Yeah, those two are my picks too.

Definitely Kill In The Spirit World.

Odin's Court/Valhalla, obviously!

Got to see them over the weekend at Lollapalooza, I thought for what to expect, they executed well enough. Age has made them (especially Ozzy) lack a kind of energy force that they probably had in spades back in the 70's. Their presence in the present also kind of negated the fact that they simply just don't have that dark and mystical appeal anymore. Yeah that engaging image dimension is subsided after years of extreme metal bands that followed them. Thankfully tho, their music is still awesome.

They opened with Black Sabbath, probably my favorite song of theirs live, predictably. They played all the biggies and they all sounded great. My only criticism was that although the replacement drummer they had to sit in for Ward was definitely technically astute and provided good energy, he just didn't fit in with the Sabbath sound. Far too dense and quick, completely tarnished experiencing the Sabbath sound wholly. There are noticeable spaces in between Ward's drumming that completes their sound, and those gaps keep me mesmerized. On the upside tho, Butler sounded great, Ozzy tho voice cracking frequently had an unwavering stage presence. Iommi tho, fuck, that guy can still play, what a great musician he is.

Overall I was quite pleased and glad I got to see them

Good to hear Bill was still playing good and enjoying himself. I know he hasn't been in the best of health for the past few years.

How was the version of Black Sabbath?



Eh, a lot of extreme bands took that whole concept and ran with it, just trying to make it more extreme and edgy, (which a lot of them did, others not).
But Sabbath invented it practically (within a metal context anyway). At least when they did it, it was fresh and unique.

Just finished a relisten through all of the Ozzy era material:

Top 25 Best Things by Ozzy era Black Sabbath (best to worst)
1. Wheels of Confusion/the Straightener
2. War Pigs/Luke’s Wall
3. Black Sabbath
4. Snowblind
5. A National Acrobat
6. Bassically/NIB
7. Planet Caravan
8. Megalomania
9. Hand of Doom
10. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
11. Dirty Woman
12. Air Dance
13. After Forever
14. Solitude
15. Killing Yourself to Live
16. Sabbra Cadabra
17. Black Sabbath (album)
18. The Wizard
19. Lord of this World
20. Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes
21. The Writ
22. Paranoid (album)
23. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (album)
24. Thrill of It All
25. You Won’t Change Me

10 Worst Things by Ozzy Era Black Sabbath (worst to best)
1. FX – Black Sabbath
2. Am I Going Insane (Radio)
3. Rock and Roll Doctor
4. A Hard Road
5. Never Say Die (album)
6. She’s Gone
7. Breakout
8. Swinging the Chain
9. Don’t Start (Too Late)
10. Rat Salad

Albums:

Transcendent
1. Black Sabbath

Exceptional/favorites
2. Paranoid
3. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
4. Master of Reality
5. Sabotage
6. Vol. 4

Great/love
7. Technical Ecstasy

Good/like
none

Pleasant/like
8. Never Say Die

Adequate
none

Mediocre
none

Weak
none

Bad
none

Terrible/Irredeemable
none

Songs:

Transcendent
1. Wheels of Confusion/the Straightener
2. War Pigs/Luke’s Wall
3. Black Sabbath
4. Snowblind
5. A National Acrobat
6. Bassically/NIB
7. Planet Caravan
8. Megalomania
9. Hand of Doom
10. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
11. Dirty Woman
12. Air Dance
13. After Forever
14. Solitude
15. Killing Yourself to Live
16. Sabbra Cadabra
17. The Wizard
18. Lord of this World
19. Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes
20. The Writ

Exceptional/favorites
21. Thrill of It All
22. You Won’t Change Me
23. Paranoid
24. Iron Man
25. Fairies Wear Boots
26. Supernaut
27. Gypsy
28. Laguna Sunrise
29. Fluff
30. A Little Bit Of Finger/Sleeping Village/The Warning
31. Sweet Leaf
32. Wicked World
33. All Moving Parts (Stand Still)
34. St. Vitus Dance
35. Symptom of the Universe

Great/love
36. Hole in the Sky
37. Spiral Architect
38. Embryo/Children of the Grave
39. Junior’s Eyes
40. Electric Funeral
41. Into the Void
42. Cornucopia
43. Looking for Today
44. Changes
45. Supertsar
46. It’s Alright
47. Johnny Blade
48. WASP/Behind the Wall of Sleep
49. Orchid
50. Tomorrow’s Dream
51. Back Street Kids
52. Who Are You?

