Black Sabbath

SixesAlltheway said:
Hum hum. A bit of a hit and miss for me but I want to hear it properly instead of some low bit rate stream service . I thought the drums sounded thin on this one. Good things = the last 3 minutes of Sabbath groove. Bad things = the first 6 minutes of uninspired lingering.
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I pretty much agree with everything Sixes wrote here.
 
The funny thing is that the kind of drums that you guys like (from acts that release records these days) are probably digitally reworked/processed/you name it. You're used to that sound!

This is different. This is the real deal. Real human drums, I can hear that as well. So, that complaint can go to the dustbin, unless we want to blame some mixing guy/producer. I'd say that the dude is just the 4th man and doesn't have the biggest role. A simple, modest, supportive role. Live, he will probably beat the shit out his kit, and that will be hard to restrain, soundwise. I like the sound, because I can hear Geezer very well. Great bass work.

This is probably "cursing in the church" (as we say in Holland) but I feel this song sounds more adventurous than the whole The Devil You Know album. Instead of constantly playing one or two Sabbath riffs that we've heard tons of times, Iommi actually turns back to the atmospheric music he made in the eighties and nineties, and we even have a tempo change. The last minutes feature an unoriginal riff again, though. But Ozzy came out better than I thought.

Yes, I hate what they did to Ward and all the other politics going on, but when I simply listen to this music, I am curious to hear the whole album.
 
Album review, courtesy of Black-Sabbath.com:
http://www.black-sabbath.com/2013/04/listening-party-review/
WARNING: If some of you see the described details as spoilers, don't read on.

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Earlier today, a private record label listening party happened out in the LA area. I wasn’t invited (Waaaaah! – haha), nor do I personally know anyone who attended. However… We live in an age of the Internet and instant information, so you KNOW things would get out. An hour or so ago, I got sent this review of the listening party from someone I don’t know. Really – don’t know them, never emailed them before tonight, and they hid their identity. Still, I’ll take the news, because it’s GOOD STUFF. You’re gonna LOVE this.

First off, the event was held privately – in fact, I didn’t even know it was happening until this afternoon (Wed Apr 10th). When I got confirmation that it was happening, I was asked not to blow the cover on the thing until after it happened. Probably the last thing they needed was a few thousand local Sabbath fans rushing the door to get in. :) Anyway, if you were going, you saw this at the entrance to what I’m told is the “Ricardo Montalban Theatre” in Los Angeles…
Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!
​
Once you got in, your electronics were confiscated. Well, not “confiscated”, but held – they had security tight, they didn’t want the tunes leaking out. Understandable enough. But anyway, I wasn’t there. This guy obviously was. So enough of my prattle, check this out:
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…it is a VERY good record, certainly belonging of a place in the Ozzy-era discography. It is not mind-expandingly original, nor would I want it to be. What it is, is VERY heavy Ozzy-era-sounding Sabbath.
In brief:
  • There were about 60 of us. No electronics were permitted (e.g., cameras, cell phones, etc.) If you had them, they were checked at the door. People were wanded to ensure compliance.
  • Once seated we heard seemingly every other Ozzy-era song before they finally started.
  • Jack Osbourne — looking fit and clean/sober — came out and introduced the record, and showed the clips that we have now seen on YouTube which were, evidently, produced by his production company (nepotism at its finest, take that Geoff Tate). There was an additional clip that I’d not yet seen played at the end, so maybe 10 minutes in total.
  • Then they played the music. Eight tracks, five of which are 7+ minutes. I didn’t have a pen so I had to scratch some notes into the piece of paper with a key…a dubious method of note-taking, to be sure. Here are my recollections.
  • Overall, very heavy production, owing at least in part to what must have been downtuning to a low A or something to accommodate an aging Mr. Osbourne.
  • The tempos seems to sway a little bit. Some may prefer this as it’s more organic sounding. I was irritated somewhat by it in a couple of places, but it wasn’t to distraction.
  • Most of the time, Ozzy’s melodies were not simply mimicking the guitar line (think Iron Man, Electric Funeral, NIB, etc.). The sole exception to this was the final track.
  • Almost everything is mid-tempo. No short quick tracks ala Paranoid. No reaaaaally drawn out doomy stuff like the beginning of Into the Void. There’s a fair amount of “swing” (e.g., Hole in the Sky type stuff) in here to go along with relatively brisk (for Sabbath, meaning mid-tempo) riffage.
Specific Track Remarks:
  1. End of the Beginning (8:07). Too long a track for an opener but otherwise very good. Very heavy. Ozzy’s vocals don’t evoke dragons and knights and the soaring evil of Dio…rather, they have a melodic but, unsettling quality to then. Not operatic bombast, but understated, melodic eeriness. But it works. This is not the uninspired songwriting of those two songs from the Reunion album — this is real songwriting with some good riffs from Iommi. A very good song.
  2. God is Dead? (8:54). This song slays. Very cool riffing and a good melody line. The B section is evocative of the Holy in the Sky riff but it still works really well. This is an excellent song, worthy of standing with anything in the Ozzy catalog (thought it lacks the instant memorability of Iron Man or Paranoid).
  3. Loner (5:06). Sounds a LOT like a heavy, modern-production version of NIB (I even sang “Oh yeah” after the appropriate riff). Lyrically and mood-wise it mixes in some Johnny Blade. It’s a good song, but not as good as the previous ones.
  4. Zeitgeist (4:28). Mellow, and somewhat evocative of Planet Caravan. It’s fine, but I anticipate skipping this on CD.
  5. Age of Reason (7:02). This song kills. My notes (again, scratched in there by keys) are unintelligible. But this one had people pretty fired up.
  6. Live Forever (4:49). Has a Children of the Grave / Hole in the Sky Feel once again. A good song, if not as ambitious as some of the others.
  7. Damaged Soul (7:43). Very heavy blues. Too bluesy for my tastes. Blues blues and more blues, and when you are done with the blues, it shoves another does of blues up your ass. This is overstated — it’s plenty heavy. It just is too (wait for it) bluesy for my tastes. Others enjoyed it more than me. Still, this is not a throwaway, just not one of my favorites.
  8. Dear Father (7:06). A great song to finish with, again quite heavy with a lot of energy. The B section is the one featured in the video with Rubin telling Ozzy to try again (“…the victims of the sins you devise.”) The main section is beefier than that part. There is a recurrent tritone riff that is very evocative of the first notes played in the song Black Sabbath. It’s so evocative that one wonders if it’s purposeful…and the riffs appears again at the very end of the song…and then the song ends…with rain…and church bells. Very cool. Very cool indeed.
In all, four terrific songs (tracks 1, 2, 5 and 8). Three good songs (3, 6, 7 if you like blues). One song that non-stoners will skip. And non-stoned stoners, probably. On balance, this is a very, very strong record.
At the end, Jack came back out and thanked everybody, and then (this was a surprise) Ozzy, Tony and Geezer came out to say hello briefly. Tony looked well. Ozzy mumbled something well below the already low standard for coherence that has been established for him — I could only make out the word “album.” In fairness, people were applauding so it would have been hard to discern what he said in any case.
So, you’ll be very happy. I think you will find it to be an enjoyable reprise of the original Sabbath sound you liked. You’ll hear what Iommi’s old riffs sound like played with modern production. I think everybody will probably find something to like about it.
 
