Never Say Die! - Song by Song

[Zzzptm]

Junior's Eyes finishes the listenable songs section of the album.

I still enjoy A Hard Road and Shock Wave, but, yeah, I'll be joining you in the unsatisfied column once those songs are cleared. I kinda like Swinging the Chain every now and then, but I have to be in the right mood to get a kick out of it.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

A Hard Road next, and a solid effort which has grown on me over the years. It maybe goes on a little too long, but that's ok. The first and only time that Tony and Geezer are credited with singing on a track.

[Typhon]

A Hard Road is another winner on this album.  It is upbeat and energetic.  KDC is correct about Tony and Geezer singing on this one.  Hearing this song always makes me feel good, and I still say, this should have been Sabbath's final song in their final performance on The End tour.   

[Charger]

A Hard Road is a horrid commercial pop rock tune which is so out of character for a band like Black Sabbath it's not even funny.

The chorus is laughable and the rest of the lyrics are silly to say the least.

If Sabbath had done a song like this in the beginning of their careers the band would have been laughed out and they would have been lost to oblivion.

[Zzzptm]

I'll be disagreeing with the distinguished gentleman from Finland and concurring with the gentlemen from England, Old and New.

It's a singalong song, everybody join in! So, yes, the lyrics are pretty pedestrian. But that's so you can lean from side to side with your buddies as you all hold up your pints of whatever and sing and laugh and have a great time. It's an upbeat song and, yes, it's out of character for the band... but so is Sabbra Cadabra. I think this one could have been on SBS or the fragmented Vol. 4 and been just fine.

As for silly little songs at the start of their careers... I submit "The Wizard". That's a fun tune, and we all had a great time with it. Black Sabbath didn't take things too seriously, and that's a good thing in a band.

It's a perfect closer of a tune. And yes, imagine the audience in the final concert singing along at the end, there. Everybody join in!

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Shock Wave is far more in keeping with Sabbath's back catalogue, an uptempo song about occult matters.

To be honest this song passed me bye for many years, it wasn't bad so I didn't skip it but it didn't really register with me either... it was sort of "filler". But I realised later on that it was far better than filler, and infact it's a great song... oh! for a better, less tinny production.

[Typhon]

Shock Wave is another good song.  It is somewhat heavier and gives a strong punch, while at the same time, keeping in line with the overall sound of the album.

[Zzzptm]

Shock Wave has a great opening riff, although the secondary riff kinda throws me a little until it goes with the verses, works better under Ozzy's vocal. The song goes through, what, five? six? different themes before the slower bridge section, all of which I enjoy very much... up to the bridge. That part took a while to enjoy, but I finally was able to get into it, thanks to the great solo. It's nice to go back through the earlier sections, but I question ending on that bridge section with a "whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo" refrain on the way out. Still, it's overall a song I like in and of itself. Along with the title track, Junior's Eyes, and A Hard Road, it's the half of the album that I enjoy most.

[Charger]

Shock Wave might be the heaviest song on the album but calling it heavy would be like calling Nickleback Black Metal.

The opening riff isn't too bad but it has no power, no energy and no punch...which is kind of the story of the whole album really.

Ozzy's vocals sound strained and forced and Geezer is still out having a beer in a local pub instead of at the album recordings...

The good in the song, the opening riff....the bad...everything else.

[Zzzptm]

A note on the studio... it was horrible! The band tried to make the sound better, but just couldn't. Hence, the TINNINESS!

As for the direction(s) the band were going in, Ozzy had left and returned and then his dad passed, so there was a 3-month break, Ozzy refused to do the material written for Dave Walker, then Ozzy refused to do some of what Geezer wrote, and then Ozzy had some really strong opinions (all bad) about the return of the Tony Iommi Jazz Trio. Ozzy basically checks out on Air Dance, Breakout, and Swinging the Chain.

8 months later, the band fired Ozzy after a tour with Van Halen as the opening act. Sabbath only played NSD from the album, everything else was from their back catalog.

[Charger]

Sabbath only played NSD from the album, everything else was from their back catalog.

A small correction to the note here.
They also played Shock Wave.

[Typhon]

Ozzy basically checks out on Air Dance, Breakout, and Swinging the Chain.

Another small correction.
Ozzy did refuse to do Swinging the Chain because it was written for DW (who can blame him), but Breakout is an instrumental (so there was no vocal anyway), and he performed Air Dance without objection.

[Zzzptm]

Charger is correct - a few dates included that song.

Regarding Breakout, Nolan Stoltz indicated that it was released as an instrumental because Ozzy refused to sing on it.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Next we come to Air Dance, which people seem to either love or hate. Personally I love it, the jazzy feel works really well in my mind and this just might be another top 10 song for me*.


* I may need to go back and check out how many Ozzy Era songs I've said are top 10, because there's another to come on 13!

[Typhon]

* I may need to go back and check out how many Ozzy Era songs I've said are top 10, because there's another to come on 13!

  Yeah, it can be difficult when going through them one by one like this.

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I very much enjoy Air Dance.  It is really amazing how they can come up with this mix of light and heavy sounds, plus a little jazz touch, and make it all work.