"What is this that stands before me?"
- PARANOID
- MASTER OF REALLITY, Neal's Review
- VOL. 4
- SABOTAGE
- TYR
You know, I really hate writing such things like this Black
Sabbath introduction, because when you're doing it, you're compelled to sound
different than other reviewers. You gotta pretend you found a brand new unique
angle of viewing at the band that nobody else used before. Of course, that's
rarely the case. To tell you the truth, Sabbath doesn't have a whole lot of
diversity so there's just two ways of looking at them. You can spit on them
for not being artistic and exploring enough or you can embrace the fact they
made some awesome headbanging music. That choice is yours. Since they're a simple
little band (not humble, though) which was reviewed by a horde of competent
reviewers so far, I can't and I won't pretend I have more insight than them.
Oh sure, we don't have the same opinions, but they're not too far apart either.
I personally like to think about Sabbath as a funny offensive rumbler that squeezes
out lots of childish ditties and makes them sound, err... serious and pretentious.
Naturally, the generally excepted opinion is that they created heavy metal and
that's completely right. They, not Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple, started that
evil sounding version of hard rock that calls itself heavy metal, and obviously,
their influence on that particular musical genre is unavoidable. Of course,
they're terribly overrated by the fans. That stands too. And now, some musical
history for you to enjoy.
The name Black Sabbath arose in 1969 when the members of a blues band called
Earth decided to name themselves after a horror movie in which starred Boris
Karloff. That new name suited the heavy ferocious music that they played very
well. Also, many Sabbath songs were very heavily influenced by the occult writings
of Dennis Wheatley since the band's main lyricist Geezer Butler mentioned Satan
quite often in them. Based on those lyrics they were proclaimed to be Satanists,
although the band stated that's just a load of bullocks since they never, as
Ozzy Osbourne said, sat in the circle and sacrificed their first born child.
Be that as it may, let us concentrate on the lineup now. Indeed, when we speak
about Black Sabbath, we have to mention a few lineups that aren't too similar.
The first lineup is absolutely magnificent, although I needed a lot of time
to start liking Ozzy's voice. Now, I think he really gives the band something
special that their other singers didn't. Don't get me wrong, I think Dio and
Gillan are awesome vocalists but they gave Sabbath their own seal that was totally
different from Ozzy's. In the Ozzy years Tony Iommi obviously gave his best
riffs and created best songs, and the band was fresh and full of ideas at that
time. They made a few experiments like Sabotage (which, I think, worked
nicely), but overall they weren't all that diverse (or should I say they weren't
diverse at all?). The rockers are brilliant as they feature unbelievable fat
riffs by Tony Iommi. He has invented a whole new guitar tone too, but you knew
that already. Besides those rocking numbers they also tried their luck with
mellow ballads and did some pretty respectable business on that field too.
After Ozzy left, Ronnie James Dio took his place and he made Sabbath's music
seem even more banal and cheesy. I guess I could say more about that incarnation
of Sabbath, but why should I tell you everything now? Read the reviews instead.
Dio hanged around for a couple of years then left to form his own band, and
Iommi hired Deep Purple's vocalist Ian Gillan. Right after he recorded an album
with the band and finished the tour, Gillan went on to reform Purple. Iommi
then got yet another former Purpler, bass player Glenn Hughes and from then
on the story of Sabbath really starts to drag. However, be sure that I'll mention
all of the lineup changes in my reviews.
The original lineup: Ozzy Osbourne - vocals, Tony Iommi - guitar, Geezer Butler
- bass, Bill Ward - drums.
This is one of my favorite Sabbath albums, no doubt about
it. And why not? After all, since it came out in 1970 it found a comfortable
middle ground between the much inferior Led Zeppelin III and the superior
Deep Purple In Rock. However, the thing that made Sabbath the prime band
of the year 1970 was the quick release of Paranoid. In the meanwhile,
I suppose that the songs on this album could be considered monotonous but with
such colossal riffs thrown in for good measure, who the hell cares? I got to
admit that Ozzy's voice does demand a little getting used to, but he will get
better with time and by then he will grow on you. Also, despite what some people
say, Ozzy's helium voice is expressive enough, although his range is fairly
limited. And of course, his vocal delivery is completely unique and he can't
be mistaken for anyone else (a rather rare case hard rock, wouldn't you agree?).
What else? Well, the biggest problem most people have with Sabbath is their
satanic lyrics, but fear not, they still aren't awful cause Led Zeppelin used
similar fantasy stuff, and this is actually even more acceptable cause it's
not so overblown or blatantly stupid ("Battle Of Evermore", anyone?). The lyrics
here are at least straightforward, and not particularly offensive. Elsewhere,
the songwriting is far from spectacular but I do admit I'm partially fond of
their bluesy improvisations and endless jamming on tracks like "The Warning".
Okay, so the song lasts practically forever and Iommi varies the tone rarely
but you gotta admit that it's not completely charmless. I'm also rather pleased
with Iommi's playing here because he knows a thing or two about riff-making
and that makes up for his mediocre soloing skills.
This is a very atmospheric experience which is completely clear when the title
song kicks in with the sounds of rain, thunder and church bells. Actually, that
reminded me, the production of this album is really magnificent, much better
than on the first Deep Purple albums (they often had a mixed bag of satisfying
and unbearable production). The title track features a solid menacing riff,
but on the downside it's too slow for my taste (the original demo tape version
is completely unbearable). Ozzy's "what is this that stands before me?" line
is probably one of the most famous in hard rock music and I gotta say he actually
sounds crisp and clear on this tune despite his weird-sounding vocals. After
some more useless lyrics (you know, like that "oh, please God help me" line)
the band finally chugs a bit faster and soon ends the song on a high note.
However, the real hidden gem here is the strange harmonica+megaheavy riff combination
on "The Wizard" that just shatters all competition and gives the song a bizarre
touch. The fantasy lyrics suit it fine and the overall atmosphere is rather
unusual, but in a good way. Truthfully, in my humble opinion, the obscure "The
Wizard" is actually one of the band's most shining moments ever. "Behind The
Wall Of Sleep" is frequently overlooked, but undeservedly so cause the track
has a decent memorable riff, not worse than the one on the title track. Ozzy
sounds kinda murky on it which could be caused by the mixing, but you never
know. Tony's soloing isn't particularly inventive either, but even he has some
shining moments near the end. Then follows Geezer's cool little bass solo "Bass-ically",
and I don't know why people say it's messy cause it sounds pretty coherent to
me.
The enduring classic "N.I.B." also contains a rich and masterful main riff,
but it's not quite as explosive as some of their later ones. The song itself
has some difficulties with Tony wanting to jam some more and with the rest of
the band wanting to wrap the whole thing up as soon as possible. And of course,
Tony wins and cranks out some inconsistent solos in the middle and while the
first one is rather beautiful, the one that appears later on is kinda dragging
and well... tiresome. Although, I could change my mind about that one too, but
I'm not really in the right mood for guitar solos today. "Evil Woman" is a bonus
track, I guess. It was originally their first single which actually preceded
the album but it failed to make any impact on the charts. Personally, I don't
see why, because it sounds a bit fresher and more enjoyable than some of those
dull numbers here. The pleasant main riff is kinda funky and the chorus line
"evil woman don't you play your games with me" is catchy and poppy.
The acoustic beginning of "Sleeping Village" is intriguing and Ozzy's eerie
vocal delivery is much better than expected so it truly saves the day. However,
when Tony starts to churn out his uninspired and forgettable riffing the whole
thing is damn near ruined. The fast and flowing funky jam session that follows
is kinda exciting even though the guitar solo is somewhat expendable. And naturally,
it finishes loud and heavy with some annoying and not particularly memorable
riffs. Pretty cool, all in all.
The excruciatingly lengthy "The Warning" has a great chorus and a fluent melody,
but it's just too overlong with a lot of dull and forgettable solos by Iommi.
The crunchy main riff is marvelous of course, but the eight or so minutes of
tiresome soloing really wasn't necessary. The jazz influenced rhythm of "Wicked
World" pounds along nicely backed up with some mighty fine riffs and the acoustic
bit is also highly enjoyable. Unfortunately, Tony gives his best to spit all
over the song with some brief hurtful solos. By the way, I have to mention that
on "Wicked World" Ozzy sounds very much different than on the other tracks,
which is probably partially caused by the mixing of the vocals. Nevertheless,
he sounds very cool and that makes this song one of my favorites here.
To summarize, it's a really good album even though the improvised blues shuffles
weren't particularly successful. Other than that, it's hardly surprising that
those guys made it big because this really has a certain majestic feel to it.
Granted, maybe not on all of the songs, but still...
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
If you ask an average metal fan which proto-metal album of
the seventies had the biggest influence on the genre, he would most likely say
Paranoid. Indeed, Black Sabbath were the real forefathers of this hated
musical genre and the songs presented on this disc are some of heavy metal's
most enduring anthems; "War Pigs" (originally "Walpurgis"), "Iron Man" and naturally,
the radio staple "Paranoid". This time the drums, the bass and the low distorted
guitar tone are even somewhat heavier than on the debut, making some perfect
cacophony which will stay in your brain forever. But, contrary to the popular
opinion, this isn't Sabbath's best album cause that honor would go to the majestic
Master Of Reality, which is one of their heaviest albums ever. Anyway,
this album came out in the same year as the debut, and by doing so it finished
the job of overshadowing Deep Purple In Rock.
All in all, this is an album that should be in the collection of every true
metal fan. However, I'm not in the position of giving this album the ultimate
rating cause some glaring difficulties are still evident. Tony's soloing skills
are just as bad as before, and he still feels the need for lengthy painful dribblings,
which I won't (and no-one should) tolerate. Further more, this is not particularly
deep since the Sabs don't offer you much, just some pretty cool rockers and
tuneless rumblers. Certain tracks are kinda pointless and excruciating, even
though the sludgy riffs are really neat. Between other things, this also isn't
too complex (apart from "Iron Man") and sometimes it's not even all that hard-hitting.
Still, when they stick to the loud and gritty rocking stuff they do surprisingly
solid, even if a bit monotonous. As I've already said, they're not always hitting
the right place, but at least they try to aim the songs at my brain and not
on my stomach, unlike some other bands I'd rather not name (KISS!!! KISS!!!
KISS!!!).
The hook filled title track is driven by a powerful rolling riff and the song
has some dark, but not cartoonish lyrics. It was reasonably successful at the
time, but the band hated it cause they feared of becoming a pop band... there
was really no reason to fear THAT. I for one wouldn't call tracks like "War
Pigs" commercial, would you? In fact, I wouldn't even call it a solid tune.
For one thing, it's messy and rambling and when it finally starts to cook up,
all of the sudden it's over. It's just too reminiscent of "Black Sabbath", I
guess, and even the main riff is kinda unmemorable. I honestly can say I had
a lot of trouble remembering it. And those lyrics with political overtones are
plain laughable, although better than the dungeons&dragons stuff they originally
planed to do on that "Walpurgis" version.
By this point it's obvious that the band has an awfully limited style since
they rarely go away from their trademark riff-chorus-riff-crappy soloing-riff
formula. Thankfully, some minor diversity is accomplished as they tried their
luck with a bluesy acoustic ballad "Planet Caravan". Myself, I don't see how
this crude doomy ballad is any better than "Solitude" on the next album, cause
both of them sound kinda silly. They're not amateurish or anything, but if I
want to hear a good folk-influenced ballad, Jethro Tull is certainly a better
bet.
"Iron Man" follows, and it's really good. Awesome, in fact. There's a majestic
onslaught of clever catchy riffs on here and there's no way you'll forget this
number. Also, it's the only tune here that doesn't get tiresome in that oh-so-generous
clocking time. All of those six minutes are well-used since Tony just plays
riff after riff after riff, and successfully stops Ozzy from singing too much
of those cheesy lyrics. Still, in the defense of that poor deranged person who
penned the lyrics, I have to say that the "I am iron man" intro line sounds
truly immortal.
More fun abounds "Electric Funeral" since the riffage is impressive, but the
lyrics and the title of the song positively suck. I never liked this particular
track cause it always seemed to me that those endless repetitions of the line
"electric funeral" sound very inadequate and unacceptable. The next beast "Hand
Of Doom" is aptly titled, riffing-wise. And hey, the arrangement is quite decent
and the band is professional and, err... but do I really need to praise them
even more? They're not geniuses, after all!
The clumsy drum solo "Rat Salad" is every bit as tedious as all drum solos,
but it's at least short. "Fairies Wear Boots" is slightly jazz influenced and
it features some unexpectedly cool lyrics. I'm even more satisfied with Iommi's
precise memorable riffing on here, and Ozzy sings... oh, let us not get too
carried away... Ozzy just sounds passable and NOTHING more. Frankly, it's a
fine closing number for this inconsistent little offering, even if I sometimes
do get a headache while hearing it.
My closing word? Goddamn, how should I know? It's just a friggin' album like
any other. Get it or don't get it, it makes no difference to me. It's not like
the band will pay me for the screwed up dribblings I wrote in this review.
