Black Sabbath - *The official thread*

You tell 'em... (got myself all worked up in agreement)


I didn't read the review, but if one of the statements really was "too bluesy" then that's good news! I love the bluesy-ness of sabbath.

I read enough in the review to get my hopes up again! My fear is that it will be too 'Metal', but if it has songs that are reminiscent of Planet Caravan and Hole in the Sky, count me in.

Black Sabbath being 'too bluesy' I've heard it all now!

I'm also happy to see 5 songs clock in at over 7 minutes, meaning that will give them some space to stretch out.

I hope so. I've been missing that in new music lately. I picked up the newest sword a while back and, while I love it, I could 't help but think that they did themselves a disservice by sticki g to the structures of the songs too doggedly. The songwriting is there, the riffs, groove, catchiness, etc. but they would be beyond really good into the realms of amazing if they would learn to let the songs breath more and have some spacey parts or bits punctuated with all out fury. That's one example that just jumped out at me but the same could be said about a bunch of otherwise killer new rock/metal bands I listen too.

Something that sabbath did very well... So yeah, I'm hoping that's where this is going too.

S.D. wrote:

(anytime I hear the term "too bluesy" I immediately ignore anything else they have to say).

RockCellarMusic: The Yes Album is the first Yes record to feature you on guitar, after Peter Banks left the band in 1970. What do you hear in your playing when you listen to the album after all these years?

Steve Howe: I hear my sheer innocence, and a determination to not have any kind of blues sound, ever. I didn’t want to play the blues in any shape or form, or for it to color my sound.




there's a time and place.

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

S.D. wrote:

(anytime I hear the term "too bluesy" I immediately ignore anything else they have to say).

RockCellarMusic: The Yes Album is the first Yes record to feature you on guitar, after Peter Banks left the band in 1970. What do you hear in your playing when you listen to the album after all these years?

Steve Howe: I hear my sheer innocence, and a determination to not have any kind of blues sound, ever. I didn’t want to play the blues in any shape or form, or for it to color my sound.

there's a time and place.

But we're talking about Black Sabbath here, not Yes. Apples and Oranges...or maybe Apples and Footballs.

Yes is like porn


Lots of technique but no feeling or groove in it (for the most part)


Yeah for Sabbath going bluesy

Just think of all the flavors of music we wouldn't have without the blues.

James B. wrote:

Yes is like porn


Lots of technique but no feeling or groove in it (for the most part)

Definitely can't agree with that, Yes is one of my all-time favorite bands, as is Black Sabbath. I was just pointing out they approach things from completely different angles.

S.D. wrote:

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

S.D. wrote:

(anytime I hear the term "too bluesy" I immediately ignore anything else they have to say).

RockCellarMusic: The Yes Album is the first Yes record to feature you on guitar, after Peter Banks left the band in 1970. What do you hear in your playing when you listen to the album after all these years?

Steve Howe: I hear my sheer innocence, and a determination to not have any kind of blues sound, ever. I didn’t want to play the blues in any shape or form, or for it to color my sound.

there's a time and place.

But we're talking about Black Sabbath here, not Yes. Apples and Oranges...or maybe Apples and Footballs.

Ahh, but you didn't specify who it had to be or whether they had to be talkin' about Sabbath... Had to check it.


As for Yes, not to derail the thread too much but I saw who is left of them last week, and my body went to a different place, I believe that 'soulful' would be at the top of my list of descriptives for that band.... as for groove, I submit only this: Bill Bruford (and Alan White ain't too bad either).


I am skeptical of this stuff about the new record. Can Sabbath pull off a decent shuffle or longer track with some jam without the Ward chemistry and contribution? Not to try and down the new guy before the thing is even out. You just need to be like a GLOVE if that's really what they're exploring again on the record.

Interesting tidbit from the Black Sabbath facebook page:


Black Sabbath will perform a new song from '13' on the season finale of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. It will air Wednesday, May 15th on CBS. No word if they are also behind the crime...

Sorry, but that just sounds stupid. Why can't these bands just release their music? I can't stand CSI!

corplhicks wrote:

Sorry, but that just sounds stupid. Why can't these bands just release their music? I can't stand CSI!

It's all about cross-promotional marketing. CSI gets to say "tune in to our season finale and catch Black Sabbath" and the band gets a little more mainstream press for their upcoming album.

Goofy? Yes. Beneficial to both? Possibly.

corplhicks wrote:

Sorry, but that just sounds stupid. Why can't these bands just release their music? I can't stand CSI!

