NEVER SAY DIE!

After two great SABBATH hits, SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH and SABOTAGE, the band seemed to want to take a temporary different direction with their music, by going at it with a more jazzy feel then the former. They released TECHNICAL ECSTASY to horrible reviews. The album shocked many people that BLACK SABBATH would release such a mediocre recording such as this (seeing as they hadn't before now). BLACK SABBATH did definitely get a generally bad rep in that year.

Two years later, however, they decided to come back with their 8th studio album, NEVER SAY DIE. The album certainly did better than it's earlier sister album, but definitely not by much.

The album still had pop-like notes and composition, however it was obvious they were trying to make a comeback from the last album. They concentrated more on putting heavy chords into the composition to make it sound more like their old music, yet also combining it with this new found feel Ozzy and the band discovered. To be honest, it doesn't sound bad. Yes, there are some slower parts that definitely don't hold much water, but it other circumstances they can retain some enjoyability. A lot of the time, Ozzy's vocals and lyrics support the album through some rough patches, and seem to give new light to the said medium, allowing for it to come back with a much more solid and steadfast feel.

Many people say that this was a poor way for Ozzy to leave the band to let Dio take his place for a few albums, which may be true. However, it is true that many people expect too much out of these early perfect-record bands such as DIO, or BLACK SABBATH. To that, I say give it a chance, and you may happen to like the faster SABBATH.

(Originally written for the Metal Music Archives on 9/3/14)