.' I thought that was funny. But she was real sweet to me, and very lovely, and Ozzy [was] the same way. I've got nothing bad to say about anybody."

Under the moniker APPICE, the Appice brothers released "Sinister", their first joint studio album, last October through SPV/Steamhammer.