Back in ’86, when those old Metalshop radio shows were still worth a hoot, I first encountered the peculiar sounds of Tony Iommi and Glenn Hughes. Metalshop was shamelessly shoving the brandy new “Seventh Star” record down our collective throats. It worked, of course. I know this may sound hard to believe, but I actually spent most of my money on music back then. The record was a striking collection of bluesy rock tunes with a deep street-level songwriting proficiency and sense of maturity, seeming incredibly out of place on a mid-80s SABBATH record. Of course, it was burned in effigy on a daily basis by my Baltimore musical brethren, and to a certain degree that still seems justified. Dubbing “The Seventh Star” a SABBATH album still ranks next to Coca Cola’s “new formula” as one of the most dimwitted corporate ideas of the 80s. Of course, it would get much, much, worse for names like SABBATH, PURPLE, and RAINBOW in the coming years. Names like Hughes, Iommi, Dio, Blackmore, Coverdale…they’re all like old girlfriends that keep coming around. Perhaps your last encounter with them ended on bad terms, but forgiveness is always right around the corner if they can rekindle that old magic without annoying you.

On first listen to “Fused”, one can’t help but be impressed by the vast, dark, and somewhat processed guitar sound that AOR-vet Bob Marquette coaxes out of Iommi. Hughes’ expert mane-flipping white-guy R&B croons are quite stunning over these heavy riffs on first listen. In today’s climate of barkers and growlers, it illustrates the sad reality that seasoned vocal talent in metal is becoming all but extinct. You’ve gotten so used to squeezing those taut, rigid implants, that copping a feel on the real thing seems strange at first.

However, there’s a problem with “Fused”. Tracks like “Dopamine”, “”Savior of the Real” and “Face Your Fear” all shine with addictive choruses, smoky lyrics, lumbering riffs, and glittery beds of AOR melody that lurk in the synths and gits. They just all sound too much alike. In fact, with a couple of exceptions, most of the tracks on this CD have almost exactly the same slow-paced tempo and similar riff patterns. It’s as if Iommi set out to have a minimum of six songs with the pace of ”Electric Funeral” or “Sign of the Southern Cross”. Perhaps it’s a reaction to 2000’s multi-guest project that pulled the man in more than a few different directions. At any rate, Hughes and Marquette do a lot with this seemingly pre-determined template to snazzy things up. For example, “Grace” actually picks up to a caffeine-blast of almost what I’d call “midtempo” just before the solo, eventually settling back into the samey beat of the rest of the record. It’s no wonder that Iommi’s solos lash out like sharp ice picks in many of these tracks, as the steadfast slow-tempo grooves provide the perfect foil for them. His brief but deadly noodling in tracks like “Deep Inside a Shell” and his organic intro solo in the bluesy “I Go Insane” are fluid and notably stirring. But I found myself aching to hear a bouncy acoustic guitar or tribal percussion rise above these thick, super-processed black coffee arrangements more than once. “What You’re Living For” is the shining moment of the album, as it’s really the only example of the band waking up and putting the pedal down “Mob Rules”-style for more than a few bars. Iommi totally wails at the end of that one, too.

Overall, a well-executed AOR-style metal gem with lots of herculean riffs, remarkable vocals, and the same song recorded at least seven times. But, at least it’s a pretty good song by anybody’s standards.

- Marchman

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