I like when I get to eat my words. I like when I jump to a conclusion about something and then get bitch slapped down with a big "Fuck you! I told you so." When God Is Dead? was released as the first single to 13, I panicked, to the point of not picking up the album. I mean I seriously wanted nothing to do with it. Then there's the whole Bill Ward thing. You can look that up for yourself if you want more details about that. But, since Mr. Ward is one of my major influences, It's hard for me not to want to pick his side.
I finally decided to give the album a try after picking up a drum mag for some tips and for an article about Brad Wilk, and his playing on 13. I was interested to hear what the man filling the drum stool on this album had to say. I read the article, and when I heard there were sixteen tracks recorded for the album that blew his mind, I thought I should give it a try. I should also be clear that I had no clue this was the drummer of Audioslave and Rage Aganst The Machine, until I picked up the magazine. I've never paid much attention to either band, but I can say that he was the right man for the job of filling in for Bill Ward. He's not Bill, but all Brad wanted to do was have Ward be proud of what he did on the album. A feat which, I believe, he accomplished.
The album opens with End Of The Beginning. This is not the best song on the album, and a song that is a weak track to have as an opener. However, let me explain the genius of why this song opens the album perfectly. It's early Black Sabbath. I mean it's Earth just turned into the band that would be considered the first true Heavy Metal band. The band that created tracks like Black Sabbath, The Wizard, Behind A Wall Of Sleep, and N.I.B. There are some elements to the track that are a little mid nineties Ozzy, but sounding like a demo. It's a song that is the birth of Metal, and the perfect lead into the modern age of Metal Gods.
That leads into God Is Dead? I still don't care for this song, as a Sabbath tune. It's a pretty good Ozzy track, but let's be clear that is what it is. Until about the 5:48 marker, then you remember that it's a Black Sabbath track. If the members of this incarnation of Black Sabbath had recorded on the No More Tears album, this song would have been there. However, when Sabbath kicks in on this song, they really kick in. Other than that I find this song a little over drawn out, so Ozzy can tell his story, but I really don't care about the words that much on this one.
Loner is the first song on the album that really caught my interest, as a point of replay listening. It reminds me so much of Never Say Die era Black Sabbath, which I think is often over looked. More specifically it really reminds me of the track Johnny Blade. However, it's the fact that this is more like true classic Sabbath is what blows my mind. The Blues is there. The Jazz is there. The thunderous Metal is there. The heavy breathing riffs, and the artistry of a truly balanced band. This is the first track were I think Rick Rubin really got the production right.
If you don't own Black Sabbath's Paranoid (the album, not the song), get your ass to the record shop, and get a copy right now before continuing to read this article. Once you are educated, and have listened to the album until it is burned upon you brain, you will notice Zeitgeist is like the perfect continuation of Planet Caravan. I mean it's absolutely marvelous. It's also the first song when I really even notice the lyrics. "Astral engines in reverse / I'm falling through the universe again / Down among a dead mans vision / Faded dreams and nuclear fissions span / The strings of fear they are holding up the race / The puppets falling to the ground / The love I feel as I fly endlessly through space / Lost in time I wonder will my ship be found / On this sinking ship I travel / Faster than the speed of life / Not so super nova burns / The black holes turn and fade from sight / The strings of fear they hide within the human race / The answers buried underground / The love I feel as I fly endlessly through space / Lost in time I wonder will my ship be found / And very soon / The boundless moon / Will show us light / And as we crash / We'll pray and kiss / And say goodnight / Goodnight ".
Age Of Reason is a really good Ozzy track. In fact I think it's Ozzy and Geezer ripping off themselves. I swear that this song is directly ripped from Thunder Underground, and then they went all Black Sabbath on it, and made it so much better. Think Spiral Architech.
When it comes to Black Sabbath, the words have never meant much to me. I can sing you every verse of Children Of The Grave, on a good day, and Paranoid, Iron Man, Sweet Leaf, and a few others. And some of those I play drums while singing, for the fun of it. But the words were never really the focus, they were always part of the music. To me Ozzy was another instrument in the mix. When it comes to Live Forever, I found a song that the lyrics not only stand out for me, but they are attached to a Black Sabbath track. "Just before you die / They say you see your life go flashing by / Cold dark endless nights / To burn in hell or bathe in everlight / Well I don't wanna live forever / But I don't want to die... / I may be dreaming or whatever / I live inside a lie! / Days pass by too soon / Waiting for the rising of the moon / No escape from here / Facing death but is your concious clear? / I may be dreaming or whatever / Watching my life go by / And I don't wanna live forever / But I don't wanna die! / And I don't wanna live forever / But I don't wanna die / I may be dreaming or whatever / I live inside a lie." I mean this is some heavy hard core real total Black Sabbath. When this song is played it should be cranked at full volume, and aloud to rumble through the earth as fire and brimstone start to rise. This is all before Iommi opens up with a solo, that while somewhat short and compact, he really let's it go.
The reason I picked up this album is because Brad Wilk said there was a Blues jam on the album that ended up being called Damaged Soul. He raved about it. I figured if a drummer living a totally surreal experience, while recording with my second favourite band of all time, is going to point out one very specific song that gets him off, I need to hear that song. And oh my God did I need to hear that song. Magic, spellbounding, intoxicating, pure mental stimulating ecstasy. I mean it get's me, and takes me to where only Black Sabbath can take me. This belongs on an Ozzy catalog Black Sabbath Best of album. Not some silly greatest hit nonsense, but a real Best Of collection.
The album closes with Dear Father. Like many Black Sabbath songs this one runs a little slow until it picks up, and when it picks up, it really moves. There are points when I find Ozzy's vocals a bit of a paraody of himself, or Rick Rubin chose to go in a direction with the production I'm not fond of, but what are you going to do. I'm not sure if this is the track that should have closed the album, but it is enjoyable. I also like the little thunderstorm closing at the end of the song. It speaks volumes.
I bitch a lot about Ozzy when it comes to this album. To me it isn't Sabbath without Ozzy, but at the same time Ozzy is not Black Sabbath. That is why I loved the original Black Sabbath albums so much. They were albums recorded by a band. This was an album recorded by musicians that wanted very much to be a band, and succeeded, while vocalists were vocalists.
If your into classic Black Sabbath you really should give this one a try, it's a very solid album, and the musicianship is great. You could pick up the copy with the second disc and three bonus tracks, but it doesn't add to the album, so don't feel that you need to have then. I just picked it up, because that's how I am. Otherwise this is a very good solid album worth owning. It has sentimental value for classic fans and modern kick for those oddly just discovering the Metal Grand Masters.
8/10 - content
7/10 - production
8/10 - personal bias
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