Label: Vertigo Records (Japan), PHCR-2053
Style: Heavy Metal, Hard Rock
Country: Birmingham, England
Time: 45:53
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 311 Mb
I
can't believe this album is rated lower than Technical Ecstasy! Surely.
I thought, people have more brains than to slough off this album as
further evidence of Ozzy's decline and Sabbath's as well. I find this
album to not only redeem the grotesque mistep of Technical Ecstasy but
offers a view into a Sabbath that almost was. The band all play in top
form, in ways they never had before, the album sounds livelier and
fuller than its predecessor and it's still relegated to metal history's
dustbin of record prejudice.
Sabbath doesn't get a lot of credit for
being a progressive band. Indeed, held up against the legions of bands
that invoke the famous Sabbath sound (the doom/stoner, downtuned guitar
style so ubiquitous today) and without radioplay, Black Sabbath's true
masterpieces go largely unnoticed. Songs like Fluff and Laguna Sunrise
are the polar opposites of doom-and-gloom works like Into The Void or
Electric Funeral and show that they were more than just a metal band or
"The Godfathers of Doom". Black Sabbath albums progressed from lengthy
blues-inspired jams to the infamous doom-sound until we reach Volume 4
and the creative lid is blown open. Here, they reached their peak sound,
sort of like Opeth from MAYH through Blackwater Park. These albums saw
more orchestration, an increased presence of keyboards and a very much
matured sense of songcraft. The right combinations of life experience
and drugs, basically.
After Sabotage, came the aforementioned
crapfest known as Technical Ecstasy which coupled with the We Sold Out
Souls best of, seemed to signal the downfall of the mighty. Ozzy was in
and out of reality and Sabbath a lot these days and as the drama
surrounding these times is well known, I think Never Say Die gets a bum
rap. At first listen, it's a noticably different Sabbath that eschews
its trademark stoner/doom sound for a lot of jazz, a little latin and
some late 70s hard rock. There is a common theme of buildup and payoff
in these songs with good riffs often giving way to great riffs like the
breakdown in Johnny Blade or the money riff in Shock Wave. Never Say Die
is a nonstop swinging rock song whilst A Hard Road is a blues paced
rollicking sing-a-long.
Sabbath came full circle on this album as
Never Say Die sports the most jazz influence since the self titled
debut. Junior's Eyes' bass and drum fade in sound culled from some live
jam, like something you'd here between songs. An earlier version of this
song (performed with Dave Walker of Fleetwood Mac on vocals during on
of Ozzy's breaks) goes straight into the heavy riffing and features a
much more pronounced blues-rock influence. Air Dance is IMO Sabbath's
most progressive song since Who Are You but in even more extremity. The
first part of the song has a Santana vibe with the only distortion being
Tony's latin-jazz inspired licks. The second half, after a quiet
interlude breaks into a solo section you'd expect to hear from a fusion
group like Return to Forever or Weather Report. Over To You features
lush, cascading pianos, both underlying and accenting key sections.
Breakout is bold and with the brass arrangement calls to my mind an
extended G.E. Smith & the SNL Band jam during commercials.
The
only weak moment on the album is Swinging the Chain. Its a good song,
yet unremarkable and coupled with the lack of Ozzy, no small wonder it's
the last song. Leaving out on a blues-rock jam we say goodbye to one of
the greatest bands in music's history. Had they kept it together,
there's no telling what Sabbath could have done, expanding on the
template they set up on Never Say Die. Instead, we got Randy Rhoads and
the long reign of King Ozzy (79-95), while Sabbath shined briefly with
Dio and sank into the mire. I love the s/t and I feel that Sabbath,
Bloody Sabbath is their masterpiece but this is probably the album I
listen to the most.
(metal-archives.com/reviews/Black_Sabbath/Never_Say_Die%21/503/) Review by mudbog. April 24th, 2009
01. Never Say Die (03:50)
02. Johnny Blade (06:29)
03. Junior's Eyes (06:43)
04. A Hard Road (06:03)
05. Shock Wave (05:15)
06. Air Dance (05:17)
07. Over To You (05:23)
08. Breakout (02:35)
09. Swinging The Chain (04:15)
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