Iommi (Tony Iommi, 2000)

This album appeared at a weird time in the Black Sabbath chronology. On the heels of the worst album in their entire catalog (Forbidden), Tony decided it was time to step back from this whole ridiculous Black Sabbath thing and establish a solo identity for real, not something like Seventh Star (1986), which would be hijacked by the suits and stamped as "Black Sabbath", but something bearing his own name by itself. In 1996, he went into the studio with Glenn Hughes (dubiously of Seventh Star) and former Trapeze/Judas Priest drummer Dave Holland to record some material only available via bootleg for the next ten years. The "reunion" with Ozzy Osbourne pretty much devoured any plans for a proper release, with Holland's incarceration only making it even less likely to ever happen (in 2005 most of the material would be released as the 1996 DEP Sessions, with Holland's part erased and re-recorded).

The return of the Ozzy didn't result in any new recordings outside of a single ("Psycho Man"), so at some point Tony must of gotten itchy about recording new stuff (plus Ozzy wasn't putting his solo career on ice) and kinda-sorta revived what he started in 1996. By 2000, he was much more in the limelight again and able to command a more complex undertaking than the 1996 sessions. Noting the roaring success of Carlos Santana's Supernatural, which rekindled a legendary guitarist's career by supplementing a new batch of songs with pop luminaries of the day, either Tony or his management decided to do the same for him, supported by major names in hard rock and heavy metal. Most of the 1996 material was ditched (I think "Black Oblivion" was an exception, but it was extensively reworked) and a new slate of collaborations was rolled out, featuring folks ranging from grunge icons (Billy Corgan, Dave Grohl) to metal masters of the moment (Phil Anselmo, Peter Steele) and a few oddball selections (Billy Idol, Henry Rollins). While the songs don't quite crush as hard as some of the stuff Geezer Butler was doing in the 1990's, overall it's a much heavier set than anything Ozzy was doing at the time (or Bill Ward, who wasn't really trying to be metal anymore).

Speaking of Ozzy, he does show up, along with Bill Ward, for one song, "Who's Fooling Who". It is probably the only song that is 75% Sabbath by volume (100% if you count bassist Lawrence Cottle who was vaguely in the band around 1989), but fails my "test" of having to have a least two original members, one of them Geezer Butler. All kidding aside, it's actually a good track, and in a world that was still to wait another seven years for anything new under the name Black Sabbath, was about as good as it would get.

For some reason, this disc has been out of print for awhile. It used to be hard to find, but, judging by the price's at the World's Largest Bookstore, that must not be the case anymore.