Iommi... What Makes Him Great?

[Zzzptm]

OK, Sabfans... what is it about Tony Iommi's playing that makes him such a superstar of the guitar?

Has he ever gone through a patch that made you wonder what he was doing? Or has he always been consistent in your view?

Is he innovative? If so, how?

What work of his would you put on a "Best of Tony Iommi" compilation album?

[Charger]

I think it's a combination of things...his tone, his style and his versatility. I mean there are very few players than can belt out super heavy riffs and extremely touching melodic solos in the same song.

I think the only time I have really been disappointed with Tony's playing or wondered what the heck was going on was with Never Say Die and to a lesser extent with Seventh Star and Dep Sessions...those are pretty much the only albums where Tony doesn't really sound like Tony all the time.

Is he innovative...well he kind of invented heavy metal so...yeah...I guess he sorta is...

[Vyn]

Riffs and tone. He is very measured in his attack, and to me always seems to emote "control". I'm sure he can, but I never get the sense that he's going to trip out like Duane Allman. Tony's playing has always been the grounding element in the music for me. He's never been the instrument through which the guitar communicates its message like, say, Uli Roth. Rather, he comes across as someone who is in control of the guitar and makes it communicate his message.

I don't think he's particularly innovative a la Robert Fripp, but he was the herald for an entire genre of music and has been influential as all get out.

Best of Iommi? I think Iommi is at his best when he keeps it simple, straight to the point, and blues-based.

Black Sabbath, of course. Paranoid is the bigger commercial hit, but War Pigs is better. Into the Void, Hole in the Sky, Heaven and Hell...I think the times when the band tried reaching out for more commercial success they lost the plot, and thus did Iommi.

[Typhon]

I look at this a little differently.  Each of the Sabbath original 4 have always enhanced each others specific skills.  Therefore, the more enhancements are removed, the more I dislike the resulting sound.  This applies to all 4, including Iommi.  This does not mean that he, or the other 3, ever sound bad.  They always sound good, because they are extremely talented at what they do.  But, only as a group, do they sound great.  Therefore, Iommi's best is the Great Eight.

[Zzzptm]

I like Vyn's comment about going commercial and losing sight of what made them great.

Iommi's playing to me is characterized by a good, chunky rhythm sound and solos that frequently wail away on the high notes. He's not hesitant in his rhythm playing, which is a criticism I have of Ritchie Blackmore, but accepts that job happily.

To me, his solos frequently sound like they start in the middle. Not a criticism, just an observation. I still think he does brilliant work that compels me to listen to the story he tells through his instrument.

"Heaven and Hell" to me is his crowning glory of a solo. That's the one that is most likely to make me act out playing a guitar left-handed. For my Best of Iommi compilation, I'd also put a pair from Eternal Idol into the mix - "Born to Lose" and "Lost Forever".

"Sweet Leaf" has the riff that launched a thousand stoner rock bands. Those first five notes are the thing of legend.

Both "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and "Spiral Architect" are essential inclusions, just for their complexity of tone and how Iommi takes the rhythm playing and really makes it stand out.

From Sabotage, there's tons to choose from. Picking just two, I'd go with "Symptom of the Universe" and "Megalomania". Absolutely monstrous sound and solos on those two.

My final pick would be from Mob Rules: "Falling off the Edge of the World". That song, to me, is second to "Heaven and Hell." The opening, with its volume knob effects, draws me in... and then, after the dirge section, that wicked riff captures my soul and drags it away.

[Charger]

I've heard that bit about Tony's solos starting in the middle before as well and I honestly don't really understand what that means...

Is it that he goes straight into the solo without any intro? No long bended notes before the solo?


Talking about Tony best of...that's nearly impossible for me but I would most certainly include tracks like The Warning which still is one of his best ever solos, Wicked World, Lord Of This World, Supernaut, Sabbra Cadabra, Megalomania, Heaven And Hell, Lonely Is The Word, The Sign Of The Southern Cross, Country Girl, When Death Calls, Anno Mundi, I, I Witness, Follow The Tears, Fear and Into The Night and I Go Insane.

[Zzzptm]

I know I brought that up before, may have been me, but I got that from another guy I was discussing Sabbath with.

It's basically that there's no faffing about, he just gets to the meat of it. You don't get any warning and there you are, smack in the middle of the solo there.

[Jack the Stripper]

In honour of the great man turning 75 Mr Popoff has ranked his top 20 Iommi riffs.

You can check it out here
https://www.goldminemag.com/music-history/the-top-20-tony-iommi-riffs-ranked?fbclid=IwAR0QTjvJbcL8a7D3IGyA0EmCG-m8C29ySyWcP6ajmgaz-hdw1jv3hI7usYE

[Zzzptm]

[Charger]

Popoff can talk straight out of his ass at times and make some really oddball rankings that make absolutely no sense to anyone with half an ear...

I can agree with some of the picks but Thrill of it all and Swinging the Chain! Seriously!?!

Heaven And Hell should be #1 obviously and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath should be #2 then Symptom...I do like the inclusion of Bible Black although Follow The Tears obviously has a better riff but the fact that he even chose something from The Devil You Know was a bit of a positive shock.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

It's all a personal opinion on Popoff's behalf, some choices I agree with, some I don't... I don't let it bother me because he'd probably question my choices!

I wouldn't have used up slots by including different riffs from the same song separately!!

[Jack the Stripper]

Nothing should be this number or that. It’s personal opinion and Martin puts his case forward on his rankings very intelligently and eloquently as he always does. Personally I think he nailed the top 3 but I’m sure Martin would agree has barely scratched the surface in terms of how prolific Tony has been. Certainly not an easy task.

[Vyn]

Much (most) of why I like Seventh Star comes down to Iommi's guitar work. Same with Fused. He has so much material out there!

[Jack the Stripper]

Tony played Paranoid with Hollywood Vampires last night in Birmingham

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Yeah, I saw that earlier, a shame they didn't catch it from the start.