[Yeah Tony, I think they believed me. It was a good idea to end the review in
that manner, now no-one will ever suspect that I had some damn good reasons
to give those Dio-led offerings such high ratings...]
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
This perfect album represents the true essence of heavy metal
as no other. The brutality never ends on this one, it's amazingly bottom-heavy
with its share of faster moments too. For a normal listener this could be slightly
dull in places but for a hard rock fan this is as good as it gets. It's not
particularly diverse but that doesn't bother me one tinny bit, cause the only
thing I do mind is the fact that it's a rather short album. Again, the arrangements
and songwriting are strong as ever with astonishing monolithic riffs which are
splattered all over those numerous cleverly-constructed songs.
The 'cough, cough' introduction to "Sweet Leaf" starts things off with Iommi
churning out another one of his unstoppable bone-crushing cool riffs that just
refuses to leave my head. The distortion is greater than ever and the riffage
is precise like an Swiss clock. Ozzy sings like he always does, not superb,
but up to the job. The middle part features a fast section which makes sure
the track won't be dull and then we go back to the main riff. The lyrics are
interesting mainly because the theme is marihuana but they're actually one of
their better ones.
In the catchy "After Forever" Ozzy sings some effective anti-Satan lyrics and
Iommi creates another outstanding speedy riff. It starts with a weird spaceman
intro which is immediately followed by some nice climatic mini riffage that
sets the stage for the mastodontic main riff. After more riffing Tony finally
churns out a brief passable solo which is rather forgettable, but thankfully,
he's back to the riffing again. Regrettably, this track was neglected for a
long time, but since the band obviously felt it's a fan favorite they played
it on their latest live album Reunion.
Then follows the creepy gothic instrumental "Embryo". Now, most people tend
to throw away that charming instrumental by saying it's simplistic and dull,
but I wouldn't agree. For starters, it's very short so it simply doesn't have
the time to become boring and the melody is thoroughly enjoyable, even if somewhat
predictable. If nothing else, it should be considered just like a mighty fine
intro to "Children Of The Grave", a speedy track with yet another deadly riff.
That one starts fresh and exciting, as it contains a bunch of energetic mini-climaxes
and astonishing riffing sessions. Obviously, the title of the tune says pretty
much everything you'd like to know about the lyrics since they're utterly hurtful,
and you know in which way. Tony throws in an up-tempo solo near the end and
the whole thing just cooks, even if they can't resist to do a silent space outro
where Ozzy whispers the line "children of the grave" a few times.
"Orchid" is the medieval-sounding acoustic instrumental, and this one is a bit
annoying cause Tony just plays a few simple notes the whole time. But if you
take it just like a cool intro to the next track, it's especially solid. The
riff-laden "Lord Of This World" is a mid-tempo stomper throughout, but what
an exciting stomper! Ozzy disrupts my pleasure somewhat although it's not really
his fault that he has such a poor vocal range. It's pretty surprising that he
can even sound this good. You know, I always insisted on talented vocalists
but Ozzy is the only guy that I've liked even though he's so troubled by his
weak voice. I don't know, he just has that special atmosphere around him and
he's so damn fun to listen to. The number itself is flawless with lots of convincing
riffing going on, and I'll also add it's one of my favorites here.
I'm quite fond of the melancholic ballad "Solitude" which comes next. It's filled
with silent moody flutes and it has a soft folky melody which completely preoccupied
Tony so he doesn't tackle any tepid climatic solos. The minimalistic approach
works well and Ozzy gives his best performance on the record. Yeah, you might
argue that Jethro Tull did it better, but this is certainly not the worst ballad
that a seventies rock band ever made. In fact, this is more touching than most
of those overblown Led Zeppelin ballads I've heard. Naturally, since the album
is almost over we need a fast pounding track to conclude it on a high note.
And indeed, we get just that, the exciting "Into The Void" rips with an awesome
riff, and kicks us right in the face. Needless to say, that superb song single-handedly
created grunge.
I think the strongest side of this album lies in the fact that it's so intriguing
all of the time. It literally has no especially dull moments and Tony drops
the hopeless awkward soloing in favor of better things. The guitar tone is also
magnificent since it ranges from deep and profound to dirty and distorted, and
manages to be spectacular in every respect. Of course, it ain't a stretch to
declare that this album is consistent throughout, and mostly so because of Iommi's
relentless riffing. Let's face it, those rough growling numbers on here are
still slightly better than the complexity of Sabotage which I long considered
to be their finest album, so this will get that ultimate rating. If you don't
have it already, be sure to get it.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
Master of Reality indeed...more like masters of a big 'ole
slab of old school metal. Black guys really did invent heavy metal you know?
Or let me put it more academically: the African American experience of poverty
and early opression led to the creation of the blues in the American south.
This type of music is what we today would call REAL. It was real because it
hit straight to the heart, and exposed all those feelings of despair and loneliness
and heartbreak. It had a dark side as well. Some called it the devil's music.
Back in the late 60's a blues band in Birmingham, England named Earth knew this
history of blues well. We've all come across it at one time or another. This
band named Earth eventually evolved into Black Sabbath, and I guess with the
incarnation of this new band and moniker,they wanted to sound as evil and dark
as possible. So they took those old blues riffs, applied much tube distortion
to their guitar amps and fuzztone to their bass amps, and roared away about
being paranoid and spoke of iron men. Ozzy Osbourne didn't really have to do
anything about his voice because well...it sounded creepy already. And he didn't
even have to try. Which is more than we can say for all those current death
metal singers today who try SO HARD to sound like they've just eaten a carton
of smokes.
My own experience of Sabbath was minimal growing up. My mother, being quite
a religious woman, became concerned about backwards masking and hidden satanic
messages in these oh-so-bad metal albums. I always thought the so called anti-backwards
masking movements were hilarious. I mean, if these bands really wanted to get
secret messages across to kids back then, they'd be something like "Don't buy
records by Bread or David Cassidy, our band is way cooler. Plus, we need money
for cocaine". Even Kurt Cobain said in the Nirvana bio "Come As You Are" that
he had to hide a copy of Sabbath's "Mob Rules" from his mom.
"Master Of Reality" is a definite seminal metal classic. It really balances
those heavy and soft moments and shows that the band were really more contemplative
and musically articulate than the drugged out stoners they were portrayed to
be. For example, the acoustic "Orchid" really is a beautiful song, sort of like
an English folk ballad. But enough of this pansy stuff, as the rest of the album
rocks with a capital R. Riffs aplenty abound on "Sweet Leaf" and "After Forever",
the latter of which always inspires me to play air guitar. That song also contains
the "would you like to see the pope on the end of a rope do you think he's a
fool?" lyric/question that pope-hater Sinead O'Connor probably wishes she'd
written 20 years later. "Children Of The Grave" drops the ultimate riff bomb
though. For those of you who play guitar, you know for sure that never has the
E, B, A# combo sounded so fierce. "Into The Void" closes the album, and when
I first heard it I finally knew from where Soundgarden borrowed all their moves.
Great speedy tempo change near the end of the song too...anticipating thrash
guys??
Poor Ozzy, the American media doesn't seem to leave him alone lately, but they'll
soon tire of exploiting the whole reality genre and move on to another fad.
Ozzy will still be rich, with his brain half-fried and still have a loving wife
and dysfunctional kids. Although, not anymore dysfunctional than the kids who've
grown up listening to his music. That music will remain intact for sure.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
It was just the matter of time. As you all know, every classic
hard rock band with time wanted to get a more complex sound and actually progress
a little, and the Sabs were no exception (quite unlike AC/DC, for example).
Sadly, like most hardy 'n' heavy bands of the time they failed miserably. Oh
yeah, so I admit that Led Zeppelin did managed to have some minor triumphs on
that field, but they didn't totally completed that transition to progressive
rock either. The problem is that those hard-hitting rockers just aren't so powerful
as they should be. Sure, they have intricate arrangements but those experiments
aren't so successful as one would hope.
For instance, this stuff is still horrendously heavy (when compared to their
contemporary colleagues) but the riffs are getting artificial. Okay, so it isn't
quite as heavy as the previous album but could they repeat that one anyway?
The riffs on "Snowblind" are lacking distinctiveness and the main one on "Cornucopia"
is completely messed up. "St. Vitus Dance" is tuneless and wretchedly useless.
The lame but short instrumental "FX" mostly relies upon bizarre sound effects
and thankfully opens the way for the more acceptable grind of "Supernaut". That
one has a memorable melody and the riff is unbeatable so it almost manages to
crack my skull in two pieces, and it's speedy too. "Wheels Of Confusion" is
also overly brilliant as it is overlong (eight or so minutes) and hey, it has
fresh riffs and lots of vitality (well, some vitality). That tune has a slightly
jazz influenced sound and it's even multi-part! And of course, Tony carries
on with numerous cool riffs which are actually pretty imaginative. "Changes"
is a poppy piano ballad that can't measure itself with "Planet Caravan" or "Solitude"
but the mellotron gives it some charming moments, even if it is awkwardly played
in certain places. The melody is catchy and moving and the whole atmosphere
is kinda weepy which isn't that bad. Ozzy once again proves that soft balladry
is in his blood and gives a stellar performance throughout (please do remember
I'm talking about Ozzy Osbourne, will ya?).
And yeah, there's also "Laguna Sunrise" which is a simple acoustic shuffle but
it works completely. It might just be their best instrumental ever with those
light guitars and stuff. Oh, there's some sensitive mellotron playing too, even
if it's not particularly mind-blowing. The progressive edge of "Under The Sun"
assures us that the Sabs do have some rocking potential so it just mesmerizes
the audience with its sheer brutality and that crunchy energetic riff. It's
actually a surprisingly melodic number, much more so than your average rip-fest
by the band. Not that it's an ingeniously original melody... oh no, it's definitely
not like that. It's pretty pedestrian and expected, which is still better than
all that utter unmelodic stuff that Iommi plus various session musicians produced
later on. But that's eighties metal anyway so it's bound to sound tepid.
Overall, the riffing here is noticeably less triumphant than on Master Of
Reality but Iommi still hasn't run out of solid tight riffs and for now
there's really no need for him to ransack his secret stash. You see, this outing
is still a rather pleasant listen throughout, but fairly inconsistent which
wasn't unexpected by any means. After all, it was kinda difficult to record
balls-to-the-wall heavy metal every year without some tinny omissions in sound
and style. The production is rather unsatisfying this time around since I feel
it's lacking the depth, or maybe I'm just too accustomed to the hard-hitting
rockers that the Sabs churned out so far and this uncharacteristic offering
is less than appealing to me. No, that's not right, I like this diverse sound
but that cool vibe simply isn't here. However, even though the lack of that
aggressive attitude was compensated by the experimentation, it didn't make this
album a whole lot more interesting anyway.
Tony's annoying solo noodlings on this album are kept to the minimum (err...
when compared with the debut) and even the ones that he plays are cute, to say
the least. The lyrics have also gone a long way from the offensive or straightforward
ramblings of old and Ozzy frequently sings about some (not exactly interesting)
personal issues. Yeah, a long, long way... DOWN THE SHITBOWL. Truthfully, lyrics
filled with personal grief and suffering won't do a thing for me especially
when they come from such a lackluster band anyway. Maybe the Sabs should have
recorded a duet with Bob Dylan for this album or at least rip-off some of his
lyrics cause that way this would actually sound tolerable. As it is, it's almost
as intolerable as Ozzy praising "sweet leaf" or Satan.
All in all, you won't forget that those guys were amateurs when it comes to
various musical genres or experiments of any kind, but at least it won't be
horrendously dull. And also, if ya wanna hear more of those classic megalithic
riffs by the riffmeister Iommi himself be sure to check this out. Of course,
you could always listen to this if you want to be swept away by their lighters-inducing
ballads like "Changes". Umm... pardon me, it's really not glorious or pompous
enough to do that... you'd be better off with Aerosmith, if clichés and climatic
ballads are your best bet for unforgettable fun.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
This is not as threatening as you might think, given the album
title. Tony obviously misplaced the heaviness because this isn't nearly so dark
and powerful like before and the guitar work is somewhat lighter. But then again,
it was still heavier than most of the stuff at that time. And guess what ? This
album is awfully pretentious. The band inserts keyboards in their sound, which
doesn't make me too happy because they demolished a good part of their sound.
Although, they did hire prog-rock hero Rick Wakeman (from Yes) to do the honors
so it can't be completely terrible. The songs themselves are constructed pretty
good and the instrumental aspects of the record are on the level. Again, the
arrangements are sharp but for the most part, the melodies are lacking imagination
and spontaneity.
Anyway, this certainly isn't the most important album in their repertoire, but
it does give us insight in the development of their sound. Various explorations
from the previous album continue to go strong and more mature as the band finally
decided which way they want to go. Unfortunately, it wasn't the right way. It's
still mostly riff-driven but it just seems that the focus have shifted to a
more melodic side with less grumbling noises. Nice and solid, but nothing more.
