Reunion
Nobody does Black Sabbath songs justice like the original four. With Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward all relatively sound of mind and body,Reunionfinds them finally backed by a juggernaut of smart businesspeople and producers who realize what's at stake. The mix is crisp and eye-watering, and the four legends rumble like one thick cloud of doom. Trackwise, it's all the hits plus a few stray wanderings off-kilter ("Dirty Women"). The much-anticipated pair of new studio tracks are a mixed lot: "Psycho Man" is aKiss-grade metal lurch with an atrocious B-movie lyric that somehow escaped Osbourne's usually reliable cheese radar. "Selling My Soul," however, is convincingly ominous, with Iommi creating piles of dark chords.--Martin Popoff