Good/like
53. Over to You
54. Shockwave
55. Never Say Die
56. Rat Salad
57. Don’t Start (Too Late)
58. Swinging the Chain
59. Breakout

Pleasant/like
60. She’s Gone

Adequate
61. A Hard Road
62. Rock and Roll Doctor
63. Am I Going Insane (Radio)

Mediocre
64. FX

Weak
none

Bad
none

Terrible/Irredeemable
none

I mostly agree with your assessment, except for one thing...

Megalomania > everything else.

I know that's always been your favorite. It rose significantly upward from my last ranking.

Btw have you ever listened to Sabotage as a loose concept album. I think it's the only one of theirs where they really make an effort to connect the songs through transitions (as opposed to just having similar musical ideas on the songs). Lyrically the album all groups together as well and even tells somewhat of a progression.

Yes I've always felt that way too, I love how the songs flow in and out of each other, it's certainly their most 'progressive' effort.
If only they could have replaced "Am I Going Insane" with something a little better, it would have been just about perfect.
But imo, Hole In The Sky, Symptom, Megalomania, and The Writ are all enough to make me consider it their best album anyway.

First single off their upcoming album 13. After hearing this song and after learning Rick Rubin is the album's producer, I must say that I'm pretty excited.

New single is badass. Finally some Sabbath I can like again.

Man it's incredible....Tony is 65 and he's still coming up with blockbuster riffs....
He's like the Keith Richards of metal.

It's quite alright. Really like Ozzy's dark vocals, they fit the track perfectly.

It's so annoying that Bill Ward isn't part of this reunion.

