There was a bit of genius in the layout of Black Sabbath’s long-awaited reunion album 13, which eventually became the band’s first U.S. No. 1.
Released in June 2013, 13 appears to be the final studio album in the career of Black Sabbath, which makes the choice of the first and last tunes on the standard eight-song version of the album so great. It opens with “End of the Beginning,” which features, early on, a riff that’s designed to put you in mind of the title track from their eponymous debut album – the song that started everything. Then, as eighth track “Dear Father” fades out, we get the thunder, bells and rain sounds that open that album. It brings the career of Sabbath full circle in a very nice touch.
It’s a simple, but powerful moment that leaves fans with a bit of a wow.
To my surprise, though, 13 was a record that needed time to grow on me. Perhaps it was the hype. Three of the original four members were back together, working with Rick Rubin, who has a reputation for bringing the best out of bands late in their careers. I think I was expecting to have my mind blown like it was the first time that I heard “War Pigs” – my introduction to Black Sabbath. Of course, they were very different musicians by then, and I’m a very different music fan. So, that was never going to happen. Still, there was a bit of disappointment for me that it didn’t.
Don’t get me wrong. I like 13. I like it a lot. I liked it more every time I listened to it. But I do have a few frustrations with it, as well.
The one thing about this record that can’t be disputed is the fact that, even at age 65, Tony Iommi was still writing the baddest riffs on the planet. This man created the metal riff. His work is the template used by all of the metal bands that came after, and most of the best guitarists in the genre will tell you that without hesitation. He was still churning them out on 13, one after the other. Dark, sinister, crushingly heavy. All of his trademarks were there. Several times on the album, Iommi hit that big, ominous, echoing power chord on his simple Gibson SG and you could picture those younger guys toting around those down-tuned eight-string guitars quivering in despair to realize that even with those extra low strings, there’s no matching his intensity or heaviness.
Geezer Butler, who I’ve always felt was the heart and soul of the band, did what he always does. Butler wrote the lyrics for most of the band’s best songs of the 1970s and his bass lines are the band’s not-so-secret weapon. Having spent years locked in step with drummer Bill Ward, who we sadly didn’t get to hear on 13 because of contractual issues, Butler wasted no time in establishing the same kind of groove with Brad Wilk.
For his part, Wilk did a great job in filling Ward’s considerable shoes. Old fans like me are still going to grouse a little about the original drummer’s absence, but the work here was solid.
Then, there was Ozzy. His vocals, admittedly, did occasionally sound a little processed, but we’ve grown used to that over the years. On the upside, there seemed to be more energy in his performance. He didn’t quite recapture his 1970s self, but there was a lot of similarity to his 1980s vocals on many of the songs.
Overall, the band and Rubin captured the spirit of Black Sabbath’s classic sound. More than that, though, 13 also managed to nod to all of their many eras. There were the raw, heavy bluesy sounds of the beginning, the more proggy experimentation of their later years with Ozzy, and even the more uptempo metallic sounds of their stint with Ronnie James Dio. “Loner” and “Live Forever,” in particular, put me in mind of that era.
There were overt references to their classic work all over the record, not only in the riff of “End of the Beginning” or those final moments of “Dear Father.” “Zeitgeist,” one of my personal favorite tracks on the record, was practically an ode to “Planet Caravan,” with its soft, acoustic guitar, the spacey effects on Ozzy’s vocals and that bluesy, soulful solo from Iommi.
Some of Ozzy’s solo career crept in, too. Parts of “Age of Reason” could have been pulled from one of his 1990s records. I’m thinking Ozzmosis. But damn, that riff from Tony Iommi. Huge groove, heavy as a monster chunk of lead. When I grabbed my guitar after listening to this record, it was the first one that I wanted to figure out. The song also had some great proggy tempo changes and moods, and while some of the seven-plus-minute tracks on 13 got a little old before they’re through, “Age of Reason” was not one of them.
