PROG RELATED

After two directionless albums, Black Sabbath returned with Heaven and Hell, and from the very first moments of Neon Knights, it's clear this is not the same band that recorded Master of Reality or even Sabotage. The heavy metal here has more in common with Deep Purple or Judas Priest than with early Sabbath. The presence of Ronnie James Dio (whose voice is more powerful and versatile than Ozzy's) marks a huge shift, and it works.

Children of the Sea offers rich, fantasy-tinged hard rock that unmistakably echoes Dio's time in Rainbow, a vibe that permeates the whole album. Lady Evil is a more conventional hard rocker that doesn't stand out much, but it gets the job done. Throughout the record, Tony Iommi delivers some of his most thoughtful solos, and nowhere is that more evident than on Heaven and Hell itself: a monolithic riff, a hypnotic bass line, Dio at full power, and even a closing section with a medieval flair. It's the highlight of the album and one of the greatest heavy metal tracks of the 1980s.

Wishing Well brings back a more upbeat hard rock feel, with Geezer Butler's playful, creative bass lines at the forefront. Then comes Die Young, which starts dark and contemplative, before exploding into fast, furious metal. It's another standout moment. By now, it's clear this album thrives the most when it leans fully into heavy metal. The band sounds more confident here than they had in years, and even the experimental touches feel focused (unlike the confused meanderings of Technical Ecstasy or Never Say Die).

Walk Away opens with a riff that feels almost AC/DC-like. It's another decent hard rock track with a solid chorus, but ultimately forgettable. Finally, Lonely is the Word slows things down, offering a doomy, mid-tempo riff that evokes echoes of the Ozzy era. A long, expressive guitar solo over haunting keyboards brings the album to an emotional and satisfying close.

Conclusion: with Heaven and Hell, Black Sabbath found their way again, at the cost of sacrificing much of their classic identity (which had already been diluted in the two albums before). In return, we get a tighter, more focused record that navigates confidently between hard rock and heavy metal. Interestingly, the result feels closer to Ritchie Blackmore's bands than to early Sabbath, but the quality is undeniable.

Dio brings a stunning voice, tons of personality, and a new lyrical dimension rooted in fantasy and mythology, just like he did in Rainbow. His presence helped shape the future of the genre. And it's not just Dio. Each member of the band shines in their own way, from Iommi's powerful riffs to Butler's creative bass and Ward's tight drumming.

Best tracks: Neon Knights, Heaven and Hell, Die Young and Children of the Sea.

Compared to earlier masterpieces like "Master of Reality" or the splendid and not so far away "Sabotage", 1978's "Never Say Die!" shows a band struggling to find its identity. The album opens with its title track, where Ozzy's unusually high-pitched vocals and the upbeat tempo hint at a more radio-friendly (even proto "Heaven and Hell") direction. It's decent, punchy, and far from the worst thing here.

But things go off quickly. Johnny Blade leans too hard into keyboards again (like in so many tracks from "Technical Ecstasy"), though it does feature a halfway decent riff midway through. Junior's Eyes isn't bad either, one of the few moments where the band sounds semi-focused. Then comes A Hard Road, which is frankly quite poor. The whole album feels unusually bright, completely abandoning the dark, heavy atmosphere that made Sabbath iconic. Shock Wave throws in some stoner-like Iommi riffs, but it's inessential and forgettable.

Air Dance is where things get truly weird. Its jazzy-prog vibe might seem bold at first, but it ends up as a disjointed mess that doesn't fit this band or this album at all. Over to You could've worked, thanks to a promising riff, but unnecessary piano softens the track and kills any impact it might have had. And just when you think they can't get more directionless, Breakout brings in a brass section of sax and trumpets that screams desperation more than innovation.

The closer Swinging the Chain (sung by drummer Bill Ward) is actually not bad, a gritty harmonica-led tune that feels at least somewhat grounded compared to the chaos that precedes it.

Conclusion: despite a few okay tracks, "Never Say Die!" is a confused, patchy, and mostly uninspired effort. Sabbath were still trying to experiment, but without the vision or coherence that made their earlier detours interesting. It's maybe slightly better than "Technical Ecstasy", but it's still far from good.

The classic Sabbath darkness is gone, replaced with something brighter, scattered, and far less compelling.

Best tracks: Never Say Die, Johnny Blade, Junior's Eyes, Swinging the Chain.

On the one hand, songs of immediate impact such as the direct "The Wicker Man" with powerful guitar riffs and Nick McBrain's unrelenting drumming, very appropriate to be chanted live, the fast and rhythmic "The Mercenary", or the galloping and snake-like "The Fallen Angel", overflow with an infectious energy reminiscent of the early days of the band led by Steve Harris.