After all, this album was just conceived as a transition from ass kicking to
prog-rock complexity of Sabotage anyway.
The title track is certainly one of the high points, with the crunchy main riff
and a beautiful melodic solo by Iommi. There's also some nicely incorporated
acoustic bits throughout the song which serve like a refreshing change from
Tony's distorted riffing (I guess they wanted it to look complex too). The creepy
"A National Acrobat" has a fascinating guitar intro and a powerful groove. I
would even say it's boogie-metal!!! The metallic riffage on this lengthy number
is so damn good that it wouldn't be out of place on Master Of Reality.
Like always, we have a lengthy soft instrumental "Fluff" which sounds experimental
but, well, awful. It's also the turning point on the album where the band appears
to be losing their direction and plods through some pretty awkward and uncharacteristic
tunes.
However, everything is not lost so Wakeman still does a mighty fine job on the
fast "Sabbra Cadabra" (IMHO), a song which has a few different musical sections
blended together with technical perfection. I can't tell you how glad I am they
finally decided to do a speedy number which was pretty rare for the band. The
forgettable ordinary rocker "Killing Yourself To Live" isn't a disaster, but
it's hardly anything more than passable. "Who Are You" is a solid prog tune
with lots of keyboards and dreary synths. And the main riff is cool even though
it ain't guitar-driven. Of course, that's both good and bad. It's good that
they decided to go along with the trends but this is also goddamn dated and
immensely corny. "Looking For Today" is mighty fine and memorable, but it's
actually very poppy and repetitive near the end, chorus-wise. The closing number
"Spiral Architect" has got a wonderful riff and a steady melody with traces
of Zeppelin visible here and there. That poppy track also has some lovely strings
incorporated in it, which was certainly a nice idea. I guess it's the most melodic
number here and certainly one which gives this album a nice happy flavor worthy
of Zeppelin or even Purple.
Of course, the problem lies in the fact that this kind of an tolerable mainstream
70's album which could have been recorded by any other contemporary band (Led
Zeppelin for example) and the other problem is that this just doesn't sound
gloomy or heavy enough to be released under their moniker. The vibe that I'm
getting from this thingy is just to damn bright and well, happy. Damn it, if
I wanted innocent mind-numbing plodders I would have listen to Uriah Heep instead.
Still, this is certainly much more intriguing and complex than anything Heep
could ever dribble out, even if it is kinda ordinary. Oooh, but the cover art
is sooooo creeeeeeeeeeepy!!! I just might shit my pants!!!
Seriously now, it was really really hard for me to do an objective review for
this one. I simply don't know what to say... this just isn't classic Black Sabbath
and although it's fairly complex I can't help but feel it's weaker than the
first four albums. It's surely more catchy and plainly party-oriented than anything
they did before but also overly pretentious. But hey, I'll admit that their
arrangements matured very much, just like their musicianship did, and Ozzy sings
better than he used to. Phew.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
I have to admit that I've found this album to be somewhat
depressive. It's not unlike the previous release but this time it sounds more
aggressive and harder. Some rockers are heavy and thundering, and some are pretty
much distortion-less and the overall sound is lighter than in the early days.
But despite the fact that this isn't vintage Sabbath heavy it's in no way commercial
as it is still dark. The tracks are lengthy (some are clocking around eight
or nine minutes) and the arrangements are getting even more complex but there's
not so much synthesizers this time around, which can't be bad by definition.
The band displays steady musicianship but despite a bunch of shining moments
this isn't their best album, even if it's damn close.
For starters, the Sabs decided to open with the stuff they do best. Thusly,
the powerful opener "Hole In The Sky" is a gloomy mid-tempo stomper with a really
driving groove. Yeah, this one is really hazardous proto-eighties metal with
lots of intense menacing riffs going on and off like on a trampoline. In fact,
this creepy number rocks just as hard as anything on Master Of Reality
and perhaps even more so. "Don't Start (Too Late)" is just an acoustic filler,
err... instrumental. The essential number "Symptom Of The Universe" was often
undeservedly overlooked just like the album itself. It has some fast as hell,
trashy moments but it gets acoustic midway through and the outro is kinda jazzy.
Now, some people even say that without this six minutes long song there wouldn't
be trash metal which is a load of bullocks (IMHO) because Deep Purple practically
invented the trash metal genre single-handedly ("Highway Star").
Dark and bombastic, "Megalomania" is a lengthy progressive epic with lots of
riff-filled diverse parts and with Iommi slightly increasing the amounts of
fuzz on his guitar with every consecutive verse of the song, which proved to
be a rather interesting effect. It's actually one of my favorite numbers in
their entire catalog because I always loved such slow but building tracks which
gallantly pick up pace as they march along until they explode in full power.
"The Thrill Of It All" has a nice generic riff and it's also quite memorable
so you can count me happy. Some songs sound like the band was listening to mid-period
Genesis, especially the terrifying instrumental "Supertzar" which has a crunchy
distorted guitar that churns out low key riffs and gives contrast to the medieval-sounding
choir supported by a full orchestra. Pretty great track, and I have to mention
I'm shocked that the band was able to pull off such gargantuan prog-rock ideas
in a thoroughly effective and fulfilling way.
The keyboard infested pop number "Am I Going Insane (Radio)" was probably conceived
to be another radio hit, but it's nowhere near as successful or popular like
"Paranoid" nor it should be. It's still well-worth checking out since the angry
rhythm section gives its best and that ain't somethin' to be missed. The complex
nine minute progosaurus "The Writ" sounds incredibly bland at times and besides
that, some sections of the song are just plain dull. Don't get me wrong, it's
somewhat bizarre and the guitar effects are downright chilling with Ozzy sounding
especially evil, but it's still monotonous. You see? This would be tolerable
if it was a song of average length, but no, they had to make a gigantic plodder
out of it. It's a fine closing number though, with charming riffage and a few
wide-ranging sections featuring a mixed bag of instruments between other things.
The weirdest thing about this sucker is that neither the public or the critics
loved it. How wrong they were! If there ever was an essential Sabbath album,
this was it, and much more so than Vol.4 or Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.
Tony's soloing is improved so much that you can hardly recognize him, and he
rarely does solos anyway. Ozzy's vocals are rather weak all the way through
(or is that just the production?). I dunno. They're just not so clear as they
once were (maybe he was stoned or something). I mean, he constantly screeches
with passion but it comes across as plain weird. The cover art is really cool
though, with that spooky reflection in the mirror and everything.
Err... I'll just say that this is Sabbath's last great album with Ozzy and that
I'm glad it's so respected nowadays. Anyhow, it's kinda hard to believe that
the band will have such a big flop right after it... ah well, maybe it was just
the changing of the rock scene. Whatever it was, I guess it was unstoppable.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
Yes, this one is definitely underrated but not as much like
Sabotage, because this simply isn't especially ingenious or intriguing.
For a generic straightforward seventies band this is pretty good but I always
liked to think about Sabbath as something more interesting than your average
mindless ass-kicking combo like Aerosmith, but this outing sure does its best
to prove me wrong. It's no secret that this is visibly weaker than Sabotage,
but some solid cuts are still apparent and the album is often undeservedly bashed.
There's not a whole lot of depth here but this isn't that kind of an album anyway,
and I like to think of it as a slightly weaker take on Vol. 4 or Sabbath
Bloody Sabbath. Obviously, the main problem is, to put it in short, that
the individual songs aren't crafted so solid as before and their quality is
slipping badly even if this offering, as a whole, still manages to be a pretty
decent proposition. As I expected, this was meant to be an ambitious artistic
album with lots of complicatedly structured songs and some pretty complex arrangements,
and it probably is, but it just doesn't work as well as it should. It's evident
that they just tried too hard and forced this album out somewhat. Anyway, Sabbath's
musicianship is rapidly going upwards but the riffs are so... not there! There's
even not too much of real riffs here (and the ones that are here are mostly
generic), but instead of them Sabbath uses tuneless and badly organized power
chords. And hey, the synth-keyboards connection is back, but for the most part
the sound is still guitar-heavy. Although, I have to warn you all that if you're
looking for a really heavy and dark Black Sabbath album this should probably
be your very last bet because they're getting lighter with each new album.
On to the songs, then! The nasty opener "Back Street Kids" is your average galloping
bash-a-thon which will probably put you in a neat head-banging mood even if
it isn't close to the glory days of old. Tony is great, Ozzy is acceptable,
the melody is mostly engaging and the chorus is memorable but slightly lame.
All in all, this would be an ordinary tune if they had an ordinary singer but
they don't, they have Ozzy's unique vocal wizardry and this number probably
benefits from it somewhat. The keyboard-ish "You Won't Change Me" is a nice
moody tune and it might be the best song on the album if you're ready to make
some compromises and accept atmosphere instead of ass-kicking. I personally
have a few quarrels with it; for one thing it's overlong and it aptly loses
its path after four minutes or so, and secondly, Ozzy's fake emotional singing
leaves me cold and I'm tempted to beat the shit out of the man. "It's Alright"
is a rather cute beatlesque song with a catchy melody and some surprisingly
beautiful harmonies. And believe it or not, that's good old Bill Ward on the
vocals! He actually has a very good vocal delivery (at least for this type of
pop-influenced songs), and since Ozzy was stoned out of his mind, the Sabs figured
that Bill can hardly do worse than the Ozzman.
The following tune really shocked me, especially since I didn't expect to see
the guys tackling prog rock in a such ineffective and rather pedestrian way,
after they found a fine formula for it on Sabotage. "Gypsy", on the other
hand, might as well be the Uriah Heep crapfest of the same name cause it's just
a bizarre multi-part thing with lots of corny elements and passages that are
leading straight to nowhere. Pretty enjoyable in places, but still bad. The
mediocre "All Moving Parts (Stand Still)" starts hopeful but in its essence
it's just your basic dull rock 'n' rolling plodder with some bouncy disco parts
thrown in for good measure (with no apparent reason, too). The dumber-than-usual
"Rock 'N' Roll Doctor" is definitely a useless generic track that the Sabs should
be ashamed of recording, and it also sets new boundaries in cheesyness for the
band. I never expected to hear anything even remotely similar from them, with
those blatantly moronic and ineffective chorus lines, and especially the title
of the song which is hands-down their corniest yet (not to mention that the
tune itself is anthemic as hell). Also, it has some blues influences in it but
it ain't here nor there, as one might say.
The slow pitiful ballad "She's Gone" features some well-used strings but that
doesn't make it less lousy. Oh I know you want to be considered as an cool diverse
band but that naive weepy balladeering won't touch anyone's soul, and especially
not the hearts of your critics. Give it up already, goddammit! Hmm... you know,
the most surprising thing about this outing is that it really only picks up
by the time it's almost over, namely on the hard 'n' heavy rifforama "Dirty
Women" which has some okayish lyrics and the brilliant opening riff. Tony also
uses plenty of wah-wah in his excitingly fast solos and since I dig such stuff,
I can't bring myself to despise this track although it's so damn lengthy and
cock rock-ish.
Since I do believe this is a minor triumph for the Sabs I'm willing to give
them this relatively high rating for trying as hard as they did and also because
the final product isn't so wretchedly bad as most people think. I feel it's
necessary to point out that Tony's soloing skills and guitar leads are showing
some real progression, but it's really hard to digest the fact that his once
mighty riffs are getting insecure and plainly weaker all of the time. Of course,
this obviously makes you wonder what kind of meek garbage are they gonna think
of next.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
Ain't this a melodyless poorly conceived stinker? What to
say about this pointless abomination? Well, it turns out that this overblown
rubbish even has some sort of cock rocking Zeppelin influences in it, but is
that good anyway? Nah. The arrangements are so sloppy and so pitiful, and Iommi
completely deserts his signature guitar sound and starts playing as shitty as
possible. Between other things, his guitar is badly mixed and you really wouldn't
be able to guess it's him, cause after all, this ain't grumbling in any way.
The complete emptiness of most of these tunes the band tries to compensate with
neat powerhouse drumming, loads of bass pounding and piles and plies of mean
as hell distortion, but that really wasn't a particularly ingenious move. The
thing is, all of this noise just induces mindless cacophony which only makes
matters even worse, and besides, I strongly suspect that most rap-metal bands
were pretty much influenced by this atrocious offering. And Tony's solos simply
aren't tolerable, let alone enjoyable. Keeping in mind that this album was recorded
in a hurry I guess it's hardly strange that the production is a disaster of
sorts, which means that while the bass and the vocals are treated with respect,
the guitar sounds too muddy and the drums are pretty thin.
Right from the start you're kicked in the teeth and dumped in the mud as Tony
ignites with something that probably should be a riff, but a riff it ain't.
