What can I write about Tony Iommi’s guitar prowess that hasn’t already been dissected?
Fair to say, nothing. Every element of this riff masters ability has been intrinsically studied, scrutinized, and savoured.
Today, the 19th of February is his 70th birthday.
Our mate Tony has endured a lot these past few years, culminating in one of the best gigs I’ve been to in Melbourne, the final Black Sabbath show I will ever see.
So today, I just want to celebrate the man and just a few of his iconic riffs. Inspiration to millions, emulated by the same, never bettered, never equaled, for there can only ever be one, Tony Iommi.
There is no better place to start, than at the very beginning..
Black Sabbath
The opening riff (and getting to say, that’s Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath, from Black Sabbath) is undeniably where doom metal/heavy metal began. A simple, dissonant riff combined with the sound of a thunderstorm instantly invokes a darkness, evil and impending doom from whatever maybe be lurking in the shadows. It was to be the way forward says Tony “We all went, ‘Bloody hell! That’s really different!’ That riff pointed us in the direction that we thought we should be going. We wanted to do our own stuff, and this was a direction no one had tried before.”
Paranoid
Another iconic Iommi riff that has been covered by all and sundry over the years. It’s fast tempo make it almost punk-esque, nearly a decade before punk took off as a genre! Simplicity again from Tony makes us all wonder decades later ‘wow, wish I had of thought of that’. His Gibson SG fuzzed out to the max during the solo, and the terribly cheap film clip only adds to the greatness.
Iron Man
Yet another of Iommi’s instant classics. The bending of the E string against a lone kick drum at the beginning, which then kicks into this mid-tempo riff, telling a story on it’s own, let alone what Ozzy is singing about. The middle eight riffing is equally as iconic. This song all round is perfect. HUGE.
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Instantly recognisable. I could write that at the start of every blurb here, let’s be honest, it’s difficult, nigh on impossible to ever confuse a Tony Iommi riff with someone else’s. If you think it’s an Iommi riff, it probably is, or it’s a rip off.
Listening to "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" reaffirms just how important it is to the heavy musical landscape, and just how bloody awesome it is as a song.
At 3:18 it crunches into what would have been the heaviest riff in the world at the time, and with Ozzy screeching
"Where can you run to
What more can you do"
GOOSEBUMPS.
Symptom Of The Universe
Speaking of how important Sabbath songs are to the musical landscape, this one comes in pretty damn high as the catalyst for thrash metal. The pace, the chugging flatted-fifth, half-step intervals, and Ozzy’z maniacal lyrics and singing, Iommi nailed this riff.
War Pigs
The loping beginning of this Black Sabbath standard is guaranteed to make every heavy metal fan stand to attention. They wait patiently as it shifts gear into the high hat tss tss tsss and the Iommi DUH-NUH guitar part and then sing as loudly as possible with Ozzy. But this is Tony’s song, even though Geezer wrote the lyrics and kicks arse on bass in it, this is riff and solo city for Iommi. Like a new playground for him to explore and create, there’s so much going on.
The Mob Rules
When Ronnie James Dio entered the fray into Sabbath, their music was a slightly different beast, and this came from his second album with the band. However, for a band going through some serious issues due to drugs, the riffs remained iconic. This is a shining example of where Tony was at in 1981. His solo on this is blistering.
Electric Funeral
Black Sabbath were well known for the style of Ozzy singing along to the guitar riffs that Tony Iommi would create, and this is an excellent example of that style. But the opening riff with just a touch of wah-wah was another evil sounding masterpiece from Tony. 2:17 into the song and we get another stellar riff, that if played to any rock guitarist would be met with ‘yeah Sabbath!’.
Hand Of Doom
The best song off the Paranoid album. This is chock full of brilliance from EVERYONE in the band. Around the 2:20 mark, we get our first tasty Iommi riff by way of a tempo change that has your head banging, followed by his solo at 4:25. This is the song that just keeps giving. So I had to include it.
Into The Void
A riff so chunky it should be speaking to Jenny Craig. It’s impossible to listen to this quietly. There’s a reason this has been covered by Soundgarden, Kyuss, Monster Magnet, Melvins, Orange Goblin and more. This is HUGE crank it up!
Look, this is just scratching the surface of what makes Tony Iommi a guitar god. His innate ability to come up with incredible riffs time and time again through decades of music. (even though I’ve focussed on the 70’s here, except one)
His importance, influence and status can never be overstated. He IS the riff master.
I know there are DOZENS more songs that deserve to be listed here, but I’m a fan of your comments and keyboard fighting, so go for gold, give us your favourite Tony Iommi riffs in the comments below, I’m off to listen to more Sabbath LOUD.
- Higgo
