Black Sabbath - "13"

[mulwin444]

Picked this up yesterday at Best Buy and it's a pretty solid album.  In the Ozzie-led Sabbath albums, I'd probably put it just below "Sabbath, Bloody, Sabbath"/"Sabotage" but ahead of "Technical Ecstasy"/"Never Say Die".  It's a shame they didn't include the 4 songs on the bonus disc with the standard issued album as they would have fit right in.  Overall, I'd give it an 8/10.

 

I am seeing them at Veriizon Amphitheater (Irvine Meadows) 8/28 so it will be interesting to see which of these songs they include in the set.

[VariousCrap]

I got it from Best Buy as well.  I wanted that Best Buy exclusive track.  I've been listening to it all day and I am digging it.

[Ray McKigney]

Sucks that Sharon Osborne ruined what would have been a great reunion by trying to pay Bill Ward less than what he is worth.

[Vernster52]

Jim Norton loves this album.

 

He tweets about it constantly.

 

It must be good.

[NJHalo]

I heard Ozzy and Geezer on Howard Stern recently. Funny stuff. Ozzy has no filter.

 

Even if I wasn't a fan, I would buy it based on that interview

[TobiasFunke]

Sucks that Sharon Osborne ruined what would have been a great reunion by trying to pay Bill Ward less than what he is worth.

 

This right here.

 

Seeing them in LA and I can't wait.

[Ray McKigney]

I'll go with an 8/10 also. I think it's pretty impressive considering how long it's been since they made an album together. I would have given it a 9/10 if Bill Ward was on drums. Ozzy's voice sounds surprisingly good and Tony Iommi's guitar sound is incredible. I wonder what equipment he's using on this album. 

[CaliAngel]

There was a song that was released about a week or two ago and it was "okay" but kinda dragged. 

 

For $10 I will consider picking this up at eBay seeing as how you guys seem to enjoy it. 

 

I believe they still do that $10 for the first week of the release?

[VariousCrap]

Sucks that Sharon Osborne ruined what would have been a great reunion by trying to pay Bill Ward less than what he is worth.

 

 

 

 

You could also argue the dude was being greedy.  The amount of money he would have made from the album and tour would have been a ton.

[VariousCrap]

I'll go with an 8/10 also. I think it's pretty impressive considering how long it's been since they made an album together. I would have given it a 9/10 if Bill Ward was on drums. Ozzy's voice sounds surprisingly good and Tony Iommi's guitar sound is incredible. I wonder what equipment he's using on this album. 

 

 

 

It shouldn't surprise you about Tony Iommi.  Did you hear that Heaven and Hell album from a few years back?  His work on it was amazing.

[Ray McKigney]

It shouldn't surprise you about Tony Iommi.  Did you hear that Heaven and Hell album from a few years back?  His work on it was amazing.

 

It doesn't surprise me at all. I'm just always astounded at the sound he gets. It's so full sounding. Just awesome. Basically, the exact opposite of Metallica's last few records. Their guitars sound like crap.

[mulwin444]

It shouldn't surprise you about Tony Iommi.  Did you hear that Heaven and Hell album from a few years back?  His work on it was amazing.

Yes...love this album.   "Bible Black", Eating the Cannibals" and "Breaking Into Heaven" are some of my favorites off that one.  He did a solo album, "Iommi", that had some solid work on it as well, along with some work with Glenn Hughes.

 

Apart from the Dio led "Dehumanizer", this is the most "Sabbath" sounding album since "The Mob Rules".  There have been some good albums with Tony Martin ("Headless Cross", "Cross Purposes") but they all ended up sounding like side projects compared to the Ozzy/Dio albums. 

[mulwin444]

It doesn't surprise me at all. I'm just always astounded at the sound he gets. It's so full sounding. Just awesome. Basically, the exact opposite of Metallica's last few records. Their guitars sound like crap.

 

Both "13" and "Death Magnetic" were produced by Rick Rubin, but "Magnetic" sounded a lot louder which didn't help the sound, in my opinion.  It was, however, a vast improvement over "St Anger" which sounded like they recorded the guitars under water. 

[VariousCrap]

Both "13" and "Death Magnetic" were produced by Rick Rubin, but "Magnetic" sounded a lot louder which didn't help the sound, in my opinion.  It was, however, a vast improvement over "St Anger" which sounded like they recorded the guitars under water. 

 

 

 

Yeah, but is that saying much?

[mulwin444]

Yeah, but is that saying much?

Obviously, not really.  "St. Anger" was a mess, which was emphasized in the documentary "Some Kind Of Monster".  I know they were going for raw and authentic rage but they end up with what sounded like a bunch of 8 minute demos...it was basically the musical equivalent of an unedited movie.  "Frantic" and "St Anger" were a nice start but three songs in, Lars' snare drum started to get annoying as hell.  "Death Magnetic" was a better effort although not near their best.

