New Black Sabbath album number 1 on the charts.

[aceplace57]

You better order the concert tickets early.

I’ll leave the concerts for the kids. I can’t risk any more hearing damage.

The new album is worth checking out.

Ozzy Interview

Geezer Butler Interview

Ozzy Osbourne had what you might call a very Ozzy-esque response to the news that his first album with Black Sabbath in 35 years opened at No. 1 last month.

“What the f— is this?” he recalls thinking. “Who the f— gets their first number 1 album 45 years into their f—ing careers?”

The real question may be: Who deserves one?

Most elder rock bands who reunite, after eons apart, earn only eyerolls (from critics) and ho-hum sales(from the last true believers). Witness Van Halen and Aerosmith, whose recent reunion discs drew appropriate yawns.

But Sabbath’s new disc, “13,” has excited loyalists and reviewers alike. The CD sends them on a swift trip back to the crypt. The music lumbers, meaningfully, through the kinds of monstrous riffs and doomy beats Sabbath first conjured back in 1970, giving music an entirely new tone and girth.

Black Sabbath lyrics have always dabbled in darker territory, but this time instead of fascination with the occult, it seems like there’s a lot of grappling with your own mortality.

Yeah, especially after Ronnie died. [Ozzy’s replacement in 1979 was singer Ronnie James Dio, who had been singing again with the Sabbath members at the time of his death under the band name Heaven & Hell.] When Ronnie died of stomach cancer, it sort of brought the whole mortality thing home very much. You expect your parents to die and stuff like that, but when one of your workmates dies, it’s a totally different feeling. And then when Tony [Iommi, guitarist] was diagnosed with cancer, it was like “What else is going to happen to us?” So all of the lyrics were reflecting that.

[Dr_Doom]

I bought concert tickets back in April for their show in Toronto in 2 weeks.

I, too, am not much of a concert-goer anymore, but I’m a big fan of the original lineup, and haven’t seen Black Sabbath live with Ozzy fronting them, so it’s kind of a bucket list show, for me.

I listened to God is Dead? quite a few times when it was pre-released, and I recently got around to grabbing the full album from iTunes, but have yet to find the time to give it a listen in its entirety more than twice. I’m listening to it now, and my first impression is that it definitely harkens to their genius '70s music, but I wouldn’t find it plausibly coming right on the heels of Sabotage for someone not familiar with them.

It’s good. It’s got some familiar Iommi soloing, the drummer makes an effort to do some '70s-ish Ward percussion in a couple spots, and Geezer’s lines are still not there just to provide beat and fatness, but also to render musical depth to the low register. Ozzy is fucking ageless. There’s actually one song on there that reminds me of Primus (!), so the sound is decidedly modern by times.

I’d recommend it to anyone, regardless their **Black Sabbath **familiarity or lack thereof.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

In fairness, they’ve had two (three?) number one albums in the UK.

[Dr_Doom]

I’m looking at Wikipedia, and the only album to ever chart #1 anywhere, prior to 13, was Paranoid.

[Smapti]

I picked up the album last week and it hasn’t left the CD player in my car yet. I love it - it reminds me a lot of the Master of Reality era. “God Is Dead?” and “Zeitgeist” would have to be my favorite tracks.

As for the tour, I bought my ticket to see them at the Gorge this month all the way back in May.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@Dr_Doom

I’m looking at Wikipedia, and the only album to ever chart #1 anywhere, prior to 13, was Paranoid.

Huh. You’re right. I thought Black Sabbath and probably Sabotage were #1, but most of their albums peaked in the middle of the top 10.

[Steophan]

They now have the record for the longest gap between Number One albums in the UK, 43 years! It’s a fucking good album, and far better than I thought Ozzy could do. I knew Iommi and Butler had it in them after the Heaven & Hell album with Dio, but I’ve not liked anything with Ozzy for years.

[LawMonkey]

Wish I could make it to a show, but the tour only gets nearby on weekdays.