Black Sabbath: Never Say Die : An Unofficial Publication (Rockdetector)

Rating:
Summary: If you're a fan of Black Sabbath - DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK!
Review: As a long time fan of Black Sabbath, and the guy who runs www.black-sabbath.com - there's one thing that I think most folks know about me - I like *ALL* eras of Black Sabbath. There seems to be some recent revisionist history; a movement to ignore any Black Sabbath that doesn't have a certain front man known for complaining about dogs crapping in his house at the mic stand. Outside of the legendary musical period from 1970 through 1978 (and what has turned out to be fairly stagnant years creatively from 1997 onwards), there was a period of time with several other albums, band members producing material under the name Black Sabbath. By my count, it's a total of 10 albums (plus two more live and one greatest hits one), 97 original studio songs, and a total of 24 band members, and while not all of them recorded with the band, that's a lot of folks who were involved whose participation has never really been told. Until now.

Garry Sharpe-Young has interviewed just about everyone involved with the band during the time that Ozzy left/quit/was fired in early 1979 up until the point of the Ozzfest "reunion" shows in 1997. Such wide ranging topics as replacing Ozzy for real in 1979 with someone new, the band's trepidation at continuing to call themselves Black Sabbath through some of the big changes and low points in the career. Having run the Black Sabbath Online website since 1995, I was fortunate enough to know and work with several of the former members of Sabbath. I'm often praised for the comprehensiveness of my website, and the info I portray. There is a lot about Black Sabbath I know, more than the average fan. However, I'm no fool, and I'm not naive - I don't claim to know everything that ever happened with the band. I have to say after reading this book, I learned a good number of things I had NO CLUE even existed or happened. There's several stories in here that big Sabbath fans would have heard before, but there's far more that I'd wager that the book's reader had never known about. I cannot stress strongly enough the quality of detail that the book brings to the various folks who have played with the band over the years. We find out a lot about some of the more obscure members (Joe Burt, Terry Chimes), and some of the more well known (Ronnie Dio, Ian Gillan, Rob Halford).

While there's no stone unturned, there are a few that I would have preferred a longer look under. The closure of the Cross Purposes tour and the recording and start of the Forbidden album was brushed over fairly quickly, while the period with Jeff Fenholt is given what seems like 10 times the space in terms of pages. I realize you can't go into supreme detail about every single bit of minutiae, otherwise you'd have a book for each era of the band (which I personally wouldn't mind, but I digress). I still feel that some periods were glossed over. And speaking of Fenholt, there has been a lot said about his participation and non participation in the band, some of which by myself. This book goes into a level of detail about Fenholt that I've not been aware of before, and may change your mind about Fenholt's place in the band's history (it certainly got me to thinking about that issue). I'm even quoted in the Fenholt section of the book with a quote from the timeline page on my site (in what appears to me anyway to be a negative light regarding my previous thoughts regarding Fenholt & Sabbath). This book isn't for you if you want to find out what the meaning of the actual songs are about (although that is covered a bit here) - this book is geared more towards the people themselves than the actual music as such.

While I don't want to give away the cool details in the book, I will say one thing about the "stuff I didn't know before in this book" - Tony Martin is well known for being the guy that Sabbath brought in to re-record the Ray Gillen vocals from their 1987 album, "Eternal Idol". Something I did not know that this book claims is that the same thing happened twice - on another Sabbath album Tony Martin was brought in to re-record the vocals that were already laid down, but then the decision was made to use the original version anyway - check out the book for which album this is, and other equally surprising revelations.

I cannot say this strong enough. If you are a fan of Black Sabbath, and ESPECIALLY the non Ozzy years of the band, you owe it to yourself to check out this book. Is this the definitive be-all end all of the history of Black Sabbath during these years? No - I don't think any book could ever do that. However, this is by far the best accounting of the non Ozzy Sabbath history that I've yet seen put in print. We've had (far too) many books about "The Osbourne Years". It's about time we have a book that sheds some light on the otherwise mostly ignored years without Mr. Osbourne in front of the mic. If you're a fan of Black Sabbath, buy this. It's an awesome read. It has some behind the scenes photos too (some of which have been seen before), including one of Ray Gillen I rather wished I hadn't seen (no it's nothing morbid like that) - you'll know what I mean when you see it. :) This book should be considered a Sabbath bible for fans of non Ozzy era Sabbath, and for those who claim that Sabbath is "Only Ozzy", read the book! It might change your mind about the validity of the music, because it brings light to the struggle and fight that Mr. Iommi put on to keep the name and the quality music going.

