Tony Iommi
Iommi

It echoes those who now consider him little more than a luxury retiree.

Tony Iommi, legendary guitarist of Black Sabbath, at the beginning of the new millennium (we are in October 2000), after a career spanning over thirty years, releases his first true solo album: ''Iommi''. An artist cold and detached only in appearance, the Birmingham axe-man has always loved to astonish his followers with relentless compositional talent and unrestrained execution style, ever since his critical first steps when he played in the embryonic formation of the memorable Jethro Tull. Among the many urban legends that have spread about him, there is one particularly bizarre and significant: at the dawn of the career with Black Sabbath, rumors circulated that Tony, just to fill his funereal riffing with torment, had cut off the fingertips of his hand to make his sound extraordinarily and dramatically Heavy. A distorted rumor, of course, born in truth due to a bothersome mishap that happened to good Tony while he was still making a living as a full-time worker, dedicating his weekends to Black Sabbath. Since he lost a couple of finger phalanges on one hand while working in a factory, he was forced to use a prosthesis, which today can be considered a decisive element in the construction of Tony Iommi's enveloping and claustrophobic style. So, can you imagine someone like him, who has given life to the Hard Rock world and become one of the most illustrious figures of the scene, getting demoralized by a reunion with Ozzy that was set up and sank in just a few months...

If his mate Geezer Butler previously already largely demonstrated he could shake ears (with the G/Z/R project), Tony didn't want to be outdone, setting up a first-rate vocal pot, a battalion of singers among the most acclaimed who have always barely concealed their mad love for Iommi and Sabbath. Devout admirers who gladly accepted to be part of the game, immersed in musical excursions reminiscent of the sweet past, in a corollary of enchanting and devilishly appealing tracks; such is the case with the opener ''Laughing Man (In The Devil Mask)'', with Henry Rollins (Black Flag) behind the microphone for an agitated and disruptive song. There's the spectacular Doom vein of ''Time Is Mine'' created with an inspired, tragic, and furious Phil Anselmo, there's Serj Tankian of SOAD who indelibly marks ''Patterns'', which for me is the best of the bunch. But it's the ninth track that will bring tears to the eyes of nostalgia enthusiasts: the original Black Sabbath, almost completely reunited (only Geezer is missing) presents ''Who's Fooling Who?'' (introduced by the classic death knell) which certainly won't be hailed as a miracle, true, but it has the merit of letting us hear Ozzy's voice once again (which is no longer... or rather... never was) on Iommi's new riffs. Part of the party is also the great Brian May, who paves the way in ''Goodbye Lament'', for Dave Grohl's vocals, as well as the interesting performances of Billy Idol and Ian Astbury of The Cult in ''Into The Wild'' and ''Flame On''. A bit more subdued, however, are the performances of Skin with ''Meet'' and Billy Corgan with ''Black Oblivion'' (which, quite honestly, appear somewhat out of context) and especially Pete Steele, who in his ''Just Say No To Love'' seems unconvincing, as if intimidated by meeting his longtime idol.

A luxury retiree then? Tony’s answer seems to be dry and imposing. We can only acknowledge it with great joy.