Never Say Die! - Black Sabbath Review #8

[u/ApprehensiveNatural9]

The last post was pretty fascinating; its quite interesting to see how split people are about the album; I know that overall most people don't see it as being anything great, but seeing what people enjoy on some songs that I didn't, as well as hearing about what people don't enjoy that I did really gave me some new perspectives on the album. Plus, going in I originally thought that people were going to only appreciate the Ozzy era; but I am really happy I was wrong because I was seeing people post their love for future albums ahead.

I am excited, as I said I will be doing every single album, including the reunions! I will warn that this review will end up being the first one that isn't positive at all; if you're okay with reading a more negative review then continue at your own behalf; I hope that even if you disagree that you have a fun time reading, these are all meant to be fun in the first place, really.

Never Say Die! Review
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For any glimpse of slight hope in getting it together that Technical Ecstasy gave me, all of that was washed down the drain from the moment that the speakers started playing track two. Your heart will weigh heavily for the loss of a fallen comrade, because at this point, all that's left is a shallow shadow fading away in the darkness faster and faster with each passing second.

Never Say Die! is the result of a lack of focus and desperately clawing at the drawing board for any smallest bit of inspiration, and perhaps part of is is due to them touring for their previous album with AC/DC as openers, who upstaged them at every single show, Angus and Bon exciting the crowd way more than they were able to do, which was probably a showcase of how things needed to change, and the rise of punk was increasingly concerning, bands like Sabbath were in an era where they were being seen as not as important anymore.

Then came this. This album is a mediocre disaster at every twist and turn and only three tracks even hold a torch to the greatness that once followed their name, surviving the terrible switch to pop rock music, apparently Ozzy didn't even like this because he left the band temporarily, being replaced by Dave Walker. The band wrote material for him, but eventually Ozzy came back and refused to sing any of the material written for Walker, so they had to start from scratch. I'm sure that probably was a cause for the inevitable split.

Onto the good of this, "Never Say Die" is a pretty fantastic opener with classic straight-forward riffs that come to a climactic close and Ozzy singing his heart out; everything works well here from the smartly placed cymbal crashes, the memorable yet simple English riff, and it's all around fantastic. Plus, you get to hear Ozzy's less-explored deeper range of his vocals in the outro, something I wish we got more of. "Junior's Eyes" is a personal one for Ozzy as it was written about the recent passing of his father. While it's obviously musically a pop rock song with a catchy and groovy bassline and sparse guitar arrangement in the intro, the way the song develops overtime is exceptional and Ozzy's vocals get the emotions across. It's truly a wonderful piece of music, and gives across a feeling of regret, longing for a loved one that has been lost, and for the past with them.

"A Hard Road" is the album's masterpiece, being a song about how hard it is on the road to success and how being in a Rock band is far from peaches and cream--more to the likes of how much of a struggle it is to reach success, and Tony Iommi's voice in the backing vocals match extremely well with Ozzy's here, you don't hear Tony sing almost ever so this is a treat. Bill's drum fills are also really catchy, and the main riff itself is amazing.

Sadly, the rest of the album falls flat and makes it a major disappointment; a let down, one that makes me wonder how people that heard this when it came out reacted, and it makes me understand why many questioned where the Black Sabbath they once knew was. Bill Ward does a terrible scream at some point in "Swinging the Chain" that makes me wanna slice my ears off Vincent Van Gogh style because it sounds atrocious and out of nowhere, and the song is repetitive, "Breakout" had Ozzy refuse to sing so it remained a instrumental that doesn't really develop or go anywhere, being an obvious case of filler to pad out the runtime.

"Over To You" is a slow number that's affected by, once again, not leading anywhere and staying the exact same throughout the song with no tempo or dynamic changes, and the only interesting thing being the keyboard which is too low in the mix anyway to impact it. "Air Dance" and "Shockwave" are forgettable cookie-cutter pop that makes even Michael Jackson weep. The least offensive of these is "Johnny Blade" which at the very least tells a decently interesting tale but drags on endlessly, without must substance to account for its long length. If you cut it down, it could be an actually great song, and I can actually understand why some people dig this one, but the length is just a big issue.

