Ian Dickson/Rex USA Tony Iommi, left, and Ozzy Osbourne performing with Black Sabbath in 1973.This week, we look at “13,†the new album by Black Sabbath, the proto-doom metal band, makers of loud, post-blues stomps and drones about war, paranoia and godlessness, and one of the most persistently influential groups in rock history.
“13†includes Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler from the 1969-79 version of the band, before its lead singer and its style changed. (Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine plays drums on the album, replacing Bill Ward. You can’t win them all.) The record was produced by Rick Rubin, and there are echoes here of how he worked with Metallica and ZZ Top: put the grizzlies to their old working methods; cut down to the core, locate the spirit of greatness, and make it uncomfortably loud.
But what was that spirit, exactly? What was the project of the band about? Who steered it then, and who does now? Steve Smith, a classical music critic for The New York Times and prime Sabbathologist, talks to host Ben Ratliff about the power and meaning of Sabbath 1.0, the new record’s specific self-homages and possible subtexts, and theorizes about its title.
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Ben Ratliff on Black Sabbath’s “13.â€
SPOTIFY PLAYLIST
Tracks by artists discussed this week. (Spotify users can also find it.)
