Tony Iommi/Glenn Hughes - Fused

When one thinks of the genres of hard rock/metal, there's one name that comes to mind as far as innovators go. That man is Tony Iommi, without whom there would be no such thing. It was Iommi's industrial accident during the formation of Black Sabbath that forced him to downtune his guitar, and create the menacing beast that is metal. For more than 30 years, Iommi has been serving up classic riffs with singers from Ozzy Osbourse, to Ronnie James Dio, to Dave Grohl.

After a few attempts to get Black Sabbath back to prominence once Ozzy and Dio had left the ranks, Iommi was poised to release his first solo record. The label wouldn't allow it, and instead Iommi partnered with Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple for what became a pseudo-Sabbath album (Seventh Star). In the years that followed, Iommi and Hughes worked together again, this time on Tony's supposed first solo album, which was again scrapped by the label. However, it is impossible to deny the godfather of rock forever, and in 2004 the sessions with Hughes were released. The two reconvined, and a new album was created, as Iommi has yet to find a way to get Black Sabbath back into a recording studio. After all this time, can Iommi still come up with the riffs that made him a legend?

"Dopamine" kicks off the album with a stuttering riff that isn't nearly as lyrical as his riffs from Sabbath days, but is just as powerful. Giving a hint of Disturbed-style nu-metal, fears are quelled as soon as Hughes' familiar nasal voice finds it's way through the speakers. He sounds in fine form after years of constant touring and recording, and is more than capable of carrying the big chorus. The melody is nothing intricate, but that's not why one listens to anything with Iommi's name attached. It's more than acceptable, and accents the powerful guitar work. The only thing lacking in this song is the guitar solo, which suffers from Kirk Hammet syndrome, abusing a wah pedal in ways that are harrowing to the ears.

"Wasted Again" opens with a slow and sludgy riff that could have been lifted off a classic Sabbath record. The melody is likewise slow, and a perfect fit over a more tasteful guitar track, including a subtle hint of an acoustic. AS the chorus settles in, the lack of any background vocals is an odd choice, but the guitars bringing a sense of doom behind Hughes is enough to settle any concerns.

"Saviour of the Real" kicks into gear right away with a riff that sounds like it could have been penned by Godsmack, but better. The verses shift into the first appearances of muting, as Hughes reaches the upper range of his register with a melody a bit too uptempo for the riff. A melodic bridge blends into an almost spoken word chorus section with very little in the melody department. Iommi dips back into his wah bag of tricksfor the solo, which is getting a bit thin.

"Resolution Song" starts off with an atmospheric clean guitar over a faint cymbal crash. Sludgy chords follow, introducing another Sabbath inspired riff. This is momentary, as the clean atmosphere takes the verse on a wandering journey. The chorus is more Sabbath outtakes, as Hughes addopts an almost monosyllabic melody that feels jarring. Iommi finds a much more melodic and subdued approach for the solo in this song, proving that he can indeed still play.

"Grace" opens with another mid tempo riff, this one lacking any real chordal definition. It sounds like nothing but a wall of noise, as the riff becomes a feaux-Kasmir, with Hughes using a vocal effect to distort his voice. The chorus consists of nothing but different ways of saying the word grace over and over again, ultimately proving nothing. The second half of the song kicks into a faster tempo, as the song gains interest with this change before slowing back down to nothing.

"Deep Inside a Shell" begins with another atmospheric clean guitar, as Hughes' voice cute through the music better than any track so far. This is a supposed ballad, as the melody is softer than previous tracks, but the underlaying music, specifically the organ, doesn't convey the same feeling as the melody. It's not a drastic difference, but it's enough to make the song feel a bit out of place. Iommi shows during the solo that speed might not be his forte, but he can pull out emotional sounding solos when need be.

"What You're Living For" introduces a riff that would fit on many contemporary Helloween records, the tempo far faster than anything that has been heard yet on this record. Hughes tries to keep up with it, but it's obvious that his voice is better suited to slower, more powerful songs than this. The chorus slows the song to almost half speed, and would be majestic if it followed from a more tasteful verse. As it is, the song feels disjointed and awkward.

"Face Your Fear" features a droning riff that seems far too low to be the result of a guitar. The riff rises a few tones fro the verse, in a very odd time signiture, as the chorus takes on the feeling of a song from wrestler fronted Fozzy (not a compliment). It's scary to hear how much Hughes sounds like Fozzy frontman, and professional wrestler, Chris Jericho on this track. I had to check to make sure I didn't slip a Fozzy mp3 into this album by mistake.

"The Spell" tries to bring doom yet again, but the riff lacks the power of Iommi classics. The doom is further halted by the switch to a subdued feeling, over which Hughes sings of blood, and other assorted things. The chorus is another disjointed melody, with a stuttering riff underneath, cutting off any sense of flow that might have a chance of developing.

"I Go Insane" is a nine minute epic to close the album. A drumroll gives way to acoustic guitars and a lyrical solo that sounds as though it could have been lifted from an outtake of "Freebird" all those years ago. This is a completely different mood for the album, and a welcome change from the usual doom that Iommi creates. A decent melody and a hint of piano moves into a sweeping chorus, with the trademark doom riffs trying to peek out from underneath. Iommi is a bit of a one trick pony, as this shows. The middle of the song features strumming clean electrics and acoustics with a bouncing bassline, and etheral and whispy vocals from Hughes blending into the landscape, before settling into a riff that feels like a lower tuned version of "Paranoid". Making no sense at all, near the six minute mark, the song turns into a thrasher. It feels like a competely different song, as there was no transition into this new feeling.

The bottom line on this album is that it's everything that you would expect at this point in time from Tony Iommi. It has the doom inducing riffs that he must be tired of from all these years of playing Sabbath songs, but not much else. IT feels as though he cut Hughes off before he even got a chance to come up with any decent melodies for this record. I don't know if it was a conscious decision, or if the years of turing with the extremely limited vocal styling of Ozzy have just numbed Tony to the point of not caring anymore. Whatever the case may be, this record tries to exist on nothing more than guitar heroics, and there's far too few of them to carry this record. There are some good moments, and "Dopamine" is a rousing rocker, but that's about all the good news that's coming out of this effot. Legends should be able to do a little better than this.

Rating: 79/100