Recently Heard: Ward One: All Along the Way by Bill Ward

[ellyssian]

Bill Ward: Ward One: All Along the Way

Another item from my wish list - and a rare disc, long out of print.

Bill Ward should be well known to everyone, a household name, but, really, most folks will recognize the names of bandmates: Geezer Butler on bass, Tony Iommi on guitar, and, depending on when, Ronnie James Dio or some little-known-guy by the name of John on vocals. There's a couple other folks who've been involved at one time or another, but those are the two classic lineups - just choose your frontman: Dio or Ozzy.

Bill is, of course, the drummer of Black Sabbath. He's joined on this, his first solo release, by a host of folks - including Jack Bruce, Lanny Cordola, Eric Singer, Zakk Wylde, Bob Daisley, and Ozzy Osbourne himself.

The closest thing to compare this too is, perhaps, Pink Floyd. It's got a couple of heavier riffs here and there, and the two Ozzy-vocalized songs sound as expected only in the vocals. The volume-swell attackless playing on Bombers (Can Open Bomb Bays) makes that tune stand out - it's the one that first caught my attention. Hands down my favorite Ozzy song.

There's a classic sense of British humour about this - it's a little off-beat, and I'm not talking rhythmically. After all, the guy's the drummer for the premier heavy metal band, he should, at the least, be able to keep time. That slightly off sense is what makes this disc truly great - each song stands on its own, is different than all the rest, and yet they are so much a part of the other songs that they often segue seamlessly from one to the next.

If I had to limit myself to one disc to listen to, this would very likely be it.

Comments

[patrixa.livejournal.com]

Gonna bring that one up here, too?

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Dave has it - you've heard it before, I'm sure. I'll bring it along anyway, though.