The alleged "kick ass" title track is, in fact, noting more than a batch of
badly performed messy chords teamed with some laughable singing from a drugged
Ozzy which induces lots of nasty sneering from my part. It was supposedly some
kind of a hit, but it ain't exciting in no way. Just your basic 70's generic-happy
slow track which should have been forgotten with the seventies. But it's short
and sweet, if you can get over the fact that it's so dang repetitive. "Johnny
Blade" is a goofy comic-book-styled rocker, but it's at least memorable and
heavy (kudos to the rhythm section, too). Still, excuse me for spoiling the
fun but I must add that the lyrics are ridiculously cheesy and the whole thing
is horrendously lengthy. Plus, it's not even an epic song because it seems more
like something that Ozzy would cook up on his own. One of those rare cuts that
actually stand out somewhat is the melancholic "Junior's Eyes", which has an
enjoyable funky bass line and passable riffing so it's pretty groovy overall.
I guess it was probably a sort of an centerpiece cause it's the longest tune
here, clocking slightly under seven minutes. This number is also the one that
scores the best songwriting and arranging on the album so you surely don't want
to miss it.
The riff-driven "Hard Road" is another pointless pop-rock snoozefest which says
very little in its pitiful six minutes of existence. And those riffs aren't
even decent, just kinda sad. "Shock Wave" is a passable five minute rocker,
and while it isn't especially interesting, it's a lot heavier than most of the
stuff here even if not truly better. The puke-a-ton continues and burns brightly
in sleazy fodder like "Air Dance" and "Over To You". The first is a remarkably
dumb little pop number with some danceable connotations, but the latter blows
completely. Yep, you guessed it, "Over To You" is yet another piano-driven thing
(and yes, the word "thing" is quite appropriate) that simply wonders aimlessly
for too damn long. And naturally, don't you think it doesn't have that prog
rock vibe that Sabbath tried to incorporate in their sound at the time, because
it sure does, courtesy of Don Airey's not particularly inspired keyboard playing
(oh yeah, that's the same guy that will play in Ozzy's solo band later on).
And then there's "Breakout", a weird but pompous jazzy instrumental with an
godawful sax solo, but at least it's reduced to an acceptable length of two
and a half minutes. Plus, it has horns which add a nice touch and make a neat
all-around atmosphere, so I suppose it's not a total filler.
Expectedly, the following track is a headbangers delight of sorts, but this
is just as predictable and formulaic as it gets. No doubt, the relatively brief
tune "Swinging The Chain" has a nice intro riff, but overall it's nothing more
than truly repulsive melodyless hogwash that maybe did work in the 70's but
it sounds just sickening today. Bill Ward sings okay, but it wouldn't hurt if
his voice sounded a bit more polished. But on the other hand, why try to polish
it anyway? The song would still blow big time. Anyway, it seems quite bizarre
that such a corny album actually scored one of the coolest and scariest Sabbath
covers so far. Come on! Like that gas mask ain't spooky!
And hey, now I know why Ozzy sounds so uninterested on this album, if I was
asked to sing on such a massive shitfest I would also sound just like that.
But frankly, although everyone rants about how Ozzy sounds uninterested on this
album, they somehow didn't complain about that on Technical Ecstasy,
where he sang much in the same way. In fact, I don't see how his performance
here is much different than usual because, after all, he was just a merely good
singer to begin with. Regardless, the original lineup of Black Sabbath finally
collapsed after releasing this album and Ozzy went on to make a blistering solo
album with Blizzard Of Ozz. In the meantime, the band hired Ronnie James
Dio and got back in the studio. The result was Heaven And Hell and with
that album they entered the 80's and the NWOBHM.... but that's another story.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
Umm... does this one really need a review? Yes? Uh, okay.
You see, this is Sabbath, right? And they rock, right? Well... no. Seriously,
this isn't what you'd call a really solid offering. This is more like a nifty
little pre-NWOBHM album which is quite acceptable and decent, but it's in no
way comparable to classic Sabbath (or Purple and Zeppelin, for that matter).
If you don't know what to expect here, then I'll tell you. First and foremost,
a thing that you shouldn't expect is the vintage Sabbath heaviness cause you
wont find a trace of it here. What you will hear is a painfully polished late
seventies kind of an album with some generic rockers much in the vein of Kiss,
but without their trademark grittiness. But they will be funny and offensive,
I promise.
Anyway, the lineup is almost the same since Ozzy was dumped and replaced with
ex-Rainbow primadona Ronnie James Dio. Also, Geoff Nicholls was added on the
keyboards but they somehow neglected to officially include him in the band (typical
for Iommi and Dio, ain't it?). However, I'm grateful they hired Dio cause I
fear to think what would have happened if Ian Gillan was available. Sadly, the
Sabs are still going slowly to hell and Ronnie happily leads the way (he's kinda
like a piper, or something like that). On the bright side, Ozzy's gone. Yeah,
he was okay, but I think a decade of his weird shrieking was more than enough.
For those ultimate Ozzyfreaks there's still his solo band which definitely had
its moments (check out Blizzard Of Ozz). Anyhoo, Dio happily imported
his repulsive "dungeons & dragons" lyrics from Rainbow and set out to conquer
the band (in which he fully succeeded too). Unfortunately, this time his stories
aren't backed up with masterful soloing by Blackmore or with memorable crashing
riffs by Iommi, so the overall atmosphere is just sadly generic.
Yeah, the rhythm section does its best, but Iommi has completely deserted his
riffmeister duties and he's quite satisfied with just sticking to his professionally
played metallic solos. As a result, most of the songs here don't have any catchy
riffs and the ones that could be regarded as solid, are way too mellow. For
instance, although the riff of "Children Of The Sea" is pretty damn good you'll
have serious trouble noticing it between the noisy bass work since it's very
silent and almost distortionless. Other tunes have nice riffs too, but they're
just hidden behind the tuneless rambling of the rhythm section. Of course, sometimes
Iommi just decides to throw in a few incoherent power chords instead of a real
riff, but then again, the stuff here is still better than the schlock on Never
Say Die.
Well, after we cleared that up, we know what to expect from this point on.
The opener "Neon Knights" gives us a whole new level of energy that's beyond
anything Sabbath pulled off recently (on the last few Ozzy albums, that is).
Flashy and fast, it becomes the ultimate staple of Iommi's cooperation with
Dio, since such numbers are the best thing that they cooked up when they worked
together. The next number, the banal "Children Of The Sea" has a mighty fine
beginning with Dio warbling out his dragon rock crap and Iommi backing him up
with some tender, but fake, acoustic plodding which goes on until the song transforms
into a long raging mastodon. Okay, this intro part is kinda real, but the second
time this acoustic element kicks in on the end of the track (playing the same
melody, naturally) it's obvious they just sampled it.
Meanwhile, the groovy Rainbow-influenced "Lady Evil" has a nice rhythm, but
unlike any early Rainbow tune it stinks pretty hard as the evil-infested lyrics
demolish the solid riffage without mercy. Following in its footsteps the title
track blows all the way through, cause, although it's complex, the disco sounding
bass damn near ruins it as Geezer thumps along rather monotonously. I can't
hide that I'm disappointed to see them tackle such an overlong epic without
sounding, well... menacing. Also, it's laughable to hear Dio's self-important
growls on this song, especially since the lyrics are one of his stupidest ever
(or, at least, before his senseless ramblings in his own band, later on). "Wishing
Well" is a sloppy rocker which puts way too much emphasis on the average bass
skills of Geezer Butler instead of relying on a solid main riff (which, I guess,
Iommi couldn't invent as he was probably stoned out of his mind and simultaneously
whining cause he lost his talent for writing riffs). However, after you find
your way through the overblown crap of "Heaven And Hell" (and get a fistful
of shit in your mouth in the process), you'll very likely feel refreshed as
you notice it helplessly limping on the horizon. It's not much, but at least
it ain't pretentious.
The following tune, "Die Young", is surprisingly uninteresting for a second
single release, although the breaknecky speed and the frequent shifts in tempo
save him from being a complete waste of time and tape. "Walk Away" is a straightforward
rocking number featuring some decent, not overly cringe-inducing lyrics. It's
nothing particularly exciting, but if you like hard rock you'll probably enjoy
it too. The dandy closing track, "Lonely Is The Word" is everybody's favorite
here, and I can tolerate that because it has a bit venom in its tooth and the
riff is kinda thunderous, so it comes across as one of the more doomy tunes
in the post-Ozzy repertoire. The ending of the song tackles some obvious Zeppelin
influences, borrowing a lot from "Stairway To Heaven". Now, some think that
Iommi did it on purpose (like I do), but some people actually dare to say he
was deaf enough not to notice he ripped-off Zeppelin. Funny, ha?
Overall, this record is less dark than the next one, but generally speaking,
it's not much weaker. The band obviously passed the experimentation phase as
they don't try to touch jazz or blues with a ten foot pole. Just some traditional
hard rock, somewhat simpler than usual, but still better than the vomit-inducing,
atrocious junk that the likes of Aerosmith churned out at the time. Oh, and
please don't try to convince me that Aerosmith doesn't suck cause there's no
way you'll succeed in that.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
I don't know about the mob, but Ronnie sure rules here. He
sounds majestic, although the lyrics are horrible (but does that even deserves
mentioning?). The lineup is almost the same, but unfortunately, Bill Ward wasn't
in the best state as they toured the previous album so he left them. They completed
the tour using an American drummer Vinnie Appice, who's also present on this
recording. Now, Vinnie's style isn't perfect and he's not too imaginative as
his drum solos are fairly simplistic, and not to mention generic, but he's good
when it comes to bashing the hell out of his little drum kit in the background
of Iommi's guitar pyrotechnics.
Some reviewers claim that this is completely the same as the previous outing
with the exception of the different production. Interesting conclusion. In some
ways, I can agree with that, but not entirely. The construction of the songs
is almost copied and the texts are literally identical, but those powerful riffs
here are better composed and more memorable. They also added a rawer and grittier
sound so it comes across as being less polished than the previous record. The
production is also quite stripped down and retro sounding as they use the tacky
keyboards only sparingly. Yep, there's not a whole lot of diversity here as
they don't try to tackle a single ballad (probably a good thing too) and when
it comes to varying the tone they're just limited to some silent intros or senseless
synth explorations in "E5150". Overall, the riffs are quite ordinary, I admit,
and they're probably snatched from someone else too, but they're not weak because
of that. Okay, so the melodies here aren't swarming with originality and some
are pretty pedestrian ("Country Girl"), but it's the eighties and everyone had
similar problems.
The opener "Turn Up The Night" ignites and it damn near knocks me out as the
bass work and Iommi's work on the wah-wah pedal make it a rather exciting metal
experience. It's a flashy and fast number which moves within a heavy frame and
it's quite fluent too. Naturally, we all know that it's a complete rip-off of
"Neon Knights" (well, at least they ripped off themselves, they're in title
to), but at least it's more dangerously sounding this time. Ya know, it's also
quite pounding like Dio's solo work that will follow soon after it, but it doesn't
have that obnoxious early eighties stamp. The mid-tempo growler "Voodoo" is
truly impressive. The main riff is memorable and Dio puts up such a magnificent
show that I really don't it's slow. This song is very reminiscent of early Sabbath
days when Tony used to stand on the stage and just played those massive rumbling
riffs like his life's depending on it. Ah, the good ol' days.
Unlike the evil gothic epic of "Heaven And Hell", the one that's present here
is a longer, but a more rewarding listen. "Sign Of The Southern Cross" starts
with Ronnie gently singing while he's backed with Iommi's acoustic guitar and
then the punch follows. I like that it doesn't have that irritating bassline
of "Heaven And Hell", but I don't like the way it ends as it vaporizes into
the squeaky noises of the instrumental "E5150". Why did they put it on the record?
It only lasts like two minutes, but it desecrates the sound of the entire album.
After that brief instrumental bit they bounced back with a song that I presume
every heavy metal fan loves, the title track. However, I don't think it's so
special. First, it's not catchy enough as I needed good ten listens before it
finally grew on me. It's very riff-laden, but not nearly fluid enough so instead
of the flowing speed it posses a more rumblier kind of speed which makes it
seem to be more mid-tempo like than it really is. The melody is interesting
but rather forgettable if you're looking for background music. The riffs are
strong but not in the same vein as previous Iommi's riffs since they leave less
impact on me. Second, it's actually too similar to Iron Maiden's "Sanctuary"
which was released a year or two earlier. But hey, Ronnie sure sings better
than that drunk sap Paul Di'Anno.
The overly anthemic "Country Girl" has a cute melody and the riffage is solid.
The lyrics are lame as Ronnie shrieks something' about crimson tides and a girl
who snatches souls. Silly, I know, but I dig that heavy bass work. The mid-tempo
gem "Slipping Away" has a mighty fine riff, but there's something that bothers
me on this one. I can't say if it's the drums or the bass but there's a weird
atmosphere surrounding this number. The song is actually very good, but it doesn't
sit well with me, not like the next one. The riffalicious "Falling Off The Edge
Of The World" brings back the spirit of "Die Young" with some manic tempo changes,
soft vocal parts and a fast paced riff, so it leaves the impression that it's
pretty complex, although it really isn't. The album's closing track "Over And
Over" is actually a guitar solo in its essence. It's basically a tuneless filler
which plods along rather monotonous and even Iommi's emotive soloing isn't able
to make a difference.
