Tony Iommi has looked back on the recording of «13», Black Sabbath’s last album, saying that producer Rick Rubin talked only to him and left it to him to pass everything on to the rest of the band.
“`The guitarist spoke to Ian Danter of Planet Rock, on the occasion of his new solo album «From The Dark». As he said, those sessions left the band no time to realise what they had made.
He also gave an example: he was in Los Angeles, had taken the weekend off, and Rubin called him on the Friday asking for a piece in the vein of «Planet Caravan» by Monday. Iommi worked on an idea, but nobody else knew anything. On the Monday the producer announced in the studio that they would record the new track, and Geezer Butler asked in surprise «which song?».
«13» came out in 2013 and was Black Sabbath’s first record with Ozzy Osbourne in decades, with Rubin producing. The story fits what we know about the way the producer worked, and Iommi does not hide that the result left him with mixed feelings.
«From The Dark» is his first solo work since «Fused» in 2005 and is released on Friday 23 October through BMG. It features singer Jorn Lande, bassist Becky Baldwin and drummer Karl Brazil — we wrote about «From The Dark» being made without pressure or deadlines, while Baldwin has her own video for «Stormwatcher» with Iommi taking part: Becky Baldwin and Tony Iommi.
Iommi had also been in the spotlight with the rehearsals for Black Sabbath’s final show, where Ozzy Osbourne was carried into the rehearsals with special care. Tracks like «Paranoid» — the record that changed everything — show why every word he says about that era carries weight. Geezer Butler, after all, appeared recently at Metalmania IV and played «War Pigs» with Jack Sabbath.
Source: https://metal-stop.com/tony-iommi-calls-making-black-sabbaths-13-with-rick-rubin-awkward/
