Black Sabbath reunites

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Newswire
Black Sabbath reunites
by Steven Hyden August 16, 2011 After band members (most prominently Ozzy Osbourne) dropped hints of a possible reunion for at least a year, Tony Iommi confirmed that the original lineup of Black Sabbath has gotten back together and is planning an album and tour. Sabbath was last in the studio back in 2001, when work on a Rick Rubin-produced record stalled after Osbourne went to finish work on a solo album. In recent years, Iommi and Osbourne have battled over ownership of the Black Sabbath name, but that case was settled (with undisclosed terms) in 2010. "We're really looking forward to it and I think the stuff we’ve been writing is really good," Iommi said in an interview. "It's all been very hush-hush. Ozzy's been the worst at trying to hold it back. He's doing a lot of TV and he's being asked stuff about a reunion and he's going 'well I never say never'. He told me, 'I don't know what to say'."
http://twincities.decider.com/articles/ ... tes,60466/

Probably go see this show. Probably won't care much about the album, though.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

Re: Black Sabbath reunites

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yawn. seriously, i guess it's just me but i lost any respect i had for ozzy years ago. i had much more interest in the dio heaven & hell project even though that felt like a cash grab. screw ozzy, screw sharon. jack seems cool, though. and i'd probably watch his film for the memories of when ozzy was relevant and/or good, and for randy.

Re: Black Sabbath reunites

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I'll admit, the band sounded pretty good when I saw them in '05, in spite of Ozzy's obvious shortcomings and the fact they played the same 8-9 songs performed on every tour since they all got back together in '97.

The Dio reunion was worth it solely for the live concert experience it afforded; their new material was spotty at best. I see no reason why a new album with Ozzy would be any better. Iommi can still crank out decent heavy riffs, but nothing that surprising or adventurous.

I mean, Never Say Die isn't a great album by any stretch, but I like that it's (for now) the last Sabbath album featuring Ozzy. It's the end of an era. Coked-up, erratic, uneven, at times embarrassing, it'll still contain far more musical significance than any overheated mash of "Psycho Man" riffs that the group will come up with today.
This is a snakeskin jacket. And for me it's a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom.

Re: Black Sabbath reunites

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Maybe they can have Sharon write the riffs. Sheesh, what am I saying, she's probably already had Iommi sacked and brought in the studio hack...
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

Re: Black Sabbath reunites

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Iommi says the story is bunk, according to the LA Times:
Black Sabbath reunion rumor debunked by Tony Iommi

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has refuted a report in a British newspaper that the heavy metal group’s original lineup will reunite for a new album and tour next year. The Birmingham Mail quoted Iommi as saying a reunion was in the works.

“I'm saddened that a Birmingham journalist whom I trusted has chosen this point in time to take a conversation we had back in June and make it sound like we spoke yesterday about a Black Sabbath reunion,” Iommi said in a post today on his official website. “At the time I was supporting the Home of Metal exhibition and was merely speculating, shooting the breeze, on something all of us get asked constantly, ‘Are you getting back together?’

“Thanks to the Internet, it's gone round the world as some sort of ‘official’ statement on my part, absolute nonsense. I hope he's enjoyed his moment of glory, he won't have another at my expense. To my old pals, Ozzy, Geezer [Butler] and Bill [Ward], sorry about this, I should have known better.”

A spokeswoman for singer Ozzy Osbourne told The Times on Tuesday that “we have no information to report” on the story.
This is a snakeskin jacket. And for me it's a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom.

Re: Black Sabbath reunites

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did you not see the first of the new scooby-doo animated features? the hex girls and the two songs featured in that film ("(we're) the hex girls" and "earth, wind, fire and air" (we may look bad, but we don't care)) were total jem wanna-bes. :D

Re: Black Sabbath reunites

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And it was only 10 years ago the band was supposed to be working on a new album with Rick Rubin. That turned out well.
This is a snakeskin jacket. And for me it's a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom.

Re: Black Sabbath reunites

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It's time for the Technical Ecstasy/Never Say Die Throwdown!

For some time I've been trying to answer the question: Which is the worst of the last two records Sabbath cut with Ozzy? There isn't much of a fan consensus, other than a general agreement that both are, well, crappy — a steep drop from the godly first six albums. They reveal a band coming apart messily. Whether it was the coke, the money, the prostitutes — who knows — Sabbath lost track of the rich vein of material that produced such killer songs as "Symptom of the Universe," "Children of the Grave" or "Electric Funeral." The guys were ready to expand their sound and didn't care how many people they hurt in the process.

But is one of these last two records better than the other?

Technical Ecstasy
Released in 1976
1.) "Back Street Kids": Hey, and we're off, and galloping down the track, and... losing a shoe, tossing the jockey and hurtling into the horse in the next lane.
2.) "You Won't Change Me": The obligatory Pointless Fast Opening Number out of the way, we ease into an eerie ballad. Iommi's solo, sounding like it needs a hug and a cocoa, classes it up.
3.) "It's Alright": The band does its best Wings impression, with Bill Ward on vocals. Not bad at all.
4.) "Gypsy": It's a long trudge to the beast of an Iommi solo at the end.
5.) "All Moving Parts (Stand Still)": Sleazy cock rock segues into clumsy prog midway through and never recovers.
6.) "Rock 'n' Roll Doctor": Another boneheaded '70s stadium rock song. Ozzy should've kept it for his solo career.
7.) "She's Gone": Ozzy sings a sad ballad. Not horrible, but it seems twice as long as it actually is.
8.) "Dirty Women": All right! Iommi finally lands on a badass riff for the ages and the rest of the gang nails it like they mostly didn't on the seven preceding songs.