I actually think those slow, gloomy and doomy numbers are the ones that really shine on this record. Along with “Zeitgeist,” my other favorite is “Damaged Soul.” More than any other track, perhaps, it captured the vibe of the original Black Sabbath sound. Iommi’s fuzzy, blues-laced guitar riffs create a bleak landscape over which Ozzy wails like a harbinger of doom. For once, he really sounded like his 1970s version, then he puffed on his harmonica to boot.
That gave it just a bit of the feel of “The Wizard” in places, another of those nods. Then Iommi backed away from the big riffs of the rest of the track to let loose some slow, sparse and smooth leads before they geared it up for the big, stomping, almost joyful payoff where it sounded like they’re just jamming out and having fun. It’s a song that truly would have been at home on their debut.
Then “Dear Father” delivers perhaps the heaviest riff of 13, as Iommi grinds away. Ozzy Osbourne sounded more like his modern self on the track, but it was a perfectly sinister delivery – and, of course, that nod at the end to “Black Sabbath.”
Now for the bonus tracks: In a way, I wish they had made them part of the regular album for a couple of reasons. One, having a second disc kind of dilutes the effect of that cool moment at the end of “Dear Father.” It’s a moment of finality, but oh wait, we’ve got three or four more songs for you. I’m not saying that I want Black Sabbath’s recording days to be over, especially not after how solid this record is, but I just think the main project ends on the perfect note. Second, I think a couple of these songs are better than ones that made the main album.
“Methademic” was probably the fastest tune of the entire bunch, but it’s also the one that leans most toward the Dio era. It has that mystical feel and a few big vocal notes, and the listener – this listener, at least – really believes that the song might have been written for a Heaven and Hell project. That sort of chanted piece at the end was certainly tailor-made for Dio. Ozzy handled it well, though, particularly with that evil little laugh, and I still love the song.
“Peace of Mind” featured another one of those big, trademark riffs from Iommi and Butler’s rumbling bass setting the tone. At only about three and a half minutes, it was the shortest and most straight-forward song written for 13, but sometimes that’s not a bad thing. “Pariah” might have my favorite riff of the songs recorded in these sessions. After a building, soft and dark opening, Iommi got a little, believe it or not, funky. It was something completely different from anything else here, and though the song wasn’t one of my favorites, that riff is too cool.
Finally, there was the Best Buy bonus track, with another nod to their past in the title, “Naivete in Black.” This one was a high-energy driving number that really put me in mind of Sabotage, which also happens to be my favorite Black Sabbath album. And, yes, it’s my favorite of the bonus tracks.
I kind of understand why they didn’t sandwich the bonuses into the album. Black Sabbath was trying to play on the doomy, heavy classic sound of the band and keep it to a relatively small number of songs to give it the real feel of a 1970s-era record. I get that. All of the bonus tracks were more uptempo and rocking songs and probably would have thrown the pacing off a little. In the end, I guess I’m just glad we got them.
Despite what my unrealistic expectations may have been, classic albums like Black Sabbath, Master of Reality, Paranoid and Sabotage can never be recreated, and as good as 13 was, I don’t think it’s a match for those. To their credit Sabbath and Rubin didn’t try to do that. Instead, they went for the basic vibe of those albums, with a more modern feel that celebrates all of the various sounds of the group over the years. In that, they did one hell of a job.
Just as Heaven and Hell’s The Devil You Know was a strong and fitting end to the Dio lineup of Black Sabbath, the final music they made with Ozzy Osbourne was a great way to go out.
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You nailed it, Mr. Phillips. Your article was carefully thought through and identified a lot of the elements that makes Sabbath an icon in the history of rock music. Yep – if this the end, it’s a good place to end it.
