Fused

Tony Iommi

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 12, 2005)
• Original Release Date: July 12, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sanctuary Records
• ASIN: B0009VNBQU
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #19,830 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

ASSOCIATED PRESS
"Iommi's solos are typically squealing and fluid, as timeless in 2005 as they were in 1970"

Product Description
Tony Iommi unleashes his fiercest solo outing yet with the aid of legendary vocalist Glenn Hughes (Black Sabbath, Deep Purple). FUSED combines classic blues rock vocal stylings with the famous metallic crunch of Iommi’s signature Gibson SG guitar - the guitar sound that has come to define heavy metal.

Joining Iommi on Fused is former Deep Purple vocalist/bass guitarist Glenn Hughes and former John Mellencamp drummer Kenny Aronoff, who has also played sessions with the likes of the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Lynyrd Skynyrd and countless others. Fused was produced by Bob Marlette, who also manned the studio boards for 'Iommi.'

Iommi and Hughes tend to write quickly when they settle in. Once the basic song ideas were written for this new album, Hughes worked on overall melodies and lyrics. The songs were in place, but a drummer was needed to tie it all together. Iommi was eager to work with Aronoff again and had him in mind from the beginning. The highly respected skins-basher was thrilled about the invitation, especially when Iommi said he wanted to tour to promote Fused.

These new songs most definitely work, and they rage with the same fire and intensity that mark Iommi's best. There is nothing quite like the sound of a power trio, because there can be no weak links -- each musician's efforts stand out. There is no place to hide. Iommi, Hughes and Aronoff feed off each other, whether it's the concise punch of "Dopamine" and "What You're Living For" or the fluid twists and turns in the nine-minute epic "I Go Insane."

Iommi's lethal guitar crunch leads the charge. Hughes truly pushes himself to the edge and adjusts his voice to fit the overall direction of each song while simultaneously propelling the rhythm with his pounding bass guitar. The volcanic thunder Aronoff unleashes from his drums sounds like nothing he has done before. Marlette's sparkling, crisp production results in a hard-hitting, modern, in-your-face sound.

Iommi's excitement about Fused is at a fever pitch and he cannot wait to tour with Hughes and Aronoff.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely stellar release by Tony - it's so good, you should buy two copies! :), July 12, 2005

By	Joseph M. Siegler (Garland, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Tony Iommi, the driving force behind Black Sabbath for so many years has a new album out. It's brilliant - but that should be no surprise to anyone who is a fan of his. This is the third collaboration between Tony & former Deep Purple and Sabbath singer Glenn Hughes. Let's get to it...

1. Dopamine - The opening of a new album of Tony Iommi riffs. It's like the needle going into the vein (not that I know what that means, I'm just using a metaphor). Interesting that the subject of the lyrics is a "drug" produced by one's own body. Anyway, it very much sounds like a traditional Tony Iommi riff and song. Good way to open the album, even if it's not my favorite track on the album.

2. Wasted Again - Hmm.. Based solely on the titles, this is an interesting one to follow "Dopamine". This is a slower song, although not "slow" - slower in comparison to Dopamine. It does feature some good "screaming vocals" by Glenn Hughes. It's one of those tracks I like, but I can't give you a concrete reason as to why. Just liked it.

3. Saviour of the Real - This is one of the few songs on the album that doesn't stick out to me. It's not bad, but there's no killer riff, no killer vocal hook on this one. Sometimes with songs that don't stick out to me, I want to skip them, but I keep this in here because it is decent, it's just not great.

4. Resolution Song - This one starts out slow like some of the good moodier Sabbath tracks from the past. There's a interesting vocal hook in this one. Not sure how to describe it except it comes in at about 1:44 for the first time, and sounds like "Ah-yee-ah". It's one of those good Iommi tracks that's mostly mellow, has a big powerful guitar sound behind the chorus.

5. Grace - The first few times I listened to this album, I felt Grace was just ore of Resolution Song. The starting riff of this song sounds a lot like the end of the last song. Grace is one of the best songs on the album. Great lyrics, great riffs, great vocals. About halfway through the song there's a guitar bit (starting around 2:51, runs for about 15 seconds)) that sounds a whole lot like a classic Sabbath riff from the Dio era (Southern Cross?). Anyway, after that, the big fast meaty part of the song really kicks in, and it's just awesome till the end of the song. One of the album's highlights.

6. Deep Inside a Shell - This is the other one that doesn't really leap out to me. As with Saviour, there's nothing wrong with the song. It's good. But it doesn't just have that killer hook for me. The guitar solo midway through the song isn't a standard Iommi power solo. From that aspect it's something different - but this doesn't leap out as a real highlight.

7. What You're Living For - This one is another of my favorites. It's to me is a classic Iommi song, as it leads off with nothing but a cool riff, and just keeps going. It's fast, it's catchy, and is a great song. When I first started listening to the album, this was one of my favorites because it's immediately accessible. I love the solo in this one, it's one of those "Dual solos" where Tony's playing more than one riff at a time. Really nice sound to this one.

8. Face Your Fears - A nice crunchy Tony riff is at the heart of this song. This one seems more geared towards Glenn's vocals than Tony's playing. Nothing wrong with that, but it isn't the "busiest" song in terms of Tony's playing.

