Album Review: Black Sabbath – 13

By ANIMESH ‘ASMO’ DAS

It gets tough for fans of bands like Black Sabbath to accept and assimilate any new music the band churns out. And that’s usually because of a nostalgic love of the band’s earlier output, which for most, would have converted people in to fans in the first place. The classic material, is just that. Classic. It can’t be touched. It’s influenced millions. It’s almost legendary. So when a band of that calibre decides to go back in to the studio years after they’ve ever done that sort of a thing, you pray that the musicians have still got it. You hope they don’t choke. You don’t want them to get hammered by critics or the lay listener.

Fans of Black Sabbath, it’s safe to cast away your fears. ’13’, the band’s nineteenth studio record, the first to feature original vocalist Ozzy Osbourne since 1978’s ‘Never Say Die’, does not disappoint. The eight songs on the album are a worthy attempt to relive the band’s classic bluesy, doomy, sounds. Yes, some of them, like ‘Loner’ and the beautiful ‘Zeitgeist’ take you back to previous Sabbath songs, but it’s not enough to get you stark-raving mad. The riffs, in their own way, pay tribute to the past.

That being said, you do miss Bill Ward’s jazzy, swingy drumming. Brad Wilk (of Rage Against The Machine fame) can certainly hold his own in front of the skins, but it’s just not the right feel. The drums sound cold and remote, as if the band wasn’t entirely convinced of their decision to include Wilk in to their inner circle.

What’s spot on though is Geezer Butler’s rumbling bass. Never one to colour within the lines, Butler’s bass work is exemplary, twisting, and turning, and teasing you throughout the album. Guitarist Tony Iommi is equally fantastic to listen to, especially the solo on ‘Age Of Reason’. You can hear him giving it all he’s got, and more. And i must admit, Ozzy is palatable throughout the record. He does sound post produced, but the end result is an Ozzy who seems to have accepted his physical limitations.

Interestingly, the album ends with the same church bells that started it all – Sabbath’s self titled 1970 debut. You could view it as a bookend. And, yes, ’13’ is definitely not a bad way to end. But as you spin the record for a second listen (or click on repeat, whatever you choose), you can tell that Iommi and Butler aren’t completely done yet.

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Streaming: Motorhead Tribute India

 

 

Music Review: M.I.A’s Kala

The second album draws diverse sounds but doesn’t pack a punch

The world always sits up and takes notice of every new rebel that springs up, which should pretty much explain the interest an artist like M.I.A. generates. Revolutionary music has a lot of power, a fact that anyone who has heard Rage Against The Machine will be well aware of. M.I.A. named her debut Arular after her father, a Tamil Tiger rebel. Kala has been named after M.I.A.’s mother. Arular enjoyed a good dose of success, so let’s see how Kala has turned out.

Bamboo Banga employs a barking dog and a part of Ilayaraja’s song Kaattukkuyilu from the film Dalapathi. The sample is the only listenable part of Bamboo Banga, while M.I.A. sings about India, Sri Lanka, someone doing the Macarena, and M.I.A. coming back with power. Bird Flu should’ve been the opening track, for it is truly enjoyable. The drums on Bird Flu are damn good, and you’ll get up from your office chair to do a koli dance to the hen being choked at regular intervals.

Boyz is too ineffective to do anything for either gender, so let’s listen to Jimmy instead. Those familiar with Bollywood will instantly recognize this tune as one of the smash hits from Disco Dancer, the movie that catapulted Mithun Chakraborty to stardom. M.I.A. takes one of Bappi Lahiri’s best known songs and makes a charming remix of it.

Fantastic is the thumping Mango Pickle Down River, with a bunch of kids rhyming over the drone of a didgeridoo. A good job done with the help of The Wilcannia Mob – the didgeridoo is the backbone of Mango Pickle Down River, along with some neat scratching. 20 Dollar is also highly effective – hip-hop vocals by M.I.A. and elements of Pixies’ Where Is My Mind.

World Town and The Turn are below average songs. Fillers, anyone? ‘Where were you in ’92?’, questions M.I.A on XR2 – a song you might want to hurriedly memorise a day before M.I.A. performs live in your city.

Paper Planes outshines everything else on Kala, and why not? It is the only other brilliant song in Slumdog Millionaire (Rahman’s Mausam And Escape is the other one). ‘I fly like paper/get high like planes’, M.I.A coolly announces. The chorus is one of the most infectious ones you’ll ever hear, with gunshots and a ringing cash register. ‘M.I.A./third world democracy/I got more records in the KGB’, the lady goes on. Wish there were more such songs on Kala… or on the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack, for that matter. Sigh, never mind.

Timbaland is on the closing track Come Down, on which M.I.A decides to go catchy. Finally!

VERDICT: M.I.A‘s Kala draws diverse sounds but doesn’t pack a punch. However, it’ll make you curious enough to listen to her debut. Or just wait for the third one – she’ll probably name it after the baby.

RATING: 3/5

(From my Buzz18 reviews)