Thursday, May 01, 2008

418. Tony Iommi & Glenn Hughes / Fused. 2005. 4/5.

After a number of years, Tony Iommi finally got his head around what he wanted to do, and so came forth this collaboration with Glenn Hughes.

Following on the demise of the Black Sabbath era with Tony Martin and Cozy Powell, the one-off Iommi album with many guest musicians and the annual reunion of the original Black Sabbath to play at Ozzfest – but not to record – Iommi really needed to find a project that was outside of this Sabbath scene. By coming together with Glenn Hughes again, there was an opportunity for them both to do something that was different.

I love this for the fact that it isn’t a Black Sabbath album. It is the coming together of two wonderful musicians, and gelling their different styles into one album. It isn’t like Seventh Star, where they tried to sell it off as a Black Sabbath album, which it quite obviously wasn’t. This has been packaged and released as a separate entity, which is exactly correct.

So settle back and listen to this NOT expecting Black Sabbath, and I think you will be pleasantly surprised for how good it really is. Glenn Hughes has one of the most amazing voices in all of music, and it is showcased here again. Combined with those awesome Tony Iommi riffs and you have a terrific album. The album’s tempo and mood are constant all the way through, which helps to set it apart from the previous work of both these artists. I think the best songs are the ones that bookend the album, “Dopamine” and “I Go Insane”. Both are perfect examples of where Hughes’ vocals and Iommi’s guitaring are the leading features. “The Spell” and “Face Your Fear” and “Wasted Again” are others that I believe are standout tracks.

Rating: Not what you expect, and probably better for it. 4/5.

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