something rather interesting ... Take care


Daily US Radio Updates - Rock 2013/05/14

Pos Pos+ Artist Title Spins Spins+ Bullet Bullet+ Aud Aud+ Days iTunes PkPos PkSpins PkBllt PkAud
1 +1 BLACK SABBATH God Is Dead? 277 +16 15 +21 0.902 +0.040 26 -- 1 277 219 1.029
2 -1 SHINEDOWN I'll Follow You 264 -1 -1 +4 0.726 -0.011 97 369 1 270 100 0.770
3 = COREY TAYLOR/DAVE... From Can To Can't 196 -9 -10 -9 0.531 -0.028 110 -- 1 229 106 0.762
4 = ALICE IN CHAINS Stone 187 +0 19 -3 0.399 +0.000 48 -- 4 187 53 0.424
5 = POP EVIL Trenches 181 +3 -9 +3 0.433 +0.014 69 -- 4 190 106 0.502
6 = SOUNDGARDEN By Crooked Steps 150 -8 -28 -11 0.413 -0.036 105 -- 5 182 46 0.523
7 +2 THREE DAYS GRACE The High Road 140 +9 -16 +4 0.342 +0.043 144 -- 4 187 49 0.475
8 = SLASH Anastasia 137 +3 1 +8 0.272 +0.006 115 -- 8 148 30 0.356
9 -2 VOLBEAT Heaven Nor Hell 137 -7 -15 -6 0.536 +0.003 245 -- 1 273 134 0.905
10 = YOUNG GUNS Bones 121 -4 -47 +1 0.343 -0.033 163 -- 1 242 89 0.830
11 = STONE SOUR Do Me A Favor 114 +2 2 +5 0.332 -0.010 90 -- 11 126 33 0.373
12 = VOLBEAT Hangman's Bodycou... 112 +6 2 +8 0.253 +0.008 54 -- 12 119 42 0.318
13 = DEVICE Vilify 105 +4 4 +4 0.276 +0.010 80 -- 13 109 38 0.311
14 = TOM KEIFER Solid Ground 95 +2 13 +1 0.269 +0.002 109 -- 13 95 39 0.292
15 = IMAGINE DRAGONS Radioactive 89 -1 52 -13 0.298 +0.006 36 5 15 90 65 0.298
16 = RUSH The Anarchist 83 +2 -2 +5 0.232 +0.008 80 -- 15 94 25 0.291
17 = AIRBOURNE Live It Up 66 +3 20 +5 0.217 +0.005 39 -- 17 66 28 0.217
18 = ROB ZOMBIE Dead City Radio &... 60 +1 22 -3 0.088 -0.002 77 -- 18 60 25 0.090
19 = KID ROCK Rebel Soul 52 +2 22 +1 0.078 -0.002 76 -- 19 52 22 0.082
20 = SEVENDUST Decay 51 +1 0 +3 0.107 +0.007 114 -- 14 75 22 0.128
21 = DEEP PURPLE Hell To Pay 40 +2 19 +2 0.101 +0.000 46 -- 21 40 19 0.101
22 +1 KISS Long Way Down 28 +1 4 +1 0.045 +0.006 214 -- 22 37 16 0.149
23 -1 PAPA ROACH Leader Of The Bro... 27 -3 14 -7 0.092 -0.011 19 -- 22 30 21 0.103
24 = AEROSMITH Street Jesus 26 +2 3 +2 0.032 +0.007 164 -- 12 110 29 0.354
25 = DROWNING POOL One Finger And A ... 23 +0 2 -1 0.032 -0.001 33 -- 25 23 20 0.037
26 = ERIC CLAPTON Gotta Get Over 23 +1 0 +2 0.120 +0.000 89 -- 19 57 27 0.264
27 +2 BEWARE OF DARKNES... Howl 20 +1 7 +2 0.051 +0.001 75 -- 27 21 16 0.051
28 +2 CHEAP TRICK Sick Man Of Europ... 20 +1 4 +2 0.133 +0.009 87 -- 28 23 12 0.147
29 -1 THIRTY SECONDS TO... Up In The Air 20 -1 1 -1 0.048 -0.001 14 281 28 21 19 0.049
30 -3 ALL THAT REMAINS Asking Too Much 20 -1 1 -2 0.024 -0.001 44 -- 27 25 17 0.075
31 = RIVAL SONS Keep On Swinging 19 +0 2 +0 0.102 +0.000 40 -- 30 19 18 0.113
32 +1 JACKYL Favorite Sin 18 +0 1 +1 0.108 -0.005 35 -- 31 19 13 0.114
33 +1 VINTAGE TROUBLE Blues Hand Me Dow... 17 +1 0 +1 0.100 +0.003 55 -- 28 21 18 0.145
34 -2 BUCKCHERRY Gluttony 16 -3 -8 -4 0.022 -0.009 154 -- 17 63 24 0.193
35 +1 GEOFF TATE Dark Money 15 +1 -3 -1 0.014 +0.000 118 -- 30 18 14 0.040
36 +2 DEFTONES Swerve City 14 +1 1 +2 0.026 +0.000 34 -- 36 14 6 0.028
37 -- FIVE FINGER DEATH... Lift Me Up f/Rob ... 13 -- 13 -- 0.098 -- 1 161 37 13 13 0.098
38 -3 RED Perfect Life 12 -2 0 -3 0.006 -0.002 86 -- 30 20 9 0.012
39 -2 ARANDA One More Lie 11 -2 0 -2 0.022 -0.004 63 -- 30 21 13 0.052
40 -1 CLUTCH Crucial Velocity 11 +0 -6 +0 0.071 -0.005 38 -- 33 17 14 0.119
41 -- HEAVEN'S BASEMENT Fire, Fire 8 -- 3 -- 0.004 -- 12 -- 41 8 6 0.028
42 -1 ZZ TOP Chartreuse 8 +1 2 +2 0.027 +0.002 197 -- 36 14 6 0.075
43 -3 BRING ME THE HORI... Go To Hell, For H... 8 +0 1 +0 0.003 +0.000 16 -- 40 9 9 0.003
44 = P.O.D. Beautiful 7 +1 7 +1 0.005 +0.000 2 -- 44 7 7 0.005
45 -- GREEN DAY Let Yourself Go 7 -- 2 -- 0.008 -- 204 -- 9 131 49 0.470
46 +4 SKILLET Sick Of It 7 +1 -1 +3 0.012 +0.001 18 -- 42 12 9 0.032
47 -1 BLACK KEYS Howlin' For You 6 +0 0 -1 0.042 +0.007 199 -- 34 11 3 0.054
48 = BLACK VEIL BRIDES In The End 6 +0 0 +0 0.023 +0.000 16 -- 47 8 4 0.029
49 = THE VIRGINMARYS Dead Man's Shoes 6 +0 0 +0 0.001 +0.000 20 -- 41 9 8 0.004
50 -3 BARONESS March To The Sea 6 +0 0 -1 0.001 +0.000 6 -- 43 8 7 0.003