Well, it seems like time to tackle this monumental release. Expectations and anticipation for 13 have been so high that a review is a daunting prospect. It has been more than 35 years since the last Black Sabbath album featuring Ozzy Osbourne on vocals. Think of how much the music scene and the world itself have changed since those days. Never Say Die was released in the absolute heyday of vinyl records, when record shops were king and paper magazines ruled. In 2013, all of those things have just about disappeared (a situation which I despise), but would Sabbath be able to turn back the clock? Or would they lay a colossal egg?

13 emerges as a 100% Black Sabbath album. No, I would not quite put it on the level of the legendary first five albums, but it certainly is nothing to be ashamed of and it has more of the classic early Sabbath sound than Never Say Die or anything since has. A lot of this can be chalked up to the steady hand of producer Rick Rubin, who manages to get a vintage sound out of the band and yet still provide a modern edge. If Sabbath had had access to 21st century technology in the 70s, 13 may have very well been the result.

The reunion is not complete as Bill Ward was unable to fill the drumkit. That's disappointing but understandable. Brad Wilks from Rage Against The Machine does a fine job filling in, but no doubt it would have been cool to hear Ward's unique style. Osbourne's vocals have been cleaned up and improved as much as is humanly possible. His early Sabbath stuff had an eeriness that can't be replicated, but Rubin is a miracle worker and gets a decent performance out of the old boy, who was said to be relapsing into booze and drugs big time during the recording sessions. As for Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi, their performances are pristine and intact. Butler's juicy bass is top notch and Iommi puts on an amazing display of fretmanship, playing a style he basically hasn't dabbled in since the Nixon administration. I can recommend 13 to all fans of early Sabbath without reservations. Pick it up and enjoy it, because it may very well be the last we get from this line-up.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2013  Volume 4 at lulu.com/strangesound.

No fanfare or build up, this first track opens up with a ponderous, thick and lumbering riff that is a deliberate throwback to the very first song ever heard from this band: "Black Sabbath.” This is by design. As simple and basic as this is, it worms its way into your head. Osbourne's vocals do indeed sound different than on any of his solo records - more laid-back and yet sinister. The pace picks up for a killer bluesy groove that gets the head nodding. Then Iommi cuts loose with an absolutely smoking guitar solo that buries any thought that his recent health problems may have affected his playing. In the last third, the song takes a turn into a kind of soaring feel that's super cool and allows Iommi to take the song out with more guitar ecstasy.