Sabbath's reunion album with Ozzy was lauded upon its release. Was it actually that good? I think it has its moments, but owes a lot to Wylde-era Ozzy. I think that was Sharon's influence.

It's good and I will defend it to the end. Is it the first six? Fuck no. But if it had been any other band with those exact same songs and sound everyone would be hailing it as brilliant and Sabathesque. Just like Sleep and just like Kyuss. It's got awesome early Sabbath style riffs and Tony and GZR are the greatest bass/guitar partners of all time.

BLACK SABBATH "13" NOT CRAP

Good but not great and that was all we could expect from them given all the nastiness with Bill. I think the Heaven and Hell album was a bit stronger, though.

I had just revisited it for the first time since it came out. It's not a bad record. In terms of Sabbath, I'd probably rank it after Mob Rules or Born Again. The things that bother me most are similarities to 90's solo Ozzy. Better production would have helped.

Kind of a bummer that it is clearly a callback to a band's "Classic Coke..." material.

That said, it's better than whatever Aerosmith has done recently.