Iommi teaser on YouTube

I feel the same thing: I’ve never been thrilled by Iommi’s solo albums. I absolutely loathe Fused.

I could only speak (very) well of

the 7th star..

Well who doesn’t! :blush:
I’m not only into hard rock! I like this par example:
https://youtu.be/eveOzqNwjRQ?is=9-rWc2CDEN3A8WFP

That version of Fever is as incongruous as Blonde on Blonde’s Whole Lotta Love!

https://youtu.be/moANykp4UWM

Sorry, your pick is not a match against Suzi’s vibrant and alluring version:

https://youtu.be/CMKEXPWymA8

It’s because I heard this version in Castle, season 3 episode 1 :blush:

And the dance scene was intriguing :grin:

I love the blues (I have a collection of harmonicas I like to play), though generally not the “buttoned-up shirt” kind—I prefer it a bit grittier—but Led Zeppelin never really grabbed me. They found success by ripping off blues tracks here and there, which is why I consider them overrated. Deep Purple (more underground and never commercial) and Black Sabbath had a more original sound (if not entirely so). I could never stand Plant’s voice. Bonham? A great drummer, sure, but not on Paice’s level; he was more of a human steamroller. I adore Bill Ward..

The Blues was a staple influence for LZ (as it was for many bands, think The Rolling Stones, Ten Years After, Chicken Shack, early Fleetwood Mac, Savoy Brown or Foghat), but they really were a melting pot - there is lots of English/Celtic folk and what would later on be called World Music/Ethno in it too.

Plant was a great singer, but I could never relate to his voice (and as a non-native speaker had difficulty understanding what he sang, the esoteric symbolism-drenched lyrics did nothing for me either, no one has yet been able to explain to me what Stairway to Heaven is really about). His vocals were to me more like another instrument coloring the music. And I guess my parents had me listen to too much Glenn Miller for me to develop an appreciation of Bonzo - I honestly find someone like Keith Moon with his ADHD drumming more entertaining and musical (Bill Ward is a fave too).

I think it is fair to say that overall LZ’s music was more complex than DP’s and less designed for immediate impact. It also offered spirituality (which is hugely attractive to a lot of people, alas!, I’m not one of them!). There is an inherent “PROGness” to LZ that eluded Mk III totally and was less overt in even Mk II. DP was very direct, in-your-face and forceful, LZ more playful and tauntingly enticing (sometimes fraying at the edges in the process where DP was always clear-cut). From memory and in Germany at least, LZ fans were also older than DP/Rainbow/GILLAN/WS ones (and generally did not like any other hard or heavy rock acts either). It wasn’t that much of a distance from Sweet to Status Quo to DP, but I never heard of anyone morphing from Sweet and Status Quo to LZ - LZ had a somewhat solitary status. (Mind you, in Germany they were never nearly as popular as in the US, during their fame years they basically only toured Germany twice and never for long, their albums didn’t even chart with us except for Led Zeppelin II.)

I’ve written it before: LZ‘s music is the creation of artsy aural architects while DP is the project of practical-minded engineers who know what works and what doesn‘t. Vorsprung durch Technik, there is a reason why DP are an adopted German national treasure.

But that artsy, mystic, esoteric & slightly aloof air of LZ never caught on with me - I guess I‘m not really attracted to escapism and spirituality in any shape or form.

PS: Except when Robert Halford waffles about Hellions, Metallians, Electric Eyes, Metal Gods and whatnot - but that is to me like reading a trashy MARVEL comic or watching a horror film. :joy:

https://youtu.be/lriWlHZAy8A

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And in fact, this new track is the opposite of what you wanted (and what I wanted, too): it’s pure boredom.

Disappointing, but it doesn’t surprise me.

Ciao Tony…

A pretty long intro Andre!
But his playing is neat I think :blush:
The singer however….. well he is no IG :smiling_face:

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Wow!

Is that the Smoke Monster from LOST with Kill Bill’s Pai Mei on vocals?

Cool tune :sign_of_the_horns:t2:

(If a bit generic, of course, but then again, it’s 2026)

OMG, it’s that operatic and über-dramatic RJD/Tony Martin singing that by rights should have been buried under a headless cross long ago so the children of the sea wouldn’t find it.

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Karin,

Actually, in his youth Jørn Lande did a stunning David Coverdale impersonation!

Hear it for yourself (If you wish, of course), here duetting with the great Anneke Van Giersbergen…

Best, J.-

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My son calls Ayreon and the like “World of Warcraft Muzak”. :joy:

I raised the little guy well, Led Zep leanings aside.His best quote was as a teenager when I was playing Manowar in the car: Dad, this is a DISNEY soundtrack CD, right?!

https://youtu.be/9ThO76peOw0

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Julio I listen to everything I’m presented to in here :blush:
And woah! This is really something else…

Comatose???