Quite a few tour dates have been released:
Jul. 25 - Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Jul. 27 - Austin, TX @ Frank Erwin Center
Jul. 29 - Tampa, FL @ Live Nation Amphitheatre
Jul. 31 - W. Palm Beach, FL @ Cruzan Amphitheatre
Aug. 02 - Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
Aug. 04 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
Aug. 06 - Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
Aug. 08 - Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
Aug. 10 - Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
Aug. 12 - Boston, MA @ Comcast Center
Aug. 14 - Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
Aug. 16 - Tinley Park, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
Aug. 18 - Indianapolis, IN @ Klipsch Music Center
Aug. 22 - Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
Aug. 24 - Seattle, WA @ Gorge Amphitheatre
Aug. 26 - San Francisco, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View
Aug. 28 - Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Aug. 30 - Phoenix, AZ @ US Airways Center
Sep. 01 - Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena
Sep. 03 - Los Angeles, CA @ Los Angeles Sports Arena
 
So I got the chance to listen to the whole thing on the way home today. It actually wasn't bad. Reminded me of Paranoid which isn't a bad thing, it didn't really feel like 9 minutes and it had that classic sound. That said, it didn't really gauge my interest enough for me to want to check the whole album out, so I probably won't.

Usually I don't pay a lot of attention to the drums on first listen, unless they're really good and grab my attention anyway, but because of the recent drama I paid extra attention to the drums. I have to say Bill Ward is sorely missed. The Rage guy is good but this isn't his style, it sounds mechanical, processed, and dull. Bill Ward's drumming on the early Sabbath records brought a jazzy vibe to the songs that complimented the doom sound very well. It's what sets Sabbath apart from other doom sounding bands, but that's not there anymore. Maybe it's just because I really paid attention to the drums here, but it really did feel like something was missing in that regard.
 
Travis The Dragon said:
The entire album is available for streaming!
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Listened to it on iTunes last night. Hopefully a grower, because my first listen was a little disappointing. Imagine The Devil You Know, but even slower, without any really standout riffs or hooks, and a far less dynamic singer. Not awful, just no "wow" moment. Also, it seems very loudly mastered and digitally compressed, not quite in Death Magnetic territory, but not promising. But that could just be iTunes. In fairness, I was multitasking, so I intend to give it another few chances on MOG before making a purchase decision.
 