9. The Spell - Nice heavy doom sounding riff to start off this song, like some of the classic early Sabbath stuff. The slowest song on the album.

10. I Go Insane - I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy! This is by far and away the best thing on the album. A 9 minute and 30 second spectacular piece of music. The vocals, the... aw hell. This is the best song on the album. It's so good, I can't think of any good words to describe it. The best song Tony's recorded in ages. In terms of "feel" it reminds me of the track "Kiss of Death" off of Sabbath's last studio album from 1995, Forbidden. Both of these tracks have a sweeping majestic feel to them that outclass anything else on the disc they appear on.

If you're a fan of Sabbath, the number one complaint fans have is that they haven't put out a new album in the last 10 years. The last Sabbath album was released June 8, 1995. In all that time and all the albums released by the various members, this one is the one that has that feel of carrying the Sabbath banner best. "Fused" flies the legacy of Black Sabbath and the mastery that Tony Iommi has over the fretboard magnificently. There's little weakness on this album, it's strong from start to finish.

If you have ever considered yourself a Sabbath fan, you owe it to yourself to buy this album. Buy two, and give one to a friend. This album deserves all the attention it can get.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of those very special albums of the year., January 4, 2006

By	Guillermo Alejandro Hernandez Rodriguez "alek... (Mexico City) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I got this Cd home and played it, I was more than amazed to listen to the quality of the recording. I mean, it sounded amazing. I expected Tony's guitar to sound kinda vintage (not to say a bit old) and I was certainly surprised to listen to a very moderon quality guitar work. The best of all, it still sounds like Mr. Iommi.

About the tracks, they're simply amazing. There's not a single song in this album that I have to skip, as every single song follows the scheme of the album and fits in perfectly, still having it's own to provide to the listener. I must confess that as soon as Dopamine finished I had to repeat it, it was just raw and powerful. Same with all the CD, the songs are simply excellent, most of them are moderate or slow, but anybody who has ever loved songs by Black Sabbath will enjoy the songs in Fused.

About the singing by Glenn Hughes... words can barely describe it. It's simply amazing and full of energy. He can hit very high notes (perhaps the best singing, in my opinion, is performed in "Face Your Fear" one of those two songs from these album I can't go home without, Dopamine being the other one) and the high notes of his singing marry perfectly with the low end from Tony's riffs.

This is definitly a must have if you're into hard rock and heavy metal. If you were into Sabbath this is definitley an album worth a try. You won't regret it. As I speak for myself, this is the best album from the entire year (2005) and is now another part of my music treasure chest.

Long life to Tony Iommi, Glenn Hughes and Kenny Aronoff!!!!!

24 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Blown Fuse, July 20, 2005

By	cd-heaven (ROCK CITY) - See all my reviews

Now, before people start to critize my review please hear me out. Many of the following reviewers are jumping on the Glenn Hughes bandwagon stating in their reviews that Hughes is giving it his all on this CD, and this is the hardest Glenn Hughes has ever sounded, and what not . Now unless you were born yesterday or this is the only other time you've heard Glenn singing outside of his Deep Purple days, this isnt the heaviest Glenn has sounded nor is it the best lyrically Glenn has ever written for that matter. Don't get me wrong, I like this CD, the first noticeable thing I hear is it's very Sabbath musically. This release has been tauted as the whole desert as to the icing on the cake that was re-released last year from Glenn Hughes and Tony Iommi, the 1996 DEP sessions. Personally I prefer that release moreso than this. Yes, it was only 8 songs long, but it featured Glenn and Tony at their melodic best, full of melody, passion, playing energetic, beautiful music that the 2 recorded in 1996 that if released properly back then it could have been the start of a beautiful music collaboration. Fused is the "quote-unquote" follow up to that release, and it just isn't on the same page as their prior release. Now we get a CD full of Sabbath style grooves against Glenn's metallic wail. If you listen carefully to Dopamine, Wasted Again, Face Your Fear and quite a few other have riffs that sound like they were meant to be on the next Black Sabbath release with Ozzy on vocals (which has been in the works for a half a dozen years or so now, and will most likely never see the light of day; unless released into something like this). Personally Glenn for his age (mid 50's), is still a powerhouse vocalist but heavy metal music isn't really his thing. Hey hard rock (like the Hughes Turner Projects suit him well), or just rock (His solo Soul Mover and Songs in the key of rock) are much better music offerings from Glenn, both performance and lyric wise. Going back to the 1996 DEP sessions, if you listen to that in it's entirity it maybe has 1 Sabbath style groove and the rest is just pure melodic rock / hard rock. Fused is a sludge fest of metal riffs. The track I Go Insane is pretty cool, and is worth all the 9 plus minutes. Other than that, it's pretty good, just nothing earthshattering from Iommi or Hughes. Oh, and for those that want to hear some other Hughes hard rock check out his releases with the band Voodoo Hill. Glenn sings very metal-ish on both albums. That's for those reviewers who want more of the metal Hughes. Overall, this is a solid metal release, great to hear Iommi drive the riffs hard but i like it when Glenn just rocks not really metal.