NEVER SAY DIE!

As the album title "Never Say Die" it implies that this album represents the band's struggle for their existence in heavy metal scene. As far as you are heavy metal fan, you might not really regret to have this album in your collection. But is you have observed the band from its inception, you might find it disappointing. This album did not receive commercial success even though the title track became a U.K. Top 40 hit before the LP's release and "Hard Road" made the Top 40 afterwards. But the singles did not improve the album's commercial success, which was again modest. The major different, musically, is the way Iommi played his power chords he used to deliver in previous records. His guitar riffs and melody through this album do not spell out as Iommi's trademark. It's like what other rock guitar player can play. Ozzy's eerie vocal quality still serves as differentiator of Black Sabbath music from other bands. It's quite unique thing you might find here with this album where Bill Ward (drums) sings in "Swinging In The Chain". His voice is not bad at all and in fact makes the music of Black Sabbath is different than before.

Overall, this is not a bad album at all - as far as you consider it as rock music album without having to compare with previous albums of Black Sabbath - but it's definitely not a good album to start with. I recommend this album only for those who like Black Sabbath already, not for newbie. Keep on rockin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW