''Never Say Die!'' is the eighth studio album by English rock band
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...
, released on 29 September 1978. It was the last studio album with the band's original line-up and the last studio album to feature original vocalist
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...
until the 2013 album ''
13''. It was certified Gold in the U.S. on 7 November 1997 and as of November 2011 has sold 133,000 copies in the United States since the
SoundScan era. The album received mixed reviews, with critics calling it "unbalanced" and insisting its energy was scattered in too many directions.
Recording
At the time of recording ''Never Say Die!'', Black Sabbath's members were struggling with heavy substance abuse. Before sessions began, vocalist Ozzy Osbourne temporarily left the band and was briefly replaced by
Dave Walker, known for his work with
Savoy Brown and
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...
. According to guitarist
Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank Iommi Jr. (born 19 February 1948) is an English musician. He co-founded the pioneering Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader, primary composer, and sole continuous member for over ...
, although both parties likely wanted to reunite, no one communicated directly, leading to Walker's short-lived stint. The band even performed early material with him, including an early version of “Junior’s Eyes” on the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
show ''Look Hear''.
Osbourne eventually returned, but refused to sing any of the material written during Walker’s tenure.
One of those songs, “Swinging the Chain,” was sung by drummer Bill Ward instead. Because the band was often writing songs during the day and recording them at night, they had little time for revisions, resulting in an album Iommi later described as lacking cohesion.
Osbourne also declined to contribute vocals to “Breakout,” which remained instrumental. The lyrics to “Junior’s Eyes” were revised to reflect the recent passing of Osbourne’s father.
Personal issues further delayed the album’s production. Osbourne later explained that his father’s death led to a three-month hiatus for mourning and funeral arrangements.
['' Sounds'', 21 October 1978] Although the band eventually regrouped in the studio, tensions lingered—especially between Osbourne and Iommi—and the sense of unity had faded.
The album was recorded at Sounds Interchange Studios in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
. Iommi recalled that the band chose the studio largely for tax reasons, but it proved ill-suited for their needs. To improve the studio’s acoustics, they had to remove carpeting to create a more vibrant sound, which delayed progress due to the lack of better alternatives.
In a 2001 interview, Iommi recalled that the band rehearsed in a freezing cinema during the harsh Toronto winter and recorded sessions at night, adding further discomfort to an already strained process. Bassist
Geezer Butler
Terence Michael Joseph "Geezer" Butler (born 17 July 1949) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and primary lyricist of the pioneering Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He has also recorded and performed with Heave ...
characterized the album as a patchwork effort. He noted that despite the album's defiant title, the band sensed it might be their final collaboration. During their 10th anniversary tour with
Van Halen
Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...
, Butler recalled feeling doubtful about the band's future despite public optimism.
Butler also expressed frustration over Osbourne’s frequent rejection of his lyrics, revealing that last-minute rewrites became common late in their partnership. Iommi, in a 2004 retrospective, described a chaotic studio environment where the band was often too intoxicated to work effectively, with members contributing inconsistently and lacking focus.
Osbourne, in a later interview, described the band as overwhelmed and dysfunctional, plagued by addiction and interpersonal conflict. He was ultimately dismissed from the group, describing the atmosphere as toxic and unsalvageable.
Despite these challenges, Ward defended the album years later, suggesting the band did their best under the circumstances and even experimented creatively, particularly on tracks like “Johnny Blade” and “Air Dance.” Osbourne, however, criticized these jazz-influenced tracks in his memoir, particularly “Breakout,” which he found artistically incompatible with the band’s identity.
Although Ward performed vocals on “Swinging the Chain,” the lyrics were mistakenly credited to Butler when they were actually written by Ward himself.
The album’s sleeve was designed by
Storm Thorgerson
Storm Elvin Thorgerson (28 February 1944 – 18 April 2013) was an English art director and music video director. He is best known for closely working with the group Pink Floyd through most of their career, and also created album or other art f ...
’s
Hipgnosis
Hipgnosis were an English art design group, based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, Def Leppard, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black S ...
, their second collaboration with the band following ''
Technical Ecstasy
''Technical Ecstasy'' is the seventh studio album by English rock band Black Sabbath, produced by guitarist Tony Iommi and released in October 1976 by Vertigo Records. The album received mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial success ...
'' (1976). The UK and US versions featured slight differences in background imagery, including faint silhouettes of British military pilots. The album’s inner sleeve featured consistent artwork and credits but omitted lyrics. The cover aircraft resembles a
North American T-6 Texan
The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft, which was used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Ro ...
. An alternate design featuring masked doctors was rejected by the band but later used by
Rainbow
A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...
for their 1981 album ''
Difficult to Cure''.
Release and critical reception
In the UK the title track, released well ahead of the album as the band's first UK picture sleeve single, reached No. 21 in the chart and gave the band its first ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
'' appearances since 1970. In the UK the album reached No. 12, one place higher than its predecessor ''
Technical Ecstasy
''Technical Ecstasy'' is the seventh studio album by English rock band Black Sabbath, produced by guitarist Tony Iommi and released in October 1976 by Vertigo Records. The album received mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial success ...
''. In the US it peaked at number 69 on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' Pop Album chart. In the UK, "Hard Road" was released as the second single from the album and reached the UK Top 40, 25,000 copies being pressed in a limited-edition purple-vinyl. There was no picture-sleeve release but a video for "A Hard Road" was made during the ''Never Say Die!'' Tour to promote the single. The song marks the first and last time guitarist Tony Iommi sings backing vocals. Iommi explains in his autobiography ''Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven & Hell with Black Sabbath'', that when he sang, bassist Geezer Butler couldn't keep a straight face.
The album received mostly negative reviews; according to Terry Staunton of ''
Uncut'', "even diehard fans among the music press
ere
Ere or ERE may refer to:
* ''Environmental and Resource Economics'', a peer-reviewed academic journal
* ERE Informatique, one of the first French video game companies
* Ere language, an Austronesian language
* Ebi Ere (born 1981), American-Nigeria ...
unsure of muddling excursions towards
electronica
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...
('Johnny Blade') and passages that veered worryingly close to jazz ('Air Dance', the curious horns in the instrumental 'Breakout'). More than one critic described the overall sound as 'murky'."
It is not held in high esteem today, with
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
critic Eduardo Rivadavia referring to the album as "unfocused", saying it "will hold little interest to the average heavy metal fan".
''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' says it was "not a blaze of glory for the original foursome" but added that it may be "better than people might remember".
In his own ''Uncut'' piece, Staunton bemoaned the experiments, but believed that the "few occasions where the stars align and ducks form an orderly row" are "worth celebrating", singling out the title track for its power and "Junior's Eyes" for having a vitality and tension missing elsewhere.
Rob Michaels of the ''
Spin Alternative Record Guide
The ''Spin Alternative Record Guide'' is a music reference book compiled by the American music magazine ''Spin (magazine), Spin'' and published in 1995 by Vintage Books. It was editing, edited by the rock music, rock critic Eric Weisbard and Crai ...
'' (1995) writes that "the rhythm section has a spry spring in its leaden step and the songs are tough and catchy."
In 2013 Phil Alexander of ''Mojo'' referred to the album as "disastrous".
Speaking in October 1978 of the new album, Osbourne said, "It's a combination of what we've all been through in the last 10 years. It's a very varied album. Like, we started out playing in blues clubs, because British blues – like
John Mayall
John Brumwell Mayall (29 November 1933 – 22 July 2024) was an English blues and Rock music, rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of ...
and early
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...
– was the thing at the time. We were into a
twelve-bar trip and early
Ten Years After
Ten Years After are a British blues rock group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, the band had eight consecutive Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart. In addition, they had twelve albums enter the US ''Bi ...
-style stuff. So it's part of that sort of trip. Then there's the heavy thing and the rock thing. It's not just steamhammer
headbanging stuff all the way through ... We got rid of all our inner frustrations: what each of us individually wanted to put down over the years but couldn't because of the pressures of work. So we put a lot of painstaking hours into developing this album."
However, Osbourne quickly soured on the LP, telling ''After Hours'' in a 1981 interview "The last album I did with Sabbath was ''Never Say Die!'' and it was the worst piece of work that I've ever had anything to do with. I'm ashamed of that album. I think it's disgusting". He went on to claim that the band flew to Toronto in January during sub-zero temperature "purely because
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
had recorded
a live album there." In 2013, Osbourne told ''Mojo'', "I'd go down to the studio and I heard what sounded like a jazz band playing. Is this really Black Sabbath? I'd just fuck off." Osbourne was fired by the band eight months later.
Wil Malone, who oversaw the jazz-inflected horns arrangements on the album, is a British
music producer
A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
and arranger, who, besides working with Black Sabbath,
went on to work with
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...
,
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophistica ...
,
The Verve
The Verve were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones (musician), Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Sim ...
,
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...
, and
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...
.
Jon Elstar, who was recruited to play harmonica on "Swinging the Chain," had also played on releases by
R & B proto-punk
Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock genre and movement. A retrospective label, the musicians involved were generally not originally associated with each other and came from a variet ...
band The
Pretty Things
Pretty Things were an English Rock music, rock band formed in September 1963 in Sidcup, Kent, taking their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing", and active in their first incarnation until 1971. They released five studio albums, i ...
, as well as appearing on
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...
releases on
Trojan Records
Trojan Records is a British record label founded by Jamaican Duke Reid, Lee Gopthal and Chris Blackwell in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. Th ...
label.
Despite the negative reception,
Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Cornell switched to rhythm guitar in 1985, replaced on drums initially ...
guitarist
Kim Thayil
Kim Anand Thayil (born September 4, 1960)[Kim Thayil Biography](_blank)
Unofficial SG Homepage. cited ''Never Say Die!'' as one of his favourite Black Sabbath albums. Megadeth covered the title track for the 2000 tribute album ''Nativity In Black II'', with singer
Dave Mustaine
David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is best known as the co-founder, frontman, primary songwriter and sole consistent member of the thrash metal band Megadeth and for his time as the lead guitarist of Met ...
telling Nick Bowcott in 2008, "The simplicity of Iommi's style makes this rhythm progression one of my all-time favorites: fast, classic English riff-stylings with a climactic arrangement."
Andy LaRocque, guitarist for
King Diamond
Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto s ...
, was influenced by the album in the making of the melodic guitar part of "Sleepless Nights", from the ''
Conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...
'' album.

In March 2017, Jon Hadusek of ''
Consequence of Sound
''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television.
History
''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...
'' ranked ''Never Say Die!'' 10th out of 19 Black Sabbath studio albums.
He called it "straight-up
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...
, primed for heavy rotation", but felt it had merits, complimenting Osbourne's confident vocals and Iommi's guitar for "
ot beingburied like it was on ''Technical Ecstasy'', and the rigid melodies force his playing to be concise and punchy."
Among other similar lists, ''
Kerrang!
''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...
'' ranked it 15th, praising the choice of a
punky opening track but panning the inclusion of a Ward-song sung and noting a lack of creative enthusiasm throughout.
''
Ultimate Classic Rock'' ranked it 12th, praising the energetic title track, "Johnny Blade" and "A Hard Road", but believing they and the abundance of weaker songs "paled next to the colossal metal anthems recorded just a few years earlier". ''
Classic Rock
Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...
'' ranked it 10th, believing both it and ''Technical Ecstasy'' to be the band's most underrated albums. Also ranking it 10th, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' comments that the album "has a terrible reputation, but it's a quirky and enjoyable record, as long as you don't expect Sabbath Even Bloodier Sabbath. The title track has
garage-band rawness; Air Dance is – dare one say it – oddly beautiful. It’s hit and miss, but it’s still better than almost everything from 1981 onwards."
Geezer Butler told
Metal Edge that ''Never Say Die!'' is easily the worst album that the band made. He explained, "The reason for that is we tried to manage ourselves and produce the record ourselves. We wanted to do it on our own, but in truth, not one of us had a single clue about what to do. By that point, we were spending more time with lawyers and in court rather than being in the studio writing. It was just too much pressure on us, and the writing suffered."
Never Say Die! Tour with Van Halen
Black Sabbath's
Never Say Die! Tour opened on 16 May 1978 in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
with
Van Halen
Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...
as their opening act, who'd just scored a hit in the United States with a cover of
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...
' "
You Really Got Me
"You Really Got Me" is a song by the English rock band the Kinks, written by frontman Ray Davies and released as their third single in 1964. The song, originally performed in a more blues-oriented style, was inspired by artists such as Lead B ...
." Ward's drum tech Graham Wright and Osbourne's personal assistant David Tangye, who write extensively about the tour in their 2004 book ''How Black Was Our Sabbath'', reveal that relations between the bands got off to a shaky start at the 22 May show at the Apollo Theatre in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
. After Sabbath finished their soundcheck, Van Halen "hit the stage and started to play Sabbath tunes. It was their way of paying tribute to the Sabs, but Tony Iommi was annoyed by it. He may have misinterpreted the gesture as a piss-take, which it certainly was not. Van Halen were in awe of Sabbath, and their lead guitarist,
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he founded with his brother Alex V ...
, was a big fan of Tony. The unwitting faux pas was soon forgotten. The two bands came to get along very well together, and Alex Van Halen would often sit ... behind Bill's drum kit, watching and listening to him play onstage." On the U.S. leg of the tour, Van Halen's presence had a major influence on ticket sales since they were a much bigger draw at home than they were in the UK. Wright and Graham also recount two riots that occurred on the ''Never Say Die!'' tour, the first happening in
Neunkirchen am Brand
Neunkirchen am Brand is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Forchheim (district), Forchheim in Bavaria in Germany.
History
Important dates are the founding of the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine monastery, Neunkirchen a ...
, Germany, in front of a hall crammed with "thousands of extremely stoned, drunk and rowdy GIs" when, three songs into a show, Iommi stalked off the stage because of a buzzing from his guitar stack. When the audience realised the band had quit the gig they wrecked the hall. Another riot ensued at the Municipal Auditorium in
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
when Osbourne didn't show up and the band had to cancel; it later came to light that Osbourne had "slept right round the clock, woken up, seen that it was six o'clock, and thinking that it was still the evening before, had got ready for the show. Even more incredibly, he'd been sleeping in the wrong room." A video from this period, professionally recorded on the UK tour at the
Hammersmith Odeon
The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...
in June 1978, can be seen on the
Sanctuary
A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...
Visual Entertainment DVD, also entitled ''Never Say Die''.
Several US dates featured
the Ramones
The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of t ...
as an opener, either in addition to, or in lieu of Van Halen. The NYC
punk rock
Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
band was eager to expand their fanbase, and considered themselves to have more in common with the
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
bands of 1978 than with a band like the
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...
. In part due to one promoter billing the event as “punk vs. metal”, Sabbath's audience responded to the opener with open hostility.
''Top of the Pops'' appearance
With the success of the "Never Say Die" single, Black Sabbath was invited to perform on ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
''. The band twice appeared live in the studio, miming to a pre-recorded version of the song. One of these appearances was included on the official ''
The Black Sabbath Story, Vol. 1''
video release. In his autobiography, Osbourne remembers the appearance fondly "'cos we got to meet
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...
. I'll always remember the moment he came out of his dressing room – it was next to ours – and you literally couldn't see his head through the cloud of dope smoke. He was smoking the biggest, fattest joint I'd ever seen – and believe me, I'd seen a few. I kept thinking, He's gonna have to lip-synch, ''no one'' can do a live show when they're that high. But no – he did it live. Flawlessly, too." In his autobiography, Iommi reveals that because drummer Bill Ward had his hair in braids at the time, "everybody thought he was taking the mickey out of Bob (Marley). It wasn't like that at all; it was just the way he happened to have his hair in those days."
Track listing
;Note
Personnel
Black Sabbath
*
Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank Iommi Jr. (born 19 February 1948) is an English musician. He co-founded the pioneering Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader, primary composer, and sole continuous member for over ...
– guitars, backing vocals on "A Hard Road"
*
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...
– lead and backing vocals
*
Geezer Butler
Terence Michael Joseph "Geezer" Butler (born 17 July 1949) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and primary lyricist of the pioneering Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He has also recorded and performed with Heave ...
– bass guitar, backing vocals on "A Hard Road"
*
Bill Ward – drums, lead vocals on "Swinging the Chain", backing vocals on "A Hard Road"
Additional musicians
*
Don Airey
Donald Smith Airey (born 21 June 1948) is an English musician. He came to prominence as the keyboardist of the rock band Rainbow during 1979–1982. He has been the keyboardist of Deep Purple, the band from which Rainbow was a spinoff, since 2 ...
– keyboards
*Jon Elstar – harmonica on "Swinging the Chain"
*
Wil Malone – brass arrangements
(track 8)
Charts
Certifications
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1978 albums
Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis
Black Sabbath albums
Vertigo Records albums
Warner Records albums
Pop rock albums by English artists