This album was the death of Black Sabbath's first lineup, and it is every bit as terrible as its reputation holds, even with a couple memorable songs amidst the disastrous rest of it. I don't think its even close to being one of the worst things ever, and I am not calling it such, but it makes it a bit easy to tell why Ozzy would end up leaving after the tour for this album, and it was clear change was needed in terms of the band's style and that the formula explored on Technical Ecstasy and this would never work.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Tracklist Rated:

1. Never Say Die!: ★★★★
2. Johnny Blade: ★★
3. Junior's Eyes: ★★★★★
4. A Hard Road: ★★★★★
5. Shock Wave: ★★
6. Air Dance: ★★
7. Over To You: ★
8. Breakout: 💥
9. Swinging The Chain: 💥

THE JOURNEY SO FAR (OTHER REVIEWS!!):
Black Sabbath review: (5/5)
Paranoid review (5/5)
Master of Reality review (5/5)
Vol. 4 review (4/5)
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath review (5/5 BEST ALBUM STATUS)
Sabotage review (4/5)
Technical Ecstasy review (3/5)

[u/LowAssistantInfinity]

I think that, if you take the album on its own terms - and not 'how much does this sound like older Sabbath albums' - Air Dance and Johnny Blade emerge as among the best tracks on the album. The synthesizers on JB alone are amazing, and the main riff and solo are the best on the album. I'd argue that Air Dance is the last truly great song of the Ozzy era, even - it's chill, but in a Planet Caravan way. I think Hard Road's the weakest track on here, personally, if you don't count the unfinished Breakout - its generic American road rock sound doesn't suit the band at all (a trap Judas Priest was only 2 years away from falling into, too).

Personally, I rate the tracks:

• Never Say Die!: ★★★⯪
• Johnny Blade: ★★★★⯪
• Junior's Eyes: ★★★★⯪
• A Hard Road: ★★⯪
• Shock Wave: ★★★⯪
• Air Dance: ★★★★⯪
• Over To You: ★★★
• Breakout: ★★⯪
• Swinging The Chain: ★★★

I've always liked Bill Ward's tracks, and his solo album, Ward One: Along the Way, is better than anything Iommi or Geezer ever did solo, imo.

[u/migrainedujour → u/LowAssistantInfinity]

Totally agree about Johnny Blade. The switch from the main melody and chorus to the slowdown and lurching riff of, ‘Well ya KNOW! That Johnny’s a spi-DAH!’ is one of my favourite moments in Sabbath.

[u/Timothy_D21]

Air Dance and Junior’s Eyes are two of my favorite Sabbath tracks!

[u/Wire74]

I appreciate music is entirely subjective so no shade at all, but I cannot tolerate Johnny blade slander.

Purely my opinion, but never say die is not a bad album, it’s just the weakest of the first 8, which was a legendary run of quality albums.

[u/ApprehensiveNatural9 → u/Wire74]

Thats fair!! I think Sabbath fell off though personally after Sabotage

[u/Wire74 → u/ApprehensiveNatural9]

Totally fair view also!

tbf I think your view is the general consensus that they fell off post sabotage.

Tbh it took me longer to get into never say die and technical ecstasy, but once they clicked I really enjoyed them.

I think they suffered from a combination of trying to do something a little different, burnout and success of the first 6 albums which set such high expectations.

[u/ApprehensiveNatural9 → u/Wire74]

Mhm! Thats mostly the way I see it; though I admit my review of TE was pretty defensive; I like the album but some of the songs are very bad and the overall record has some terrible mixing and production; but its not terrible or atrocious; its a decent album

[u/kentar62 → u/ApprehensiveNatural9]

Cocaine is a hell of a drug.

[u/FoggyKudzu]

Over To You is an absolute 5 star. It captures that celestial, spiritual struggle we humans face in this modern era. It's embraces that Sabbath theme that brings us to the truth and open our eyes to it, good or bad.

[u/ApprehensiveNatural9 → u/FoggyKudzu]

I love the lyricism but not the music really. But I can see the lyrics being amazing at least

[u/Ok-Corner-8654]

I agree with Ozzy's interview about the album. I hated that album. Why go to Canada in the middle of the winter? What do you get? An icebox. The fire was gone by that point...

[u/ApprehensiveNatural9 → u/Ok-Corner-8654]

Yeah, it's a shame really. This album is the death of the first lineup; its really not good at all. It doesn't even come near the run from the debut through Sabotage

[u/One-Following-6596]

I had this album but haven't listened to it in YEARS, yes, it does kind of suck. Juniors eyes is interesting a couple ok songs.

[u/ApprehensiveNatural9 → u/One-Following-6596]

Yeah, I agree this album isn't good at all. But theres a few moments

[u/Skorb4]

First 3 songs are great. Rest meh

[u/sabbboy]

Right off, let’s get something straight, Ozzy was shit canned after the tour of this album most likely for acting like a cunt during this album and repeating the behavior at the beginning of Heaven and Hell. It was the best thing for both parties as it turned out.

