Iommi

Iommi is a heavy metal album by Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and myriad guest musicians and vocalists, including: Henry Rollins of Black Flag and Rollins Band Skin of Skunk Anansie Brian May of Queen Dave Grohl of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters Phil Anselmo of Pantera and Down Serj Tankian of System of a Down Matt Cameron of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins Ian Astbury of The Cult Peter Steele of Type O Negative Black Sabbath bandmates Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward Billy Idol The album took nearly 5 years to make. All of the songs were written by Iommi, producer Bob Marlette and the respective vocalists of each track (except "Black Oblivion", which was written by only Iommi and Billy Corgan). According to Tony Iommi, he and Phil Anselmo had recorded three tracks together for the album, but only one was put onto the album. Iommi has also said he "Wrote a couple of tracks with Billy Idol and two with Billy Corgan, but you know, we could only use one of each". The album peaked at number 129 on the charts and its only single, "Goodbye Lament" reached number 10 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. Iommi's career is closely linked to his time in Black Sabbath, a band he led from its formation in 1968 to its semi-retirement in 1999, and has continued to lead during sporadic reunions (in 2001, in some form or another every year from 2004–07 and again from 2011-present). Subsequently Iommi formed the band Heaven & Hell, a group featuring a collection of former Black Sabbath band members that had performed together under the Black Sabbath name in the past. A number of musicians associated with Black Sabbath appear on Iommi. Track nine features Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath vocalist (1968–1979, 1996–2006, 2011-present) and drummer Bill Ward (1968–1980, 1983–1984, 1994, 1997–2006, 2011–2012). The track also features Laurence Cottle on bass, the session bassist for Black Sabbath's studio album Headless Cross. Cottle also features on tracks 3-5 and 7-9. Tracks 3 and 7 feature guitarist Brian May (of Queen), who had previously guest performed with Sabbath on their 1989 tour, performing a guitar solo on the Headless Cross album. In 2005, Iommi was ranked number 451 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time. In an interview with Cosmik Conversations, Iommi said that they "actually wrote a few tracks with Billy [Idol]...three with Phil Anselmo...and two tracks with Billy Corgan, but you know, we could only use one of each." There is also a track entitled "Something Wicked This Way Comes" written and recorded with Scooter Ward of the band Cold that was not included on the album. But, the track has been available through various filesharing networks. One of the unreleased tracks with Phil Anselmo is a faster-paced song entitled "Inversion of Saviours". It has also been available through various filesharing networks.