1. Black SabbathNever Say Die
If you want to start somewhere, even though it’s one of their later albums, I would say Never Say Die by Black Sabbath. Obviously it’s Ozzy’s last record, but it was one of the first I heard just after it came out. What I find interesting about that record is that it’s quite diverse, but still with great tracks. Songs like ‘Johnny Blade’ and ‘Junior’s Eyes’ have a lot of emotion. I don’t know the story behind the recording of it but emotion is quite a big thing with me when I’m trying to make music, when you’re trying to convey certain feelings. I like the fact that that was quite an eclectic record, that’s definitely something that stayed with me over the years.
I can sort of semi-understand why [the album is underrated], especially being in Napalm for so many years. We’ve done 16 albums and we had that mid-90s period where people went, ‘What the hell’s going on?’ We were just following our hearts, doing what we wanted to do, and some of those records now are sort of revered. Being older I sit there and go, ‘Wow, that’s interesting’, because I remember people going, as with Never Say Die, ‘Oh, it’s this or that,’ but I always thought it was a brilliant album. Then you meet people along the way who found it just as exciting as you did. That’s a whole part of being creative, really. That you don’t just rest on one particular thing. That would lead me to my next album…
