''Iommi'' is the debut solo album by British
heavy metal band
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
guitarist
Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank Iommi () (born 19 February 1948) is a British musician. He co-founded the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader and primary composer and sole continuous member for nearly five decades. I ...
.
The album took nearly five years to make. All of the songs were written by Iommi, producer
Bob Marlette
Robert Roy Marlette (born December 7, 1955) is an American record producer, recording engineer, mixer, and songwriter. His production, writing and mixing credits include David Lee Roth, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, Sebastian Bach, R ...
and the respective vocalists of each track (except "Black Oblivion", which was written by Iommi and
Billy Corgan).
According to Iommi, he and
Phil Anselmo had recorded three tracks together for the album, but only one was put onto the album. Iommi has also said he "wrote a couple of tracks with
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...
and two with Billy Corgan, but you know, we could only use one of each".
Other songs written
In an interview with Cosmik Conversations, Iommi said that they "actually wrote a few tracks with Billy
dol..three with Phil Anselmo...and two tracks with Billy Corgan, but you know, we could only use one of each." There is also a track entitled "Something Wicked This Way Comes" written and recorded with
Scooter Ward
Scooter Ward (born Ronald Ward Jr. on May 7, 1970) is an American musician who is best known as a founding member and lead singer of the rock band Cold. He has also performed occasional guitar duties both in the studio and live. Ward has been r ...
of the band
Cold
Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...
that was not included on the album. The bulk of the music for that track was used for
Peter Steele
Petrus Thomas Ratajczyk (January 4, 1962 – April 14, 2010), known professionally as Peter Steele, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was best known as the lead vocalist, bassist and composer of the gothic metal band Type O N ...
's song, "Just Say No to Love". The track has been available through various filesharing networks. One of the unreleased tracks with Phil Anselmo is a faster-paced song entitled "Inversion of the Saviours". It has also been available through various file sharing networks.
Black Sabbath band members on the album
Iommi's career is closely linked to his time in
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
, a band he led from its formation in 1968 to its semi-retirement in 1999, and has continued to lead during sporadic reunions (in 2001, in some form or another every year from 2004 to 2007 and again from 2011 to 2017). Subsequently, Iommi formed the band
Heaven & Hell, a group featuring a collection of former Black Sabbath band members that had performed together under the Black Sabbath name in the past.
A number of musicians associated with Black Sabbath appear on ''Iommi''. Track 9 features Black Sabbath vocalist Ozzy Osbourne (1968–1978, 1978–1979, 1996–2006, 2011–2017) and drummer
Bill Ward (1968–1980, 1983, 1984, 1994, 1997–2006, 2011–2012). The track also features Laurence Cottle on bass, the session bassist for Black Sabbath's studio album ''
Headless Cross''.
Cottle also features on tracks 3–5 and 7–9. Tracks 3 and 7 feature guitarist
Brian May
Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and ...
(of
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
), who had previously guest performed with Sabbath on their 1989 tour, performing a guitar solo on the ''Headless Cross'' album, and which Iommi played with him at
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness was a benefit concert held on Easter Monday, 20 April 1992, at Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom for an audience of 72,000. The concert was produced for television by Ray Burdis, ...
in 1992.
Reception
In 2005, ''Iommi'' was ranked number 451 in ''
Rock Hard'' magazine's book of ''The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time''.
Track listing
Credits
Writing, performance and production credits are adapted from the album liner notes.
Personnel
*
Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank Iommi () (born 19 February 1948) is a British musician. He co-founded the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader and primary composer and sole continuous member for nearly five decades. I ...
– guitars
Additional musicians
*
Bob Marlette
Robert Roy Marlette (born December 7, 1955) is an American record producer, recording engineer, mixer, and songwriter. His production, writing and mixing credits include David Lee Roth, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, Sebastian Bach, R ...
– keyboard, programming
Production
* Ralph Baker – executive production
* Bob Marlette – production, engineering, mixing
Visual art
* Art Shoji – art direction
* Maggie Magarian – art direction, design
* William Hames – photography
* Ross Halfin – photography
* Mike Clement – photography
* Gene Kirkland – photography
* JMO Design – logo
Studios
*
A&M Studios
The Jim Henson Company Lot, formerly A&M Studios, is a studio property located just south of the southeast corner of North La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Originally established by film star Charlie Chaplin, the property serv ...
– recording
*
Chipping Norton
Chipping Norton is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the civil parish population as ...
– recording
*
Long View Farm – recording
*
Sunset Marquis Hotel
Sunset Marquis Hotel is a luxury hotel in West Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California. It is owned by George and his son Mark Rosenthal, and located at 1200 Alta Loma Road, and situated just off the Sunset Strip. Known for its celebrity clie ...
– recording
*
Olympic Studios – recording
Charts
References
{{Authority control
2000 debut albums
Albums produced by Bob Marlette
Tony Iommi albums