I must add that every single tune is worth listening to since they all have
some redeeming elements thrown in even if they're not all colossal tracks. Iommi
also sounds okay on the whole album, but the riffs still aren't as imaginative
as they used to be. His solo parts are one the level, though. Frankly, I'd say
that this is one of their best efforts in the eighties, but that depends exactly
what you're expecting this album to do. It ain't complex or groundbreaking but
this is Black Sabbath and not prog rock, so it doesn't have to be. And the cover
art is cool too.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
It's hard for me to be objective when I'm talking about this
particular live album. Even though I normally don't enjoy live albums I do like
this one a lot. In fact, it would be fair to say I like this one even more than
Reunion. Since I'm a fan of Dio, I see absolutely no problems with his
renditions of Sabbath's classics. The man growls and roars in a perfect way
and his performance suits the selected tracks since it's equally hard-hitting
and powerful like the music itself. The selection is expected since they picked
up only the early numbers which are mostly fan favorites anyway. I'm sad that
they didn't add "After Forever" and "The Wizard" on the album because they're
one of my favorite Sabbath numbers, however, since there are time limitations,
I'm willing to forgive them.
The mighty distortion crunch is added to the Heaven And Hell numbers
so they sound more powerful than in their studio versions, and the mixing is
excellent too. One more thing, Ronnie's stage presence is just atrocious here.
He's terribly stiff and the conversation with the audience is kinda fake-sounding
so the transition between the songs comes across as somewhat awkward, but that's
probably not visible on the single CD version of the album.
The opener is somewhat bizarre as they decided to play that funny (and stupid)
short instrumental "E5150". Naturally, it sucks pretty bad and it's not all
that different from the aimless squeaky noises of the original. Be sure to push
the forward button, or better yet, program your CD player to avoid it. Thankfully,
the band recuperates after they get the vitamin injection in the form of "Neon
Knights" which is performed in a fast blistering way, just how it should be.
The band then ignites with some senseless jamming... kidding, of course. Next
up is Sabbath's very own "N.I.B.", one of those better numbers on the debut.
Here, it sounds astonishingly good with Dio putting out an amazing show. I mean,
if you don't like his vocals on this track then you really shouldn't call yourself
a Sabbath fan. Just as they wrapped up "N.I.B." they indulge in a heavier rendition
of "Children Of The Sea" where Tony finally treated that marvelous riff with
enough respect. It's good to hear how it rips live, cause in the original version
it was quite subdued to Dio's roaring and the thumping of the rhythm section.
The crunchy "Voodoo" takes the stage and slays the audience, but even though
it sounds menacing and all, it's actually not much superior to the original.
The overlong rendition of "Black Sabbath" follows suite, but Tony carries away
with his soloing in places and Ronnie just barely saves him. I'm not sure if
it was smart to place yet another lengthy epic rumbler immediately after "Black
Sabbath" but they did it anyway with a messy tuneless version of "War Pigs".
Mind you, I never liked that song too much since I always thought it's overlong
and monotonous, but since everyone thinks it's GREAT, I've learned to appreciate
it. However, I don't have to appreciate a version where the band just plainly
slumps through the material without an ounce of interest in sight.
After this torture the band decided that yet another long growler might be needed
so they started playing "Iron Man" which to my surprise sounded pretty great,
since Ronnie sang simply glorious and Tony churned out that main riff with destructive
conviction. "The Mob Rules" is next, and I'm a bit disappointed that it doesn't
sound better than it did originally. In fact, I'd say that it's a tad worse
this time around.
The difficulties arosed when they started playing the centerpieces of the last
two Dio-led albums, "Heaven And Hell" and "The Sign Of The Southern Cross".
For one thing, this combined version is almost twenty minutes long as they first
drag through "Heaven And Hell" for about ten minutes, and then go on slumping
through "The Sign Of The Southern Cross" and finally return to "H&H" again.
By the time they're finished it's painfully obvious to everyone that Tony should
stick to performing precise short rockers and not indulge in pointless noodling.
I tell you, if it wasn't for Ronnie I wouldn't be able to swallow that over-boring
megamonster at all. But hey, Vinnie Appice does a good job on his drum solo
even though most people don't like it, because they miss Bill Ward. I don't
know, I'm happy with the drums... maybe it's because I've heard so much of Vinnie's
work that I've grown accustomed to him.
"Paranoid" sounds dreadful here, but interesting enough, it sounds crappy even
on Sabbath's latest live album Reunion. Why is that? It's a relatively
simple number and I don't see how can they stink at it so much. Ronnie actually
did his part of the work respectively well, although noticeably weaker than
on other tracks, which maybe can be explained with the fact he was tired, but
then again, why does he sound so majestic on "Children Of The Grave"??? Ronnie,
what can you say in your defense? Ronnie?
I bet you think they closed the album with an aggressive rocker like "Children
Of The Grave", right? Wrong. This infernal slice of thumping proto-metal was
actually the pre-closing track. They actually finished up this offering in the
same repulsive way they started, with another godawful instrumental named "Fluff".
Thankfully, it clocks around just one brief minute and it evaporates from your
memory in less than that time.
This album probably isn't recommendable to an average Sabbath fan, but it's
essential to a Dio fan so they should get it. But be warned that some songs
are very slowed down, and some tracks are performed mediocre at best. This ain't
suitable for everyone, so please be careful and listen to it before you buy
it.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
Come on people, let's face it, Born Again is plain
bad. It's well-known that Ronnie James Dio and Vinnie Appice left right after
the band recorded Live Evil cause some creative differences arose when
they mixed it. Apparently, "someone" toned down the guitar and the bass overnight,
and brought up the vocals and drums. Ronnie said he didn't do it and claimed
that the sound technician was drinking heavily, but Tony and Geezer weren't
really convinced in that. Anyway, Tony later said that it was probably the technician's
fault after all. I wouldn't know about that, but I can sure tell you that Ronnie's
voice is very much missed since his replacement, Deep Purple's vocalist Ian
Gillan has already lost quite a bit of his once colossal vocal range. Truthfully,
I still love Ian's voice even if it is somewhat weaker nowadays, but it stands
that Ian wasn't really compatible with Sabbath's evil image, at least not like
Ozzy or Ronnie. Also, Bill Ward returns to the drum kit but since he recently
had therapy, he is hardly himself and the drumming is all but convincing. That
said, this is a very disappointing album unless you're expecting plain rock
‘n' roll fun, cause in that case you'll have a few solid laughs here. Alas,
this sounds nothing like the original Black Sabbath and it's more similar to
an uninspired version of Deep Purple doing a spooky parody of Sabbath. The cover
art is laughable, but also kinda sad. I mean, a demonic baby with two little
devil's horns and a mouth full of nasty-looking sharp teeth? Plain silly, if
you ask me. And the title of the record definitely isn't just ridiculous, it's
also quite ironic (personally, I'd rather call it Never Again). By the
way, the production isn't very satisfying since the sound is raw and heavily
distorted but the mixing is messy, and the whole thing comes across as somewhat
half-baked. Regardless, here we can really see where's Sabbath going to from
now on, deeper and deeper in routine-sounding eighties metal.
The flashy opening track actually raises my hopes cause even though it ain't
a classic Sabbath number, it's still vaguely reminiscent of Deep Purple's "Highway
Star" so that makes it kinda enjoyable. Okay, so the lyrics are rather banal
and incomprehensibly hilarious, and the main melody which is hidden behind the
wall of distortion is quite insipid, but this still has a sort of an attitude.
I dunno, maybe it's just that I like this funny self-parodic vibe, but the riffs
on this particular track sound kinda pleasant to my ears, even if they're generic
in that annoying eighties vein. The second tune is a bit more Sabbath-esque
as it was supposed to sound creepy and pseudo-mystical. That said, the short
fillerish instrumental "Stonehenge" really doesn't do much in terms of memorability.
One of those three, so-called major compositions, "Disturbing The Priest", is
a particular disgrace in its own right as the band plainly slumps in the most
pathetic and careless way imaginable through various doomy noises that are supposed
to make a coherent unit, while Ian is doing some fine screaming filled with
pompously corny lyrics (satanic, no less). There's really little reason for
the existence of this moderately long suite. I suppose it was a sort of a re-visitation
of the old times when growling riffs ruled the land, but with Ian in the band
this kind of self-important banality just isn't attractive to begin with. Believe
me, with Dio this track could have been good because the man sure knew how to
sing such grotesque numbers, and Ian... well, Ian just doesn't cut it. Apart
from that, the low-end riffs here aren't suitable for your intelligent headbanger
anyway, mostly because they're played quite sloppy.
Another short ominous instrumental "The Dark" (let us stop here and ponder the
sheer brilliance of that title) continues to bring some evil messages to the
uninterested audience (myself included). However, although it's pretty aimless
when it stands alone, it does represent a nice introduction for "Zero The Hero",
arguably the best tune on here. That one is surprisingly lengthy and annoyingly
repetitive but still filled with some neat vocal hooks in the unavoidably catchy
chorus. The melody is rather memorable and Gillan sings very energetic, but
the whole thing seems to be a little overblown. "Digital Bitch" and "Hot Line"
aren't unlike any average rocking number at the time and they're played relatively
speedy, and as such, they just barely avoid being tiresome. Rather repetitive
and forgettable, they will be in your head for a few minutes but then they'll
evaporate just as easily. The long title track is a slow ballad which is sandwiched
between those two rockers and for the most part it's tolerable, but it seems
that they guys just insisted too much on its majestic feel and forgot to include
some meaningful lyrics or at least some real passion. And the last track "Keep
It Warm" is about the same as any other one, except that it has a wonderful
guitar solo and lots of nothing surrounding it.
Finally, it just seems that with Ian Gillan at the helm the Sabs simply didn't
know what to play, so they played a little something from Purple and a little
something of their own so overall they just didn't play anything. I actually
can't find any exceptional tracks on this record, they're all just... mediocre.
Nevertheless, Ian Gillan is not to blame for that because he still is a fine
screamer. All in all, the good side of this unpleasant experiment is that Born
Again wasn't a lethal blow to Ian's career (as some thought), but on the
downside it did kill any hope that Black Sabbath will regain their leading position
as a heavy metal band ever again. And what can I say about the band after Gillan
left ? Well, after this album Sabbath fast became a merry-go-round of players
revolving around good old Tony. I'd pass if I could, but I can't cause it's
my sworn duty to review all Sabbath outings no matter how screwed up they are...
feel free to pity me.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
Judging by the album cover the full name of the band was Black
Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi, which should alarm you right from the start. Another
thing on this atrocity that should lift your eyebrow in pure amazement is that
today's choice for a lead singer was Deep Purple's bassist Glenn Hughes. You'll
soon get a simple and reasonable explanation of that first shocker when you
notice that Tony is actually the only original member of the band left (since
Geezer and Bill jumped ship), besides of course the keyboard player Geoff Nicholls
who was in the band since the Dio days. However, apart from them, there's not
much on here that you'll be able to associate with Sabbath's name, starting
with the drummer Eric Singer (of eighties KISS fame, no less) and ending with
the bass player Dave Spitz. In fact, this was meant to be Iommi's first solo
album but the pesky record company allegedly forced him to put the trusty Black
Sabbath moniker on this junk-driven overblown shitbag in order to increase sales
(like that helped!).
Ah, and that amazing Glenn Hughes person! What a cool voice! What a horrendously
self-important tone! Be that as it may this guy is actually a nice singer but
the trouble is that his bluesy voice just ain't compatible with Sabbath's image,
which perhaps isn't truly important, but it's also quite inappropriate for this
pretty metallic material here, WHICH IS IMPORTANT. His quite soulful performance
sure ain't specially enjoyable when he's supposed to sound... well, menacing.
Heck, if you accidentally thought that Ian Gillan was to cheerful for Sabbath
then you HAVE to listen to Glenn. You know, I often wonder how come Tony didn't
hook up with David Coverdale because I have a weird hunch that if they worked
together they'd be able to roll over quite a few bucks. Anyway, the production
values here are also somewhat twisted with that overly polished and slippery
mid-eighties feel. Nevertheless, this is a passable release if you don't mind
that overly cheesy vibe of the era. I for one, don't like it, but I do acknowledge
there are some rare people with limited learning ability (not to say retards)
that can possibly be forced, by the means of heavy medication, to enjoy this
record somewhat. Apparently, even though the sound became increasingly generic
Tony still wasn't thoroughly contaminated with tastelessness so there is a neat
bunch of solid riffs hidden in several of those songs. If you'll be able to
find them, good for you.
But how do the songs generally look like, you ask? Hmm... it's just ordinary
eighties metal fit to top the MTV and radio charts, which it surprisingly failed
to do. Goddammit! How come? Tony did everything right! You can't very well say
this is different than the material of whoever was ruling the air waves at the
time! To prove my point the band smashes open this outing with the speedy but
banal number "In For The Kill" which amazingly has some tepid lyricism (I was
caught by surprise, I tell you!) and some traditionally predictable songwriting.
