Never Say Die - BLACK SABBATH***

Never Say Die/Johnny Blade/Junior's Eyes/A Hard Road/Shock Wave/Air Dance/Over To You/Breakout/Swinging To Chain

Never Say Die was the final Black Sabbath album to feature Ozzy Osbourne. Fans were disappointed that it departed from their doomy heavy metal sound to include some pop and jazz elements. (US:69 UK:12)

“This album is a both a drastic departure from Black Sabbath's earlier slow, massively heavy, doomyl style and a bridge to the faster and more propulsive metallic sound of the Dio era. It is also very experimental and is almost progressive rock.”

“Never Say Die was the last Black Sabbath's album with Ozzy Osbourne, and it is often deemed one of the weakest LPs of the band featuring the original line-up, though it actually showcases a mature band producing a very solid effort. The style shows a mixture of progressive rock with heavy metal and jazzy touches, featuring excellent keyboards that give this disc a prog and even spacey atmosphere.”

“Never Say Die is an abortive and hollow album to my ears. I don't know, what happened to them, perhaps tensions were rising too high or it was the end of the rapport. In fact, the material here is very poor and disappointing indeed; there is not one good song here.”

“With a band as huge as Black Sabbath, you know what you want from a new release; and this is definitely the opposite of that. The riffs and hooks are flagrantly poppy, the keys are seeing a more generous use, and the overall atmosphere just reeks of decay. They play with a couple of fun ideas, but other than that, you are just left wondering why you are wasting your time with this garbage.”

“The final Sabbath album with Ozzy is by far the worst, with only one good track, Junior's Eyes. The title track is terribly poppy, and the LP finally collapses into a mess of jazz. For completists only.”

“Unfortunately, by now Ozzy didn’t care all that much and the songs are not particularly Sabbath sounding. Junior's Eyes, Johnny Blade, and the title track are good, but not classic Sabbath songs. This album is not that bad but pales in comparison to the early gems.”