Songs about death and that kind of overwhelming feelings and pains are not my cup of tea, so to speak.
But I was very interested to listen to this DC impersonator :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

I do prefer DC (did I really say that? Yes, son of a gun I did :laughing:) but thank you for linking it in here :blush:

To bring this evening to a lighter note, may I present to you this formidable singer:

https://youtu.be/iAGcQy8YGeM?is=xzCRvCanfWIDh5_n

I might have linked to this song before, but oh I love everything about it.
Ian’s voice, of course, but listen to RB’s guitarplaying :heart_eyes:
It is so enthusiastic and passionate :smiley:

And what about this:
https://youtu.be/1q-nsPf1DBY?is=kV0UoNjR58-xwo5Y
So fun!
I misheard the lyrics as ‘wild women and song’ but knowing more about the DC-lyrics, that isn’t too far fetched I guess :grin:

This one:
https://youtu.be/9X6e7uctAww?is=qLiGuehCubaIE949
combines my love for the Kinks and Van Halen
(I could do without DLR though, he is too much :winking_face_with_tongue:)

And yet my comment was neither aimed at you, nor promoting Ayreon, it only mentioned Lande’s similar vocal style to DC.

But gee Uwe, thanks anyway man

I do know those songs Karin!

“The House of Blue Light” mas my first “current” DP album when I was 15, good memories :slight_smile:

Best, J.-

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Julio ‘House of blue light’ is a pretty lighthearted album, but not in any way lightweight :blush:
It is easy to listen to, it has a lot of funny lyrics, and the overall music composition is right up my alley :blush:

I am grateful you linked to ‘Comatose’ because I would never have come by that song other wise.

Now we talk about prodigies - thinking of course of Iommi!, what do you think of this nice man:
https://youtu.be/9TlBTPITo1I?is=Nsbk4Hkj_H_Tlfjz

Ohh and this:
https://youtu.be/-3aGZZueg08?is=ychSkgTilUYeUnLs
Lighthearted yes, but brings me in a good mood….:smiley:

And this:
https://youtu.be/472UNEvvjyQ?is=ye-mjXibcu3dlujN
(And now I’m done!)
He was cool! No matter what he did (maybe except Traveling Wilburys….. no wait, he made TW a little cool just by being there :grin:)
He is the kind of singer-song writer I forget, and then suddenly he appears somewhere, and I listen to him a lot again.

No! He is not a great singer like Ian Gillan. But he has his own way and I like it.
But what do you think?

Thanks Karin.

I am not particularly a Petty fan, but I know many people love him!

About Mr. Iommi himself, I think he is an amazing musician, but unlike most people who only celebrate “Paranoid”/“Iron Man”, my favorite era of the man was the one I lived (and loved) in real time, that of Seventh Star and the Tony Martin years, when he was at his most melodic and free.

A shame he had to shackle himself to Sharon and revert to nostalgia to survive in the business, but hey that’s life and all the best for him, for ever.

Cheers, J,- :slight_smile:

Karin, Jorn Lande is an institution in metal, one of the last great hard & heavy singers (50 steps above Romero), great charisma on stage and the only worthy heir of Ronnie Dio for the vast audience of metalheads!

His performances with Masterplan, Avantasia & Allen/Lande are excellent.

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Positive notes:

Tommy still sounds great.
Jorn is unquestionable; he delivers the goods, confirming himself as a worthy heir to the Bigs.
The video is beautiful, especially the first part, even if it’s a bit Resident Evil-esque.

Sad notes:
We’ve waited I don’t know how many years for this album, and Tony not only hasn’t abandoned hard rock and heavy guitars for something different, but he also churns out a power metal track on par with his grandchildren Masterplan, Helloween, Primal Fear, and so on…
a banality, a wasted opportunity.

Purple are light years ahead with Splat, sure, Simon isn’t as iconic as the legend Iommi, who still plays great.
(Simon’s only flaw is that he’s not 70! :winking_face_with_tongue:)
Anyway, I immediately think of Ritchie, who can’t even handle the electric guitar anymore (for a while now) and maybe not even the classical guitar, and I feel so sad.

Thanks AndreA for the warning and I also loathed the Fused album. If only I had searched online before plunging in and buying it. I kept it for about 20 years, perhaps a little less than that and then ditched it in annoyance, with a smile on my face. I have to admit to thinking at the time, 2005 or so, as I enjoyed the Seventh Star album, that because it was Iommi with Glenn Hughes again 20 years later, that it would be great. Not so as they had run out of steam in creating anything ‘new’, so to speak. Cheers.

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