Overview:
The
wheels had finally come off the bus.
Between Ozzy quitting the band before recording the album (only to
rejoin days before the recording process started, only to throw out all of the
songs recorded with fill in vocalist Dave Walker) and rampant substance abuse
that rendered the band ineffective for days on end, it’s a surprise that Never
Say Die was actually created at all.
Tracks you may
know:
“Never Say Die”: The
bass line is phenomenal, and the general musicianship is still as good as ever,
but it’s in the same pop-infused mold that Technical Ecstasy adopted. Iommi doesn’t sound as interested as he has
in the past either, almost like he can see the writing on the wall and doesn’t
want to put his best stuff in a sinking ship.
Tracks you should
know:
There are no tracks here that I would recommend. I would be supremely disappointed if I was
waiting at the record store in 1978 to buy this album and this is what I
received.
My personal favorite:
“Never Say Die”: And that’s only by virtue of a “best of the
worst” kind of scoring system.
Album rating:
At this
point, Ozzy leaving the band was the best for all parties involved as Dio came
in to Black Sabbath and reenergized them, while Ozzy’s partnership with Randy
Rhoades had the same effect. This is not
the best album in Sabbath’s catalog by a long shot. Hell, it’s not even that good. It does show where the band was at the time
though, and how important it was for all parties involved to split up and try
something different.
2/10
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