And on the other hand, the developments of generous length and more elaborate and progressive structures so identifiable from albums like "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" from 1988, take on particular relevance from the majestic "Ghost of Navigator" and Harris's piercing bass setting the cadence, continues with the restrained fury of "Brave New World" and the duel of the three guitarists, sustained again by Harris' porfiado bass, with the epic and orchestrated "Blood Brothers", another great song ideal to interact with the live audience, with the arabesque riffs of the enigmatic "The Nomad" and its atmospheric middle section, and finally with the introspective and dark epic of "The Thin Line Between Love & Hate".

The futuristic, purplish vision of the city of London cloaked by the image of a cloudy Eddie, beyond being the excellent cover of "Brave New World", symbolises the band's renewed look forward and reconciliation with their grateful and multitudinous fan base.

4 stars

Art Review: What do I see? Eyes that gleam, protect the weak, slunk at your feet. Fear. 1/1

Track 1: Golden Eyes (10:49) Starts off with this cool drum beat and some cool effected guitar. Reverb and maybe some phrases I'm not sure about. The drums are really cool with a lot of variety, switching around. Some ambient lazer like sounds slightly fill the background. The guitar is very present and hops around, stops, and switches it up. Bass is the only backing here for the guitar, so it does feel like a drawn out solo but it's not bad. There is some weird effect going on and I really have no clue what it is but it is. I'll just call it the slunk tube. So we got some slunk tube going on with some nice drums, and sick soloing, but that's it. There really isn't much else to say about this song. The solo is sick and has a lot of good variation but that's about all its giving. 6/10

Track 2: Look Up There (21:38) Now this one is more ambient, airy, no drums in the beginning, and they slowly build up and buckethead solos for 21 minutes. Guitar is really clean, maybe a tad overdriven. Solo just goes and goes and buckethead changes it around a tad here and there, breaking out into slick fast solos or heavier bits with the wah. Song still just sounds the same all the way through. A jam track is basically all this is. 5/10

Overall a very lackluster album with not much content. 4/10

Art Review: They got the little chicken baby thing 10/10

Track 1: Griffin's Spike (4:07)

A heavy metal track with a cool intermittent solo, and some robo drums. Buckethead made this song for Blake Griffin the basketball player. Song does go eclectic midway through with some crazy riffing and killswitch action, but it's not too much different then any of his other stuff. Main riff is cool and catchy and the solo is pretty chill. 5/10

Track 2: Rammellzee: Hero of the Abyss (4:00)

This one starts off with some crazy digitech electronica zapping and a heavy riff. Switches over to some cool chugging wah action that's very sluggish. Slunkish? The tempo is slow and the 'abyss' bit really comes through with the deep bends and wah action. Drums sound mildly alive, less robotic then the previous song. 2:18 switches over to some weird wah playing then a sick riff with the heavy wah. Solo comes in with some spice and brings in some eclectic riffing too. Song ends off a little mysterious. 6/10

Track 3: Three Headed Guardian (3:56)

Buckethead straight away with the underlying lick and the solo flying in. Backing comes to the forefront with a nice riff and changes around with the distortion into the next section. More cool riffs. Solo comes back beautifully, really setting in stone with a fast flying riff and back into more heavy metal riffage. Drums are about in the middle of robotic and not. Solo comes in with some super speed and the song changes up drastically with some crazy super fast soloing that goes eclectic as per usual. Fast killswitch action and the drums are just crazy. Weird fast lick into a heavy finisher. Very cool and weird. 7/10

Track 4: Floating Graveyard (3:18)

Some creepy beginning vibrato into a heavy version of the same riff, wah seems to be quite present. The song then goes full metal with heavy drums coming and a sick backing. Switches back to the beginning riff, which transforms into another cool riff, which slides in the solo. Solo is creative as per usual and nothing eclectic comes forth. Song slows back down, back into the beginning riff and finishes off. Would be 8/10 if there was some more soloing but it kinda ends off bland. 7/10

Track 5: Ballad of Jerry Mono (4:55)

Jerry here has seen some beautiful sceneries that grace us, down a beautiful river valley into a soaring mountainscape. Very chill and open and begins to build up into something heavier. Solo guitar comes in the background with a different tone though doesn't last very long. Man this song is beautiful. Thoughts of a world of peace and flowers come to mind, a cottage that looks out onto the mountains perhaps. Around 3:00 it begins to pick up and get a bit faster. Super solo comes in as the song builds. Buckethead does some cool stuff then it actually just slows back down into something more calming. Song basically carries as it was before with a simple solo behind. Ends ok. Kinda faltered near the end. 6/10

