Black Sabbath: Never Say Die

Black Sabbath: Never Say Die

1978

Warner Bros Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Never Say Die  2. Johnny Blade  2. Junior's Eyes  4.  A Hard Road  5. Shock Wave  6. Air Dance  7. Over to You  8. Breakout  9. Swinging the Chain

"Never Say Die" was the final Black Sabbath album to feature Ozzy, until this 2013's "13"...Too bad they didn't go out on a higher note...or maybe a lower one, like a C# for example...But there were quite a few things working against the band at this time...For example, Ozzy's drug dependency catching up to him and the recent death of his father... The album was also originally done with a replacement singer, who was given the heave-ho when Ozzy came back, but Ozzy wouldn't sing the stuff written while the other singer was with the band, so it was all re-written at the last minute..So the record has a distinct style that sounds over-written yet under-worked, if that makes sense...Overly long, overly complicated songs that are missing some of the old spark...And in many places it feels a bit sluggish, even though it's probably faster than some of their other albums...

Things start out promising enough with the title track....One my faves actually...I mean, it doesn't exactly sound like Black Sabbath, but it's absolutely one of the best songs Thin Lizzy never wrote...Crashing Power chords and galloping beat, and Ozzy sounds so on top of it (which is the only time on the album where you can truly say that...). It sounds like they've finally mastered the style they were going for on "Technical Ecstasy", and it gets you all psyched for the awesome album that never comes...

The second song "Johnny Blade" sets the tone more accurately...It's overly complex for such a simple hard rock song, and it doesn't have any particularly memorable hook or chorus or even a killer riff...It took me about 10 listens to even remember how it goes...But like a good number of the songs on the album, I did eventually learn to enjoy it...

 "Junior's Eyes" is particularly interesting...I like Geezer and Bill's moody funk groove, and "A Hard Road" is very refreshing in its uptempo, straight-forward poppiness...but side two is almost a complete loss, outside of the unexpected jazz-fusion on "Air Dance." Nothing else really connects with me there...Hell, even Ozzy seems to have stepped out for a drink well before the album's over, since he doesn't even appear on the last two songs!

 Not the best way to close out the Ozzy era...I actually think they probably should have just got back together to do the "Never Say Die/A Hard Road " single...

But wait...Then we would have never gotten that kick-ass album cover!

The band actually turned down Hipgnosis' original album cover...But Hipgnosis later reused it for Rainbow's "Difficult to Cure."...



Ahhh, screw it...I'm happy "Never Say Die!" exists...What's a well-rounded discography without a few minor entries...Let's check out Black Sabbath performing the title track on "Top of the Pops!" It's a very cool clip...