13 - Song By Song

[Zzzptm]

Fourth "yes" vote from me for Loner. And I'm with Charger: musically, this is a variation on the main theme from Voodoo, and I'll add that the middle vocal section is very much like the chorus of N.I.B. I like the variation in the song, just wish it had been present on the previous track... but, yeah, this one is selling me on the LP.

Side-by-side, Deep Purple's third track from Now What?! is "Out of Hand" - and this one turns up the volume and hardness, and it's got me bobbing my head along with the track. This is also the first track that really sells me on the album. Good and hard, but with plenty of fun touches to keep the interest level up.

The two albums in my view are now neck and neck - all to play for.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Next we have Zeitgeist, the mutant child of Planet Caravan... and I absolutely love it. This is so much better than Planet Caravan, and it has one of Ozzy's best vocal melodies in years, the lyrics are pretty good too.

[Typhon]

Zeitgeist is indeed a relative of Planet Caravan.  Since I've always liked PC, I like this relative even more.  A very nice BFTO tune.

[Charger]

I'm sorry right of the bat KDC as this might not be a pleasant read for you buddy!

Zeitgest is the second giant turd of the album. It's nothing but a Planet Caravan remake with just worse lyrics, worse music, worse delivery and worse...well everything really.

I wish they would have tried to to something bit more original for a slow number, or better yet leave the slow number out completely.

I think I've listened to this song three times through and through...I tried to listen to this again yesterday, but only got about minute and half in when I just had to skip it to avoid an aneurism.

The irony is if they had done this track back in 1970 it would have been cool, but now it's just the most blatant self plagiarism I have ever heard.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

^^^
No need to apologies, I'm well aware that it is a love/hate song for people. I'm probably more forgiving because I don't mind that a couple of songs were rehashed from their back catalogue, particularly when it's better than the original!

[Zzzptm]

My first impression of Zeitgeist, well that's this listen I'm having now. It's FX meets Planet Caravan, and the vocal is not to my liking. I would have preferred a softer touch, maybe put it in a lower key. I like quiet songs, but not this one, sorry. The descending scale element is very nice, but goes better with, well, a softer vocal. The guitar solo is a quiet relief and then that flute note plays, and it's PC, once again. In terms of convincing me to plonk down my cash to buy the record, this one did not do anything for me. So far, I'm considering picking up "Loner" as a single tune and leaving the rest on the table.

And this is where Now What?! launches its rocket, "Hell to Pay." Where Black Sabbath went slow - slow and too long - rock - slow again, Deep Purple did slow - slow and pretty - hard - hard and fast. "Hell to Pay" is the "hell yes" song that makes me feel strong about committing to the album. Sure, it's the same style they've been doing all these years, but the ideas in it are nevertheless fresh. I don't feel like I've already got a copy of this song, laying about somewhere.

While I think the albums were pretty much even up to the end of the third track, in the fourth, Sabbath stumbles while Purple surges ahead. Without the bonus Spotify tracks, Sabbath is now halfway through the album, Deep Purple is only a third of the way through their album. So are those Spotify tracks in consideration for this album?

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

^^^
My understanding is that the Deluxe version of 13 sold way more than the basic edition so I'm intending to include those songs particularly as one of them is a standout track!

[Zzzptm]

^^^
My understanding is that the Deluxe version of 13 sold way more than the basic edition so I'm intending to include those songs particularly as one of them is a standout track!

Good to know, then it's 11 for each album to match to each other.

[Vyn]

Zeitgeist seems to kick off for the first bit sounding like an outtake from the Paranoid sessions. There's a hint of a leslie mic, and the hand percussion. As the song progresses it seems to move away from the atmospheric elements and put Ozzy's vocal front and center. The rest of it is still there, but less. Somehow.

I'm not sure what to think about this track. It feels forced, but maybe that's because of the inevitable comparison to Planet Caravan. Ozzy's vocal has an edge/harshness that seems out of place.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

On to Age of Reason and the standout track on the album. It's got a great riff, nice "we're killing the planet" type lyrics, and a great solo. Slight gripe is it just sort of ends unexpectedly.

Anyway another top 10 Ozzy era song for me (I counted back and it's the 11th!!)

[Typhon]

Age Of Reason continues the streak of excellent tracks.  The riff is powerful, the lyrics are good, and the tempo changes work well together.  A Sabbath trademark.

[Charger]

Age Of Reason is a good track. It's nothing special but it's still a nice solid track.

I think for this song Ruin Rubin said the to the band write a song that could fit on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and they did. It isn't a heavy track but it's a metal track though.

Lyrically this is among the better tracks on the album as well.

[Zzzptm]

Hrm. Age of Reason is another slow track. And I'm hearing more Sabotage than SBS, but, yeah, like the other songs, there's a definite reach back to earlier days - not a bad thing in and of itself. My objection to the song is that its just dragging along. At around 3:40, I get my hopes up that the band puts in a speedy section, but nope. They just shift from first to second... and then back to first. It's dreary. Iommi's solo after the 5 minute mark points back to Over and Over/Lonely is the Word - how much of this album is a "miss you" to Ronnie James Dio?

I do like the song better towards the end, but the end itself is a bit of a confirmation of the joke that Iommi's solos have no beginning or end, just a middle. Yes, I've heard solos of his with beginnings and ends, but this one, this time, this song... it's a middle only. And then it's off.

Meanwhile, the 5th track on the Purple album keeps the energy going with "Body Line." Nice shuffle beat and jaunty guitar set up a perky little tune that rollicks along. There's a lot more life on that track and, well, a lot more musical fun with it. A couple more tracks as good as this, and it's cheaper for me to buy the whole album to get 'em all. Meanwhile, 13 isn't making me as disappointed as TE or half of NSD! did, but if I had to choose between what I've heard so far and my least favorite of the first six, I'd take my least favorite of the first six.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Live Forever next, and it's one of the weaker songs on the album, not actually bad but certainly has a whiff of filler about it.

[Charger]

Live Forever starts off well enough but takes a commercial turn as soon as the verse kicks in...the lyrics are quite weak as well. I mean "I don't want to live forever but I don't want to die"...really?

Has a very strong Ozzy solo number feel to it honestly.

Agreeing with KDC on this one...a definite filler throwaway feel to it.