Track 6: H.D. Autopsy (3:17) Starts off pretty heavy with some slightly quiet drums. Then an evil eclectic dark worldian solo comes out and the noises from beyond begin to chorus the sky. I can definitely see an evil doctor jamming out to this noise creation. Heavy bit is pretty good, and around 1:10 it switches over to something more listenable. Buckethead does some weird killswitch action then a sick solo comes in. Some heavy stuff jumps around and the solo keeps working. Song actually ends up being quite formatted in the later half and the solo is not very crazy. Just some fast whole fretboard riffing that swirls into the shadows of the slunk abyss. Ends off with some eclectic tapping. 6/10

Track 7: Droid Hunt (2:44) Ok, I'm in some sort of chamber where I am being turned into a cyber-slunk-o-tron-o-matic in front of a crowd of hungry chicken people. Back into some funk from buckethead with a little groovy riff then immediately my mind is being drilled into by the great master computer. Back to some groovy metal bits then a solo from beyond appears. This song reminds me of like all of the other songs on this album. Some weird stuff or normal riffage, then later an actual solid solo. This solo isn't too bad, some interesting stuff going on here with the vibrato, and its quite noisy. Not too notable. 5/10

Track 8: Battlefields (3:11) Another metal track with heavy riffing. This one is a tad groovetastic in its riffing style but nothing too great. Riffs go around and do some cool double layering stuff. Stuff gets quite heavy but nothing very interesting. Solo around 1:50, nothing NOTABLE. Man this one is just like the others. Very medial. Ending is kinda cool, but its really not hitting the spot. 5/10 but more like 4.5. Maybe 4.75.

Track 9: Handprint Ornament (2:46) Some slower atmospheric stuff with lighter drums. Guitar playing is pretty ok. Picks up midway through buts its about the same the whole way through. Just an atmospheric solo. End is good, more emotion. 4/10

Track 10: Harpoon the Goon (2:28) This one is another HEAVY metal rocker. It's got some weird riffage and it's also nice and groovy. ABC I love metal songs like you and me. Most of these would be good if not crunched into one album. Just boring to listen to 5 songs that sound similar. This one had some nice upbeat backing, drums are hella robotic, solo is nice. 5/10

Track 11: Critical Leg Assignment (2:33) Ok so back to the churning master. Some weird industrial super sensitive string ionizer from the backyard of bucketheads beast box. Name of the song is quite odd. Heavy riffing comes in a bit later. Weird stuff does not stop there with some weird 'soloing' and a funky bass backing. Eclectic riffing appears with the stupid goofy riffing which is so stupid. Very good. Weird stuff just happens here. This is a weird town. Ends off weird. 7/10

Track 12: Siamese Butterfly (1:54) Palm muted guitar with some ok drums. Goes around fast like a little dog then does some riffing like a dying water man thing from the glopian bellows of shadow cave. Yeah this is a bit creepy and just avante all over. Not too bad, music for a mad frenchman with a little yipper dog that pees on your shoe. 6/10 nice.

Track 13: X-Ray (0:49) My ears hurt. Just like if you put your head into a microwave and ended up speaking microwavenese, and now everyone thinks you're weird and a robot. 5/10

Overall a 6/10. Alot of repetitiveness but some of the weird songs were actually pretty good.

Unlike the group's preceding studio album, 'Never Say Die!' has stronger riffs and a more compelling, guitar-driven sound, topped by the really solid vocal performance of Ozzy. Some of the heavier numbers on here and really effective and the pop-sided experiments of preceding releases are neglected for the sake of a harder, punchier sound, and yet this release has several weak spots, which have necessarily contributed to it being seen as patchy and inconsistent over the years. The title track comes first here and is a more standard hard-rocking number with a lot of commercial potential (maybe Sabbath were indeed trying to land a hit song), while their more sophisticated and exciting writing is reserved for the following tracks 'Johnny Blade' and 'Junior's Eyes', the latter being absolutely brilliant, melancholic and richly emotive. We have a return to the progressive ambition of albums like 'Sabotage' or 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath', and this is later on confirmed by the jazz-influenced 'Air Dance', a very interesting and really rewarding experiment, and the instrumental 'Breakout', both unusual Sabbath pieces but welcome on this otherwise fascinating album. Other good songs on here include 'Shock Wave' and 'Over to You', where we have a really discernible heavy metal leaning with clean, straightforward sounds and playing.

The entire album is quite good, the cover design by Hipgnosis is excellent, and while the music can get really exciting and unusual, it is true that this is far from the best-sounding Black Sabbath album, with occasional weak moments still present. As an album completely ignored by the band members and later on by many music fans, 'Never Say Die!' has been unfairly treated as the odd one out, while in reality it has several daring moments that redeem its bad reputation.

