When Tony Iommi, the guitarist who built Black Sabbath's heaviest riffs, finally released a record under his own name, it was not a quick solo statement. Iommi arrived on 17 October 2000, four years after the recording sessions had begun. The album pulled in singers from punk, nu metal, alternative rock and gothic metal, with a different vocalist on each of its ten tracks.
Four years of recording
Recording stretched from 1996 to 2000. Iommi worked with producer Bob Marlett, and the two wrote every song together with whichever vocalist joined them. The one exception was 'Black Oblivion', written by Iommi and Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins. What made the record unusual was not just the guest list, but how much material never made the final cut.
Iommi told interviewers that several tracks were recorded with Billy Idol, three with Philip Anselmo of Pantera, and two with Billy Corgan, yet only one song from each singer ended up on the album. A track called 'Something Wicked This Way Comes', written with Scooter Ward of the band Cold, was left off entirely. Most of its music was later reworked into Peter Steele's 'Just Say No to Love', which did make the record.
Outtakes that leaked online
The unreleased Anselmo song, 'Inversion of the Saviours', was a faster piece that never got an official release. Both of those outtakes circulated through file-sharing networks, giving fans a glimpse of a heavier, stranger version of the album. The final tracklist was a careful selection from a much larger pile of tapes.
The finished record opened with Henry Rollins snarling on 'Laughing Man (In the Devil Mask)', then moved through Dave Grohl singing and drumming on 'Goodbye Lament'. Philip Anselmo took 'Time Is Mine', Serj Tankian of System of a Down handled 'Patterns', and Billy Corgan played bass and extra guitars on his own 'Black Oblivion'. It was a roll call of nineties rock, one voice after another.
It was a roll call of nineties rock, one voice after another.
Osbourne and Ward reunite
The most symbolic moment came on track nine, 'Who's Fooling Who', where Ozzy Osbourne sang and Bill Ward played drums. For one song, Osbourne and Ward were back together on an Iommi record. Queen's Brian May also added guitar to two tracks, a reminder of Iommi's deep connections in hard rock.
Critics were split. Rock Hard gave the album a strong score and later placed it among the five hundred greatest rock and metal albums in a 2005 book. The Village Voice's Robert Christgau dismissed it with his lowest rating. Commercially, Iommi reached number 43 in Germany and number 129 on the Billboard 200, a respectable showing for a solo debut. The album's total running time was 51 minutes. It was released on the Divine and Priority labels.
What lingers about Iommi is the sense of a musician trying everything at once. The record was not a unified band statement but a series of experiments, each guest pulling the guitarist toward a different sound. Some of those experiments stayed in the vault, some leaked online, and ten made the album. Tony Iommi's first solo release stands as a document of what happens when a metal pioneer opens his studio doors and lets the decade walk in. Ian Astbury sang on 'Flame On'. The album's logo was created by JMO Design.