Iommi is Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi's first official solo album. He came close before. 1986's Seventh Star was supposed to be, but Warner Bros. insisted on calling it a Black Sabbath Featuring Tony Iommi record for marketing purposes. In a way, Iommi is nearly a Black Sabbath tribute album since its ten songs each feature an all-star guest vocalist. Actually, "Who's Fooling Who" is three-fourths Black Sabbath since it includes vocalist Ozzy Osbourne and drummer Bill Ward. The other singers are Black Flag and Rollins Band's Henry Rollins, Skunk Anansie's Skin, Nirvana and the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, Pantera's Philip Anselmo, System of a Down's Serj Tankian, the Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan, the Cult's Ian Astbury, Type O Negative's Peter Steele, and Billy Idol. Guest musicians include Queen guitarist Brian May, John Mellencamp drummer Kenny Aronoff, White Zombie drummer John Tempesta, Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron, and '80s-era Black Sabbath bassist Laurence Cottle. Iommi is a rather predictable but generally effective mix of its namesake's menacing riffs and modern-sounding vocals and drums. Rollins actually sings (not growls) on "Laughing Man (In the Devil Mask)." Skin's voice on "Meat" is restrained at first, but she gets progressively spunkier. "Goodbye Lament," featuring Grohl, earned immediate, multi-format radio airplay thanks to the combination of heavy guitars and a seemingly keyboard-programmed (but uncredited) backing track. Corgan's nasally voice mars "Black Oblivion," but the overall melody and catchy riffs rescue it. Astbury is an excellent fit on "Flame On." Steele's creepy vocals, Iommi's droning riffs, and the twisted lyrics make "Just Say No to Love" a dangerous, eerie highlight. Surprisingly, the best song is "Into the Night" thanks to the rather unexpected vocal strength of Idol. The exciting, steamroller middle section features Iommi andIdol thundering along in tandem. ~ Bret Adams , All Music Guide
Billy Idol (Performer), Henry Rollins (Performer), Ace (Guitar), Pete Steele (Bass), Kenny Aronoff (Drums), Ian Astbury (Performer), Phil Blackman (Engineer), Matt Cameron (Drums), Jim Copley (Drums), Billy Corgan (Guitar), Laurence Cottle (Bass), Tom Fritze (Engineer), Dave Grohl (Drums), Tony Iommi (Guitar), Tony Iommi (Main Performer), Bob Marlette (Bass), Bob Marlette (Producer), Bob Marlette (Engineer), Bob Marlette (Mixing), Terry Phillips (Bass), Ben Shepherd (Bass), John Tempesta (Drums), Phil Anselmo (Performer), Bill Ward (Drums), Fran Flannery (Engineer), German Villacorta (Engineer), Stuart Campbell (Engineer), Ralph Baker (Executive Producer), Tobias Miller (Engineer), Aaron Pratley (Engineer)
The album took nearly 5 years to make. All of the songs were written by Iommi, producer Bob Marlette and the respective vocalists of each track (except "Black Oblivion", which was written by only Iommi and Billy Corgan).
According to Tony Iommi, he and Phil Anselmo had recorded three tracks together for the album, but only one was put onto the album.
The album peaked at number 129 on the charts[1] and its only single, "Goodbye Lament" reached number 10 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks.[2]
Black Sabbath band members and former members on the album
As founder and leader of Black Sabbath, and only musician to have been in the band since inception to present without pause (1969-present), Iommi is still close to many people from the band's history. A number of the guest musicians come from Sabbath.
Ozzy Osbourne - lead vocals (1969-1979, 1985, 1997-present)
Bill Ward - drums (1969-1980, 1983, 1984, 1997-present)
Both performers are present on track nine. The bassist for track nine, Laurence Cottle, was the studio session bassist for Black Sabbath's Headless Cross album[3] but was never considered an official member of the band.
Also, Queen guitarist Brian May made guest appearances with the band during their 1989 tour after having done a guest guitar solo on their Headless Cross album.[3] He played solos and other additional guitars on tracks 3 and 7 of Iommi.
Track listing
"Laughing Man (In The Devil Mask)" - Henry Rollins (Iommi, Marlette, Rollins)
"Into The Night" - Billy Idol (Idol, Iommi, Marlette)
Other Songs Written
In an interview with Cosmik Conversations, Iommi said that they "actually wrote a few tracks with Billy [Idol]...three with Phil Anselmo...and two tracks with Billy Corgan, but you know, we could only use one of each." There is also a track entitled "Something Wicked This Way Comes" written and recorded with Scooter Ward of the band Cold that was not included on the album. But, the track has been available through various filesharing networks.
