I am a big admirer of my country’s
sportsmanship on the international stage. At this year's Olympics one Canadian speed skater gave up his spot in a race so that his friend could have a chance at a medal. A Canadian
coach ran out to help a rival with his ski so he can finish a cross-country
race. These are proud moments.
But I also love our absolute and
unflinching will to take no prisoners in the sport of hockey. This morning I watched our men’s hockey team
come out and completely dominate Sweden in every phase of the game. We Canadians are a modest and polite bunch,
but not when it comes to hockey. As a
result, we’ve got another gold medal.
Yeehaw!
OK, now back to music.
Disc 595 is….Dehumanizer
Artist: Black
Sabbath
Year of Release: 1992
What’s up with the Cover? A very bad robot,
who seems to be channeling equal parts Grim Reaper and Emperor Palpatine is
transforming some unfortunate metal-head into a robot. Apparently being a robot means that you
overheat easily, because the unfortunate victim is tearing his own tee shirt
off, and Emperor Reaper seems compelled to walk around with his robe open at
the front. Dude – get a sash and cover
that mess up.
How I Came To Know It: I have always been a fan of the
Dio years in Black Sabbath, and I bought all three remastered in a boxed
set. I already owned a non-remastered
version of “Heaven and Hell”, but I passed that along to a friend for the
updated copy, and got “The Mob Rules” at the same time. “Dehumanizer” was the final disc in the set,
and a bit of an afterthought.
How It Stacks Up: I have 11 Black Sabbath albums, including one live
record. Of the 11, “Dehumanizer” is near
but not at the bottom. I’d say tenth best.
Rating: 3 stars
The last and weakest of the three
albums with Ronnie James Dio fronting the band, “Dehumanizer” is still a
quality metal album.
Dio had left the band after 1981’s
“The Mob Rules” (reviewed back at Disc 157) to pursue a solo career, amid considerable
acrimony between him and guitarist Tony Iommi.
Despite Sabbath being a legendary band, I’d say Dio had the better of
them in terms of fame and fortune through the eighties. However, music fans
were the real losers regardless, and I’m glad that they somehow patched it up
sufficiently to put out one more record together.
The result is ten more songs that ably
blend Dio’s operatic vocal style with the crunchy, doom-laden riffs of Sabbath.
Vinny Appice drums in place of Bill Ward, which suits me just fine. Nothing against Ward, but Appice’s fast and
furious style suits the more true metal sound of the record, as opposed to Ward’s
more bluesy style on earlier Sabbath.
The record is the most purely ‘metal’
album in the Black Sabbath catalogue, and while everyone else in 1992 was
getting their grunge on, it is refreshing to hear Sabbath cutting against the
grain. “Computer God” and “Letters from Earth” are particularly thick
and plodding, filling you with dread both lyrically and musically.
Thematically, it is a dark album,
with a lot of focus on the sins of humanity, and technology as a means to
hasten our own self-destruction. Sometimes singing about technology can be
laughably dated when heard years later, but for the most part “Dehumanizer”
stands up very well.
Like most metal fans, I like my
lyrics a bit nerdy, and “Dehumanizer” delivers, with songs about a dystopian
future full of computer gods and time machines (the latter being used in the
movie “Wayne’s World”). “Time Machine” is a fairly good song, but
“Dehumanizer has both an ‘album’ version and the song as it was used in the
film. They are so similar in sound and
length that I’m not sure why they bothered to record two in the first place. It
feels like overkill, and I’d have preferred they stuck to just one version.
Other than that mistake, there
aren’t any truly bad songs on “Dehumanizer” – they are all pretty solid. Conversely there aren’t any standout classics
like “Children of the Sea” or “Mob Rules” either.
What you do get is a record with plenty
of overall energy, and songs that are well constructed, played by a group of
musicians that have honed their craft well over many decades. This album got me going and is a worthy, if
often overlooked entry into the Black Sabbath collection.
Best tracks: Computer God, Letters from Earth,
Too Late, I
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