Never Say Die indeed!

Rating:
Summary: Sets the record straight! At long last!
Review: For many, Black Sabbath is and always will be Ozzy Osbourne's band. If you're one of those, than this book is not for you.
But, if you're a real fan and have enjoyed the many post-Ozzy albums this band has released, then this book is a rare find. For too long the era between 1979 to the present has been minimised or alltogether ignored by any who write about Sabbath, as if those years never existed. What nonsense! Fans usually had to rely on pieced together information (most of it innacurate or misleading) from a wide variety of sources to know the complete history of the band. This book finally puts all this information into a cohesive timeline starting from the masterpiece Heaven and Hell album through the 80's and 90's finishing with the mediocre Forbidden, to this date, Sabbath's last studio album. Yes Black Sabbath reunited with Ozzy but only for live performances, save for two new studio tracks on the Reunion album, but I digress.
For a die hard fans such as myself, who thought had heard or read every band story there is, I was shocked at some of the stuff inlcuded here. The whole Jeff Fenhol issue... was he or was he not in Sabbath? Their never ending quest for a stable lineup. The "bassist" in the Headless Cross video. Who wrote what songs on which album. The list of revelations goes on and on.
What really surprises me is the self sabotage that seemed to plague the band. With band members being treated as little more than hired help, it's no wonder there was never a stable lineup! And when they did seem to get it together, during the Headless Cross - Tyr era, they shoot themselves in the foot by reuniting with Ronnie James Dio and putting out a rather mediocre album, Dehumanizer.
Of course, we all know that Tony Iommi IS Black Sabbath,as he is the main part of the Sabbath sound, a gifted guitarist and riff-master extraordinaire. He is the sole original member that kept the band going against all odds. But the best part of this book is that credit is given where its due to the many who contributed along the way, chief among them keyboardist/bassist/songwriter Geoff Nicholls, whose contributions are much more than any may think. Also singer Tony Martin, who is one of the best singers around and on a par with Dio and Gillan, and certainly WAY better than Ozzy, gets his (long overdue) place to tell his side of the story.
In closing, if you're a Black Sabbath fan this book is an absolute MUST!

Rating:
Summary: Should Be "Tony Iommi: Never Say Die"
Review: This book shows in great detail what Tony Iommi had to go through to keep Black Sabbath alive all these years.
Some may think periods such as the Fenholt chapter are overdone but I'd disagree. The facts here leave no doubt, at least by my interpretation, that he was never in Black Sabbath.
There are stories of Tony Martin either turning up or almost turning up when you least expect him...
The "Born Again" chapter is just a ride!
"Never Say Die" manages to organize rather well a very chaotic period of Black Sabbath's history while maintaining a detailed fascinating read. Some stuff we knew but most we didn't. You will be suprised and, honestly, maybe shocked by some of the details in this book for sure.
A must read for anybody that doesn't think Black Sabbath died with Ozzy's departure. The only complaint is an appalling lack of an editor but that's nitpicking compared to the high quality of detail both large and small.
A well-earned 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Excelent Tome - I Read it in one Sitting!
Review: This unauthorized biography is an excellent piece of research about the post ozzy history up untill the days of the disasterous "Forbidden" album. The book is written with great care. There isnt a whole bunch of "revelations" that real sabbath fans would not have already known, but it is the craft of establishing the history that makes it so valuable. There were many quotes and original interviews that I had not seen before. Certianly Garry Sharpe-Young has provided the fans with a much confused history of the band, brought about by the fact that there was too many changes in the band lineup through this period, and a difficulty for many of the lead singers to continue the role. The book does paint Toni Iommi more mercifully than I thought concerning this period. Many of the line up changes simply were out of Iommis hands (Deep Purples 84 reunion, bad personel problems through 7th star, Glen Hughes punch out incident, etc.) the picture of Gillan nude was pretty gross and shocking. It would have been interesting to see more pictures from Born Again tour (actually the highest selling album of the period) and from the demise of the last period. Certianly the book is complete and paints a world favorite, if not image confused band. A must for any serious fan of the band.

