Well after listening to Tony Iommi and Glenn Hughes on "The DEP Sessions", I thought I'd better go back and see what all the fuss was about. "Seventh Star" wasn't what I was expecting. For a start it doesn't sound much like Black Sabbath. A quick look into the album's history tells me why. It actually started life as a Tony Iommi solo project, and contains none of the original Sabbath lineup bar Iommi himself. Apparently the record label insisted it be released as "Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi" which probably lead everyone to expect something quite different. Like me.
I found it a bit of a bland album, having a lot in common with the formulaic American hard rock of the mid-80s, you know, Whitesnake, Guns n Roses, etc. You can kind of still hear Sabbath riffs buried somewhere deep down inside, but it's far too FM-friendly and faceless for me. Iommi's just going through the motions, Hughes doesn't really sound like he even wants to be there, and the rest of the band might as well be session musicians. IMO "The DEP Sessions" is much better than this.
No, not a Sabbath album at all.
Showing posts with label Heavy Rock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heavy Rock. Show all posts
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Thursday, 24 November 2011
Dave's 500 Bus Albums No 7 - May Blitz "May Blitz" (1970)
May Blitz have a pretty recognisable sound, a feeling that I've heard them before. They're what was called "Heavy Rock" back when this, their first LP, was released, but their "retro" sound is also back in favour today.
5 or 6 years after this LP was release "Heavy" would mean "Deep Purple" or "Led Zeppelin", but back at the fag end of the 60s, it was a term used for bands like "Free", "Cream", "Iron Butterfly" and the "The Jimi Hendrix Experience"; and you can hear the echo of those bands in May Blitz's debut album.
You can also hear the precursor of the sound that "Black Sabbath" would take and eventually metamorphose into the 1970s "Heavy Metal" genre (in fact I'd put money on this album sharing many a 70s record collection with the LPs "Black Sabbath" and "Paranoid"). Sadly May Blitz never had the success of Sabbath (though I think they deserved it) and the group disbanded in 1971 after their second and final album.
The production is sharp, with the wonderful bleakness that only a three-piece band can give you, and the usual blues influence prevalent in so many bands from the 69/70 years is pleasingly absent. This is early 70s British Heavy Rock at its best.
5 or 6 years after this LP was release "Heavy" would mean "Deep Purple" or "Led Zeppelin", but back at the fag end of the 60s, it was a term used for bands like "Free", "Cream", "Iron Butterfly" and the "The Jimi Hendrix Experience"; and you can hear the echo of those bands in May Blitz's debut album.
You can also hear the precursor of the sound that "Black Sabbath" would take and eventually metamorphose into the 1970s "Heavy Metal" genre (in fact I'd put money on this album sharing many a 70s record collection with the LPs "Black Sabbath" and "Paranoid"). Sadly May Blitz never had the success of Sabbath (though I think they deserved it) and the group disbanded in 1971 after their second and final album.
The production is sharp, with the wonderful bleakness that only a three-piece band can give you, and the usual blues influence prevalent in so many bands from the 69/70 years is pleasingly absent. This is early 70s British Heavy Rock at its best.
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