Fused (Tony Iommi, 2005)

There is some confusion over how exactly to credit this album. I've seen Tony Iommi/Glenn Hughes, Glenn Hughes/Tony Iommi, just Tony Iommi, and finally just plain Iommi. As Glenn was in the middle of a veritable career renaissance (see Soul Mover) and Tony was largely stuck in the Black Sabbath "reunion" era, I tipped the scales to him.

Fused has the distinction of being the Hughes/Iommi collaboration that actually worked. Their first time around (see Seventh Star) under the "Black Sabbath Featuring Tony Iommi" banner resulted in a decent studio album followed by a disastrous tour, resulting in Hughes getting sacked after just a few shows. As Black Sabbath disintegrated in the wake of increasingly irrelevant albums like Cross Purposes and Forbidden, Iommi attempted to launch an actual solo career with a cleaned-up Hughes handling bass and vocal duties, but that was iced for eight years thanks to the "reunion" era beginning shortly after it was recorded, followed by a re-imagined solo debut with guest stars just called Iommi. And when the 1996 DEP Sessions finally received a proper release (it has been circulating as the bootleg Eighth Star) it was substantially reworked, with new drums tracks and at least one missing song.

When Fused was released the following year, it was almost an embarrassment of riches for Sabbath/Purple fans still fresh from hearing the other solo work released the prior year. Although technically and consistently strong (in spite of the hovering presence of Bob Marlette, who has a knack for appearing alongside artists that far outclass him), Fused doesn't quite stick in the mind like the other albums. It's not an album that take risks. Glenn sounds like Glenn and Tony sounds like Tony. The opener "Dopamine" is a bit misleading and different in tone then the rest of the album, which takes a darker approach, appropriately reaching it's peak in the final track, the epic 10-minute "I Go Insane".

Far contrasting their rocky relationship in the 1980's, Hughes and Iommi have continued to maintain cordial relations, with Tony even inviting Glenn into Heaven and Hell to fill in for some final shows following the death of Ronnie James Dio. Tony has continued to work closely with assorted Deep Purple family members, even teaming up with Ian Gillan a couple times for one-off stuff like Gillan's Inn and the Who Cares charity album. Of course all of this attention more recently has been on Black Sabbath's 13, but that's just the way things work when you put Ozzy into the equation. Meanwhile, Glenn has iced his solo career to work in band contexts such as Black Country Communion, and, more recently, it's quasi-spinoff group California Breed.