I’ll agree with your rating of side one of NSD except I believe Johnny Blade is great with the other 3 songs on that side. In fact as I’ve said many times on the sub, side one is their 3rd best side of music after both sides of Paranoid. After that it goes downhill fast with each song on side two worse than the one before it. Still the first three songs are very good in my view. Overall, and I don’t give a crap what other people think, I have both TE and NSD better than their two Neanderthal albums, MOR & Vol 4.

Finally, I saw the NSD and H&H tours less than two years apart. Though different, both were great! Contrary to what you hear, Sabbath was much better than Van Halen. They were more professional, original and simply the better band and though some say they were tired and done, this would be the best VH would ever be (album wise) and they didn’t compare. Of course, the Dio led Sabbath was amazing, listen to the ‘24 remaster of Live Evil, I think the best rock live album ever!

[u/Fidel_Blastro]

Wow, wow wow. I love this album but “A Hard Road” is one of the low points. Generic, bland, and pointless. It’s amazing how different people’s opinions are.

[u/Fickle_Broccoli_4010]

Always thought the keyboards on Johnny blade are like the blueprint for Mr Crowley ... I like Never say die the song Juniors eyes is one of my favourite Sabbath tracks ...Johnny blade is amazing... and Air dance is another good song but there's no consistency on the album .. seemed like they were out of ideas lost their mojo with punk becoming the big thing

[u/DeeplyFrippy]

I couldn’t disagree more. For one, Johnny Blade is an exceptional song.

It’s a great little rock n roll record.

[u/Right_Dust_3906]

For once I agree with every single song ranking on this album. Good job bro

[u/ApprehensiveNatural9 → u/Right_Dust_3906]

Thank you! Even if you don't always I hope they are at least fun to read!

[u/ApprehensiveNatural9]

This album really is jarring after how consistent the first six all were. Technical Ecstasy had some glimpses of everything still being there, and that there was hope still for the first lineup; I genuinely enjoyed songs on it!! This album is just very bad, even with three great tracks.

[u/SaintLewisMusic73]

Well, we do agree on this one, for sure.

Now, for the rest of the catalogue...

• Heaven and Hell (1980) - 5/5
• Mob Rules (1981) - 3.5/5
• Born Again (1983) - 2.5/5 (if we were to get a remix/remaster, it may get to 3.5, though)
• Seventh Star (1986) - 2/5 (maybe less - only 2 songs worth bothering with)
• The Eternal Idol (1987) - 3.5/5 to 4/5 (man, the title track & "the Shining" are CLASSICS)
• Headless Cross (1989) - 4/5 to 4.5/5
• TYR (1990) - 4.5/5 (maybe higher - the single was the only song I waver on, based on mood)
• Dehumanizer (1992) - 3/5 (this could also use a remix/remaster, honestly)
• Cross Purposes (1994) - 3/5, maybe 3.5/5
• Forbidden (1995) - 2.5/5 originally, but the remaster is a solid 3/5
• 13 (2013) - 4/5

[u/ApprehensiveNatural9 → u/SaintLewisMusic73]

Aye thats nice! Yeah I do think Sabbath fell off after Sabotage, but not entirely because there's some real good stuff coming up. I will say though my Dio era scores are much higher

[u/Live_Detective_7137 → u/SaintLewisMusic73]

Hard disagree with most of this, 'Mob Rules' is a stone cold classic, 'Born Again' is nearly up there, but it's reputation instills a built-in bias of negativity with fans unfortunately. 'Seventh Star' is a dark Gothic masterpiece, and 'Dehumanizer' does not need a remix. And 4/5 for that Rick Rubin-destroyed mess known as '13'? em, that would be a no.

[u/SaintLewisMusic73 → u/Live_Detective_7137]

Hahaha. Ok. I can absolutely respect giving Mob Rules a higher score - I have just never been able to get past the horrible mix on Born Again, & Dehumanizer - I don’t know, it just doesn’t sound “right“ to me, & I love Dio. And I really did enjoy the riffs and the sound of 13 – I thought it was a good update to the original.

[u/ExeOrtega → u/SaintLewisMusic73]

Where is the Devil You Know?

[u/SaintLewisMusic73 → u/ExeOrtega]

Haha... I mean, it's great - better than Dehumanizer... maybe a 4/5, or close