[Ray McKigney]

Lars' snare on St. Anger is ridiculous. When I first got that CD, I listened to it in my car first and thought there was something wrong with my the speakers in my car. Then I listened to it on my home system home and then on a boom box. I couldn't believe they released it that way. Those guys haven't written a good song in over 20 years. My Apocalypse from Death Magnetic was decent, but still sounded like it was cut and pasted together. Plus, the guitar sound was just horrible. So weird considering how great their guitar sound was up through And Justice for All. 

[tdawg87]

Old school metal 4 life!!!!!!

I'll take Load/Reload over Kill 'em All any day of the week. Come at me.

[mulwin444]

Old school metal 4 life!!!!!!

I'll take Load/Reload over Kill 'em All any day of the week. Come at me.

You are a liar, sir. (slaps you with a dualing glove)

 

"Load" was appropriately named...there was some decent stuff off "Re-load" but neither get worked into rotation.  I would rather listen to the Motorhead covers they did at Lemmy's B-Day then anything put out on those two steaming piles.

[tdawg87]

"The Outlaw Torn" and "Bleeding Me" are two of the best songs they have ever done.

[mulwin444]

"The Outlaw Torn" and "Bleeding Me" are two of the best songs they have ever done.

"Bleeding Me" was decent...I can at least listen to the whole thing.  "Outlaw Torn" meanders directionless until it just stops. 

 

If we are considering just "Load" and Re-load", I'd take "Fixxxer" in terms of the 8 minute+ songs

[Ray McKigney]

Load/Reload are their 2nd and 3rd best albums. This is #1:

 

[VariousCrap]

In all fairness to Metallica, thrash metal is a young persons music.  It is music that is supposed to be done by people who are pissed at the world and don't give a f^ck.  It is very hard for multi-millionaires like they are now, to dublicate that.

[mulwin444]

In all fairness to Metallica, thrash metal is a young persons music.  It is music that is supposed to be done by people who are pissed at the world and don't give a f^ck.  It is very hard for multi-millionaires like they are now, to dublicate that.

Hence why Bruce Springsteen hasn't been relevant for 30 years...Can't sing "Tramps like us/Baby, we were born to run..." when you're driving an M5

[Ray McKigney]

All rock music was originally done by young males who were pissed off at the world. That doesn't mean that a band/artist can't continue to play the genre of music that made them popular/famous. Slayer and Anthrax are all comprised of rich guys, but they seem to stick to their guns when it comes to their music. They know that is what their fans want to hear and that is what brought them their success. Metallica is simply a case of Lars wanting to follow the trends of what is popular at the point in time they go in to record a new album. If you look at each album that they have released since the Black album, they change their musical style according to what type of heavy music was popular at that time. Luckily for them, they have the luxury of being able to always fall back on the greatness of their first four albums. 

[mulwin444]

All rock music was originally done by young males who were pissed off at the world. That doesn't mean that a band/artist can't continue to play the genre of music that made them popular/famous. Slayer and Anthrax are all comprised of rich guys, but they seem to stick to their guns when it comes to their music. They know that is what their fans want to hear and that is what brought them their success. Metallica is simply a case of Lars wanting to follow the trends of what is popular at the point in time they go in to record a new album. If you look at each album that they have released since the Black album, they change their musical style according to what type of heavy music was popular at that time. Luckily for them, they have the luxury of being able to always fall back on the greatness of their first four albums. 

The first four albums didn't make them.  "One" was the only song getting serious airplay and they were really only considered Gods among Metal fans.  It wasn't until the "Black Album" came out that they launched into the stratosphere.  You have to evolve as an artist as well, though.  Metallica can't just re-write "Welcome Home: Sanitarium" for 9th time otherwise they are just going to get bored with themselves.  Having written music and been in bands, you write what you are feeling at the time...Lars and James aren't the same now as they were when they wrote "Motorbreath".  As such, I don't have a problem with them doing something like "Load" in principle, my main problem with the album is the songs sucked.  I thought "Until It Sleeps" and "Hero of the Day" were both interesting and different but shit like "Ain't My Bitch", "Ronnie", "Mama Said", "King Nothing", etc were uninspired garbage.  Same thing with "Re-load", interesting songs like "Carpe Diem Baby", "Fixxxer", "Fuel", and "The Memory Remains" are surrounded by crap like "Slither", "Devil's Dance", Better Than You", "Prince Charming", etc.  Also, they seriously need to drop the "Unforgiven" series...one was fine but the last two sound like outtakes.  I'd say that, after a muddled "St Anger", "Death Magnetic" was step in the right direction but even those songs felt they were stretched out consciously to say "Hey, look, all our song s are over 7 minutes" as opposed to putting something in the songs to make you want to listen for 7 minutes. 

 

U2 probably reinvented themselves the best. From "Boy" though "Rattle and Hum" they did about everything they could do on the road they were traveling and "Achung Baby" gave them new life.