But it's good, no matter what. And hey, that brutal riffing is plain mesmerizing!
The immensely slow cut "No Stranger To Love" on the other foot (er.. hand),
ain't good at all. Oh yeah, you really should brace yourself, cause we're getting
ready to enter the bland kingdom of commercial power ballads in exceptional
style! Like you suspected, this track is fairly dull and dragging, completed
with dated synths and a fine operatic performance from your favorite rock star,
none other than Mr. Glenn Hughes! Give the promising lad a big round of applause,
will ya? And you really should, too. After all, without him this pompous schlock
wouldn't be bearable, and this way, well... it's funny, if nothing else. This
thingy is remarkably heavy too, in the respectable boundaries of metallic balladeering,
that is. And Tony's guitar solo is plain incredible (in a bad way)!
Anyway, as lame as that whole ballad debacle is you still can't go around trashing
Tony for the utter lack of powerful and memorable riffs. He delivers! Thusly,
"Turn To Stone" features a pleasantly recycled riff... and not much else. No,
that's unfair. You've gotta love that finger-flashing musicianship that Tony
employs here, cause after all, he sure isn't your regular eighties axeman with
a black hole instead of a brain. Indeed, even Glenn strikes me as a bit acceptable
here, probably because I'm trying to ignore the man and he happily lets me do
just that. And again, the riffs are kinda cool in their destructiveness and
sheer power. Granted, they're MUCH weaker than your vintage Sabbath riff, but
for the mid-eighties this is as close to clever riffage as you can possibly
get. Like always, the band indulges (or to be more exact, Tony indulges) in
a fillerish instrumental that barely clocks over a minute and to everyone's
surprise it seems to be influenced with some slightly oriental gibberish, or
should I say, exotic gibberish? This time it's aptly entitled "Sphinx (The Guardian)"
and it serves as a worthy prelude to the epic Egyptian-sounding title track.
This plodding song is quite pedestrian with forgettable vocal hooks and mediocre
playing by everyone in the band (or everyone that was in the recording room
at the time. You know, the sound technician probably played the bass, the cleaning
lady handled the drum kit and Tony was passed out on the floor after a few beers
to many). Anyway, it has all the elements of a good centerpiece with dramatic
twists in structure and loads of pompously wailed cartoonish lyrics. And truthfully,
on such songs you really do miss Ronnie's menacing voice a lot, cause despite
all of his shortcomings (which are many), it's obvious that only he could save
a grotesque number like this from becoming a prime suckjob.
"Danger Zone" is filled with solid slabs of distorted pop-metal riffage, but
apart from that, it's not interesting one bit. The excruciatingly lengthy "Heart
Like a Wheel" is yet another strong but conventional mid-tempo number that could
have been penned by Cinderella or similar hairy bands. The following tune, "Angry
Heart", might be its evil brother or something, with the only difference that
it's a whole lot shorter and thusly more enjoyable. Yes, I do realize that you'd
like to know more about this track but I simply can't say anything truly interesting
about it. It's dreadfully primitive and thoroughly dumb, just like any given
Bon Jovi composition would be, and the chorus is annoying and vomit-inducing.
Finally, I'm extremely happy to say that this review is almost wrapped up, since
we've finally reached the closing track. Yeah, I know it was a hard and treacherous
path that we've walked on but it was all worth the hassle, because now, for
a moment or two, we can effortlessly enjoy in a cute brief ditty that the band
so proudly presented to us. That said, the last mind-numbing number on here,
the oddly titled "In Memory..." actually proves itself to be well worth the
wait with some lovely playing by the band (including some acoustic bits), and
plus, it also features a respectable performance from Glenn, who was determent
to apologize for all the pain that he so generously inflicted on us earlier.
Don't worry old pal, I forgive ya!
In summation, this isn't a tad worse than the stuff your contemporary hair metallers
churned out the same year, but it's surely NOT something that Tony should have
recorded no matter how broke he was (I'm guessing that he was broke, of course,
but there ain't a single more understandable reason for this sad mess). In my
book this sounds not unlike Bon Jovi, Whitesnake or Aerosmith (not to mention
Poison and Cinderella), and that's not the kind of company you'd want to keep,
for sure. Ah well, at least Tony Martin wasn't in the band yet, and that alone
raises this rating quite a bit.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
Did you know that Tony Iommi is actually proud of recording
this one? That should be incentive enough to have you running out to the store
and pay an obscene amount of cash for it. But, on the other hand, Tony is also
very proud of making Headless Cross and that one sucks donkey ass completely,
so, whatever. Strangely enough, I'm also quite willing to give the man his due
for this one. The Eternal Idol just might be one of the best records
Iommi has created in the eighties, and most certainly it's the best album he
made with that pompous growler Tony Martin. Of course, it just another generic
metal record with Iommi trying to go in the direction of trash metal at certain
moments, and to go with power ballads on others. Still, there is a balance,
no matter how impossible it sounds. Yeah, so the tunes are mostly formulaic
with zero diversity and traces of dullness are always near, but the songs are
pretty decent this time around. The singer Tony Martin is the main, and probably
the only true low point of the outing as he tries to imitate Dio's vocal theatrics.
The thing is, Tony Martin might very well do Dio's overblown super-important
tone, but he sure can't rip off his vocal range or his sheer earth-shattering
roars. Mind you, he's not particularly bad or offensive as he doesn't go over
the top often, and if I've heard him in a different band, I'd even say he's
a good or promising singer, but in Sabbath, he really can't fill the shoes of
his predecessors (except for Glenn Hughes, but how hard can that be anyway?).
The production is less slick and uniformed than on Seventh Star so it
simply breaths more and the guitar work is both excellently played and mixed.
The songwriting is a blast from the past and although the band isn't groundbreaking
like old Sabbath was, it's a pleasant listen nevertheless. There are some fine
catchy melodies and lots of entertaining memorable riffs. In fact, I'd even
say that none of those Dio albums had such imaginative riffs on it. On the downside,
and expectedly, the soloing is rotten to the core and rather pedestrian. Did
you notice that when Tony has some strong crunchy riffs in store he completely
abandons all of that intriguing soloing he uses on those not so riff-laden albums.
Strange, ain't it? Regardless, the material is ultra consistent and there's
not a single track I'd say is a REAL stinker. It's just not particularly innovative,
that's all. Your basic routine eighties metal which is coincidentally just a
bit heavier than it was with Dio, and not unlike your average hair metallers
around.
The lineup seems quite crappy with none original members of Sabbath besides
good old Tony, who's too busy stitching his little riffs in the studio to actually
make an effort to find some adequate musicians, so he just hired the first average
jammsters he laid his eyes on. The partially talented keyboard player Geoff
Nicholls still managed to stay in the band and he's more than happy to insert
some tepid noises here and there, and collect his paycheck immediately after.
I hope they didn't pay him in advance cause the man just brought them more shit
than they can even handle, so a huge cutback in the money department should
be in store for this guy. The drums are occupied by Bev Bevan (formerly of ELO
fame) and I have nothing really good to say about him. He didn't make a laughing
stock of himself, but he sure didn't justify his famous name either. Thank you
very much, but that primitive monotonous pounding could have been supplied by
any other mediocre drummer around, and for a whole lot lower price, too. By
the way, the lyrics are boring and moronic as ALWAYS, and the music is horrendously
heavy and mindless as USUAL.
The lengthy opening number "The Shining" is Iommi's way of saying he's
back from those lean, laid-back days and thusly he really lets it rip in that
exciting old manner. Not that the song sounds particularly old-ish or retro-ish,
but it's just very nice to see that the ancient weathered axeman still has some
energy, and more importantly, enough sheer determination to keep on rocking.
Fine riffs abound the track, and I'm so pleased with it that I'm willing to
forgive that Martin person for butchering the vocals. I've heard a lot of good
things about "Ancient Warrior", but I can't say it lived up to the overall
hype. Generic and shitful as it is, it surely ain't worthy of my attention,
so, like, fuck it. "Hard Life To Love" is a stellar number when compared
to it, but to the people that think it's the best one here, I can only laugh
in their face. Maybe it's precise and consistent and all that similar stuff,
but a fast jam session of metal-meets-funk isn't something I enjoy, especially
when it's backed (or pissed on) by Tony Martin who still remains the one singer
I hate the most. In fact, I loathe the man so much that I'd willingly listen
to hours and hours of David Coverdale's worst excesses instead of anything Martin
would EVER put out. That's all I'll say on that subject.
Then there's the three song block of "Glory Ride", "Born To Lose"
and "Nightmare" which would almost be indistinguishable between each
other if the melodies weren't so cleverly constructed and the riffs so smart.
The structure of the songs is samey throughout, but you always seem to notice
the difference so they're pretty good. The obligatory low point is the throwaway-ish
instrumental with one of the stupidest names I've ever heard. Yeah, you all
know it (if you've heard the album, that is), it's "Scarlet Pimpernel",
of course. Reminiscent of all other brief-ish Sabbath instrumentals this one
also succeeds in its eternal goal, to sound like a low-grade leftover. Kudos
to Sabbath for it! Uh, I meant to say, kudos to Tony Iommi and the other guys
WHO AREN'T BLACK SABBATH BY ANY MEANS for it! "Lost Forever" is today's
choice for the best track. It might not be the best, but at the moment I somehow
get the most kicks out of it. It's routinesque like everything else here, but
I just like this kick-ass riff the most, and what about the flowing melody and
the mean speed? It would certainly be a top notch closing number if, and I do
mean IF, there wasn't yet another tune lurking from the end of the disc, just
like a gigantic smooth shit would peak out of a cow's ass. You guessed it, it's
the mind-blowing title track, one of the saddest examples of Sabbath songwriting
so far. I mean, this track is just atrocious crap with a mighty length and a
main riff that looks like it was slammed together by an especially retarded
caveman. Just try to imagine, if you please, a sloooooooooow, slooooooooow riff
that drags and slumps through the endless uninspired performance of Tony Martin
until it reaches its painfully pitiful end. It's not a nice sight, I agree,
so why the hell should I have any respect for it?
Anyway, I guess it's time for the final word or a final judgment, but please
don't mind if I can't deliver it right now. I simply feel very sick of writing
dull generic reviews about dull generic albums, and I had more than enough for
today. Instead of some wise words I'll just say that I DETEST TONY MARTIN! I
loathe his voice so much that I can't bring myself to give a passing evaluation
to any album that he sang on. Don't buy this record, I beg of you! Still, maybe
that would be a fatal mistake... just maybe, though.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
It was easy to guess that the things will go downhill from
The Eternal Idol, but to a certain extent it was probably somewhat unexpected
for the audience (which thankfully wasn't interested in the band anyway). Frankly,
I had a bad gut feeling even on the previous album that things wont look positive
in the future if captain Iommi forgets to deliver the goods on their next outing,
and would you imagine that, on my complete surprise, the word riff totally evaporated
from Tony's mind when he sat on his little studio stool. Sure, there is a couple
of repulsive riff-like abominations here, but I think they should have been
erased from pure humanity since they don't deserve to be ridiculed by their
older half-brothers just because their stepfather Iommi married their butt-ugly
mom, and adopted them in the process.
I suppose that the lineup isn't a tiny bit better as Bev Bevan is replaced by
Rainbow's Cozy "The Drum Machine" Powell, Geoff Nicholls wasn't fired
(MAJOR mistake) and the rest of the gang is anonymous. However, although it's
hard to accept, the actual tunes really had some limited potential but they
were quickly disfigured by the dreadful mishmash Tony Iommi had the nerve to
call riffs. It's hardly surprising then that this whole Shameless Cross
show is subdued to Tony Martin rather than to Iommi, which makes me believe
that Tony DID know that the riffs suck, but he DIDN'T know that Martin sucks
in his howling duties as well. Poor man. Elsewhere, the lyrics are mind-numbingly
tepid and vomit-inducing more often than not, as whoever wrote them (Tony Martin,
I suppose) went back to the old Sabbath sound of cliched religious imagery or
the silly onslaught of fearsome Satanic overtones. The rhythm section is bland
and monotonous with the electronically enhanced Cozy Powell doing nothing all
the way through, and the bass playing being trampled on by the awfully loud
eighties keyboards. Uh, and I sure can't allow myself to forget that gritty,
but unimaginative guitar as well. Meanwhile, the songwriting here ain't no joke,
I agree, but with the gloomy medieval intonations of the Dio days, and with
that windbag Martin yelping the silly lyrics it all seems quite dubious to me.