The band resorts to the extensive use of pianos, synths as well as orchestral parts, which really brings a somewhat pastoral, almost flowery tone to the record, definitely an unusual charm on a Black Sabbath release. This album also lacks the big riffs and instead explores more memorable melodies and hooks, as it can be heard on the opening track 'Back Street Kids', quite a digestible hard-rocking number with a semi-banal chorus. 'You Won't Change Me' might misguide you with its doomy opening, which then gives way to a mellower, moody verse replete with lush synths, as we have a more theatrical art rock presentation, while Iommi's shredding adds a rockier flair to the song. 'It's Alright' is a straightforward pop number that works well but sits strangely on a Sabbath album (with Bill Ward handling the vocal duties), while 'Gypsy' is a cool song with subtle flowery tones and FM rock leanings (think of Supertramp or Foreigner). On side two 'All Moving Parts (Stand Still)' gives us the first big riff on the album, leading quite the danceable rock tune here, something unthinkable for earlier Sabbath, while 'Rock 'n' Roll Doctor' is silly and boring. 'She's Gone' is an orchestral, acoustic ballad, and the closing track 'Dirty Women', with its proggy undertones, is the most interesting song off the album. And again, 'Technical Ecstasy' is confusing and inconsistent when compared to the first six albums by the band, many of them masterpieces of the genre - still, it is an artsy rock record that has some strengths as well as several really decent moments.

This set is bookended by "Starfield", the closing number being the original instrumental and the opening now containing vocals (the only song to do so). Apparently Giltrap shared a dream about his late wife Hilary with his friend, the poet and song writer Rhona Dickson. She was deeply moved by the story and felt compelled to write some words and a melody line over the top of her favourite song and Giltrap liked it so much that he asked Welsh singer songwriter Susy Wall to perform it, and this is the result. I like both versions, as the vocals have made it quite different, and it is difficult to pick a favourite. Giltrap has been at the forefront of wonderful acoustic guitar based music for nearly 60 years now, and this release demonstrates that while he is now 77 years old, he still has plenty to offer the world in terms of sheer beauty and delicacy ? something we all need in these troubled times.

Beyond the tracks that correctly meet the band's recognisable standards, such as the fast-paced "Rainmaker", the dark and raw "Montsegur", and the simple "New Frontier" and "Gates of Tomorrow" (the latter closer to digestible hard rock), there are a handful of powerful and highly accomplished developments on "Dance of Death". Carefully elaborated structures and virtuoso instrumental displays with the inclusion of synthesizers to enrich the atmospheres in the style of "Somewhere in Time", stand out clearly in songs like the intense "No More Lies" and the similar bass lines of Steve Harris to "The Clansman" ("Virtual XI" album), the haunting encounter with death in the spectral and medieval "Dance of Death", the progressive epic referencing the horrors of the First World War in "Paschendale" dominated by the guitar trio's enormous showmanship and Nicko Mc Brain's persistent hi hat, and the tempestuous and soaring "Face in the Sun" where McBrain shows off an infinite double bass drum accompanying Dickinson's strained singing, could be part of the best of Iron Maiden's discography without a doubt.

And to round off the album, the band captained by Harris surprises by completely leaving aside the distorted guitars and thousands of volts so that the peaceful "Journeyman", an unplugged and orchestrated melody adds an additional nuance to the sonic universe of the maiden.

Weighed down in part by the controversial cover, given the important role that aesthetics always played in the band's overall approach, "Dance of Death" may not have transcended as much as, in my opinion, it deserved to.

4 stars

The sublime and remarkable side one, arguably the greatest achievement for the band, starts off with the thundering heavy rock number 'Hole in the Sky', featuring yet another excellent, jarring riff from Iommi. Ozzy's vocals here, on the other hand, are ferocious and vivid, and the drive and the energy of this song are quite illustrative of Sabbath's strengths. 'Symptom of the Universe' has an infectious, evil tone to it, reminiscent of the group's early doom metal days; instrumentally, this is one of the better recordings of the band, approaching the progressive and soulful aspects of rock in the final section, and what is there to say about the mighty epic 'Megalomania' - the band's dark, menacing, and vibrant progressive masterpiece, one of the most sophisticated and enthralling opuses of theirs. These three songs are so significantly impactful for the genre that their influence might as well be immeasurable.

Side two once again hides a few surprises, much like the preceding LP from Sabbath, with the rock-solid number 'Thrill of It All', and the Alan Parsons Project-infused instrumental 'Supertzar', a more theatrical entry on the album. Plenty of synths and digestible, almost radio-friendly sounds on 'Am I Going Insane', taken a bit further by the experimental album closer 'The Writ', where the band venture into more daring, kind of artsy writing territory. The entire 'Sabotage' album, despite that below-par cover photo, is massive, ambitious, heavy and really consistent. Some of the best Sabbath material is on here, alongside some of the most unusual experiments conceived by the classic lineup, which definitively renders this an influential heavy metal (with strong progressive tendencies) masterpiece.