6/12: THOUGHTS ON NEW SABBATH ALBUM

Sitting here listening to the full new Black Sabbath album for the first time start to finish. I like much of what I hear but think this will take some time as many of the songs are long and in much of the same tempo. “Loner” seems to be the one track at 4 minutes and a bit more uptempo. Like the production, Tony is the riff king, Geezer rules as always, and Ozzy sounds good on it. In the absence of Bill Ward sounds like Brad Wilk does a great job. It’s obvious the band spent time listening to their first album at the direction of Rick Rubin. They literally rip themselves off at times. “Emd Of The Beginning” is the song Black Sabbath! The end of the album “Dear Father” also sounds like a direct sample of the open of the song “BLack Sabbath” (and makes for a nice way to close what might be their final album, since it opens the first one in 1970) But if the creators of metal can’t borrow from themselves after being borrowed from for decades who can? I’m still digesting this and will have more of a feeling for it after a few listens. But for a band in it’s 43rd year of making records on first listen it’s better than anyone could have expected, especially when you consider the new tracks they did with Ozzy for the Reunion collection which were not strong in my opinion. Also great to see the strong first week sales for this album around the world. Much is being made of this and rightfully so, it’s great to see for the band and metal, but the REAL test will be where the album is chart and sales wise in 3-4 weeks from now. Most legendary classic bands with huge fan bases have great first week or two sales and chart standing. The real test is after the base buys the album what happens? Most drop off the radar quickly. This is due to the lack of any real radio or video support to keep it going and bring in new audiences. This is far from a commercial album so it will be a challenge for the label to keep it alive outside of specialty shows like mine once the first week buzz slows. So let’s hope Sabbath can land a number 1 in the US in week 1. After that it will be virtually impossible. Just a bi product of the music industry today. Hope to have Geezer and or Tony on the radio shows soon to discuss all. They have been frequent guests in the past. MOST important let’s hope Tony continues his recovery to good health! As always we welcome your thoughts and opinions as well!