Presenting Black Sabbath, the newest Ultimate Music Guide.
I’m huddled in a cold corner of a tavern in London’s Soho with a few buddies shortly after Christmas 1987, according to what the internet tells me. For a variety of reasons, we are here. First of all, we are aware that they serve pints of bitter to patrons who are obviously underage, such as ourselves. Hard rock legend also says that we might run across Lemmy here, which would be an experience that would undoubtedly make everyone happy. But our primary motivation for being there is to find solace following a severe setback. We only found out an hour ago that the Black Sabbath event at Hammersmith Odeon, which we had wanted to see this evening, has been canceled because we neglected to call ahead before leaving the provinces.
Our new 148-page deluxe version of the Ultimate Music Guide to Black Sabbath reveals that we weren’t the only ones who were taken aback by the band throughout the 1980s. Tony Iommi discusses the debut of a new box set in an interview with the magazine. The set aims to provide some continuity in the band’s era and clarifies some of the events that occurred during a confusingly hybrid period that was simultaneously post-Ozzy, post-Dio, post-Gillan, pre-Dio, and pre-Ozzy.
Tony tells humble stories about placing an ad for a frontman in the local paper, getting back together with well-known heavy Midlands colleagues, and performing in Russia for both a boisterous audience and a politely sat set of dignitaries from the Soviet era. Tony Iommi exuded confidence in both the material and what we did not yet refer to as the Black Sabbath brand, much like my young self did. He also had faith in Tony Martin, his new singer. “You don’t close the factory when someone leaves; you hire someone new,” Iommi says to Peter Watts.
Iommi compares Sabbath to a factory; there’s a lot to digest from this comparison. However, Sabbath was undoubtedly a prominent figure in British heavy metal for many years. During a pivotal Cumbrian tour, Ozzy Osbourne—a soulboy and Beatles fan—became a captivating character, adding to the band’s amazing swing. A few months back, Geezer Butler told me how impressed he was and still is with Ozzy’s musicianship. You’ll celebrate that and much more when you read Ozzy’s own vibrant introduction to the magazine or take in his interviews in these pages.
He is undoubtedly knowledgeable about Black Sabbath. He says, “We’ve been rivals, friends, and adversaries, and we’ve said all kinds of things about each other, but nobody can write riffs like Tony Iommi.” I have no idea how he does it. It’s unsettling—like, “What?” He would occasionally enter and say, “Ah, I’ve got nothing.” Then, as he was tuning up, this incredible fucking riff would emerge. “Well, Tone, that sounded like something.”
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