-- Black Sabbath - Never Say Die! | (Audio CD) MSRP $ 11.98 Amazon Price $ 10.99 Savings $ 0.99 | |  Release Date: 25 October, 1990, Warner Bros / Wea
TRACK LISTING - Never Say Die
- Johnny Blade
- Junior`s Eyes
- A Hard Road
- Shock Wave
- Air Dance
- Over To You
- Breakout
- Swinging The Chain
Usually ships in 24 hours | | | A Noteworthy Ending to Ozzy Era Sabbath | | The last album that Ozzy did with the Sabs is one of the better ones, in my opinion. "Never Say Die" has some really schorchin` tunes to offer. Athough it is not one of the best it is considerably better than "Technical Ecstasy" which was thier previous album. "Never Say Die" was the 8th and last album with Ozzy. It was released in 1978 and Black Sabbath was not so much into expieramentation as they were with "Technical..." The sound of the album has a great feel and somewhat goes back to the old heaviness that we all love Sabbath for. The songs are well executed and very catchy unlike 1976`s "Technical Ecstasy". Ozzy sounds great on this record. His voice, at the time, was sorely underrated by critics. Tony Iommi`s songwriting for this album was as diverse as it was new and recognizable. Some stand out tracks are "Never Say Die, Johnny Blade, Hard Road, Shockwave, and "Swinging the Chain", which Bill Ward does vocals on so, that in itself is different. "Johnny Blade" is one of the best tunes that Sabbath has ever written. If you have`nt heard it by now, you are a loser! "Johnny Blade" rocks!!! As new and diverse as this album is, it still comes back with that old Sabbath feel. This is a definite must-have in any real heavy metal cd collection. | | | | IT STINKS. | Now, lets hold on a second. I think that everyone is entitled to their own opinions when it comes to music, but to award this album five stars just cannot be justified. I`ve heard farts sound better than this record... absolutely the worst thing OZZY ever stamped his name on.
Sabbath didn`t fire OZZ, he flew the coop.... "whoah guys, I-I-I... uh... is this what we`re doing now?, I think I need to.."{ziiiiing}
And he was gone. Just like that.
In a time when metal was hardly a classification, Black Sabbath had no real boundaries... and that should be made absolutely clear. This disc should come with a warning label SONGS CONTAIN LARGE HORN SECTIONS MUCH TOO BOMBASTIC FOR METAL....
The band had an idea and they went with it. Iommi I guess decided that it was time to turn down the guitars, and turn up the keyboards, and the trumpets... and he wanted Ozzy to drop the doom thing, and try singing in a Motown girl group style.
This album stinks. Simple. Obvious that Ozzy and Iommi needed to split ways, because both Sabbath and Ozzy would come out with amazing albums a year or two later... Sabbaths HEaven and Hell (with DIO) and Ozzys Blizzard.
PS- no way is it better than Technical Ecstacy either, that album still had rocking songs like Back Street Kids. This album had Johnny Blade.. have you ever listened to that garbage? | | | | Flawed but Satisfying Final Studio Bow for Original Line-up | The last few Ozzy-era Sabbath albums are generally treated with derision by many. Those who are in perpetual thrall to the heaviness and darkness that characterized their first albums undoubtedly see a retrogression in the power of the music. In many ways, this is true: the shifting dynamics and exploratory adventures undertaken by the band did reduce the heaviness. But no band could possibly stick to the one-tone crunch that embodied albums like "Master of Reality."
By the time "Never Say Die!" came out, Sabbath appeared to be a spent force. The travesty that was "Technical Ecstasy" showed a band that was out of touch and churning out dross that hardly resembled the halcyon days of old. Ozzy left, was briefly replaced, but then he came back. The band moved to Toronto and hastily assembled this album. The recklessly quick approach gives the music a sense of urgency, but at the same time, its as if every idea that popped-up was tossed into the blender. As such, this album is a kinetic hodgepodge that, remarkably, ends up sounding quite well.
Never Say Die is a track that is, essentially, a punk song. Simple riff, repetitive, relatively short (compared to the rest of the material!). Great and memorable; good chorus and fun finale.
Johnny Blade is a good example of hodgepodge assembly. There`s a weird riff in here, odd changes that occur at unexpected times, a mischievous theme (society breeds a killer) and synths. Old 70s proggy synths. Odd.
Junior`s Eyes starts with drums and bass, and then gets a wash of psychedelic wah-wah`ed guitar. The song drags on for longer than it should, though. The structure and the delivery of the track just aren`t convincing.
Hard Road drags on too, but its not bad at all. It`s got a repetitive guitar thing going, a hummable chorus and fun backing vocals. Hip stuff.
Air Dance is the track you`d never expect Sabbath to make. It starts out rocking, but then settles into a slow troubled piano. Ozzy then goes on to tell us about a dancer who`s lost her ability to dance. Sad, eh? The tracks moves on, and somehow or another, takes the piano into jazzy and atmospheric areas. But then it rocks again! Then it a jazz rhythm overpowers the track and loopy guitar/synth work takes over. It ends up sounding like a mad prog horror movie in the end. Surprisingly, though, its pretty cool.
Over To You repeats the jazzy bit by sprinkling twinkly pianos during the chorus. The rest of the track isn`t is plodding but still manages to rock on forwards without getting too dull.
Breakout is a slow drum beat boosted by a guitar riff that`s then overtaken by non-aggressive horns. Odd. But that then leads us to...
Swinging the Chains. Its ironic that the last Ozzy era track is sung by Bill Ward. This track rules! Killer riff, mean lyrics and very rowdy ending. It`s a finely executed track, and it`s one of the highlights of the album.
Overall, this album isn`t "Paranoid" or "Master of Reality." But it is what it is: A complex mish-mash of hastily assembled and instantly banged-out material. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn`t, but overall, it`s a surprisingly adventurous effort from a band that was on its last throes.
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-- zzzz
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