RoughaleEs gab eine Listening Party, wer darüber mehr wissen will, kann das hier lesen:
http://www.black-sabbath.com/2013/04/13-listening-party-review/
Ich habe nach der sehr positiv klingenden Zusammenfasung aufgehört zu lesen – klingt sehr vielversprechend…
Hört sich wirklich gut an … ich hab das wichtigste mal rauskopiert …
Specific Track Remarks:
End of the Beginning (8:07). Too long a track for an opener but otherwise very good. Very heavy. Ozzy’s vocals don’t evoke dragons and knights and the soaring evil of Dio…rather, they have a melodic but, unsettling quality to then. Not operatic bombast, but understated, melodic eeriness. But it works. This is not the uninspired songwriting of those two songs from the Reunion album — this is real songwriting with some good riffs from Iommi. A very good song.
God is Dead? (8:54). This song slays. Very cool riffing and a good melody line. The B section is evocative of the Holy in the Sky riff but it still works really well. This is an excellent song, worthy of standing with anything in the Ozzy catalog (thought it lacks the instant memorability of Iron Man or Paranoid).
Loner (5:06). Sounds a LOT like a heavy, modern-production version of NIB (I even sang “Oh yeah” after the appropriate riff). Lyrically and mood-wise it mixes in some Johnny Blade. It’s a good song, but not as good as the previous ones.
Zeitgeist (4:28). Mellow, and somewhat evocative of Planet Caravan. It’s fine, but I anticipate skipping this on CD.
Age of Reason (7:02). This song kills. My notes (again, scratched in there by keys) are unintelligible. But this one had people pretty fired up.
Live Forever (4:49). Has a Children of the Grave / Hole in the Sky Feel once again. A good song, if not as ambitious as some of the others.
Damaged Soul (7:43). Very heavy blues. Too bluesy for my tastes. Blues blues and more blues, and when you are done with the blues, it shoves another does of blues up your ass. This is overstated — it’s plenty heavy. It just is too (wait for it) bluesy for my tastes. Others enjoyed it more than me. Still, this is not a throwaway, just not one of my favorites.
Dear Father (7:06). A great song to finish with, again quite heavy with a lot of energy. The B section is the one featured in the video with Rubin telling Ozzy to try again (“…the victims of the sins you devise.”) The main section is beefier than that part. There is a recurrent tritone riff that is very evocative of the first notes played in the song Black Sabbath. It’s so evocative that one wonders if it’s purposeful…and the riffs appears again at the very end of the song…and then the song ends…with rain…and church bells. Very cool. Very cool indeed.
In all, four terrific songs (tracks 1, 2, 5 and 8). Three good songs (3, 6, 7 if you like blues). One song that non-stoners will skip. And non-stoned stoners, probably. On balance, this is a very, very strong record.
At the end, Jack came back out and thanked everybody, and then (this was a surprise) Ozzy, Tony and Geezer came out to say hello briefly. Tony looked well. Ozzy mumbled something well below the already low standard for coherence that has been established for him — I could only make out the word “album.” In fairness, people were applauding so it would have been hard to discern what he said in any case.
So, you’ll be very happy. I think you will find it to be an enjoyable reprise of the original Sabbath sound you liked. You’ll hear what Iommi’s old riffs sound like played with modern production. I think everybody will probably find something to like about it.
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***Is it me for a moment, the stars are falling The heat is rising, the past is calling***