Never Say Die
Released in 1978
1.) "Never Say Die": The band's tight, upbeat — but the song's a throwaway.
2.) "Johnny Blade": A synth overload at the top, then shifts into a muddy thrasher of the sort they'd execute more successfully five years later on the Born Again album with Ian Gillan.
3.) "Junior's Eyes": What's with all the Sly and the Family Stone funkiness? I mean, it's clever and everything...
4.) "A Hard Road": Christ, this "Hey Jude"ish singalong is the third 6-plus-minute song in a row.
5.) "Shock Wave": Another boneheaded '70s stadium rock song. Ozzy should've kept it for his solo career.
6.) "Air Dance": Whoa — a slinky, sultry experiment that pays off. But what does it tell you when the best track on a Sab album is the Jazz Odyssey song?
7.) "Over to You": Is this the exact same thing as "A Hard Road"? The last Sabbath song featuring Ozzy proves mostly forgettable.
8.) "Breakout": Black Sabbath, the New Orleans Jazz Funeral Extravaganza.
9.) "Swinging the Chain": Ward sings again, and quite impressively at that. Something of a bar-band song, and a weird choice to close out the record, but then there doesn't seem to have been any other option.

TE gets points for containing one undeniable Sab classic on its roster ("Dirty Women"). Nothing on NSD comes remotely close.

And frustrating as they are, neither record is an unsalvageable misfire. NSD is never a boring listen. And when TE clicks — not that often, of course — you catch glimpses of the good work they could still muster had they cut down on the nose candy.

There, it's settled: TE is better.
This is a snakeskin jacket. And for me it's a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom.

Re: Black Sabbath reunites

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nicely done. i've tried over the years but i just can't make myself give a shit about black sabbath. i've never been able to get through an album. a song here and there i like. but overall, i'm in the "meh" camp.

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TC wrote:i've never been able to get through an album. a song here and there i like. but overall, i'm in the "meh" camp.
Thought you liked the Dio stuff at least. Anyway, don't start with Cross Purposes or Forbidden. ;)
This is a snakeskin jacket. And for me it's a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom.

Re: Black Sabbath reunites

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I own Paranoid and some greatest hits, that's about it for me. Don't know the Dio stuff very well at all but the one time I saw them live it was with Dio and it was a pretty great show.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

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You loved the Technical Ecstasy/Never Say Die Throwdown. Now we offer you the definitive O-dot-approved primer on the Tony Martin era. First up: The Eternal Idol.

By the late '80s, Sabbath was consuming and spitting out lead singers at a bulimic pace. (What, you missed the Dave Donato era?) Production began on The Eternal Idol with Ray Gillen, who subbed for Glenn Hughes on the preceding tour and laid down his vocals for the new record, then said adios to Iommi and Co. The band quickly ushered in the unknown, hapless Tony Martin and gave him the job of re-recording the vocals.

And the rest is rock 'n' roll history!

The Eternal Idol
Released in 1987
1.) "The Shining": A song Iommi had been kicking around for a few years — it dated to the brief tenure of the aforementioned and even more hapless Dave Donato. (Really, Google this assclown to see the unintentionally group photo that made its way into the press, like, minutes before he was sacked.) With Martin presaging Adam Sandler's Opera Man, the bass riff that's a total rip-off of "Heaven and Hell"'s and Bob Daisley's fondue lyrics, this shouldn't work at all. But it does. It's got a hook, and the kids can bug out to it.
2.) "Ancient Warrior": Iommi let Geoff Nicholls smother this with not-all-that-spooky keyboard meanderings.
3.) "Hard Life to Love": Nikki Sixx used to fart out this kind of fake-tan Sunset Strip exercise in triplicate.
4.) "Glory Ride": Someone could've sneaked this onto the soundtrack for Karate Kid II or Iron Eagle without overextending anyone's eyebrows.
5.) "Born to Lose": It just hit me, this must be the long-lost album that Iommi produced for Lita Ford.
6.) "Nightmare": Yes, Geoff, I was missing your stellar presence on the keyboard. Anyway, once he gets out of the way, the song turns into "the bluesy one."
7.) "Scarlet Pimpernel": An acoustic interlude.
8.) "Lost Forever": Hey, Iommi finally remembered he can play a fast riff, then weirdly buried it in a bunch of mid-'80s MTV reverb.
9.) "Eternal Idol": Not quite a title track, is it? That missing definite article makes all the difference. Anyway, Iommi attempts a longish statement of something all consuming and heavy.

Honestly. this isn't all bad. "The Shining" is fun... don't think it has anything to do with Stephen King. Oh wait, Martin warbles something about a house is going to haunt you, so it probably does. The album overall? Makes most people giggle.
This is a snakeskin jacket. And for me it's a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom.