Iommi with Glenn Hughes – “The 1996 DEP Sessions”
Vitality is vital if a record wants to survive in your collection- every time it is played, it has to sound fresh and inspiring like the first time. Do you remember your first time? More importantly do you remember the first time you heard the delicate and brutal brilliance of Tony Iommi’s guitar sound? I do, I stole my mum’s copy of ‘Paranoid’ and I’ve never given it back.
For most these days, journalists in the music press would use such phrases as ‘He was formerly great’ or ‘Back in the day this man changed the world’ to describe ‘formerly great’ performers, maybe this was said of Jimmy Page after playing with Fred Durst. But that line cannot be applied here, Iommi still is great! Well, in 1996 he was still great.
And that is the year in which this record is set. Glenn Hughes provides the vocals on the fulfilling album, and let me tell you: He sounds excellent, the perfect ‘rock’ voice if there ever was one. He also supports Tony’s sound to a T with his bass lines.
And let’s go there shall we? Tony’s sound, sumptuous, unrivalled and unmistakable- he’s back! He’s survived the subsequent wilderness years that followed after Black Sabbath turned into Ozzy Osbourne and Ozzy Osbourne turned into ‘The Osbournes’ which has saturated our screens ever since. And why has he survived? He’s evolved…
Yes, his classic style is still instantly recognisable, but he’s not churning out formula, there’s a plethora of fresh ideas in the music that will make you squirm with delight. A strange feeling, you’re nostalgic, yet you smile with glee at hearing something brand new, original and different.
The music sounds young and enthusiastic which is something nice to hear, what with music being in such a stale state today. There is a youthful energy in Tony Iommi and Glenn Hughes that is lacking from most of the crap young bands and artists produce nowadays, people who whine and are old before their time.
For fans of Sabbath, this won’t disappoint and the good news is, for fans of music, it won’t either. Don’t expect the lost Black Sabbath record, don’t expect anything in fact, just experience it with no preconceptions. Recommended.