Just ask Green Day what kind of impact something like this can have (Good Ridance/Time of your Life on the last episode of Seinfeld) It helps the band get seen on a much bigger platform.

I also think that it's funny (stupid, but definitely funny) when bands just pop up in shows for no good reason (Motley in Bones anyone?)

We may not like it, but the music industry is on it's knees and whatever gets bands heard is all good.

S.D. wrote:

James B. wrote:

Yes is like porn


Lots of technique but no feeling or groove in it (for the most part)

Definitely can't agree with that, Yes is one of my all-time favorite bands, as is Black Sabbath. I was just pointing out they approach things from completely different angles.

I was trying to make sport of Yes even being mentioned in a Sabbath thread. Put lots and lots of headphone time to Yes albums and my consensus is you need to listen to the whole album to get the vibe and complete what it is they are trying to express. (IMHDO) To elaborate, I can make a comp of Sabbath (all eras) and it fits. If ya did the same with Yes by taking songs from different albums it doesn't (unless it is live and they can inprov transitions) I'd rather go see a Yes show today than Sabbath in it's current state. Still, there is some interest on my part to hear "13"

I suppose CSI is ideal since each ep acts as a stand-alone rather than serialized lke Walking Dead or Breaking Bad. That way the non-CSI fan can tune in w/o prior knowledge of the series just for the Sabbath tune, not get confused, and *ahem* become a CSI nut. In theory.

corplhicks wrote:

Sorry, but that just sounds stupid. Why can't these bands just release their music? I can't stand CSI!

It's not stupid at all. When you see things like this, don't say "Why can't these bands..." You should be admonishing the shitty fans who don't support bands these days, so instead the bands need to seek out other ways to get in front of people, get heard, and make money.

And spare us the "But they don't need the money" stuff. =)

No, you're right; I suppose I have too much affection for an era where fan support was abundant, but I suppose cross-marketing has been a thing with music for decades (just look at what the critics said about MTV when it started). Jumped the gun there with my flawed gung ho fight the empire attitude.

Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park. 'nuff said.

S.D. wrote:

Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park. 'nuff said.

Aw, now you ruined my open mind to it all!

I like 'CSI' and I don't care they want to do this, but how times have changed, when I was a kid, Black Sabbath were nowhere to be heard on rock radio, expect for the occasional 'Paranoid' or "Iron Man". These guys, rarely appeared on commercial television, no Grammys for these lads, no matter the line up, no appearances on the American Music Awards, now CBS feels that getting Black Sabbath to make a cameo is good for their ratings. Very cool and more power to the lads.

With heavy hitting acts like Rolling Stones, KISS, AC/DC and Aerosmith's newest CD releases are not selling as well anticipated, then they should use any means necessary to get their music heard. While Black Sabbath do not need the money (sorry Ken), they deserve to earn money for their music ( Ken is right, its not a charity) and as an artist you want your music heard, and what a better way to get heard then go on CSI, it did wonders for sales of Van Halen's album, when they used their music on that show for a ''A Different Kind of Truth'

I had no idea VH had done this.

manny wrote:

I like 'CSI' and I don't care they want to do this, but how times have changed, when I was a kid, Black Sabbath were nowhere to be heard on rock radio, expect for the occasional 'Paranoid' or "Iron Man". These guys, rarely appeared on commercial television, no Grammys for these lads, no matter the line up, no appearances on the American Music Awards, now CBS feels that getting Black Sabbath to make a cameo is good for their ratings. Very cool and more power to the lads.

With heavy hitting acts like Rolling Stones, KISS, AC/DC and Aerosmith's newest CD releases are not selling as well anticipated, then they should use any means necessary to get their music heard. While Black Sabbath do not need the money (sorry Ken), they deserve to earn money for their music ( Ken is right, its not a charity) and as an artist you want your music heard, and what a better way to get heard then go on CSI, it did wonders for sales of Van Halen's album, when they used their music on that show for a ''A Different Kind of Truth'

plus CSI sparked a whole new interest in The Who for people who had never heard the song before.

I had no idea The Who had done this.

corplhicks wrote:

I had no idea The Who had done this.

its CSI Miami actually. too many spinoffs

exact33 wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

I had no idea The Who had done this.

its CSI Miami actually. too many spinoffs

That spinoff has become a much used reference in the art websites like deivantArt. The are overflowed with comics where a character makes a pun, puts sunglasses on, and you see the word representing the yell from the beginning of the song.