One thing I’m not really sure about is whether this is the last Black Sabbath album with Ozzy – it’s up to Mrs. Osbourne to decide … The ’13’ album is not really that great but it sure us a whole fucking lot better than the new Deep Purple shit …
No Blackmore in Purple is the same as no Iommi in Sabbath … And btw – Blackmore’s new album has a lot more electric stuff on it than his previous releases … So maybe Ritchie is missing the good old rock’n’roll but is afraid to tell his beautiful wife cuz she rules his life now …
I think Steve Morse started with Deep Purple about 17 years ago, which is a longer uninterrupted tenure than Blackmore ever held. Maybe Richie isn’t as important to Deep Purple as many people think he is.
I pulled out some classic Sabbath the other day, and I was struck by how poor the recording quality was back in the 70s – Bill Ward sounds like he’s hitting cardboard boxes in places.
wow. i have the first album on 180g vinyl and still think it’s one of the best-sounding metal albums ever made.
Steve Morse is an OK guitar player for Ian Gillan Band – that’s what this bunch of musicians should be called now … I haven’t heard any covers of any songs with Steve Morse recorded by any other bands … Ritchie’s old Purple hits, on the other hand, have a million versions …
As for the recording quality of the early ’70s – yes, it was a lot shittier than today’s studio pro-tools … but don’t forget that Bill Ward was hitting cardbord boxes on Paranoid, John Bonham did it on Stairway to Heaven, and Ian Paice didn’t mind doing it on Smoke on the Water … Who the fuck cares? They’re rock classics now …
Just my two cents …
Consider this: perhaps Ian Gillan, in his various guises as the leader of The “Ian GIllan Band” and band with just the plain ol’ name of “Gillan,” actually carried the torch for Deep Purple while the others went off to pursue other projects of occasional artistic merit and limited financial success. Maybe they were big across the pond, but in North America you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who’s ever heard of The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast, or Paice, Ashton and Lord’s Malice in Wonderland (as a funny aside – some other review site has a picture of Nazareth’s Malice in Wonderland in their Paice, Ashton & Lord bio – perhaps they’ve never seen a copy of the PAL recording). And weren’t Lord and Paice backup players for David Coverdale’s Whitesnake for awhile? I’d be more of the opinion that Gillan was a version of Deep Purple, and the current Deep Purple another version of itself. And Steve Morse is the right man at the right time for the right job.
As for the drummers, yes – Bonham and Paice also had the same 1970s drum technology as Bill Ward, and each one of those gentlemen were partially responsible for the development of their band’s sound, but Zep & the Purps had better sound on their earlier albums than the Sabs. Paranoid? Great album. In Rock? Greater album.
And, a question out of the blue – “What is this that stands before me / A figure in black points at me.” “General gathered in their masses / Just like witches at black masses?” Is it technically a rhyme to rhyme a world with itself?
To listen to some more good old guy rock, check out the new Deep Purple, Now What? It’s as least as good an album as 13. And the last Uriah Heep album (2011’s Into the Wild) might be better than either.
Interesting…. I’ve always felt that first album is one of the most overrated debuts ever.
I loved the first three Sabbath albums but I was a teenager then (yes, I’m older than dirt); however, they sound very dated to me now. I listen to them occasionally for a trip back in time. I see Deep Purple mentioned up there and my attitude about them is totally different. Their first two Mark I albums, Shades and Book of Taliesyn are a little dated but the self-titled third is still a masterpiece in my world. To me, DP was and still is “the thinking man’s hard rock band.” I absolutely loved Blackmore as a unique and pioneering guitarist but his ego and attitude I could have done without. Either way, I loved the band with the exception of the Coverdale era and Joe Lynn Turner. I think that Morse, although stylistically different from Blackmore, brought in some freshness and as Ian Gillan says “made them a happy band.” I loved them then-I love them now. Of course, we all must keep in mind how subjective musical taste can be which is what makes the top 10 lists and such things pointless. Also, one has to take into account that your musical taste forms during the ages of approx. 15 thru 25 (give or take, actually I was rocking @ 6 years old to Elvis) and that very era I consider to be the golden decade of rock (1965 – 1975). Lets face it everyone – some people actually like stuff like Justin Timberlake – I would take Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, LOL.