"The Gates Of Hell". Oh sweet Lord, I was afraid of this. This slouchy one-minute
instrumental bit truly is an incredible embarrassment, and a rather tedious
experience for the casual listener since the guys indulge in moronic clichés
including hideous noises from Mr. Martin pretending to be some kind of an monster
as he dribbles some barely audible, er, things. Sadly, this prelude is quite
a worthy predecessor of the lengthy epic title track, which means that some
massive suckage follows. Still, it enters on an highly promising note since
the opening riff is downright tasty as Tony unleashes some guitar licks quite
worthy of The Eternal Idol, but then all hell breaks loose, and not in
the expected way. Mr. Lawrence Cottle displays his chops which amounted literally
to a laughably written bass line that would make even the worst bass player
on the planet cringe, and then Mr. Rock Legend himself, Tony Martin, entered
in all his pretentious majesty. Suddenly and unexpectedly Iommi is subdued to
play silent background music as Tony "The Man" Martin handles everything
else with sloppy results, from the tacky lyrics to his dumb-sounding wailing
of the powerhouse chorus. Mind you, the rhythm section is right there too, cooking
up a heavy dull rhythm which plodders until it becomes an ultimate disgrace
in its own right. By the way, I'd really be grateful if Martin would at least
try to sound as hard-hitting as Dio, or else he should let Iommi take over again
cause this isn't going nowhere.
The lowest point here is "Devil And Daughter", the obligatory up-tempo track
which ain't flashy in the guitar work department but since Powell bashes his
drum kit steady and rapidly it does look kinda speedy. It's pretty hard rocking
for the context of the album but I'd lie if I said it's decent, because it ain't.
The lyrics are the classic brain-splattering shim and Iommi's guitar chops are
shockingly badly delivered and quite mindless. The lengthiest tune on the album,
"When Death Calls", is one of the more solid cuts with exactly two virtues,
the first being that interestingly anthemic, but tepid chorus where Martin actually
delivers a vocal hook, and the second when the guest star, former Queen axeman
Brian May does an notable and rather pleasant guitar solo which aptly saves
what was meant to be another forgettable pile of shit. "Kill In The Spirit World"
is your relentless corporate-style headbanging track which is based only on
Tony Martin's average roars, and with the rest of the band playing some soothing
background music while Tony Iommi is taking a nap on the couch.
Elsewhere, "Call Of The Wild" continues in that fine tradition of sacrificing
artistic values for generic rocking out, completed with repetitive but infectious
chorus lines and all. Iommi seems to be firm asleep so the band enlists the
first person they've seen around to handle the guitar, which turned out to be
the trusty old cleaning lady Myra, or something. She failed to make a name for
herself by producing some amateurish noises, but she did back up Tony Martin
quite well as he played his pivotal role in the band again, inducing vomit by
his unmatchedly lousy singing. Luckily, Iommi woke up and snatched his guitar
back just in time to save his name with a stunningly inspired solo. "Black Moon"
features a coherent riff but Iommi falls asleep quite soon so the guitar is
back in Myra's capable hands, and it was at that point that she decided to experiment
a little with Purplish bluesy overtones. The rhythm section turns on some pre-recorded
samples again, and takes a coffee break while the team of Martin, Nicholls and
the cleaning lady Myra express their artistic side with adding messy guitar
noises, bigger-than-life synths and dreadful self-important vocals. Four minutes
later Iommi is awake and the rhythm section has returned in the studio to try
and stitch together what's left of this record with the six-minute gloomy suite
"Nightwing".
Believe it or not, they even succeeded in their effort and made this the very
best song on the album... you know, with these immensely evil acoustic parts
spreading all over the dreary mystical atmosphere and with Iommi contributing
an exotic solo, even though no-one expected it from him. Powell finally shuts
off the drum machine and crashes upon his drums with vengeance and the cartoonish
bass player manages to shine a bit too... well, not really, but I can't go around
forever bashing the poor guy, so this is my little homage to him, you might
say. Of course, the full frontal assault of Tony Martin is unavoidable as well,
since he produces a few crescendo-like catchy hooks to end things in style.
You know, I bet that both Ozzy and Ronnie picked up this pompous hey-look-at-me-I'm-pretending-to-be-Sabbath
shim and laughed their asses off. I can understand them too, I also sneered
and chuckled until I realized just how serious things have become. Further more,
I really felt sorry for Iommi who was obviously destined to spend the remainder
of his life in limbo, constantly recording wretchedly useless derivative outings
without a chance of breaking through on the top again, and especially not with
the horde of non-ambitious sessions musicians he had surrounded himself with,
each further solidifying the "I'm too old to want something better"
attitude that Tony seems to hold so dear. A damn shame.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
Ah, yet another of these great lost "Tony Iommi plus anyone
who was around" discs. Who knows what kind of blistering magic will our
eyes gaze upon this time? Well... I know it, and you know it too. The same old
shit again and again. After the Pointless Cross debacle it was obvious
that something has to change – BUT IT DIDN'T. Not thoroughly at least, since
the same old hilarious re-written lyrics are here (this time more Christian
than Satanic) and the dull overplayed melodies as well. And how could I forget
those inconsistent, oddly structured riffs? Still, I might be cursed by Tony
Martin fans (and there's quite a few of them around, which is a strange anomaly
in its own right) if I dismiss this album for the utter lack of intelligent
vocal melodies just like I did with Mindless Cross, cause even if I'd
rather not admit it, there are some smart ones here. Also, there is a few derivative
pop-metal riffs as well, I can't deny that, but I sure can deny that they're
acceptable. They aren't, especially when they're coming from Tony Iommi. In
fact, I'm downright offended by them. However, the overall production is far
more grittier and rawer than on Spineless Cross which is kind of weird
since the songs aren't nearly so aggressive... or are they just to slow and
dragging for that? Also, there was a small but important change in personnel
since the bass player Lawrence Cottle was sacked and replaced by Neil Murray.
I guess that Sabbath felt this is their ticket to the mainstream since they
obviously put in a lot of work in the anthemic chorus lines and the dark approach
of old, but the success of the glory days was no more, and luckily, the fans
didn't even know that this batch of obscure crap exist. To tell you the truth,
this sounds nothing like classic Sabbath with none of their glorious vintage
heaviness and monstrous clever riffing, but instead, it relies on the same washed
up things every other conventional generic band was relying upon, and the only
difference is that Tony makes it a tad more threatening with his infernal gothic
approach. That is, you'll see just your average clumsy-stitched power chords
and lots of routine metallic soloing which could have been served up by anybody
in terms of credibility, and if Tony's attempt at riffing somehow succeeds,
it will probably be just a rip-off from the earlier tunes (and the same thing
applies for the melodies). Still, I'd be mad not to mention that all of these
fodder tracks still have something going for them, because no matter how predictable
and overused they sound, there are some (just SOME) slightly catchy vocal hooks
thrown in, courtesy by the Dio-imitating rock star Tony Martin. Unfortunately,
he also ran out of ideas too early and thusly some ditties aren't exactly hook-filled
enough, which is probably for the best since his corny operatic wailing wouldn't
be able to save those damaged-beyond-repair numbers anyway (which are many,
I'm afraid).
Uh... and the concept, you ask? Well, it's a rather interesting thing really,
and I'm pleased to say that it manages to resurrect a good part of the freshness
and excitement the original Sabbath lineup had. It's based on the Nordic mythology
and ancient gods like Odin, but the whole concept is kinda loose and most of
the tracks have almost nothing keeping them together, but it still works! Sadly,
perhaps the concept bit is the record's strongest point as well. And besides,
this second album featuring Cozy Powell is somewhat of a tour de force for the
guy since the spotlight is pretty much reserved for him alone as he outbashes
both Martin and Iommi and completely rules the album. God damn! The man is loud!
I've never heard such pointless derivative violence from him before. Not that
it sounds particularly inspired, oh no, this is just as rote as it was on Faceless
Cross but still so forceful.
The first side opens with a lengthy six minute mini-concept suite "Anno
Mundi" which contains some Christian-inspired lyricism and some Latin chanting
so it seems to be very church inspired overall. It has that strong gothic feel
of the previous album, but that "I should be creepy, but I'm not" mood
is just as big part of this outing as well. Musically, it's painful beyond recognition
as this stuff here isn't involving or dynamic in any way and the person who
should save the whole misfortunate accident, namely Tony Martin, just kicks
it on the back of the head and pours another bucket of manure on it. Cozy Powell
pounds in his usual "don't mind me, I'm just in it for the money" style
and does a fine drum machine impression throughout (so much so that I could
swear it REALLY is a drum machine) and hiding deep behind Cozy's wall-of-sound
drumming you'll find master Iommi blurting out an majestic onslaught of incredibly
predictable power chords. And it goes on, like, forever.
The second number is your average formulaic rocker entitled "The Law Maker"
and it's relatively tolerable, I suppose, since it's furiously energetic. However,
as the famous web reviewer George Starostin noticed this song's melody is actually
based on their 1986 track "Turn To Stone" from Seventh Star.
Er, and then there's a certain somewhat mediocre riff hidden behind Powell's
psychotic bashing, but it could have been solid if Cozy didn't make it so self-indulgent.
If there's one song which unites all of the absolutely worst elements of the
whole eighties metal genre it's surely the grand master of all shitful abominations,
the sleazy generic mindless ballad "Jerusalem". The level of distastefulness
here is astonishing as the song induces rivers of blood to pour out of my helpless
suffering ears until I drop down on the floor in agony, slowly draining away.
The second mastodontic plodder, "The Sabbath Stones", also combines
the very worst of the band as they indulge in almost seven minutes of routine
derivative unlistenable schlock accompanied by the pretentious "I AM THE
WORLD'S BIGGEST ROCKSTAR!!!" roaring of Tony Martin who's just barely restraining
himself from letting his trademark obnoxiousness to explode in full power, and
thusly totally wipe out the mutilated remains of the song. In fact, this number
is so mercilessly butchered to its slow imminent death that I have hellish nightmares
still today. Regardless, the only thing remotely interesting about the song
are Iommi's acoustic bits, but even they can't salvage this cruelly violated
corpse.
The one-minute Nordic instrumental "The Battle Of Tyr" ain't particularly
memorable even if it is quite atmospheric, and the same goes for "Odin's
Court" which has a sweet acoustic bit by Iommi and really isn't unlike his
previous doomy sounding efforts. "Valhalla" is rather lengthy as it's
almost five minutes long, but despite that, it's a respectable frantic number
created for your stomping delight with a shockingly good performance by the
whole band. And yes, I'm also including that drum machine which manages perfectly
while the bashmaster Cozy ain't around. And then, were back to suck! Thusly,
"Feels Good To Me" is a dull six-minutes love ballad that never had its
path so it can't really lose it anyway. And guess what? It contains... PROMINENT
TACKY KEYBOARDS! Oh yeah, Tony does a guitar solo too! And it sucks as well!
"Heaven In Black" evens the score a bit, even if it's just a primitive boring
chunk of metal. Yup, just another predictable ditty which sounds hilarious in
its sheer wish to be menacing, but at least it's faster than most of the slouchy
to mid-tempo crap that the band puked out this far.
The final three words: THIS SUCKS ASS!!!! If you wanna hear a more wordy description
then I'll say that this is the band's final nadir and it's downright impossible
to imagine that they could sink even lower than this, but of course, they did
sunk lower with Brainless Cross so, like, whatever. Regardless, this
still qualifies for the very close second place since it's almost just as horrible.
However, the cover art is kinda suckish, much more so than on the other Martin
albums with these huge red rhunic letters and that mysteriously green cloudy
sky. I bet they thought it will increase the sales, because, as we all know,
packaging is everything, and for this particular incarnation of Sabbath it's
about the ONLY way to make a living anyway.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
All good things come to an end. You may cry but the glory
days of the band are sadly over seeing that the mighty pinnacle of all things
Sabbath, the Iommi+Martin+whoever combo has finally split up. Yes, you should
cry for it was the immortal rock legend Tony Martin who gave Sabbath its name
as well as its heritage. Many lesser singers have tried... and crumbled away
into nothingness. Who could forget the shameful days when a talentless stoned
sap called Ozzy dragged the band into mud by releasing useless and wretchedly
dumb albums like Paranoid and Master Of Reality? Or when an ugly
looking dwarf by the name of Dio further embarrassed Sabbath by recording definitive
trash like Mob Rules. And yes, we all remember that unknown fat screamer
Gillan screeching with his shitvoice on the insipid plodder entitled Born
Again. It was a long and hard road that master Iommi took in order to accomplish
his ultimate dream, the big breakthrough into the mainstream, but he did it,
and today we've gathered here to say goodbye to the undisputedly best vocalist
that has graced the world since the great giants of arena rock like Dave Coverdale
and Klaus Meine. Yes, it is him, Tony Martin. We have to pay tribute to this
grand singer for he and he alone gave that much needed impetus to the anonymous
early-seventies band Black Sabbath to break free of the shackles of originality
and set them on the road to megastardom. Sadly, as expected, such a great man
like Tony Martin eventually had to set off on his own highly successful solo
career, and obviously Tony Iommi had no choice but to hire that poor Tony Martin-wannabe,
the arrogant mini-wanker called Ronnie James Dio.
