ROOOOOAAAAARRGGHH!! Sorry to all my friends whose stuff I should have been reading, but I've been aw...
ROOOOOAAAAARRGGHH!! Sorry to all my friends whose stuff I should have been reading, but I've been away for ages! But now I have returned! Heavy Metal Rules!
Member since:14.12.2000
Reviews:65
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Black Sabbath -the name itself should be more than enough to send a delightful shiver down the spine of any metal fan. The name is steeped in musical legend - Black Sabbath were the first, and the greatest, heavy metal band. Everything which came after them is just pale imitation in comparison.
But even so, this album, while it should send me into paroxysms of delight, actually awakened a faint unease in me when I first heard that it was the original line up reformed. There was a faint niggling doubt at the back of my mind. What if they weren’t very good any more?
To start with let me say that this album crackles with live energy. If anything that has improved with time, and Ozzy has an almost electric ability to communicate with the crowd. It is an impressive feat that the producers manage to bring across that kind of charisma in the recording.
As for the songs, the quality of the songs helps to carry them through, but that’s not to say that anyone has forgotten their part. Geezer still hammers out the bass lines, and Tombstone Tony is note perfect on guitar, with the good old hefty guitar tone from the days of yore. Black Sabbath play through all of the classics - War Pigs, Children of the Grave, Iron Man, Black Sabbath, Into the Void, Lord of this World, and they close with the eponymous Paranoid. Ozzy’s voice has deteriorated with age, but he can still manage the songs perfectly well, and the drumming too is adequate if not astounding.
But I do have a couple of complaints. Firstly, the set list. All of the material is Ozzy era Sabbath, and while this is largely the best of their material, it would have been nice to see that Sabbath could accept that they released records without Ozzy, instead of pretending that it was still ’79. The fact is that I suspect that Ozzy refused to play later material, in which case I fail to see the point of calling it a Black Sabbath reunion - Sabbath are a band, and Ozzy is only one part of that band. It would have been nice to hear him belt out Neon Knights or Heaven and Hell.
Secondly, the new studio tracks. This proves my doubts and fears, and I’m glad that the band have called it a day now. The tracks are mediocre bordering on poor, uninspired in every way, especially lyrically. They should have been left off in order to keep the legend alive.
Overall, a noble exit for the greatest band of all time. They have been through rough patches, they have been mocked for the directions that they have taken in their music, but they end it all as they started - as a band who work brilliantly together hammering out some of the most powerful, heavy music ever created. Well done Sabbath, and good luck in whatever you decide to do. We’ll remember you!
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A good op, but I disagree on the studio tracks. I feel they are good, but each to their own opinion. PJ. 80).
kfingleton 17.01.2001 17:31
Damn you, you moved my review off the front page after mmines was there for about five seconds. Hey everyone, Spongly really listens to S Club 7 and North & South.
War Pigs Behind The Wall Of Sleep N.I.B. Fairies Wear Boots Electric Funeral Sweet Leaf ... more
Spiral Architect Into The Void Snowblind Sabbath Bloody Sabbath Orchid/Lord Of This World Dirty Women Black Sabbath Iron Man Children Of The Grave Paranoid Psycho M...
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Jan 17th, 2001
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