Black Sabbath/The End -Tour Edition (2016)

When Sabbath announced  The End Tour it’s going to be The End for Sabbath. One of the coolest ideas that became a reality was the fact that Sabbath was gonna release a 8 song EP to coincide with the tour and it was going to be sold only  at the shows in physical copy! That means no ITunes for me! Not available in the stores or anywhere only at the shows! That’s it!

The End Tour began in Omaha Nebraska and the posts on FaceCrack by people attending the show wasn’t about the show itself but the fact that there was no CD copies of The End for sale! Who cares that Ozzy and company just blazed your sleepy city with 100 minutes of pulsating Doom but more like “Where’s The Discs?” Hahahaha….

Now you could say I’m being brutal here but hey folks I flew out to Vancouver from Thunder Bay(3,025 Km or 1,880 Miles)  to see this show and it got postponed (Ozzy pulled the chute due to Sinusitis or whatever)  so not only did I not get the CD I got zip! Hahaha..still had a great time in VanCity you all know that but yeah I would have traded the CDs in for a Sabbath show that night! Be careful what you wish for!

After the Omaha show Chicago was the second date on The End Tour and there were CD’s for sale going for $30 U.S a pop at the show. One guy being the entrepreneur bought some copies took pics of them at the show and dumped them on eBay and they sold quick. Something like over $200 U.S a copy! Holy Crap!

Aaron at the KMA has very graciously shared this EP with me and for one thing there calling it a EP that clocks in at almost 50 minutes for 8 songs! Man,that’s like two full length  old school Roth  Halen albums combined!

So the album  titled simply THE END-Tour Edition is split into 4 Studio Songs(songs written around the mighty 13 album sessions) and 4 Live Songs(1 recorded in Australia,1 recorded in New Zealand and 2 Songs from fellow blogger ‘Bop’s’ backyard of Hamilton Ontario from 2013)

Cast Of Characters-Ozzy Osbourne,Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler

Must mention that the 4 studio tracks the drummer that appears on them is Brad Wilk!

Tommy Clufetos does the drumming on the 4 Live tracks!

The first studio track SEASON OF THE DEAD begins with that slow Sab crawl off timing a Tinge Of Doom added to start the proceedings. Ozzy starts and its Ozzy folks no one sounds like this guy. Say what you want about his singing but when you hear him you know its him! His voice is tailor-made for this vibe and Season Of The Dead is a 8 minute stomp! Super Duper cool drumming by Wilk as well as Geezers bass tone is dope sick good! Tony as always thunders his riffs through his Laney cabinets and Rick Rubin (producer) makes it sound ohhhh soooo good!

Followed by CRY ALL NIGHT which stomps out of the gate and picks up steam as Iommi punches the gas on a wah pedal and Cry All Night is a straight ahead Sab punch to the throat rocker! Real glad that Ozzy and company have made this music available! Well kinda…

TAKE ME HOME starts off with a loud thud times 4 as bass/drums and guitars are locked tightly together. Ozzy sings a great tune and Geezer’s Bass is jacked as the bottom end rumblings of the mans Bass is friggin huge! Take Me Home is a well written song and kudos to these guys especially as Iommi tosses down a classical guitar like solo with Geezer and Brad Wilk keep the proceedings moving along nice thank you very much!

Rounding off the studio tracks is ISOLATED MAN. Brad Wilk man! What can you say about this guys drumming? This track especially when Tony goes into his solo and Geezer and Wilk are left to their own devices and its such a great groove they lay under Iommi! Geezers bass just rumbles underneath Wilks rolls and cymbal smashing. Ozzy with his double tracked voice one sounding sinister.one sounding like Ozzy(ha) is great for this track! great fuggin song! That rhythm jam out between Iommi/Butler/Wilk is Sonic Gold!

Kinda weird that these might be the last 4 Sabbath Studio Tracks Ever! I would say yeah they probably are due to the fact with 13 going Number 1 in many countries how could they top that after 45 years? Exactly you can’t…

If this is indeed The End what a ripping good way to end your studio career! Bravo Sabbath!

Now onto the Live Goodies….

GOD IS DEAD recorded live in Sydney Australia in 2013 just starts and chills out the crowd sleepy satanic like power that puts the listener into the Sab abyss and you are not getting out! God Is Dead is a rocker and for the first 5 minutes its just that Sab Sludge which we all love until Ozz hollers Jump and BOOM the Sabbs kick into overdrive with Tommy smashing  cymbals,Geezer running his fingers all over the bass and Tony flinging lightening bolts of riffs and boom Ozzy’ s back to telling us all that God Is Dead!

How about an old school 70s throwback to UNDER THE SUN From Auckland New Zealand. Under The Sun is a great song and its out of the classic  Sab catalogue! By that I  mean it starts off one way-Chill and ramps up and I gotta say what a great Fackin drummer Clufetos is! He takes this song and drives it forward man. Who cares if he’s playing Bill Wards parts. Tommy though is like the engine room of Sabbath and you think Geezer and Tony would stand for a sub par drummer? Mmmmm not happening! Added bonus is the real cool guitar feed backing live..I love that shit. Under The Sun is one of those great songs has many tempo changes and some awesome playing and even Ozz lays down a real good  vocal live. Seriously! Kinda make you want to stomp around kinda like doing a Doom Like Jig!

I gotta say this version of END OF BEGINNING from Hamilton Ontario is a complete monster of a performance! It’s Sabbath heavy with a sonic assault to the head. So it starts with a creepy vibe but as the song chugs along it picks up and shifts into that Doom Gear and man when Ozzy hollers ‘Jump’ and the boys behind  him launch into that Sabbath rocket this song just goes into another stratosphere. Iommi plays a blistering solo here and I love how he shifts to a melodic tone as Oz sings the ‘its alright,its ok’ line. What a friggin great tune! Posted the actual you tube video of this song recorded that night in Hamilton that is on the cd and I tell you what they did not doctor this bad boy up in the studio.Kudos to the person that filmed this as he focuses on Ozzy when he’s singing,Bulter riffing like a lunatic on his bass,Iommi during his solos and Tommy mashing about on his drums! Well done!

 So the last track live is once again from Hamilton and there’s Ozzy thanking  the crowd for “putting 13 at #1 in Canada!” Ozzy starts chirping “Cuckoo” a few times to the  crowd before the Sabs launch into Age Of Reason. With all Sabbath songs a certain per cent has to have a bunch of doom,plodding riffs. Tommy starts the song off and Geezer and Tony on cue sludge it forward even at the centre of the song it has the big epic keys like synth pushing and adding atmosphere to the party. Love how the song ramps up and chills the Frigg  back down! These guys are Masters Of Reality. Ozzy telling the crowd he loves them and Iommi just solos into his own Blizzard Of Sabbathness! Pure Genius!

This album is a worthwhile score if you come across it at one of there shows!