Never Say Die! (Black Sabbath, 1978)

I've always had a soft spot for the final Ozzy-era Black Sabbath album. For most of the second half of the 1970's the band was completely going off the rails, primarily because of rampant drug consumption and growing animosity among its membership. Initially the band attempt to wrench itself from its gloom-and-doom roots by adopting a more riff-heavy solo-lite approach to their albums. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath in particular illustrates this change, while following album Sabotage showed the beginning of a new direction, where Tony Iommi would literally be front and center, evidenced by his placement in their live shows. Technical Ecstasy then attempted to weaken the gritty core further with a "sweeter" sound, but was marred by horrendous production, even by Black Sabbath standards. That album was such a low point for the band that Ozzy Osbourne (depending on who you ask) was either fired or quit shortly afterward and was replaced by a guy name Dave Walker (Fleetwood Mac, Savoy Brown). With Ozzy's return, plans for a new album with Walker were scrapped and this album shortly thereafter was born.

All of this sounds like a recipe for an utterly disastrous album, and...surprise, surprise...it's actually quite good! This album is probably about 75% Tony Iommi (the other three were battling drugs and/or waning enthusiasm) and he is in fine form on most every track. In fact, songs like "Johnny Blade", "Shock Wave", and "Air Dance" showcase him at his very best. Sure, there's a couple duds like "Hard Road" and "Over to You" but overall most of the tracks defy the low expectations. Even Bill Ward, not a pillar of sobriety himself, manages to belt out a forceful final number, making up for the wimpy "It's Alright" from the prior album.

Needless to say this wasn't the album that saved the band, with Ozzy leaving once and for all (er...until 2013, not counting a few so-called "reunions"). The band effectively disintegrating for a period of time before being resuscitated by new singer Ronnie James Dio and a strangely revitalized Geezer Butler. However, cohesiveness wasn't a strong point for Black Sabbath going forward, with no two consecutive albums sporting the same lineup ever again. For those wanting to continue the Black Sabbath story, check out Never Say Die (the book) by Gary Sharpe-Young, quite possibly the most detailed book ever written on the band post-Ozzy.