This is Sabbath’s 7th studio album, and thought of amongst fans as the weakest release of the original line up. Maybe because the songs are quite happy sounding and not the trademark heavy doom sounds of previous efforts, or that they were all out of their minds on all sorts of chemical substances and the focus wasn’t there. I actually bought this on the day of release and remember being stoked for a new Sabbath album. So it’s with this in mind that I review this over 40 years later, and I can admit, it’s not as good as I remember it.
The first two tracks are quite good with Ozzy’s trademark howling vocal sounds as strong as ever, and the riff to You Won’t Change Me is very doomy and what I would expect Sabbath to do. Third track in, Its Alright, has Bill Ward on vocals and is most definitely not Sabbath material – it’s a poor song and just doesn’t fit. Last track on Side 2, Gypsy, starts with a drum riff that steals straight from Cozy Powell and is another average song.
Over to Side 2 and All Moving Parts Stand Still is an ok song, but far from a classic. Rock n Roll Doctor is next and it’s just meh! She’s Gone, a ballad and another track that is just ok – it won’t set the world on fire that’s for sure. Album closer Dirty Women, and as the title suggests, not the deepest song in the world. It must of took Ozzy all of 10 secs to come up with the lyrics.
Musically, it’s not that bad and has a nice middle section. It’s the closest musically to what you would expect Sabbath to release. The album was produced by Tony Iommi, and you have to wonder what he was aiming for.
6/10 from The Grooveman.