Rating:
Summary: Finally, the story is told!
Review: We all know about Ozzy Osbourne: sang with Black Sabbath in the 1970s, enjoyed a big solo career in the 80s and 90s, has an immensely successful TV show, and now tours every summer as the headliner of "Ozzfest", occasionally reuniting with Black Sabbath.

But what about Black Sabbath's life without Ozzy? Ozzy's solo success, combined with the hoopla over Black Sabbath's nostalgic CD re-releases and reunions for the Ozzfest concerts, has sadly led many to assume that Black Sabbath did nothing (or at least nothing worth writing about) in between Ozzy's departure in 1979 and the mark-1 reunions of 1997. In truth, the band saw an immense INCREASE in new album sales immediately after firing Ozzy in 1979 and replacing him with Ronnie James Dio. And despite the confusing number of drastic line-up changes that would later hit the band (particularly in 1983-1986), Black Sabbath continued to put out more albums WITHOUT Ozzy than they had ever done with Ozzy, up through 1995. These and countless other facts are finally set straight in "Never Say Die", an exhaustive look at Black Sabbath's 1980-1997 history.

Like Joe the first reviewer, I've long been a die-hard fan of all things Black Sabbath, and with that considered myself an expert when it came to their 30+ year history. I've always grabbed and devoured any information I could find -- interviews, web sites, magazine articles, CD liner notes, etc. I thought I knew just about everything...until I read this book! There is SO MUCH written here that I had absolutely NO IDEA about. There's no doubt that much of the information has never been available before. A good deal of the information is from Geoff Nicholls, Black Sabbath's current keyboard player who's been with them since 1980 (yes, somebody other than Tony Iommi got a chance to play with every other Black Sabbath member!) It's hard to believe that this guy is still hidden on the side stage during concerts.

The format is what you'd expect -- chapters mostly each centered around a particular album or line-up, and arranged in chronological order. There's a full background of biographical information for EVERY member who was ever in Black Sabbath from 1980-97, plus photos of all the line-ups. The book also covers every album and tour, why various line-ups didn't work out, the tragic deaths of members Ray Gillen and Cozy Powell, and even the 1985 and 1992 reunions with Ozzy (which is why the book is subtitled "1980-1997" and not "the post-Ozzy years"). Best of all, the book exhaustively covers Black Sabbath's most confusing and questioned era, circa 1985. What was the real story behind the mark-1 reunion at Live Aid? Did evangelist Jeff Fehnholt really write and sing for Black Sabbath, as he claims? How did Tony Iommi's solo album become Black Sabbath's "Seventh Star" album? How did singer Glenn Hughes lose his voice? Read the book and find out.

I only have two complaints about "Never Say Die". First of all, there are tons of spelling mistakes. But for some reason, that's typical when it comes to books dealing with some sort of pop culture, so I'll let that slide. Also, the author seems to speed through the period covering their last two albums, 1994's "Cross Purposes" and 1995's "Forbidden" (which at the time of this writing, is still the newest studio album put out under the name of Black Sabbath). The last chapter or two definitely feel rushed. Still, the book deserves 5 stars for being the only one of its kind to cover this history in such depth, and for having an overwhelming amount of information that even a die-hard fan wouldn't know.

After so many years of seeing "Ozzy" this and "Ozzy" that, I was thrilled to see a book that acknowledged (let alone fully covered) Black Sabbath's 1980-1997 period. Even if you're NOT a fan of Black Sabbath, this book is quite an intriguing look at all the crazy stuff that goes on in the music industry that the public never gets to see. "Never Say Die" is anything but a story about a 70s hard rock band that flopped in the 80s. It's about a band rich in history, a roller coaster of success and failure, laughter and tragedy, with Tony Iommi AND (even more importantly) Geoff Nicholls bravely staying at the helm, and about a band who kept sacrificing stability for the hopeless success of short-lived reunions. And of course, it's about 15 years worth of excellent hard rock music that others would like to have you believe didn't exist.