When the album was being written and recorded all I hoped for was they would recreate their classic sound of the first 5 albums. After listening to 13, my expectations have been more than met!
 
Cornfed Hick said:
Listened to it on iTunes last night. Hopefully a grower, because my first listen was a little disappointing. Imagine The Devil You Know, but even slower, without any really standout riffs or hooks, and a far less dynamic singer. Not awful, just no "wow" moment. Also, it seems very loudly mastered and digitally compressed, not quite in Death Magnetic territory, but not promising. But that could just be iTunes. In fairness, I was multitasking, so I intend to give it another few chances on MOG before making a purchase decision.
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I've heard the whole thing from start to finish about six or seven times now. I think the problem is the first two songs. They just drag on and on. But from "Loner" onward, 13 is a killer album IMO. Granted, I think you'd have to like Ozzy's voice to be able to gel right with the album. He's no Dio, but Ozzy is a big part of what makes the original Black Sabbath Black Sabbath. I love Bill Ward and wish he were present on the album, but Brad Wilk did a great job nailing that swing vibe of Ward's. As far as highlights go: Age of Reason, Damaged Soul and Dear Father are all fantastic songs IMO, and I think Loner, Zeitgeist and Live Forever are pretty great too. It's just that the album starts off with the two longest songs on the whole album and both of them drag a great deal.
 
got the record in the mail today and sat down and listened to it with no distractions. This is really good. Ozzy sounds good, better than on his last few solo efforts. There are some cool riffs, it has a very Sabbath-y vibe to it. As much as the Bill Ward situation sucks, the drumming is good and along with Geezer they lay down a really solid foundation.

I am not a massive Sabbath fan, I have all their records (I think, might be missing 1 or two 80s/90s efforts) and like them, but they are probably not a top 10 band for me. That said, I think this album is at least in the top half of their catalog .. possibly top third.

It is much better than I was expecting when it was announced given Ozzy's solo albums have been getting worse and worse and Heaven and Hell was okay, but nothing great
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I really like Dear Father .. catchy as hell and a really good closer.

I will have to see how I think about this after a while. My expectations were really low going in.
 
I agree with the review Foro posted, the first two songs are the weakest (though I think the opener more than the reviewer did) and it gets pretty damned good from song 3 on
 
FWIW, the bonus tracks are on Spotify (not sure if it is all of them for all versions, but the bonus new material is on there plus Dirty Woman Live)
 
Cornfed Hick said:
Listened to it on iTunes last night. Hopefully a grower, because my first listen was a little disappointing. Imagine The Devil You Know, but even slower, without any really standout riffs or hooks, and a far less dynamic singer. Not awful, just no "wow" moment. Also, it seems very loudly mastered and digitally compressed, not quite in Death Magnetic territory, but not promising. But that could just be iTunes. In fairness, I was multitasking, so I intend to give it another few chances on MOG before making a purchase decision.
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So I've given the album a few more listens, and I am pleased to report that I like it very much. I think Chained Prometheus was onto something: the first two tracks make it a bit less accessible from the start, particularly if you are not giving the album your full attention, though upon reflection I'm not sure I'd change the order. The first song, "The End of the Beginning," deliberately evokes the band's eponymous title track from its first album, including a similar riff. (The album likewise ends with the thunder, rain and church bells from the beginning of that song-that-started-it-all, which is a cool way of putting a bow on their collective career together.) Lots of really good guitar and bass work here, with a very proggy yet still heavy feel. None of Iommi's riffs quite rises to the level of the classics found on the first six albums, but his playing is still interesting and impressive. Ozzy's voice is what it is, and evidently they did so many takes that there are usable clips for each verse. Still, he's no RJD. Wilk's drums are low in the mix, and I've read a few reviews that knock his playing, but I think the drums sound fine. The real star here is Geezer Butler, whose bass lines sound simply awesome throughout. All in all, recommended. I've read that the vinyl version is universally considered the best-sounding way to go for the album proper, but I got the Best Buy version with the three bonus tracks found on the deluxe edition plus a fourth song exclusive to Best Buy: "Naivete in Black." All of the four bonus tracks are pretty good, but clearly "b-sides" that aren't as strong as the material on the main album.
 
Lovro said:
Well, you noticed good because it is the case with some songs. But nonetheless, listen to the whole Headless Cross album, especially Devil & Daughter and Black Moon. Other cool Martin songs are The Shining, Jerusalem, Evil Eye...
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Headless cross is a killer album. not much credit goes to those vocalists after dio and the return of ozzy but they put out some good albums inbetween.
 
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