Black Sabbath - "13"
Well here it is, the first Black Sabbath album with Ozzy since 1978.
Some of us gave up waiting for another album with the original lineup, some didn't really care either way. The last Black Sabbath album I really cared about was the much maligned (unfairly, in my opinion), "Born Again" with Ian Gillan on vocals. The previous two Dio albums are fairly well considered, though I only really enjoy "Heaven and Hell", whilst "Mob Rules" is merely adequate. Despite Gillan's distinctive tones, "Born Again" always sounded to me as having a convincing Sabbath musical spirit whereas the Dio ones didn't.
Although "13" is actually only 3/4 of the original band, (drummer Bill Ward is absent due to a variety of reasons, depending on who you listen to), it does sound like Black Sabbath. So was it worth the wait?
Well yes, it's a very good hard rock album, with everything that's good about that genre. It also contains the distinctive tones of Ozzy, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler that in combination create 'that sound'. Despite Geezer's past pedigree as a fine lyric writer, there are some dodgy words here and there (Ozzy's fault?) and Ozzy is noticeably lower pitched in his vocal range, but both elements suit the musical material fairly well.
Producer Rick Rubin and his engineering crew have given the album some crisp, modern sonics. The intention of capturing an authentic original 'vibe' redolent of the first few albums is of course impossible. But there's been no sacrifice of a simple sound in favour of digital technology despite the use of Pro Tools. All this is in fact a bit of a relief considering what Rubin did with Metallica's "Death Magnetic"…a brick-walled mess. This is loud, but there's a bit of breathing space and the integrity of the instruments remains relatively intact. Most impressive is Geezer's bass which positively growls.
End Of The Beginning is a great opener and is in fact the best track on the album, lots of twists and turns that ebb and flow like the best of Sabbath of old concluding with a lovely arpeggio refrain that hints at the feel of the conclusion of Dirty Women and Snowblind.
God Is Dead follows and has an introduction that is little bit too long, but soon picks up and eventually moves into a great shuffle riff. For a single, this didn't grab me initially, but it's a grower.
Some may accuse Sabbath of musically trading on past glories, by overtly referencing their back catalogue. Well when you have a back catalogue as fine as theirs with as many iconic riffs contained in their first 8 albums as they do, that many other bands that followed already aped, well I think they may get a free pass. Maybe they are just taking back what they rightfully own. After all, given the difficult birth this record had, it's very possible that it may be their last, it serves as a good bookend to a career. Certainly the title; End Of The Beginning and it's structural similarity to Black Sabbath as well as the final track Dear Father concluding with the same bells, rain and thunder that opened their debut in 1970, it certainly hints at a bookend.
Loner is an exception to that rule here for me. Apart from a various obvious musical nod to NIB and a bit of a lyrical nod to The Wizard it's just not up to the standard of the rest. To my ears it's just a little too close to an already superior song.
Rather than a rewrite, we have a kind of atmospheric sequel to Planet Caravan with Zeitgeist. It's rare that a sequel is as good as the original and this is no exception. However it is a lovely track, well performed and sung.
Age Of Reason has a nice stuttery drum intro from session man Brad Wilk. This song is a mid-tempo number and feel-wise it sounds like the bastard child of "Master Of Reality" and "Heaven and Hell", not a bad thing at all. The quality of Ozzy's vocals is slightly odd on this track. Some great chunky riffs throughout, some ethereal keys play under the end solo which is full of Tony's wonderful guitar tone.
Live Forever. Following a nice collection of power chords that could have worked well on "Vol 4", we move into another shuffle that sounds a little like a sped up Zero The Hero from the aforementioned "Born Again" or something stoners Spiritual Beggars might do, themselves not afraid of lifting from the Sabbath canon. Chorus feels a little like something from Ozzy's solo career. A fairly slight song, not without it's charm.
Damaged Soul is doomy waltz. Starts with the line 'born in a graveyard' which made me shake my head until I remembered this is the stuff of blue songs of old which seems to be what they were attempting here. It has a nice feel actually especially when Ozzy's harmonica (!) makes an appearance. Some of the words though…hmmm, I don't know. Another mid-tempo shuffle comes in at the end with harmonica and some great Iommi soloing. Haven't decided yet if this is brilliant or a bit silly, maybe a bit of both.
Dear Father - muted riffing starts this one with Ozzy following the guitar for the melody on the verses as he did on Electric Funeral and Iron Man. But the lovely arpeggio guitar and the vocal melody on the choruses have again the feel of Ozzy's solo career. Is this a hint of where Sabbath may have gone with Ozzy in a hypothetical post-"Never Say Die"?
The bridge is yet another shuffle, which could have worked in Children Of The Grave, before returning to the early riff. Generally pretty good, if a little repetitive.
Some criticism of the lack of uptempo material I think is a little unfounded. However an improvement may have been solved simply by altering the running order and moving God Is Dead from second place to last. Following on from the album highlight End Of The Beginning, it does seem to drag it down a bit. The end of the former shares a similar tempo to the latter (albeit with a different intensity) and changing it up a little may have improved things.
The bonus songs (on the deluxe edition/iTunes and the Best Buy exclusive in the US), sound just like that, kind of like left overs. They are good, but not quite on par with the others. The exception being Methademic which I was privy to when it debuted live at the recent 1st Melbourne gig and is good enough in fact to be a suitable replacement for Loner, but only just. Worth seeking out, but to my ears, they don't really belong in the body of work, but are justly placed as additional material.
I first heard Black Sabbath in 1978 at age 7. The first 8 Black Sabbath albums have had approx 35 years to bury their way into my psyche, so "13" will in no way be that iconic to me in this short timeframe, maybe it never will be. It's not a masterpiece, but it is surprisingly good and a very solid effort. Good work lads.
7/10