So yeah, Dio is back....oh, sorry, I meant, HELL YEAH!!!! DIO IS BACK!!!!! This
is some sort of a reunion if you wish, considering that the exact same lineup
recorded Mob Rules some ten years ago. You guessed it, joining the Sabbath
ship again is the original lineup's bass player Geezer Butler and back behind
the mighty skins is the former DIO co-founder and drummer, Vinnie Appice. Since
the cards had lined up nicely it wasn't unjustifiable to expect a decent effort
from this revitalized band, and to a certain extent they haven't disappointed
me. First things first, the vocal performance is just as breathtaking as always
even though Dio's voice got noticeably older, which ain't bad cause it still
maintained that certain nasty quality to it. Geezer puts in a lot of effort
and makes a few neat bass grooves throughout and Tony actually manages to sound,
err, interested in what he's doing. Ain't that cool? Oddly enough, the songs
and the mood of the album is unusual since it relies very much upon old Sabbath
days with Ozzy as the tracks are much slower, not nearly as speedy as the stuff
this lineup did in the eighties. And also, there are some influences from Dio's
Lock Up The Wolves throughout. And what about some misfires then? Yeah,
well, you'll get some of those too. The first thing I'm not completely satisfied
with is the weak mixing of certain instruments (every single one besides the
guitar) which gives this record an thin sound, and secondly, these slow murky
songs really aren't all that interesting. When you get used to this crunchy
low-end distortion you'll soon see that the riffs don't do a whole lot to stick
in your brain, but at least the use of keyboards is kept to the minimum.
Expectedly enough, the long-ish opener "Computer God" is a strong cut.
Geezer lets us know he's back with a nifty little bass work and then Dio shows
he's back too, and I bet you know how he did THAT. Anyway, Appice pounds them
huge skins with immense force and Iommi steps in with a vintage Sabbath riff
(well, vintage in the sense that you can easily guess it's Iommi, but it ain't
truly innovative). Pictures of old Sabbath are immediately planted in my head
since the track sounds dark and intense, and somewhat slouchy. The guitar solo
in the middle is stinging and flashy with Tony making a serious artistic statement,
and the outro one is non-stop Iommi as well. The following track is dull as
hell, though. "After All (The Dead)" is just pure venomous Dio and not
much else. Iommi shoots off with another moody Sabbath-esque riff but hardly
surprising, it's generic and the song is excruciatingly slow overall. The tuneless
feel vanishes deeper into the song where they pushed Dio back a bit and some
derivative melodies were finally introduced, but it didn't help matters much.
If you wanted something more interesting then "T.V. Crimes" should be
a fulfilling listen. Intense as everything here it's also slightly speeded-up
so the lack of the usual tired riffs by Iommi is thankfully unnoticeable. Lyricism
is pretty interesting since it tackles TV evangelists and suchlike stuff. This
aptly reminds me to mention this album here is a concept one and that it mostly
deals with new technology and way of life... yadda, yadda, yadda. I presume
that will explain the mockery that is the cover art. Death exiting an computer?
How ORIGINAL is that?
The menacing "Letters From Earth" contains that dark minimalistic atmosphere
of old and it mostly relies upon Dio's snarling vocals. The riffs are simple
and dragging so this is certainly one very heavy grinder, but too pointless
and meandering for my taste. "Master Of Insanity" was an obvious high
point, but like every other reviewer on the web noticed, the main riff belongs
to Led Zeppelin's "Wanton Song". Well, while this isn't my favorite
track I admit that the opening bass line is nice and gloomy (eh, maybe not exactly
""opening") and the odd intro noises teamed up with the memorable
vocal melody are neat too. Plus, the solo doesn't exactly suck. By the way,
have I mentioned that Iommi's solos on this record mostly blow? Yeah, they sure
do, which kinda surprises me cause he always saved his riff-empty albums by
superb professional soloing. It seems he thought that the riffs here were good
enough for him to dump all the melodies out of the solos, which proved to be
an unwise decision. Anyhow, my least favorite song here is certainly "Time
Machine" as it is damn slow and boring without anything catchy about it.
"Sins Of The Father" is yet another of those lesser tunes. You know,
the one that could be considered as filler if it wasn't so damn hook-filled.
Yeah, the vocal melody isn't one of Dio's finest and Iommi sure had better days
himself, but the mood is somewhat happier on this one (not a whole lot, though)
and it's more up-tempo than most other songs.
The semi-ballad "Too Late" is one of the mini-epics here recalling the
spirit of early eighties Sabbath with Dio matching his gentle and emotional
singing from the intro of "Sign Of The Southern Cross". Since the band
had to think beyond those four minutes frames the immense effectiveness of the
track is surprising and unordinary. After all, they've probably started Sabbath's
descent in mediocrity a while back so I didn't expect them to pull of anything
this intriguing at a such late stage in their career. In certain ways "Too
Late" is more interesting than the previous Dio-led epics, even if it is
introduced in the same manner with shabby but pleasant acoustic playing in the
opening part. At least this song has that rudimentary feel of old Sabbath and
the melodies aren't as feeble as I thought they'd be. Also, I shouldn't forget
that this emotional guitar solo here is one of Iommi's quintessential ones.
He's no riffing robot, I tell you. In the end, the best song off this record
is probably the simplest one. The obscure five-minute rocker "I" really
doesn't reek of pretentiousness even though it has a truly wonderful riff. Fair
enough, it doesn't have anything else going for it since the lyrics are overblown
and intolerably cheesy, but how could anyone argue that an respected classic
like "Paranoid" had more to it as well? And finally, the closing track
isn't nearly as good. "Buried Alive" is just a boring, ploddingly heavy
wankfest with the main riff being recycled from "Zero The Hero" (why
not "Iron Man" then?) and the other ones being pretty forgettable. Moreover,
the chorus is solid, but the soloing sounds bland so I'd be more happy if they
stuffed this one somewhere in the middle of the album.
Overall, it's good, albeit not great. It's hardly debatable that it sounds kinda
stale and rotten in places, but give 'em a break, they're old geezers now. It's
not like this was something more than a pure money-grabbing reunion, even if
it was also a gigantic flop in terms of dead presidents. I really do feel sorry
for them. Regardless, if you hated everything the band did after Ozzy left,
then don't bother getting this. But if you're a Dio fan - you just might crack
a smile.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
Dio and Appice left so the Iommi/Butler combo had no other
choice but to hire rockstar Tony Martin again, as well as the overrated keyboard-playing
Geoff Nicholls character (or was he on the previous album too?) and the dull
skin-basher Bob Rondinelli (ex-Rainbow). By the way, speaking of this drummer
guy, ain't it a tad odd that almost every friggin' Sabbath line-up has to have
one former Rainbow band member in it? First there was Dio, then Cozy Powell,
now Bob Rondinelli... should I start calling this band Black Rainbow or something?
Anyway, it's thoroughly hurtful to see how badly their previous outing went
commercially, and when I saw Tony Martin's name on the cover, well, at that
point I really wanted to quit reviewing Sabbath forever. Still, I've stayed
though and gave it a shot, but since I've already endured Martin's earlier handiwork,
let me tell you my hopes weren't high to start with. Strangely enough, according
to the word on the street this is most people's favorite Tony Martin disc, and
I have to admit I kinda enjoyed it myself, even though this offering would profit
immensely from Dio's vocals since he's much more charismatic than this shabby
Martin character. Unfortunately, this stuff here is still miles away from classic
Sabbath, quality-wise, and it's even far removed from Dehumanizer in
that respect. Regardless, if one takes a look at the other side of the coin
he would see that this is pretty much different from the massive slime Iommi
has spited out after The Eternal Idol, so it's probably not a complete
waste of your bucks.
What this record is, it's certainly a nineties album all the way through, and
I'm not just referring to the obviously updated production values, but also
on its contents since this is more in the modernized vein of Dehumanizer
than in the eighties mold of Brainless Toss. Once again, since the band's
approach is quite similar we got some loud guitar crunch, fearsome heaviness
and several, eh, half-acceptable riffs. In fact, this sounds like Iommi wanted
to retain the old Sabbath stamp, but also add a newer darker edge to it. Still,
a fresh take on Master Of Reality this ain't, since the songs are rather
insipid and forgettable, but I'll give them credit for the fine all-around musicianship
with only Rondinelli dragging them down a bit. Anyhow, what raises this disc
a few inches above other shit-laden Martin albums is that it sounds a helluva
more energetic, adrenaline-driven and purely ferocious than any of the others.
Like he promised on Dehumanizer, Iommi got his old, ripping guitar tone
back and things are slowly looking up. The guitar lines are speedy and sharp,
and I'll even give his solo noodlings thumbs up this time. Yeah, so the riffs
mostly blow, that is, they're predictable and throwawayish but pretty much non-offensive.
Meanwhile, the other Tony is moderately tolerable throughout leaving the "charismatic"
pompous tones of old and trying to sound, eh, normal. Indeed, Martin sounds
very restrained and quite passionate here so I even got the impression he stopped
imitating Dio, which is always a step up considering how lousy he was at it.
And well, Geezer is Geezer and he holds his own in places giving a slight nod
to his future work in G/Z/R, which is enjoyable to be sure ("Immaculate
Deception").
Maybe the most convincing number off this outing is the flashy "I Witness".
You all know the deal, it's fast and nasty like any opener should be, and also
of note is the tremendous effort by Geezer Butler who really makes himself heard
and delivers some pretty nifty bass work. Nice slice of the rockin' pie this
is, but I hardly see any justifiable reason to prefer it over most contemporary
metal numbers. Arguably the largest aggregation of crap on the record is "Cross
Of Thorns", which is basically a dull song about nothing. Do ya like this generalization?
If not, I really don't give a shit anyway. George Starostin once said that song
by song description of an album is extremely boring, and even though I don't
really agree with that, I'm very much forced to describe this entire album in
the broadest lines possible since it more or less sounds like anything Iommi
did after Ozzy. Heck, there's no diverse songs or particularly intricate arrangements
here, just a bunch of standard rockers you're repeatedly hearing for... what?
Fifteen years now? I presume that churning out these lame hookless offerings
is Iommi's obligation towards the audience in order to ensure he'll always be
hailed as one of metal's biggest laughing stocks, but come on! How uninterested
in your job do you have to be to completely avoid writing ANY thoroughly interesting
songs in two years? I acknowledge, two years probably isn't a whole lot of time
but Dio's Strange Highways that came out the same year is surely more
intriguing than this suckage!
After hearing the previous garbage track, do you think the next tune is any
better? Hardly! The relatively short "Psychophobia" is one of the expected disappointments,
but it's not like I haven't seen it coming. Another plodding, mind-numbing composition
containing lots of "tired as an aging rocker" riffs and one somewhat
feeble pedestrian melody. Gee, I'm getting tired just from writing about it...
Meanwhile, isn't "Virtual Death" a pretty LENGTHY number? It crunches
along with some slow Master Of Reality-styled sludgy riffage (or grunge
riffage, if you wish) and it's moderately memorable, but they don't vary the
tone much in the whole six or so minutes, so it soon gets tedious with the capital
"T". If one wants some fairly brutal ass kicking then the next track,
the riff-driven "Immaculate Deception" should be the first song here
to fit the bill. Not only does it feature a grinding bass thump, but it also
ranges from a fast mover to a mid-tempo stomper without losing any power in
the process. The only not-so-happy part of the tune are the modern synths and
since I have a bone against synthesizers in general, I'm less than thrilled
with this solution. The main riff is a shredding piece of art, though, so it
excuses that slight overall tackiness.
Elsewhere, the keyboard-driven power ballad "Dying For Love" (do I sniff
traces of Whitesnake in the title?) sees Tony Martin doing his best Coverdale
impression, and as far pure overblowness goes he does remarkably solid. Okay,
this may be unfair from me seeing that Martin had some much worse moments in
Sabbath's back catalog, so this is respectably performed after all, and the
chorus is anthemic and fairly catchy. "Back To Eden" reminds me a little
of early eighties Dio/Sabbath records since it has that fake goth feel... you
know, generic and silly but still gloomy. The next, ehm, tasteful rocker "The
Hand That Rocks The Cradle" is pretty slouchy, but it picks up later on
with a shockingly explosive transition from the steady chunky rhythm to the
finger-flashing guitar riffing. And just when your hopes are getting higher
Sabbath slams you down in the dirt. In sync with my expectations "Cardinal
Sin" proves to be one of the lower points of the album, being nothing more
than a conventional generic tune without much class anywhere in sight, and it's
completed with mind-numbing drum work. It has only the most rudimentary sense
of purpose, as well as melody, but if tuneless hair-metal is your thing, you
should enjoy it. I guess. The following tune is one of the most grating ones,
too. That said, the ending six-minute epic "Evil Eye" is too Dio-influenced
for my taste, especially considering the tepid melody and cheesy lyricism. The
arrangement is primitively developed so the track seems to be somewhat unbalanced
but still, this number is sticky as shit. Yup, sticky... but considerably pointless
overall.
Please don't ask of me a closing word cause I don't know what to say... I don't
know. But hey! Do ya wanna know what's the positive side of all this crap? Well,
it's probably out of print now, so let's give three cheers for the record companies
and their always wise executives! Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?